Strung Together: A Maine String Band Weekend
"Where the Ocean Meets the Strings"
Calling all string-players, music lovers, and contradancers!
Tune up your instruments and put on your dancing shoes for a weekend celebration of Maine folk music!
Strung Together is a unique three-day experience that includes community jam sessions, contradances, story-telling, and workshops. Strung Together is focused on various forms of Maine folk music—music brought to Maine by seafarers, lumberjacks, travelers—and homesteaders that we continue to play and love here in Maine. Come prepared to jam and fall in love with the music of Maine!
Experienced Maine folk music players—including players of Old-Time, Irish, Bluegrass, Quebecois, and Cape Breton music—and contradancers gather at Strung Together, providing opportunities for new to advanced players to participate in Maine’s rich musical heritage. Players of all instruments and levels are welcome!
Strung Together is held at one of the most beautiful places on the planet—the award-winning Searsport Shores Campground in Searsport, Maine! There is no better place to celebrate and play Maine folk music than where the woods meet the sea at Searsport Shores Campground.
Proceeds will be used for musician scholarships and to help fund the instrument lending project at the Searsport Carver Memorial Library.
For more details, see the Strung Together schedule.
A Good Folkin' Time!
Music Workshops
Workshops offered throughout the weekend . Learn new skills from some of New England's top players and performers. Past Strung Together workshops have included:
- Bluegrass Banjo, led by a member of the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band, Max Wareham
- D-A-D-G-A-D Tuning for TRAD Guitar & GDAD tunings for Tenor, Mando, and Octave, led by one of North America's premiere Irish session players Owen Marshall
- Slow Bluegrass Fiddle, led by bluegrass singer-songwriter Reesa Randolph
- Introduction to Old-Time Ukulele, led by local legend, teacher-musician, and organizer of the Belfast Summer Nights and Annual Ukele Festival Ando Anderson
- Fun Songs, led by long-time musical luminaries Annadeene Fowler and Tom Fowler
- Bluegrass Guitar, led by Max Wareham
- Two finger banjo style with Jon Kerr
- Old Time American Cross- Tuned Fiddle Tunes with Skip Gorman
- Learn a Swedish Fiddle Tune with Benjamin Foss
- Coffee house practice, led by teacher-musicians and fixtures in the local contradance scene John Pranio and Toki Oshima
- Old Time Circle with the Montville Project
- Old Time Slow Jam with Emily Jeffries
Jam Sessions
Players of various instruments have long been coming together to learn, share, and play tunes through community "jams." The jam circle is a welcoming, participatory environment that allows players to create music, build friendships, and simply have fun together. Bring your instrument and suggestions for tunes to share!
We will be jamming throughout the three days, starting in the morning and continuing well into the evening. Strung Together offers the opportunity to jam with some of New England's top traditional music players.
Experienced instructors will also be on hand to lead slow jams and support new jammers and players. The schedule includes separate jam sessions dedicated to old-time music, Irish music, bluegrass music, as well as "anything goes" open jams.
So, tune up your instrument, toughen up your fingers, and get ready to JAM!
2025 Headliners
Alden Robinson
Alden has played the fiddle most of his life. He plays mostly Irish tunes and traditional New England dance music. Alden plays for concerts, dances (contra and square dances), weddings and other events.
In 2017 he went to Lithuania with the band Riptide on a State Department cultural exchange.
He played with The Press Gang, an Irish trio/quartet (now inactive) that toured in the U.S. and Canada in the 2010s.
Currently Alden enjoys putting together groups for various performances around New England. "I am always grateful for my many musical friends and adventures."
Elsie Gawler
Elsie is a multi-instrumentalist and songster rooted in Maine's traditional folk music and culture. With her family, the Gawler Family Band, she has played throughout the state and beyond, sharing traditional fiddle tunes, songs, and original works since she was 6 years old.
From this foundation she has branched out and launched her debut solo album, Sweet As Honey. The album is a collection of 9 original songs inspired by sacred connection to earth and community.
While continuing to play regularly with The Gawler Family Band, her other projects include duo Elsie & Ethan, and trio The Gawler Sisters. She has also been a long-time member of the group Childsplay.
Dancing
Music provides the context for dancing, and so we will dance! No dance experience needed. No dance partner? No problem! Bring your two left feet!
Supported by the locally renowned Belfast Flying Shoes, the contra dance is a highly social, participatory form of community dancing that blends together the styles of English, Irish, Scottish, and French country line dances. Dancers learn a set of simple steps before the music starts and receive support from a "caller" during the dance, allowing all those involved to concentrate on just having fun. When the band sets a groove, the feet get tapping, and the dancers start to whirl, the smiles become contagious. It's no wonder why the contradance tradition has maintained its popularity in communities throughout Maine and New England.
Join the band or join the dancers. Both options are guaranteed fun!
Luthiers
Linden Frederick will be set up all weekend, showcasing some of his new violins/ fiddles which are available for you to play and try out. He also does violin repair and bow re-hairing. Linden's violins are some of the most admired in New England.
Tom Gocze has been trying to play the banjo for 59 years and has a large collection of different types of five string banjos. His company, Stockton Strings, will be at Strung Together to offer instruments for sale at a range of prices, some parts, as well as bluegrass and Old Time open back style banjos. He will be showing open back top tension Corian tone ring banjos, which are completely different from anything made before. Tom also has one which will do double duty as a charcuterie board for you cheese lovers.
Artist in Residence
Kathleen Farnsworth
September 8-15, 2025 Stitched Shibori Dyeing
Discover the power of the running stitch! Learn how this simple hand stitch can create beautiful and intricate designs. Kathleen will not only share her love of Shibori; an ancient Japanese technique of creating pattern on fabric and dyeing with indigo, but will take you step by step through the process. You will not only see how the hand stitched fabric can be compressed, knotted off and then dyed in an indigo vat to achieve these designs, but how a single fold in the fabric can change the entire design! This is a truly a magical experience that anyone can learn to achieve with confidence. If you can hand sew a running stitch on fabric, you can learn the art of Shibori.
Each day will begin at 10 am with a new technique and a project for you to create.
Thank you to the Strung Together Community
The success of Strung Together has been due to the generous contributions of so many wonderful humans (and some animals) who have donated their time, talents, jokes, stories, tunes, stage-pizza-making skills, and energies.
Sarah & Bill Smith, Erica Brown, Matt Shipman, Baron Collins-Hill, The Fowler Family- George, Annadeene, Tom and Chrissy, Mike Fleck, Nate Payne, Emily Jeffries, Emma Swartz, Skip Gorman, Emily Jeffries, Art Bryan, Steve Roy, Eli Gilbert, Toki Oshima, John Pranio, Ando Anderson, Max Wareham, Sara Grey, Benjamin Foss, The Sandy Boys, Alden Robinson, Owen Marshall, Linden Frederick, Bob Hammond, Fred White, Carter Logan, The Pinwheel Brothers, Will Brown, Mike & Susie Fay, Fred Coon, Pat Danscen, Resa Randolph, Jon Kerr, Edward Howe, Gus La Casse, Willy Clemetson, Grey Larsen, Cindy Kallet, Jim Burke, Kris Day, Miss Stella Mae & Miss China Pettway from Gees Bend, Emily Troll, Lincoln Meyers , Nadine Landry and Stephen "Sammy" Lind, John Gawler, Terri Lukacko, Scott Odell, Jeff Titon & The Bound to Have a Little Fun Band, Stuart Moore, Amy Deas and so many more. Thank you!
You! All Strung Together players are warmly invited to share their musical talents during an evening coffee house performance. Take over the stage and get the camp rockin'! Need a boost of confidence or some tips from pro performers? Join a special workshop to prepare for the coffee house. You won't find a friendly and more supportive audience than at Strung Together!
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors:
