Oly Old Time Festival

Daytime Workshops (Free)
1 1/2 hour long workshops, scroll down for workshop details​Daytime Workshop Locations
 12pm-4:30pm              Arbutus Folk School
12pm-4:30pm              South Bay Grange

​Friday Evening Events
​(get tickets here!)
​
Lounge Acts                  South Bay Grange
5pm-6pm                     
Dear Crow6pm-7pm                     
Mississippi Hotdogs
                            
Main Concert               South Bay Grange
7pm-10pm                 
Squirrel Butter
Golden Shoals
Alum Ridge Boys and Ashlee
​​
Square Dance             South Bay Grange
10pm-12pm  
The Tallboys Reunion!

​Caller: Connor Maguire   

​
​
​
Jamming throughout and late, late at Grange        

Daytime Workshops (Free) 
1 1/2 hour long workshops, scroll down for workshop detailsDaytime Workshop Locations
 12pm-4:30pm              Arbutus Folk School
12pm-4:30pm              South Bay Grange
​

Saturday Evening Events
(get tickets here!
​
Lounge Acts                South Bay Grange
5pm-6pm                     
The Tallboys Stringband6pm-7pm                     
Tradwife Stringband
​​
Square Dance            South Bay Grange
7pm-9pm  
Alum Ridge Boys and Ashlee

​Caller: Charmaine Slaven    

Honky Tonk Dance
9pm-11pm                  South Bay Grange
Mississippi Hotdogs

Line Dancing
South Bay Grange
11pm – until it ends! 

​
Jamming throughout and late, late at Grange

12pm – 1:30pm
Old Time Fiddle (all levels)
South Bay Grange Hall
Charlie Beck
Play some fun and accessible old time fiddle tunes.  Charlie will teach the particulars and then you’ll take ’em for a spin together.  Questions and participation will be welcome.12pm – 2:30pm (note this is a 2.5 hour workshop)
Community Crankie Making (all levels)

South Bay Grange Lounge
Emily Teachout and Shanty Slater
Illustrate a tune or ballad on a scroll of paper, then perform it by illuminating it from behind and rolling it by in time to the music.  Emily and Shanty will demonstrate a crankie they’ve already made and then the class will make one together.  Bring yourself and your creativity.  All supplies provided.  There may be an opportunity to perform the crankie later in the week!12pm – 1:30pm
Old Time Mandolin (Intermediate)
Arbutus Folk School Front Room
Andrew Small
Tune up the old 8-string and explore all things mandolin! Spend time covering useful shapes, chord voicings, and other repeating patterns that will expand your facility on the instrument and can add variety and color to your playing. We’ll consult recordings of mandolin masters who demonstrate a variety of approaches to using the instrument in a traditional context. Along the way, we’ll hammer home the three T’s – Tone, Taste, and Timing (although not necessarily in that order). If you love the mandolin, this is the class for you!

1:30pm – 3:00pm
Cajun Accordion (all levels)
South Bay Grange Hall
Paul Denison
Come learn the basics of playing cajun ornamentation on the one row button accordion. All experience levels are welcome! Paul will have accordions in C and D. 

1:30pm – 3:00pm
Upright Bass (intermediate)
Traditional Bass Playing
Arbutus Folk School Front Room
Rina Rossi
Bass players don’t usually play tons of notes per measure in an old-time setting, so it’s how you play each note that counts. We’ll dig into how to be a bumping bass player. We’ll start with some basics like technique, tone, attack and length of sustain, and go over chords/bass notes in the keys of G, D, A, and C. We’ll then move on to pushing and pulling the beat, note choices, strategies for playing by ear in jams, basic theory/chord patterns that you see in traditional music, and getting comfortable backing up tunes at medium speeds.

​2:30pm – 4:00pm
Fiddle Luthier
South Bay Grange Lounge
Anna Sandys
Does your fiddle need some care and feeding?  Come visit with Anna Sandys a luthier from Portland, Oregon.  Anna draws from her expertise as a violin maker and fiddle refurbisher to help you troubleshoot issues, and learn to maintain your instrument in peak condition.

3:00pm – 4:30pm
Hoofin’ it! Flatfoot Dance (all levels)
South Bay Grange Hall
Charmaine Slaven
Learn to accompany old-time music with rhythms you create with your feet. We’ll cover introductory steps, and then explore interesting rhythms that intermediate dancers can add to their repertoire.​3:00pm – 4:30pm
Fiddle (Intermediate)
​Intuitive Bowing 
Arbutus Folk School Front Room
Joe Fulton
Joe, fiddler in the Mississippi Hotdogs, and formerly of the Tallboys, will lead a workshop on intuitive bowing.  Joe’s known for his driving and danceable tunes so his insights are bound to enhance your playing.

12pm – 1:30pm
Harmony Singing with Andrew Small and Ashlee Watkins
South Bay Grange Hall (all levels)
Andrew Small and Ashlee Watkins 
Delve into the nitty gritty details of harmony singing through the traditional song repertoire of SW Virginia. Ideas covered will include shaping a harmony line, stacking different parts, and settling on the right key. Discuss stylistic choices involved in designing a harmony line as well as how to achieve a good vocal blend through phrasing, pronunciation, tone, and intonation. Bring your voice and all of your questions about harmony singing. Recording devices are welcome and encouraged!12pm – 1:30pm

Crankie Factory (all levels)
South Bay Grange Lounge
Sue Truman
Crankies are a 19th century stortelling art form involving a long scroll that is loaded into a viewing box and usually set to live music.  In this workshop, you can make a matchbox crankie with The Crankie Factory!  Take home an adorable crankie along with a folkart bottle cap pie, miniature rolling pin and tiny felted pumpkin!  You will have your own analog entertainment center!  You can color an illustrated scroll or create one of your own design.  All materials provided.12pm – 1:30pm
Fiddle C-Tunes (Intermediate)
Arbutus Folk School Front Room
Amy Alvey
Old time fiddlers are often intimidated by the key of C, but they can be tons of fun! Let’s learn a couple of C tunes to expand our repertoire and demystify common phrases.

1:30pm – 3:00pm
All Ages Jam (all levels family friendly)
South Bay Grange Hall
Sam, Charlie and Greta
Sam, Charlie and Greta, of Portland’s Triple File, will lead a kid-oriented jam with familiar tunes.  All acoustic instruments welcome.  All interested youngsters are welcome to participate.  It’s helpful if there is some willingness to try picking up tunes by ear.  The focus will be on familiar, accesible tunes.

1:30pm – 3:00pm
Ragtime Jam (all instruments all levels)
South Bay Grange Lounge
Anna Sandys
Play county rags along with friends.  We’ll explore the keys of C,F and Bb! All instruments welcome!​​

1:30pm – 3:00pm
Guitar (intermediate)
The Groove is in your Hands!
Arbutus Folk School Front Room
Mark Killanski
Guitar is the glue of a string band’s collective rhythm. We’ll explore many elements of this broad style, including timing, tone, chord choices, bass runs, jam etiquette, practice techniques, and more. We’ll listen to a wide array of approaches to guitar across the Old Time genre and discuss this world of possibilities, as well the history and development of the music.

3:00pm – 4:30pm
All Ages Dance (family friendly)
South Bay Grange Hall
Caroline Oakley calling
Caroline will teach all the necessary moves in a fun and gentle way to include all levels and ages.  Live music from the Shnoll Family Band plus Greta! The Schnoll Family Band features brothers Sam and Charlie, along with their parents Kate and Steph and they’re joined by their pal Greta.   You can bet on this dance being a blast.  This is a square dance that is especially geared towards inclusion of youngsters.​

​3:00pm – 4:30pm
Clawhammer Banjo (intermediate)
Backing Up the Singer on Clawhammer
South Bay Grange Lounge
Charlie Beck
Banjos are a joy to play and sing with.  This workshop will use some great, old time-y songs to peek at the banjo’s many plucky possibilities. With an emphasis on creating solid grooves, you’ll delve into the interplay between the banjoist and the singer and other instrumentalists. Learn specific clawhammer techniques like the bumditty, along with drop-thumbing, and explore ideas for playing up the neck. Also chords will be shown, scales will be revealed, soloing will be explained, songs will be sung and banjo jokes will be shared.​3:00pm – 4:30pm
Intro to Mandolin (beginner)
Arbutus Folk School Front Room
Jack Dwyer
Whether you are new to music entirely or just new to the mandolin, this is the place to get you on your way. The mandolin can be either a lead or chord instrument so we’ll focus on a little of both.