Tutors

AUTOHARP -

The Autoharp class will be run by two of the UK's most talented players, Heather Farrell-Roberts and Lyn Jones.
Both have been loyal supporters of the S.F. Autoharp classes over the years and Heather, since the very start nearly 28 years ago. See their respective bios below

Lyn Jones - Autoharp

Lyn Jones was a headteacher who, when leading a music based initiative at her special school, hired Mike Fenton, the premier English autoharpist and was completely blown away by the music of the autoharp.
She followed up this interest by arriving “harpless” at Sore Fingers, where she borrowed an instrument and became committed. She became a regular student at Sore Fingers and also travelled to the US seeking out the best teachers she could find. She is now on the teaching team of the UK Autoharp Association teaching across the UK. She plays solo, and in various groups that celebrate the traditions of music in the UK, Europe and America.
She plays both chromatic and diatonic autoharp and will support you in your personal journey in practice, playing and arranging.
We welcome Lyn back into the team.

Heather Farrell-Roberts - Autoharp

Heather has virtually run the Sore Fingers Autoharp department for the best part of twenty eight years. Ultimately qualified to do the job, she has selected the best tutors from here and the US to teach at Kingham. This time Heather will be heading up the class along her colleague Lyn.
But, she’s also a master player and always delights the S.F. audience with a beautiful piece in the Tutor concerts. So her appointment as the main tutor is long overdue. Heather has been part of the S.F. machine for as long as the Autoharp has featured and knows the format, the spirit and her instrument. So you’re in good hands.

Jeff Scroggins - Bluegrass Banjo - Course Full

Jeff came to us for the first time in 2019 and well… he was everywhere or at least the sound of him playing the banjo was”! He said that if you practice every day for ten years, you will get good! Seems like a strategy that he continues to follow to this day.
He also charmed us all with his humour and enthusiasm for the instrument. Though of imposing stature, he’s a gently giant. During lockdown, Jeff and his partner built a house and it was when he sent me a picture of the location that he enquired whether he could come back. You’ don’t people like that down. So, here he is!
Music has always played a central role in Jeff Scroggins' life. He grew up in rural Oklahoma listening to his grandfather and friends playing old time country music. At age twelve, Jeff got his first guitar and through his teens, he played electric guitar in garage bands. Jeff picked up a second hand banjo in a garage sale and soon became obsessed with the banjo! He then traded his Gibson Les Paul electric guitar for a better Banjo.
Jeff spent the 1980s learning all he could about his new love and honing his craft. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from banjo legend Alan Munde and later after relocating to Texas, from James McKinney. During that time Jeff won numerous banjo contests including the prestigious National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas in September 1989.
A year or so later Jeff became a founding member of the Andy Owens Project joining Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Mark Schatz, David Grier, Stuart Duncan, Alan O’Bryant, Terry Eldridge and Margaret Bailey to record a critically acclaimed CD “Kerosene Circuit", which was produced by Grammy winner Bil VornDick. The band toured extensively throughout the 1990s reaching far flung paces such as Russia and Japan.
It is whilst living in Texas that Jeff was inducted into the Texas Tornadoes, an elite music society who includes music legends Stevie Ray Vaughn, Johnny Winter and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) amongst its membership.
Jeff’s turned his focus on his family and performed with regional bands one of the more notable being the Wichita based Big Twang. In 2008 Jeff recorded his first CD, “Five Strings, Four Corners," which featured his 13 year son Tristan on mandolin. Later, Jeff and Tristan relocated to Colorado and in 2011 they formed Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, well known to US and UK audiences having already toured extensively.
Jeff is an internationally known performer and teacher; he has taught at bluegrass music camps in the US and abroad; including “The Steve Kaufman Acoustic “Kamp”. He has also performed and taught at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia on the island of Borneo.
Guys and gals, you are going to learn a lot and have a lot of laughs too.

Website

Leon Hunt - Bluegrass Banjo

Leon makes his living playing alongside some of the world’s top musicians from a number of musical styles, backgrounds and disciplines.
Since graduating from his ‘Music and Music Technology’ degree in 2000 Leon has taken part in several notable ‘transatlantic’ recordings; Miles Apart (2004) Shuttle Diplomacy (2008) and Fishing Music (2009). These projects have included some of the biggest names in American traditional music; Viktor Krauss, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, David Grier and Matt Flinner to name a few.
Beyond proving his Bluegrass credentials, Leon has found himself in a diverse array of other musical settings; occasional live and/or recorded collaborations with Irish traditional music’s Michael McGoldrick and Flook, African Kora virtuoso, Sekou Kieta, and English Folk singer, Kate Rusby.
He has also enjoyed being part of several major theatre productions for The Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Rep, and The New Vic (search the web hard enough and you’ll find a very funny picture of him in a powdered wig and tights!!!)
If all of the above name dropping means nothing to you then we’ll have to resort to Anchor Butter’s major 2008 TV advertising campaign (the series of commercials with the fuzzy felt cows), that was Leon too

Website

Eleanor Wilkie - Bass

Eleanor Wilkie, an accomplished bassist and experienced educator, will be the bass tutor for Sorefingers Week 2025. Known for her rock-steady playing and songwriting skills, Eleanor has performed with various lineups, including the IBMA-nominated all-female band, Midnight Skyracer. She is currently preparing for tours as the bassist with The Charlotte Carrivick Band in 2025.
Eleanor's involvement with Sore Fingers spans over two decades, beginning as a student in 2002 and later teaching the beginners' class. She has also contributed her skills in photography and video promotion for the event.
Beyond her performance career, Eleanor is actively involved in the music community as one of the organisers of Crossover Festival and performs with groups such as Sapphire Storm, Lewis Cohen String Band, and The Rye Distraction. Her professional background includes a decade as a secondary school music teacher before transitioning to an administrative role with INSS (Independent Neuroscience Services) in 2017.
Participants in Eleanor's Bass class at Sore Fingers Week 2025 can look forward to refining their skills under the guidance of an experienced musician and teacher. Her solid stage presence and technical proficiency make her well-suited to help students improve their technique and overall bass playing.

BEGINNERS -

The biggest problem a beginner faces when wanting to learn to play Bluegrass or Old Time is not necessarily instrumental technique. It’s the social thing that can be the most daunting for one who steps out for the first time, having the confidence to sit in a session for the first time and knowing how all this works.
It’s easier than you think and these two dedicated teachers are well placed to get you up to speed and have you joining sessions having fun!
Ed and Peter have been the successful Beginners team for a few years now, great guys, friendly and understanding.
And one thing to remember is that you don’t have to have reached any level of competence to join this class. Sore Fingers Week is a school to teach you how to get started, not pick up bad habits and grow your skills so that you can enjoy playing music one your own or with others.

Ed Hicks - Beginners

Ed Hicks is an experienced music tutor with over ten years experience of teaching people how to play folk music. Primarily a banjo player specialising in old time music, Ed also plays fiddle, guitar, mandolin, sings and has a working knowledge of a range of other folk music instruments (accordions, whistles, string basses etc).
Ed has worked as a banjo teacher and folk music workshop leader for the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) for ten years and was a lead tutor on their Full English project. He has trained in music workshop leading with Spitalfields Music, EFDSS, Music for Change, Musicleader, Sing Up, Folk Arts England, Platform for Arts and the Discover Centre.
Between 2012 and 2017 Ed was director of the Trad Academy, a folk music school based in London designed to help anyone and everyone make music. The Trad Academy organised many music classes in areas as diverse as Sea Shanties to Swedish Gamelans. For two summers the Trad Academy ran a residential Folk Music Summer, School for Kids.

Website

Peter Earle - Beginners

Peter Earle is a graduate of the Leeds College of Music, where he majored in percussion and piano. After many years playing drums and keyboards in various genres, he discovered bluegrass in 2006 after attending his first Sore Fingers.
After a few years playing banjo, he moved to double bass, which has been his main instrument for the last 15 years. Now resident in Otley, West Yorkshire, he performs as part of an Americana duo, and has also appeared regularly at many of the UK bluegrass festivals, as well as in Ireland and the US.
He is a familiar figure at Sore Fingers, and for the last few years has run the popular Basic Music Theory elective, where he has utilised his training as a teacher to de-mystify the murky world of chords and scales! For 2023, he will be teaching the Beginners class together with Ed Hicks.

Website

Sally Van Meter - Dobro

For the last four decades. Sally Van Meter’s Dobro and slide guitar work has graced the live stages and recording studios performing with prominent and talented artists including David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice, Jorma Kaukonen, Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, Jerry Douglas, Taj Mahal, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Alison Brown, Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis, Russ Barenberg, Stuart Duncan, Kathy Kallick, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, Gerry O'Beirne, Maura O'Connell. Known as an evocative and lyrical player, her slide guitar work has been featured in films and TV as well.
In 1994 Sally was awarded the NARAS GRAMMY for The Great Dobro Sessions and in 1996 recorded on a special recording project with David Grisman and Jerry Garcia ‘The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers--A Tribute’ produced by Bob Dylan for Columbia Records. Before switching gears to the studio and independent music work, from 1977 to 1994 Sally was a member of the Good Ol' Persons, a much-beloved band based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been an IBMA Finalist Nominee for Dobro Player of the Year from 1990-1997 and in 1994 won two IBMA awards for Best Instrumental Recording and Recorded Event of the Year, (The Great Dobro Sessions).
Sally’s most recent studio offering is an award recipient of the Best Weissenborn Recording of 2015 in the UK ‘Tre Mistiche, her live Weissenborn slide duo project featuring Bruce Molsky, Ledward Ka’apana, Gerry O’Beirne and Johnny Dickinson.
Currently residing in Colorado, and along with independent filmmaking, European and USA music performance and studio production, Sally’s love of teaching Dobro and musicality keeps her a mainstay at music workshops & camps throughout the US/UK and Europe.

Trent Freeman - Fiddle

Trent Freeman is a violin player who bridges the worlds of traditional fiddle styles and modern innovation. With a love for performance that blossomed in the community dance halls of rural Canada, Trent has carried his passion to European Philharmonic theatres, summer festivals and urban underground dance clubs.
The internationally recognized folk string quartet “The Fretless” has been a primary focus of Trent’s for the past 12 years. They have recorded 6 albums, toured across North America and Europe, and have won many awards including the Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year. The music explores the far corners of what is possible as a string quartet, as it expands traditional fiddle styles with modern grooves, arrangements and intentions while maintaining the heart and spirit of its roots.
Trent released an album of original fiddle tunes, named “Tunes EP vol. 1”. FRUK addressed this album and Trent’s tunes as follows: “…although they bear an undeniably contemporary coolness, so versed is he in the realm of traditional fiddle music that they slot authoritatively along any vintage material you care to name.”
A staple in the music scene of Vancouver, and Canada as a whole, Trent is in demand as a recording artist and a side musician. He performs regularly with John Reischman, Pharis & Jason Romero, Madeleine Roger and many others, bringing his personal sound and deep musicianship to every project

Website

Jake Workman - Guitar - Course Full

We’re honoured to have this chap teaching guitar, just read on!
Jake Workman began playing the guitar when he received one for his 13th birthday in 2001. A year and a half later after starting the guitar, Jake’s introduction to bluegrass music came when his parents surprised him with a banjo for Christmas.
Jake’s love for bluegrass grew heavily over the next few years as he attended jams and festivals throughout the Western states and eventually the entire country. He entered many instrument contests and won many titles on guitar, banjo and mandolin. In 2007 while attending the National Flat Pick Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas, Jake met other musicians that later would help form the Midwest-based band, Driven. Jake has also played in Salt Lake City based groups Cold Creek, The Aaron Ashton Band, and the Jake and Rebekah Workman Band.
In late 2015 he got the call from Ricky Skaggs to join his award-winning band, Kentucky Thunder. He has a degree in jazz guitar performance from the University of Utah. When not performing, he teaches private lessons, composes and does session work. His 2019 record, Landmark, showcases his writing ability as well as his seasoned playing. Jake was featured on the cover of the May/June 2015 issue of Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and in 2020 he was awarded the IBMA Bluegrass Guitar Player of the Year.

Website

John Moore - Guitar - Filling fast

In addition to being the mandolinist, guitarist and vocalist for the internationally acclaimed band Bluegrass Etc, John Moore is also the mandolinist with the award winning band California, the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Instrumental Band of the Year, three years in a row.
John’s musical performances have led him throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan, as well as into the studio doing radio and television commercials, along with movie sound tracks and sessions for other artists.
He has appeared in productions by, and done musical soundtracks for, HBO, Paramount Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and A&E Television Network. He most recently appeared in the HBO Series Deadwood, and has appeared on the cover of Bluegrass Now, Bluegrass Unlimited and Flatpick Guitar magazines.
He is also a sought after teacher, having taught some of today’s hottest young musicians. John has taught, and continues to teach, at numerous music camps, including Wintergrass Academy (WA), Steve Kaufman’s Guitar Camp (TN), Bluegrass On The Beach (OR), Sore Fingers Music Camp (England), Rockygrass Academy (CO), Northern Bluegrass Circle Music Camp (AB, Canada), Levelland College (TX) and Northern Minn. Bluegrass Camp (MN), among many others.

Website

Matt Flinner - Mandolin - Only Two Places Left

Matt Flinner has made a career out of playing acoustic music in new ways. Starting out as a banjo prodigy who was playing bluegrass festivals before he entered his teens, Flinner later took up the mandolin, won the National Banjo Competition in Winfield, KS in 1990, and won the mandolin award there the following year.
He moved to Nashville in 1999 and is now widely considered one of the hottest and most creative mandolin players on the acoustic scene. His two solo albums for Compass Records, “The View from Here” and “Latitude”, both featured bluegrass stalwarts Todd Phillips, David Grier, Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and Darol Anger, and received high critical acclaim.
Flinner actively tours with Phillips and Grier (in Phillips, Grier and Flinner) and the Modern Mandolin Quartet, as well as with his own Matt Flinner Acoustic Trio and Matt Flinner Quartet, which released its Walking on the Moon CD on Compass in 2002.
He also tours with the Matt Flinner Trio, as a member of the 'new acoustic' trio Phillips, Grier & Flinner, as a member of Darrell Scott's band, and with guitarist Frank Vignola (David Grisman Quintet). Flinner also special guests on banjo with Leftover Salmon and in the fall of 2008 was a featured soloist with Trey Anastasio and Carlo Aonzo during Orchestra Nashville's performance of "Concertino" (Don Hart). He most recently appeared on comedian Steve Martin's new recording The Crow and the Vignola Collectives' March 09 release, Gypsy Grass . “Flinner provides the next logical evolutionary step to David Grisman's unique dawg style, and does it with a nod to the past and a vision of the future."
His recent work “Music du Jour” with Eric Thorin and Ross Martin featured pieces of music written and performed for the first time on the same day during a tour. You’ve got to be a bit crazy to do that unless you are as talented as Matt Flinner of course.
We’re lucky to have Matt at Sore Fingers Week for fifth time and though he is teaching mandolin, you might just get an insight into his multi instrumentalist skills on the banjo guitar and anything else he chooses to have a play on.
One thing, he’ll be in good company with the other masters we have teaching at S.F.Week.

Website

Andrew Collins - Mandolin

Andrew last came over in 2008, far too long ago really. So, here he is and it’s a warm welcome back from Sore Fingers.
Mandolinist Andrew Collins finds himself – through no actual fault of his own – at the centre of Canada’s burgeoning acoustic/roots music scene. He didn’t invent it – but he's certainly been a contributor, having co-founded seriously noteworthy Canadian bands like the Creaking Tree String Quartet, the Foggy Hogtown Boys and, more recently, his namesake Trio. That’s not to mention the fact that this prolific, robust performer – comfortable on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, mandola and mandocello – composes, produces, arranges, writes and teaches across multiple genres, including a popular collision of folk, jazz, bluegrass, celtic, and classical. 

As Collins gathers up innumerable JUNO nominations (5) and Canadian Folk Music Awards (7) won by his various ensembles, he’s zeroing in on the work he does with Trio-mates: fellow string guru Mike Mezzatesta, whose versatility shines through on guitar, mandolin, fiddle and mandola, and in-the-pocket James McEleney holding it down on the bass, mandocello and vocals. Showcasing a dizzying number of styles and instruments on stage, Collins and Co. appear to live by the old adage, “idle hands are the devil’s workshop”, likely keeping them just ahead of his grasp. Bending and blending genres, these musical shape shifters land somewhere between the re-imagined worlds of Béla Fleck and Newgrass invader, David Grisman.
They just released a new double album, grafting 11 vocal cuts (tongues) to 11 instrumentals (grooves) to create a seamless finish with their cleverly monikered double album, Tongue & Groove. Each cut is milled to perfection and represents a back-to-basics visitation on what the band does best -- spontaneity of the stage and rapid-fire, improvisational exchanges. 

Andrew is no stranger to teaching having taught mandolin at lots of camps across the US and understands the needs of students of all abilities. His appearance her in 2008 was a total success and it has really been an oversight to not call upon his services sooner.

Website

MUSIC DEVELOPEMENT -

What is this class? How does it relate to what we do at Sore Fingers Week? Let’s demystify a little. For many years, we have been teaching technique, how to develop the skills to play your instruments, solos, etc.
When you’ve acquired those skills, how do you make the best of them. Use scales and chords to enhance your music and make it more interesting for the listener and moreover, more satisfying for you and your band.
This course, ably orchestrated by two absolutely fanatical proponents of creative music making will take you through the secrets of arranging, using harmony and scales to bring originality to your music. You’d be surprised how much you can develop a three-chord song by adding passing chords, using harmony effectively, etc. Andy and Mike have all the tricks up their sleeves.
You don’t need to be an advanced reader of notation though the course will touch on theory. But, it’s applied to what you are being taught and you will hear it, because you will playing it yourself. Nothing like doing it!
So, indulge yourselves and go and open the widest door to creatively you can. Roll in My Sweet Babe’s arms may never sound the same again after you’ve enhanced it!

Andy MacKenzie - Music Development

Andy Mackenzie has over forty years of experience as freelance recording and live performer covering a wide ranges of musical styles and still preforming up 150 live concerts a year!. Alongside his live and recording work, Andy is currently the Jazz guitar tutor at Bangor University and has delivered several classes in Jazz and improvisation including prestigious institutions such as LIPA. He also co-authored Masters of Jazz guitar published in 1999 and continue to write reviews for the music press.
And to top that all, Andy is a proficient Flatpick Bluegrass Guitar and banjo player!
His knowledge of music, scales, harmony and chord sequences equip him perfectly to deliver the great class we believe this new venture ids going to provide!

Mike Pryor - Music Development

Mike Pryor began playing music in 1969 and since then has performed as a semi-professional musician in acoustic-based groups on mandolin, cavaquinho, double bass and guitar.
Performances have included television, radio and numerous festivals in UK and mainland Europe, including Glastonbury.
With these groups he has recorded numerous CDs including the British Bluegrass No.1 Small Town. He currently plays with Cavacante, The Bill Smarme Rock’n’Roll Trio, Los Adjustes and the Pond Skaters.
Mike has studied mandolin under Mike Marshall, Simon Mayor, John Reischman, Butch Baldassari and Andy Townend; he has studied guitar under Stefan Grossman, John James and Chris Moreton, and double bass under Danny Thompson.
Mike has taught private students and has tutored group classes at various Festivals, Sore Fingers Bluegrass Summer Schools and at BMG Federation Festivals. He was a regular contributor to British Bluegrass News and Mandocrucian’s Digest and helped organise the original Didmarton Bluegrass festival for ten years.
Well there’s a busy man and that’s just music! So, we are lucky to have him join our team of tutors to lead us in a slightly new direction. Whatever you already play on a mandolin, you need to have a look at Choro and Mike is just the man to take you to the right place.

Mitch Depew - Old Time Banjo - Four places left

Mitch is a New Jersey-born fiddle and banjo player that is currently residing in Granada, Spain. While he makes it a point to attend old-time festivals in the US each summer, living in relative old-time isolation in Spain has led him to focus much of his musical attention on developing a unique solo fiddle and banjo style closely based on the tastes and techniques of old-time greats.
Mitch is no stranger to the UK hopping over from Europe to play at festivals and also teach at Sore Fingers. He last came to teach at an October Weekend in 2023.
He’s really looking forward to being amongst us again and working with his colleague Joe Decosimo. Old time is in good hands!

Joseph Decosimo - Old Time Fiddle - Course Full

A leading interpreter of the fiddle, banjo, and song traditions from the Appalachian South, Joseph Decosimo has introduced audiences around the world to the beauty and vitality of the region’s music. A student of the last master traditional musicians in his home region of Tennessee, Joseph draws on a well of profound creativity and repertoire to create fresh sounds. His performances are inviting and nourishing, connecting audiences to the older music’s transcendent beauty. Joseph also works outside of the traditional music world. His playing can be heard on recordings by fellow Durham, NC artists Hiss Golden Messenger, Wye Oak, Jake Xerxes Fussell, Elephant Micah, and others.
Over the last decade, Joseph has been sharing his music and stories at workshops and camps at home and abroad, helping participants delve deeper into Old-Time music and grow as capable listeners and thoughtful players. His relationships and study with older masters like Clyde Davenport and Charlie Acuff shape the form and substance of his teaching and provide students with a vital link to the older current of this music tradition. His workshops are not simply an exercise in tunes, techniques, or clever bowing patterns. Rather, he invites participants to engage with the complex and diverse people, places, and sounds that give this music its timeless and beautiful power. Guided by the belief that good listening makes for good playing, he invites participants to listen patiently and thoughtfully. His experiences teaching diverse learners in a variety of contexts—in a conservatory program, at fiddle camps, in university lecture halls, in an 8th grade class room, on the side of a state park trail—have shaped him into a patient, whimsical, and capable teacher. Besides bringing a deep knowledge of the music and the culture around it to workshops, he brings a deep respect for the communities that form around traditional music at workshops and camps and seeks to foster them, jamming with participants, chatting over meal, and goofing off.

Website

Sammy Lind - Old Time Fiddle - Filling fast

Sammy was last at Sore Fingers Week in 2017 teaching Old Time Fiddle and what a time he had! Gaining the distinction along with Old Time Banjo tutor John Hermann of being first up in the morning and last to bed at night! Yes, they taught all day and played all night. So who up for a session?
2025 is building up to be a bit of an Old Time extravaganza with the tutor line up we have and Sammy is perfectly poised to integrate int that level of fun.
Stephen “Sammy along with partner Nadine Landry are members of the internationally acclaimed Foghorn Stringband, out of Portland, Oregon, USA. They play traditional fiddle music that has been passed on for hundreds of years, classics of the south west Louisiana Cajun dance halls and songs that could have filled a 50s smoky bar jukebox.
Born in Minnesota, Stephen “Sammy” Lind has established himself as one of the most critically acclaimed old time fiddle players in the country. Co-founder of the Oregon based Foghorn Stringband, Stephen has traveled the world playing and teaching a vast repertoire of tunes from Appalachia and the Midwest. His playing reflects tremendous respect and passion for all the fiddle players and old recordings he spent countless hours learning from.
Together they play fiddle tunes, early country and Cajun songs. Their new recording “Granddad’s Favorite” reflects their versatility in genres and instrumentation. Alternating between fiddle, banjo, guitar and accordion, they play true to the roots of American music with energy and respect. They are members of the Foghorn Stringband, the Dirk Powell Band and play with Cajun extraordinaires Jesse Lege, Joel Savoy and the Cajun Country Revival and have collaborated with Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum and Tim O’Brien.

Website

Chris Sanders - Singing

Singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter Chris Sanders has been so excited about acoustic music camps that she co-founded Desert Night Acoustic Music Camps at the Black Range Lodge in New Mexico, now in their eleventh year. While she has delved into careers as diverse as singing telegram messenger and choir director for middle schoolers and church groups, Chris remains a teacher focused on helping others find more ease and joy in singing. With a Master of Arts in music from Cal State East Bay and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, she has taught voice privately and at New Mexico State University and the University of Texas in El Paso. Her camp credits include teaching singing and songwriting at Camp Bluegrass and Hill Country Acoustic Music Camp in Texas. From classical, musical theater and jazz to acoustic roots music, Chris has been a life-long performer, spending over 19 years touring with noted mandolin player Steve Smith in his Hard Road bands and in the Hard Road Trio. Her award-winning original songs appear on the Desert Night label including all the Hard Road recordings as well as her two solo albums. Look for the Chris Sanders Project “Sandersongs” coming in 2025.

Percy Copley - Ukulele

Percy Copley performs solo, or accompanied, using different types of ukulele - tenor, soprano, resonator, uke-banjo - singing a variety of songs from 20s/30s to more modern too. Jazz, blues, country, etc all with energy and fun! Songs, chords, strums, right hand rhythm... Music theory for ukulele. Fingerpicking, chords and solos... Learn new techniques, improve your own style - take the uke beyond the group session for more personal enjoyment and playing.
Percy’s first instrument was ukulele. At a young age he played in many places doing George Formby numbers and magic tricks! He has an infectious sense of humour but behind the façade, there is a real professional at work. His class is guaranteed to be fun but expect to meet a dedicated master of his art. This is a man of many talents who is equally adept on Mandolin, Banjo (tenor and five string) Guitar and Bagpipes! He has taught several times at Sorefingers (on other instruments too) as well as many other workshops/camps in France and the rest of Europe.