Save the Date:
BanjoFest returns on Saturday, November 15, 2025!
Tickets on sale now below – stay tuned for lineup announce soon.
BanjoFest Tickets
Get tickets for the workshops or the concert, or do both and save with the Full Day Pass!
BanjoFest returns on Saturday, November 15, 2025!
Tickets on sale now below – stay tuned for lineup announce soon.
Get tickets for the workshops or the concert, or do both and save with the Full Day Pass!
In this workshop, Dick Weissman will explore taking the banjo into new musical territories through alternate tunings, and what to consider when playing in genres not immediately associated with the banjo. Dick will discuss “odd” tunings like cCGCC, and how to work with them without using a capo. This will lead into playing in genres outside the bluegrass, folk, and old-time traditions including blues and world music.
A Colorado Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Dick Weissman has had a long and colorful career as a banjoist and guitarist, performer, member of the legendary folk-pop group the Journeymen. He has written songs for such disparate artists as Judy Collins, Merv Griffin, Lothar & the Hand People and Carly and Lucy Simon.
See Caleb’s classes here and his private lessons here.
Fiddle, Clawhammer Banjo
Originally from Denver, Caleb started out at Swallow Hill in the Quinlan Café as the Bar Manager. Then a mixture of luck and the right timing led him to teaching beginner fiddle and taking over the core clawhammer banjo classes. While he currently lives outside of Colorado, you can catch him virtually teaching students across the country through his role with Swallow Hill. When he is not working, he can be found around a table of friends playing Dungeons and Dragons.
First Concert: Red Hot Chili Peppers with Stone Temple Pilots at Fiddler’s Green
What song could you listen to all day long? “Love and Chains” by Vivian Leva and RIley Calcagno
Favorite hangout? St Mark’s Coffee shop/Thin Man
What is your favorite thing about Swallow Hill, or your favorite Swallow Hill memory? I love the community!
See Mike’s classes here.
Scruggs Style (3-finger), bluegrass, folk, and Clawhammer Banjo
Fairfield, Maine | husband | father of 3 | grandfather | B.A. in Music Education + Vocal Performance | Master’s in Music Education | member of Blue Moon Bluegrass Band | Mountain life
A Colorado Music Hall of Fame Inductee, Dick Weissman has had a long and colorful career as a banjoist and guitarist, performer, member of the legendary folk-pop group the Journeymen. He has written songs for such disparate artists as Judy Collins, Merv Griffin, Lothar & the Hand People and Carly and Lucy Simon.
Rex Rideout is a long-time student of the music and songs of the 19th-Century American West. As the proprietor of Time Travel Music, Rex has performed at countless historic sites and museums across the West. His music has also been featured on television and radio. Rex plays many musical instruments: banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and tin whistle, to name just a few.
As a folk songwriter, old-time banjo player, guitarist, stop-motion animator, & instrument inventor, Laura Goldhamer enlivens crowds with laughter and awe, conveying her intimate and focused energy in a unified and immersive musical, visual, and kinetic performance. She draws from a variety of purely American traditions; however, Laura’s ability to merge traditional Americana with the avant-garde, mixing inventive homemade technologies with earnest folk, is particularly noteworthy.
This workshop focuses on using a melodic technique for playing clawhammer banjo called the “pitchfork stroke.” This unique way of playing was developed by clawhammer banjoist Cameron DeWhitt and uses 3 fingers instead of the usual 2. It allows the player to access more notes without breaking the clawhammer rhythm. Two tunes will be used to teach the pitchfork stroke: The Lost Girl (John Salyer) and Spotted Pony (trad.)
Prerequisites: Completion of Clawhammer Banjo 1-3 classes at Swallow Hill, or a complete understanding of clawhammer basics (bum-dit-ty rhythm, slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs) as well as a decent understanding of intermediate techniques such as drop-thumb, and the ability to play in standard, modal, and double C tunings.
Learn the basics of this great old-time banjo style, as it currently comes back into style! Highly rhythmic and dynamic, Clawhammer emphasizes playing down with your strumming hand, giving you lots of potential for playing solo or adding to a band setting.
Prerequisites: No prior experience necessary. Please have a 5 string banjo.
In this hands-on workshop geared towards intermediate to advanced level clawhammer players, Brad will explore the versatile nature of old-time banjo and go “beyond the bum-ditty.” Tunes in a variety of tunings will be taught as vehicles for reinforcing fundamentals while also exploring an array of more advanced techniques. We will explore concepts like drop-thumb, playing back up, bass lines, going up the neck, learning by ear, incorporating variations and achieving a good tone. Regardless of your skill level, you will walk out of the workshop with a fresh approach to clawhammer and practical tools to sharpen your skills.
In this workshop Dom will share songs from banjo songsters over the past 100 years and demonstrate some of the banjo styles within blues, folk, country, and bluegrass music. He will share some of the stories from his personal experiences meeting and learning from banjo players along with talking about the history of the music.
My workshop is open to all levels of players. I’ll start with some ideas which will enable you to achieve a more “professional” sound. I’ll discuss timing, clarity, tone, touch and much more. And there’ll be a dive into some of the more subtle aspects of Earl Scruggs’ style. If time allows, I’ll show you a rare tune that comes from jams that John Hartford and Earl did in the 1980s. I’ll also touch on the history of the melodic style. Feel free to record the workshop and I’m completely open to your questions and suggestions. I’m looking forward to seeing you!
Hailed as a “defining voice in the contemporary banjo community,” Baltimore-based clawhammer banjoist Brad Kolodner represents the next generation of Old-Time musicians pushing the boundaries of the tradition into uncharted territory. Regarded for his delicate touch, expressive style, and original compositions, Kolodner has rapidly gained national attention for his unique approach to the banjo. A six-time finalist in the banjo contest at the Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop), he is on one hand rooted in tradition and on the other fiercely innovative.
Off the stage, he is an acclaimed teacher, award-winning radio broadcaster for Folk Alley and Bluegrass Country Radio, jam leader, festival organizer, community builder and ambassador for Old-Time and Bluegrass music.
From his landmark 1974 solo debut Bluegrass Light, to his frequent presence on NPR, to his Grammy-nominated albums Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular and Great Big World, Tony Trischka has raised the banjo’s profile in countless ways.
He’s imparted his hard-earned wisdom to countless students and collaborators, through his private instruction, books and DVDs, and his groundbreaking work with the ArtistWorks online teaching platform. In addition to his Grammy nominations, Trischka earned a number of honors over the years, including the International Bluegrass Music Award for Banjo Player of the Year in 2007, and he was named a United States Artists Friends Fellow in 2012. His impact is so great, the New York Times has declared “Tony Trischka is known as the father of modern bluegrass.”
Dr. Dom Flemons is the Co-Founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Northern Arizona University. He is a Grammy Award Winner with four nominations, a two-time Emmy Nominee, an International Acoustic Music Award Grand Prize Winner, and a United States Artists Fellow.
Famously known as “The American Songster” with a repertoire that covers over one hundred years of American roots music including country, blues, folk, bluegrass, and Americana, Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, music scholar, historian, actor, slam poet, record collector, podcaster, cultural commentator, and the creator, host, and producer of the American
Songster Radio Show on WSM in Nashville, TN. He is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife and rhythm bones.