2009 Instructors
We're excited to announce the faculty for the 2009 Song School. Look for more instructor additions over the coming months (check out the 2008 and 2007 faculty lists below for an idea).
Songwriting Instructors
Mary Gauthier | Peter Himmelman | Karin Bergquist | Linford Detweiler | Pat Pattison | Steve Seskin | Vance Gilbert | Paul Reisler
Elective Instructors
Carmen Allgood | "Chicago" Mike Beck | Ron Browning | Tim Burlingame | Ellis | Rebecca Folsom | Jagoda | Jennifer "JJ" Jones | Arthur Lee Land | Terri Mazurek | Kathy Moser | Bill Nash | Brendan Okrent | Justin Roth | Kathrin Shorr | Maggie Simpson | Annie Wenz | many more to be announced...
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Mary Gauthier’s (pronounced "go-shay") latest album, Between Daylight and Dark, is filled with both hope and anguish, with faith as well as fear. Mary Gauthier knows these places well, having traveled through a night that had stretched into years, from a turbulent Louisiana childhood through odd juxtapositions of accomplishment and devastation. The result is reflected in the music, starting as a trickle of songs almost from the moment of her sobriety and swelling into the stream that fed her first two self-released albums, an indie-label release, and her stunning Lost Highway debut (Mercy Now). Acclaim has followed Mary. Mercy Now was continuously “discovered” and lauded in the two years following its release, earning mentions on a score of year end “best of” lists in ’05, including the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and No Depression. The album even received a benediction from Bob Dylan, who included one of its songs on a playlist for his XM Satellite Radio program. 
Over The Rhine began in 1990 as a more conventional four-piece rock band, albeit one far more in tune with the nuances of songcraft than its three-chord contemporaries. “This tall, lanky fella approached me about singing lead for some rock band in Cincinnati,” recalls the classically trained Bergquist. “I didn’t just jump at the chance. I lunged.” Adopting the name of the gritty neighborhood Over-The-Rhine, the group quickly became a sensation and graduated from sold-out weekend club dates to opening tours for Adrian Belew and Bob Dylan. Over The Rhine may not be a household name, but to call the act’s followers “fanatical” would understate the points. Why? For starters, there’s Bergquist’s torchy, devil-may-care voice, brimming with Midwestern soul, unafraid to lay bare every emotional resonance. And there’s the life-and-death commitment dripping from her every word. “I’m either into it or I’m not, because there’s no faking it with me,” Bergquist notes.
Linford Detweiler has always viewed his job description as “creating spaces where good things can happen.” Recently named to Paste magazine’s list of 100 Best Living Songwriters continues, “Karin and I write songs that allow her voice to bloom. We try to write songs that can hum joyfully at the stars when something good goes down. We try to write tunes capable of whispering to a sleeping child that in spite of everything, somehow, all is well. We try to write words that help us learn to tell the truth to ourselves and others. Over the Rhine is ultimately the music that Karin and I find within and without for her to sing.” After more than 15 years making music, it’s obvious Ohio duo Over The Rhine is in it for the long haul, and for keeps.
A truly multi-faceted musician, Peter Himmelman is an Emmy-nominated TV
composer, an acclaimed creator of children's music, and a critically lauded
rock troubadour. In 1985, Himmelman released This Father's Day, which
Rolling Stone called "stunning." The Rolling Stone Album Guide, called 1989's Synesthesia "a delight", awarding it with four stars. Time heralded Himmelman as one of "the New Troubadours" upon the release of his
Epic debut From Strength to Strength, asserting that he writes "songs with
the same emphatic edge and aesthetic urgency that impelled the Lost
Generation to write novels." During the '90s, Himmelman, expanded his musical
horizons to scoring a number of television shows and films, including the
Disney series Bug Juice, NBC's American Embassy, and the Touchstone film Crossing The Bridge. In 2002, he earned an Emmy nomination for his work on Judging Amy, a show he has scored since 1999. He is currently scoring the
show Bones on Fox and the new ABC hit, Men In Trees. This troubadour has found no limits to his
ability, nor do any seem waiting to stop him.
Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90 ’s when the buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-jazz singer who was knocking ‘em dead at open mikes. The word spread of this Philadelphia born and raised performer to New York; Shawn Colvin invited Vance to be a special guest on her Fat City tour. Gilbert took audiences by storm ( “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar of a god, it was enough to earn him a rarity: an encore for an opener ” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its review of a show from that tour). Gilbert ’s five albums, with guests as varied as jazz greats, Tuck and Patti, Jonatha Brooke, Patty Larkin, Dee Carstensen, Vinx, and Issa (formerly Jane Siberry), are essential ingredients to the American singer-songwriter collection. His presence, both as performer and teacher, will renew your belief in the importance of songwriting.
Pat Pattison is an author, clinician and Berklee Professor of Lyric Writing and Poetry whose students have composed for major artists and written number one songs. At Berklee, he developed the curriculum for the only songwriting major in the country. His books, including Songwriting: Essential Guide to Rhyming and Songwriting: Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, are recognized as definitive in their genre, and have earned many ecstatic reviews. His clinics are attended by songwriters all over the country, and his articles appear regularly in a variety of industry publications.
PAUL REISLER has been performing and writing for over 30 years. He was the
founder of Trapezoid and performed close to 3,000 concerts worldwide. He has
been involved in over 35 recording projects in various roles as a musician,
engineer, producer and composer. He has just released a new album of
original songs with his new band, Paul Reisler and a Thousand Questions
featuring Angela Kaset and Howard Levy called At Night the Roses Tango.
He is the founder and director of Kid Pan Alley™ and has now written over
800 songs with over 18,000 children nationally. Their recent CD, Kid Pan
Alley Nashville, features many of that city’s best-known artists recording
the songs written with the children. That album received a Grammy nomination
and won both Parents’ Choice and NAPPA Gold Awards.
He has taught songwriting to adults at workshops and songwriting schools
throughout the country including the Rocky Mountain Song School, Utah Song
School, Swannanoa Gathering, Blue Ridge Songcamp, Augusta Workshop,
Hollyhock, Kerrville, NSAI, Songcamp in the Mountains and many others.
He’s currently working on a Kid Pan Alley musical, a full-length piece for
orchestra and narrator based on Aesop’s Fables, and a new Kid Pan Alley CD
in Charlottesville, VA.
Steve Seskin started out in the 70’s as a street musician in San Francisco, and has steadily built an exceptionally successful career both as a songwriter and as a performer. He has written seven number one songs, including Grammy-nominated “Grown Men Don’t Cry,” recorded by Tim McGraw, and “Don’t Laugh at Me,” winner of NSAI Song of the Year and Music Row Magazine Song of the Year as recorded by Mark Wills. While Steve is best known for writing hits, he is also a successful performer and recording artist. His latest recording is "Two Paper Town." He is also a sought after songwriting teacher participating in seminars for the NSAI, West coast Songwriters and at many folk festivals. He is often a guest lecturer at the Berklee School of Music, The JMC Academy and McNally Smith College.
“Don’t Laugh at Me” was also recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and became the impetus for the Operation Respect/Don’t Laugh at Me project, a curriculum designed to teach tolerance that has been taught in more than 20,000 schools across the country. The song is now available as a children’s book, Don’t Laugh At Me, which was a featured book on PBS’s Reading Rainbow. His latest book is called "Sing My Song" (a kids guide to songwriting) It is a "how to" book for kids interested in writing songs. The goal of that program is to instill a love of creativity in kids at an early age and to put more songs into the world about love, kindness and respect.
Carmen Allgood is the first DJ in America to produce and air an independent music
radio show, starting in 1986, before it was cool. She currently produces and hosts
the world's biggest syndicated independent radio programs, and has featured over 15,000
artists on her shows: The Colorado Wave, Indie Music Wave, and Indie Traffic Jam.
With more than 100 affiliates, the Wave and Jam are heard around the globe, with millions
of listeners tuning in to hear what's happening in our world of unsigned bands. Carmen
has been a guest panelist and speaker for numerous workshops designed to help the
independent artist get their own radio airplay. She takes you on a well-organized, simple
process to bring your music to the biggest playing field of all through commercial, non-comm,
streaming, on demand, podcasting, cable, mobile and satellite radio. She is currently
the Marketing Director for Indie 104 ~ iRadio LA, named 'Best Internet Station of the Year 2006',
which plays music by unsigned bands 24/7/365. Carmen was also named 'Best Radio Host'
and The Colorado Wave 'Best Local Radio Show 2005'.
The 'How To Get Your Own Radio Airplay Workshop' is designed to give aspiring musicians
the confidence and means to break on through to the other side of the music business, and share
their music with a global audience.
"Chicago" Mike Beck presents his International Touring workshop at
SongSchool for the third consecutive year. Since 2001, Mike has toured
Europe over a dozen times, spending more than 24 months performing and
touring in Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France,
Ireland and Belgium as a solo performer and with his band The
Intergalactic Brother & Sisterhood of Big Eyed Beans. His debut CD,
released in 2002 has received radio airplay in the USA, Germany,
Holland, Denmark, Transylvania, Romania, Macedonia and Japan. He has
personally brought over 20 musicians on their first overseas tours.
Mike is currently in the midst of recording his followup CD
release, due out this Autumn, which includes vocal contributions from
Bloodshot Records' Nora O'Connor. Mike has been a
featured panelist at South-by-Southwest, the Folk Alliance National
Conference, and several other music industry events.
Mike loves empowering and inspiring musicians to pursue their
dreams, and enjoys sharing practical ideas, methods and information to
help make them real. He also loves to sing, and apologizes in advance
for when his usually-too-loud voice heard around the FolksFest
campfires keeps you awake all night. He is very excited to be back in
Lyons, Colorado for his fifth Song School.
A native of eastern Kentucky, Ron Browning has been immersed in both performing and fine arts since childhood. His educational background include a BME in voice and piano from the University of Kentucky, post-graduate studies and teaching credentials from University of California at Northridge, and a Professional Designation of Recording Arts and Sciences at UCLA. Ron currently resides in Nashville, TN where he teaches privately and is on staff at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. As a vocal coach, his students range from major recording artists, to star attractions on subscription series, to acts for Vegas showrooms. He also grooms singers for their very first public performance and works with all genres of music. His vocal method is based on the use of natural voice that one uses everyday -- at work, at home, and at play. He believes that if you can speak, you can sing. He is gifted at being able to quickly identify and remove the stumbling blocks that prevent clear and easy voice.One of his students, Patti LaBelle says of Ron: "he is a miracle worker. He is phenomenal and I thank him for my voice." As a songwriter, Ron's achievements include hits with RCA, special writing assignments for Paramount Television, a dance suite for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, an original long-running musical in Los Angeles, and orchestrations and incidental music for Franklin Lacey, co-author of The Music Man. Ron is presently writing a vocal method text based on his work and the seminars that he does both locally and across the country.
Ah, the elusive bio. The story. The sub-urban legend. Here goes: Tim
Burlingame penned his first song at the age of 5 called, "In God We Trust".
With a running time of 00:12, the words taken from the back of a dollar
bill, and the chords formed from any open string he could strum, the now
legendary opus (within the family anyway) went on to sell no records, and
gained him a national following of zero people. But it was the start of a
love affair with songwriting that has been propelling him forward ever
since. He has twice been a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival
Songwriter Showcase. With his wife, Kathrin Shorr, he has toured in the U.S.
and Europe. His songs have been featured on Dawson's Creek, Party of Five
and Joan of Arcadia, and he was also the guitarist on the theme song for
Joan of Arcadia, a re-recording of "What if God Was One of Us," with Joan
Osborne. He runs an independent studio in Los Angeles and freelances as a
composer/songwriter for film, television and commercial projects. In 2007, Tim scored a feature film starring Melora Hardin, of the critically
acclaimed NBC television series, The Office.
Ellis is a nationally-known touring
singer, songwriter and guitarist known for her powerful vocals, charismatic
stage presence and playful sense of humor. She founded her own record
company at age 18 and has released six albums including the critically
acclaimed Break The Spell (2008). Though she keeps a full-time touring
schedule, she has maintained a loyal following in her home base of
Minneapolis, where she has been named "Best Musician" for the past five
consecutive years. This will be her third year teaching at Song School with
her partner in crime, Terri Mazurek. A past Song School attendee, she was
also a finalist in the Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase in 2005 and she
performed on the main stage in 2007.
Rebecca Folsom has taught the Art of Vocal Freedom for over 12 years. She
finds great joy in helping others claim the natural resonance, strength, and
passion of their own voice. She has a very effective and unique approach of
mixing nontraditional shamanic exercises with traditional building block
vocal practices. She has taught body centered Vocal Freedom workshops with
some of the nations top elite athletes, and helps singers find fluidity and
strength with martial arts, yogic, Taoist, and Toltec practices along with
classical vocal techniques. Her years of study with Joy Gardner Gordon’s
Healing Voice work, Stephen Chun-tao Chengs’s Tao of Voice work, the study
of yogic posture and breath, Americo Yabar’s Salka Connection, and years of
extensive performance and touring have created an instinctive, effective,
and totally fun practice of vocal mastery. She has sung on hundreds of
other artist’s recordings and has added two new CDs Shine and Ruby, Live
at Velvet this year to three previously released. She will be releasing a
newly published book of poetry later this year. She has had the pleasure of
performing on BBC radio and television in N. Ireland, Nashville’s Bluebird,
Opryland, and Tin Pan South stages, NY’s Bitterend and Falcon Ridge Music
Festival, and Colorado's own Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and Red Rocks
Amphitheatre. She is happy to be back for her ninth year at Song School
teaching singers how to deepen their personal presence, expand their vocal
mastery, and have fun doing it!
Jagoda is a new york city based drummer/percussionist who has work with artists as diverse as Sam Shepard, T-bone Burnette, and Richie Havens to Jill Sobule, Tom Prasada-Rao, Amy Speace and Swamp Cabbage. He teaches drums and percussion privately and has taught rhythm workshops with Paul Reisler and Billy Jonas.
His experience spans genres as wide as orchestral work, theatre and film to world music and folk music from many cultures. equally as comfortable behind a drum set or a single tambourine, Jagoda brings joy to rhythm and brings rhythm to music.
“While exploring the nature of rhythm you become aware of your own internal rhythms and the rhythms of your surroundings. you also get a better understanding of the rhythms that you bring to your music. I can’t think of a more perfect environment than the Rocky Mountain Song School for this kind of exploration.”
Jennifer "JJ" Jones began playing drums and guitar at age fourteen while
attending a high school for the arts in Seattle. During her career she has
been the drummer and arranger/producer for a multitude of bands and studio
projects covering a wide variety of styles -- most recently and primarily,
indie-folk. JJ tours nationally and internationally with the Canadian band
Po' Girl. She has also played with singer/songwriters Ellis, Edie Carey,
Vance Gilbert, Beth Wood, Tret Fure and Patrice Pike, among many others. In
June of 2008, JJ played with six acts at the prestigious National Women's
Music Festival, three of which were main-stage headliners. Last year saw JJ
co-producing and and focusing on collaborations with songwriters on
arrangements and structuring. This August she will return for her sixth year
at Song School, and third year as an instructor. A sensitive and expressive
player, JJ specializes in finding the just the right touch and dynamics to
bring out the inherent beauty of a song.
Arthur Lee Land combines diverse influences to create a fresh new musical vibe: Afrograss Flavored Folk Rock. During a tour of Nigeria and Ghana, West Africa in 2001, Arthur spawned the concept of Afrograss: a synthesis of West African percussion and bluegrass in a folk rock context with a touch of funk, reggae, latin and world beat. Touring as a multi-instrumental solo act Arthur calls “A One-Man Afrograss Folk Rock Ensemble,” he utilizes THE ART of LIVE-LOOPING to create a full band sound by layering African percussion, bass, acoustic & electric guitars, guitar synth, vocals and talk box. In and around touring and recording Arthur has been devoting more time to his passion of working with youth and teaching. Since 2007 Arthur's Musical Life Skills K-12 Assembly Program & Looping Clinics have been presented to over 20,000 students in more than 15 states. This is Arthur’s 7th year teaching at the RMFF Song School.
Terri Mazurek is a Minneapolis-based social worker turned booking agent.
What started as a brief consulting gig for a local musician turned into a
full-time music career. Terri founded Peppermint Booking Agency in 2000
and currently represents eight nationally touring musicians on the college
circuit. She received the National Association of Campus Activities award
of "Agent of the Year" in 2005 and has helped six of her eight artists to
receive showcases at the regional and national college conferences. She
also collaborates with nationally touring folk/rock musician Ellis,
co-managing her record company Rubberneck Records. Terri applies her
social work training in her music career, and she is known for her
passionate commitment to helping artists reach their full potential. In
addition to coaching musicians and helping them to set goals and action
plans, Terri has taught workshops at several festivals and music
conferences throughout North America.
Kathy Moser is a songwriter, performer, teacher and social artist, working to bring positive
change to the world through music. She performs and tours nationally. Kathy has appeared at well known folk venues such as Club Passim and Godfrey Daniels, as well as colleges, churches, coffeehouses, prisons, and benefits too numerous to mention!.
Known for her poetic lyrics, driving guitar style and goofy stage presence, her songs confront a variety of topics ranging from world peace to lawn mowers, dysfunctional families to shopping malls, drug addiction to the wisdom of trading in your car for a horse. Audiences leave her shows entertained and uplifted, thoughtful and motivated.
Working with young people is one of Kathy’s passions and she gives workshops, artist residencies and concerts in a variety of educational and institutional settings. Her work encourages young people to find a place to make a positive contribution to their communities.
2007 was the inaugural year for Kathy’s Teen Natural Building Scholarship fund. Supported by sales of her music, the fund sends four teenagers to the North East Natural Building Colloquium.
Bill Nash is a 13 year veteran of the Rocky Mountain Song school and has
been a
guitarist for the past 36 years, with 32 years of teaching experience under
his
belt. He has been mentoring guitar students at the Song School for the past
5
years, in a one on one basis under his canopy. He teaches fingerstyle guitar
technique (mostly three finger Travis style) and also instructs students on
the
use of altered tunings, capo use, assorted other guitar techniques and music
theory. More recently, he has been working on cutting edge guitar
technique,
using cut capos, multiple cut capos, altered tunings, and altered tunings
with
multiple capos. One of his songs even uses 4 capos, in DADGAD tuning, and
each
capo is critical to performing the song. He also works with songwriters on
polishing their melodies, chord choices in their songs, and honing their
musical ideas.
Brendan has worked with songwriters and publishers for most of her career. After a brief stint as a publicist after graduating from the Ohio State School of Journalism, she went on to run her own independent music publishing company and was later West Coast Creative Director for Motown’s publishing arm, Jobete Music. As Assistant Vice President/Creative at ASCAP’s Los Angeles membership office, which she joined in 1989, Brendan has been involved with a number of projects which include producing the nationally-known Quiet On The Set showcase series which she began in 1991; co- producing the ASCAP Pop Music Awards (which has bestowed honors upon such icons as Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Jackson Browne); coordinating the Lester Sill Songwriters Workshop (whose guests have included people like Sir George Martin, Linda Perry and Jonatha Brooke) as well as a range of other activities designed to discover, educate, nurture and develop songwriters. She has initiated ASCAP’s sponsorship in a number of national events such as the Newport Folk Festival. Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest and Song School.
Justin Roth is a nationally touring singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist and
has released four independent CDs as well as being a core contributer to an
instrumental solo guitar album produced for Target Stores, entitled Lifescapes - Solo Guitar, which has sold over 70,000 copies nationwide.
He has shared the stage with Shawn Colvin, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Martin
Sexton among others.
"I would rather be listening to a good song than be doing anything else. Songs change lives. They can give our days and nights an almost dreamy
quality. I want to be as much a part of that as I can. That's why I
write."
Winner of The 2005 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase,
Kathrin Shorr's songs have been featured on the television series Joan of
Arcadia, Beautiful People, and Dawson's Creek. Living in Los Angeles with her
husband and co-writer, Tim Burlingame, she composes and sings for film,
television and commercials. Honored with ASCAP's prestigious Sammy Cahn
Lyricist Award, she has performed with Colin Hay (Men at Work), Kelly Joe
Phelps, Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) and Shawn Colvin.
Maggie has been singing, writing songs, playing guitar and acting for more than 20 years. After five years of intensive study in Boston University’s
Professional Theater Training Program focused on playwriting, speech and
expressive voice and movement, she has developed a unique dramatic
sensibility and vivid performance quality which consistently mesmerizes
audiences. Maggie has been coaching performers and teaching her unusual
“performance authenticity workshops” and meaningful movement classes for the
past ten years in Colorado and Wyoming. One of today's truly original folk
artists, Maggie Simpson weaves her songs, dynamic guitar playing and
mesmerizing voice into an electrifying performance. At the Song School,
Maggie for years has offered a unique interdisciplinary approach to
performing, which is experientially based and for many transformative. This
guided series of "exercises" allows the performer to relax into a greater
level of power, ease and presence on stage, while accessing a greater range
and potency of expression. And it's fun too!!
Songpoet/percussionist Annie Wenz is a multi instrumentalist, folk-roots artist & humanitarian activist who has traveled over 25 countries "bringing people together through music". Annie's musical experiences span the spectrum, performing & teaching in Pakistan for earthquake victims & dignitaries, to "New Zealand's Millennium Celebration", The Kennedy Center, festivals, arts centers & theater productions in Costa Rica, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, Mexico the US & more! Annie is known for her unique way of blending contemporary sounds with roots & multi-cultural influences & funky rhythms, accompanying herself & others on guitar, piano, indigenous flutes & percussion instruments. Her former band members -Senegalize talking drum wizard Massamba Djop of Babba Mal's band, percussionist Jose Gonzalez, "Viva Quetzal's" Eugenio Huanca, Steppenwolf's Guy DeVito, & London's Robert Dean (Sinead O'Connor's guitarist).
Annie has co written/collaborated with Dr Jeri Nielsen of the Ice Bound book & movie, and National Boyd Award winning novelist Robert Macomber. Her story songs are inspired by her journeys... kayaking & backpacking around the world, working as a registered nurse, rafting guide, activist and teacher. Annie also travels throughout the world sharing her grant winning workshops with songwriters, educators, health practitioners & accompanists.
She has 6 recordings on her own indie label Island Gypsy including her all instrumental CD "Winds of the World"! used by yoga & massage practitioners internationally.
Past Instructors
2008 Song School Instructors
Josh Ritter, Melissa Ferrick, Pat Pattison, Susan Werner, Steve Seskin, Vance Gilbert, Paul Reisler, Carmen Allgood, "Chicago" Mike Beck, Michael Bowers, Ron Browning, Tim Burlingame, Ellis, Rebecca Folsom, Jagoda, Jennifer JJ Jones, Arthur Lee Land, Terri Mazurek, Bill Nash, Brendan Okrent, Julie Portman, Siobhan Quinn, Justin Roth, Alan Rowoth, Kathrin Shorr, Moira Smiley, Amy Speace, and Annie Wenz.
2007 Song School Instructors
Peter Himmelman, Darrell Scott, Mary Gauthier, Zoe Lewis, Catie Curtis, Steve Seskin, Vance Gilbert, Arthur Lee Land, Moira Smiley, Annie Wenz, Rebecca Folsom, Ellis, Terri Mazurek, Alan Rowoth, Amy Speace, Kathrin Shorr, Tim Burlingame, Jennifer "JJ" Jones, Siobhan Quinn, Michael Bowers, Anna Wolfe, Justin Roth, Ben Wisch, Carmen Allgood, and "Chicago" Mike Beck.
