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 Skip Gorman, Dan Simons, Dan Sowder and friends. Ola Bella Reed Hall

Bluegrass Jam with Jacob and 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 Old Time Tune on Mandolin (and maybe a Jacob Henning original)- Andrew Marling 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)

Skip's fiddle workshop of favorite tunes- Skip Gorman, Watson's Den

Skill building on mandolin- Dan Simons Ola Belle Reed Hall

Fiddling with George Fowler and John Pranio Chubby Wise Mess 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 , Cathy Fink's Jam Tent

11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Workshop A -  Learn an Irish Tune- Amy Law & Torrin Ryan, 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. Cathy Fink's Jam Tent
Workshop D- Guitar: DADGAD (Modal D) with Owen Marshall. Celtic, fingerstyle and the blues , Ola Belle Reed Hall

Workshop E- Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

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

12:30 PM Concert- Twitchell Hill Fiddleheads, Mabelle's Stage

1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Whatever Floats Your Boat Jam
Slow jam led by Dan Simons and friends, Cathy Fink's Jam Tent
Fast jam Circle around and pick a tune to share, Ola Belle Reed Hall

1 – 2 p.m. Workshops

Workshop A 2 Finger Banjo Style for beginners with Jon Kerr. This is the friendly style for OT. John will have a collection of OT music CD's for sale. Proceeds go to funding our instrument lending library, Chubby Wise Mess Hall

Workshop B Fit in by Doing the Right Thing during a Bluegrass Jam Dan Sowder, Scruggs' Hall

Workshop C - A MONROE STYLE MANDOLIN WORKSHOP with Skip Gorman- includes stories of Skip's 65 years of bluegrass rambles with players at the source., Watson's Den

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

Workshop E- swing dance basics with Pat Danscen Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Workshops

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

Flat picking fiddle tunes on guitar, Dan Simons, Ola Belle Reed Hall

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

An hour with Masie Newell- Downeast tunes in Bb/ F, Calico/ Old Time tunes or music from Europe- group vote, Watson's Den

4-5 ish p.m. 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

Body Percussion workshop with Pat Danscen

Tunes from Eastern Europe with Carter Newell and the family band. Fun for fiddlers. Ole Belle Reed Hall

Bluegrass Jam Sessions

Cross over jam featuring bluegrass and New England fiddle tunes,  led by Dan Sowder and Stan D'Aubin. Scruggs' Hall

Real Slow Jam led by Resa Randolph & Friends, Cathy Fink's Jam Tent

Sharing My Favorite Tunes Jam with Owen Marshall and friends

3:30 -4:15 PM Come grab a snack at the Monroe Saloon

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. Tune spotting workshop with Alden - focus on recognizing or learning less common types of Irish tunes, hop jigs, slides etc. Tommy Jarrell Sound Stage

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

A BALLAD AND CHORUS SINGING WORKSHOP-Skip Gorman, Ola Belle Reed Hall

Real Slow Bluegrass Jam- Joan Richert and Resa Randolph. 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. Weird fiddle tunings with Alden- cross A/G, calico, etc Scruggs' Hall

Dolly Parton inspired sing along with Grace Cole  Watson's Den

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

Mando Madness, All Levels 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 Skip, 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

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. Cathy Fink's Jam TentStrung Together Pre-event Activities