Lessons

Guitar and Songwriting - Jacob Bernz

When it comes to songwriting Jacob is one of a kind. He always says in any form of creative venture, true inspiration only comes to someone a few times in their life, so its the inspiration that you bring to your art everyday and you’re experience of the changes happening around you that really tells the story. Jacob has written already several volumes of original material containing over 1,000 songs, Today he offers limited individual lessons for songwriters looking to expand there horizons on themes and other Techniques of creative writing.

Banjo: David Bernz

David grew up immersed in folk music, schooled by his father and mother who were both intimately involved in the early folk boom of the 1940’s and ‘50s. Lee Hays of the Weavers eventually purchased the house next door to be close to his adopted family and through Lee and others, David absorbed a musical sensibility that never strayed too far from his folk roots. Since learning guitar and banjo in his teens, David has found himself on stage with some of the nations top folk luminaries including Richie Havens, Tommy Makem, Noel Paul Stookey, Peter Yarrow, Jean Ritchie, Oscar Brand, Arlo Guthrie, Josh White Jr., Tom Chapin, Christine Lavin and Pete Seeger. During the 1990’s, David appeared locally with the groups “Stone Soup” and “Dave Perry Rande.” In 2003, David Teamed up with folksinger James Durst to form “Work o’ the Weavers” a tribute to America’s quintessential folk quartet. Work o’ the Weavers has toured through 27 states as well as Canada and Israel and continues its work bringing the music and story of the Weavers to audiences young and old and presenting new material in the Weavers’ trajectory. David has also produced concerts, CDs and radio. His credits include WAMC radio’s “Clearwater Moment” and Pete Seeger’s Grammy Winning CDs "Pete Seeger at 89" (2008) and "Pete Seeger and the Rivertown Kids, Tomorrow;s Children" (2010).recent CDs “At 89” (2008) and “Tomorrow’s Children” (2010). In 2012, together with co-producer percussionist Jeff Haynes, David completed the CD “Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt, A More Perfect Union.” David also recently produced “Pete Remembers Woody,” a 2-CD spoken retrospective of Pete’s times and travels with Woody Guthrie punctuated by music, both on Appleseed Recordings. David's guitar style includes elements of folk, blues, rock, bluegrass, fingerpicking, and flatpicking. On the banjo, he plays a variety of styles as well, but feels most comfortable with folk and mountain clawhammer.

Violin: Sarah Milonovich

Starting her musical career almost two decades ago as a child prodigy on the violin, Sara Milonovich is currently the frontwoman/ singer/ fiddler/ songwriter for Daisycutter, a band of adventurous travelers from the many and varied music scenes of New York, who combine a wide-screen city view with a bracing dose of rural realism. Sara has also been a highly sought-after accompanist in the rock, folk, bluegrass, americana, and celtic music worlds, and has performed and recorded throughout North and South America, Europe and beyond.

Growing up on a working farm in rural upstate New York, Sara began playing when she was four, and by nine was leading her own band (around the same time she learned to drive a tractor.) After a collection of awards for fiddling, singing, songwriting, and composing, she left school at sixteen to hit the road with NY bluegrass band The McKrells. A diverse trajectory led her from there through a busy career as an accompanist and collaborator with such artists as Richard Shindell, Pete Seeger (on his Grammy-winning At 89 album), Eliza Gilkyson, Cathie Ryan, Mountain Quickstep, and Antje Duvekot, among others, while simultaneously earning a degree in Biology from Cornell. Sara Milonovich has also been a highly sought-after accompanist in the rock, folk, bluegrass, americana, and celtic music worlds, and has performed and recorded throughout North and South America, Europe and beyond. 

Percussion: Jeff Haynes

Jeff, a “Percussion Wizard” according to the Albany Times, brings a sound to today’s music scene that takes percussion beyond “technique” and “tradition”. In recorded and stage performances, Jeff moves effortlessly from varied and subtle textures... to grooving in the pocket... to anchoring the rhythm section.

Jeff has toured and recorded extensively with Cassandra Wilson, for 15 years. He has toured with the Pat Metheny Group, Al Jarreau, Boney James, Lizz Wright, Harry Belafonte, Dionne Farris and Peabo Bryson. His talent is widely reflected in over a 100 CDs with recording credits ranging from prominent names in R&B, Jazz, World Beat—to New Age.

​In 2013, Jeff produced and released through Hachet Books "Pete Seeger, Storm King" a series of spoken word narratives set to music and percussion of many kinds. The recording has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Spoken Word Album."

Patrick Jones

Patrick is a Guitarist with 50 years of experience fluent in many styles of playing. He is fluent in Blues, Jazz, and Folk idioms, as well as rock and intermediate level classical guitar. Patrick's approach is to find the student's source of inspiration, and to teach the fundamentals of music; theory and its application from music the student can relate to. Available Tuesday, Wednes, and Thursday afternoons after 1:00 p.m. for a full synopsis on Pat, visit his website.

Stringed Bass: Mark Murphy

Mark grew up in a musical family. His dad (the late Dwight ‘Doc’ Murphy) was a public school music educator and he and Mark’s mom (Nancy) performed together in contradance bands until very recently. Mark started playing cello in 3rd grade, electric bass in 10th, then upright bass at SUNY Fredonia. Graduating in 1981 with a degree in art, he dived into professional music with Walt Michael, Tom McCreesh and Company, with whom he’s appeared on Nashville Network’s Fire on the Mountain and NPR’s Prairie Home Companion. He has performed with Pilobilus Dance Company and has headlined shows ranging from the Carter Family Fold to Lincoln Center.

With the Vanaver Caravan, he has performed at Lincoln Center and the United Nations, and was part of the cast filmed for their historic dance reconstruction, “Boston Fancy,” which was inducted into the National Archives. He has backed up blues artist Guy Davis (a W.C. Handy Award nominee) on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and on tour in Europe. He has toured and recorded in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Mark plays and offers lessons in a variety of styles including Old-Time, Bluegrass, Country, Swing, Blues, and Folk.

Master Class Jazz and Blues Guitar: Andy Stack

Andy Stack has shared his love of guitar and music for the past 15 years. His professional career started when he moved from Buffalo, NY to the NYC region where he earned a degree from SUNY Purchase in Jazz Studies. Andy has toured and recorded with several noted international acts including Suzanne Vega, Duncan Sheik, Gabriel Kahane, Jonah Smith, The Duhks, NY Ska Jazz and others. He was also a teacher for several years with the acclaimed National Guitar Workshop in Connecticut. Andy Specializes in American Roots guitar. His favorite players are Ry Cooder, Marc Knopfler, Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian and the 3 kings.

Areas in which Andy would love to help students on any level include: Basic Chord Playing and Melody, Reading Music, Rhythm, learning your favorite songs, Songwriting, Ear Training, Recording Skills, Digital Audio, Aocustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Piano, Bass, Voice and Singing, Soloing and Improve, among almost anything else music related. Andy is positive and fun to work with.