Strung Together Pre-event Activities

September 16th- Wednesday at the Shores-32nd year    Front Porch Jams   5-7 PM . All are welcomed to bring a stringed instrument, a song, or smile.  Food truck on hand. Free vending of your creations is allowed.

Strung Together Begins

Handmade pies made with fresh ingredients fired in an outdoor wood-fed pizza oven. Sonya Eldridge is the Master Chef.  BYOB

6:00 p.m. Performance by Wooden Nickels- Maybelle's Stage

7:00 p.m. Community square dance with Owen Marshall, Alden Robinson and the All Star Strung Together Band. Caller Pat Danscen

Join the band or join the dancers. Both options guaranteed fun! Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

8:30ish p.m. Open jams with breakout groups for slow jammers to advanced jammers.

New to Maine folk music and the tradition of community jams? Join the slow jam led by an experienced Maine folk player to get the rhythm.

Bluegrass Slow Jam (real slow)- Joan Richert.  Start jamming right away- some may want to take a turn in the circle to lead a song, some may want to take a solo break, but neither is required! This jam is singing based, not instrumental tunes so that nobody is left out. Watson's Den

Ready to jam and exchange tunes with other Maine folk music players? Check out the fast jam (s) led by Dan Simons, Dan Sowder and friends. Ola Bella Reed Hall

Bluegrass Jam with Stan. Scruggs' Hall

Day 2, Saturday, September 19th

8 – 9:15 a.m. Scones, music, and stories
Wake up surrounded by trees and sea breezes, then come grab fresh homemade scones & oatmeal with juice, hot coffee & tea at Monroe Saloon

*Jacob leads the morning tune stretching warmups

*The scone goddess for the weekend is Toneen Constantino

9:00 Workshops

Irish Fiddle with Laura Feddersen, Scrugg's Hall

Learn an Matt Comb's Tune on Mandolin (and maybe a Jacob Henning original)-  Stoppin' & a Startin' is the tune you'll learn. If time allows you'll be treated to one of Jacob's original tunes. Handouts will be made available. Chubby Wise Mess Hall

Clawhammer & Old Time Banjo- part 1 led by Joel Wennerstrom. This workshop's direction will be student directed based on skill levels, interest and what students want to learn. Great session for intermediate players Watson's Den

First time Jammers led by Dan Sowder & Tom Fowler, back of Ola Belle Reed Hall

10 a.m. Workshops (join a jam at the end of your workshop)

Fiddling workshop of favorite tunes- with George Fowler and John Pranio, Watson's Den

What’s the point of Scales? I thought those were for fish? (For fiddle and Mando) with Dan Simons.

If you are anything like me when I started, I would have rather learned 100 fiddle tunes per key rather than sit down and learn a scale like my teacher asked me to. But it turns out, scales are actually useful. Scales protect the soft bodies of fish from predators and other threats in the ocean. They also help fish to move smoothly through the water. Scales also protect human musicians from attacks by unintentional dissonant notes while playing, and help us move smoothly through the ocean of key signatures. By the end of this beginner track class we will know a few of the most important major and minor scales, learn some finger dexterity exercises, and grow weary of fish based metaphors.  Ola Belle Reed Hall

10 – 11:30 a.m. Jam Sessions

Irish Jam led by Alden Robinson, Scruggs' Hall

 Old-time jam led by Jon Kerr and Fred White , Chubby Wise Mess Hall

Slow bluegrass jam led by Stan D'Aubin , Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Workshop A - Help Jacob Henning warm up for an evening concert by playing a few of his favorite tunes, Scruggs' Hall
Workshop B -  A simple/intermediate Bluegrass Tune with Dan Sowder, Watson's Den
Workshop C - Beginner Clawhammer session continues from Friday evening w/ Joan. Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage
Workshop D- Guitar: DADGAD (Modal D) with Owen Marshall. Celtic, fingerstyle and the blues , Ola Belle Reed Hall

Workshop E- MANDOLIN WORKSHOP with Tom Fowler. Explore tunes together with Tom Chubby Wise Mess Hall

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch- The Potato Bar, Monroe Saloon

12:30 PM Concert- Amy Law & Torrin Ryan, a duo united by a deep respect for traditional Irish music. Blending decades of experience, their playing is rooted in the pure drop, older style of the genre- Mabelle's Stage

1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Whatever Floats Your Boat Jam
Slow jam George, Art, Fred and friends, Cathy Fink's Jam Tent
Fast jam Circle around and pick a tune to share with Owen, Laura and Joel Ola Belle Reed Hall

1 – 2 p.m. Workshops

Workshop A- Ann Murray is teaching a clawhammer banjo version of Lee Sexton’s Shady Grove as a companion to the fiddle tune taught by Jeff Titon last year. People should bring a banjo and a capo as we’ll be playing in A, Chubby Wise Mess Hall

Workshop B-How To Fit In, Have Fun, and Take a Break during a Bluegrass Jam with Dan Sowder. All instruments, Scruggs' Hall

Workshop C - Fun Songs with Annadeene and Tom! singing jam/workshop, includes handouts.  Watson's Den

Workshop D- Harmonica Straight or blues, you choose! with John Pranio  Alison Krauss Sound Stage or the beach

2:30 – 3:30 p.m Jam

A jam for tunes that are shared between the New England fiddle music tradition and bluegrass circles led by Dan Sowder and John Pranio  Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Workshops

Workshop A- Prep for the coffee house- practice workshop, Scruggs' Hall

Workshop D- Learn an Irish Tune-Amy Law & Torrin Ryan, Watson's Den

Workshop E- Swing mandolin with Stan D'Aubin, Chubby Wise Mess Hall

3:30-4 PM  Please bring your food contribution to Monroe Saloon so that our staff and volunteers have time to prepare the potluck dinner.

4-5 ish PM Sea Shanties- Steve Barrett  Learn some tags and a simple song, cover some fundamentals of good harmonizing and a little background on the style; hoping to get a foursome together to do a demo at the coffee house. Watson's Den

4-5 ish PM Body Percussion workshop with Pat Danscen Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

4-5 ish PM Downeast fiddle tunes for dances with the Newell Family Band Ole Belle Reed Hall

4-5 ish PM One Class, One Waltz…Let’s Get together and Feel Alright with Dan Simons. Those are the lyrics to that Bob Marley song right? In this class, we are going to listen to and hopefully learn all of East Texas Waltz, this amazing tune in D by Peter Ostroushko. Peter was the longtime mandolinist and fiddle player for Prairie Home Companion. He died in 2021, but left us many great albums and tunes. This class is for any instrument, although I’ll have sheet music for treble clef and rhythm chords written out. Melody players prepare to shift up to different positions if you are into that sort of thing. Chubby Wise Mess Hall

4-5 ish PM                   Jam Sessions

Fast jammin' with Wooden NIckels   Scruggs' Hall

Real Slow Jam Stan and Joan Cathy Fink's Jam Tent

5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Potluck dinner, Monroe Saloon & Chubby Wise Mess Hall
Bring your favorite dish to share and beverage to share & enjoy!
Head Chef for the potluck dinner is Sonya Eldridge.  You can coordinate fridge and oven needs with Sonya,

6:30- 7:30 p.m. We head downtown for a Community Contra/Square Dance w/Newell Family & Alden Robinson w/ Strung Together Band. Caller Pat Danscen, Searsport Union Theater

7:30 – 9:00 p.m. Coffee house participant-led performances, Searsport Union Theater
Share your talents with the Strung Together community and sign up for a slot to perform at the coffee house. MC's for the evening-Annadeene and Tom Fowler. This is always a fun one!

9:30 p.m. Open jams with breakout groups for slow jammers and advanced jammers
Play tunes learned during the day and bring new ones to suggest to the group. All players are welcome! Real Slow Jam in Watson's Den, Slow Jam in Scruggs' Hall, Fast Jam in Ola Bella Reed Hall.

Day 3, Sunday, September 20th

8 – 9:15 a.m. It's a egg casserole and waffle (GF included) morning! Coffee Jam! A strong cup of Joe will be provided 🙂The Monroe Saloon

9:15a.m. Group photo on the Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

9:45 a.m. Hornpipes-Fact or Fiction with Alden  Ola Belle Reed Hall

9:45 a.m. Clawhammer & Old Time Banjo- part 2 led by Joel Wennerstrom. This workshop's direction will build on session 1. It is student directed based on skill levels, interest and what students want to learn. Watson's Den

9:45 a.m. Sing in the Round led by Annadeene & Tom.  Bring any instrument. Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

9:45 a.m. Double Stops and Tremolo on Mandolin (fiddle players welcome too) Why play one note when you can play 2? (It’s a buy one get one free situation so take advantage of it while this sale lasts) with Dan Simons. People come for the single note, but stay for the double stops. We’ll explore double stop patterns in all keys and how you can add them to tunes. Once you add tremolo, not only will you be the life of the party, but you’ll go from playing those free farmers market gigs to headlining Red Rocks… guaranteed. Scruggs Hall

9:45 a.m. Real Slow Bluegrass Jam- Joan Richert. Songs may include Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky, All the Good Times are Passed and Gone, Worried Man Blues, My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, etc. Cathy Fink's Jam Tent

11:00 a.m. Dig Into Jigs with Alden-  Scruggs' Hall

Dolly Parton Gospel Sing Along with Grace Cole

Old-Time jam led by Jon Kerr, Art Bryan and friends, Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

Mando Madness, All Levels-All Mandolins- Anything goes in this mandolin session. Bring questions, tunes to share, techniques your exploring or just come and play. Ola Belle Reed Hall

12 p.m. – 1:00p.m. Tune in Together. Group jam with the weekend tunes and questions for the music leaders. Led by Owen, Alden ,Owen, Dan and Dan whoever else is not still at the coffee bar 🙂 Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

1:00 p.m. Sweet Social, Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

Instrument Vendors include:

Violins by Linden Frederick

Luthier Linden Frederick is based in Belfast, Maine.

Master banjo maker on site is Tom Gocze 

Tom 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 offering instruments for sale Friday - Sunday. Next to Cathy Fink's Jam Tent