Vocals
Vocals, Level 1—Don't let those flashy non-singing pickers try to kid you: bluegrass music is mostly about the song. In this class, we'll deconstruct what makes bluegrass singing so special and what differentiates it from other singing styles. We'll be investigating the basics—breathing, tone production, finding the right key for your voice, and simple two-part harmonies—and we’ll be listening critically to recordings of the great masters. We'll also be getting together with Laurie Lewis's advanced vocal class to work on three- and four-part harmonies.
Prerequisite: If you can sing "Happy Birthday," you can be in this class.
Tom Rozum is best known as the creative mandolinist-vocalist with Laurie Lewis, recording and touring internationally with her since 1986. The first of their three duet CDs, The Oak and the Laurel, was nominated for a Grammy, and he sang and played on her recording of "Who Will Watch the Homeplace," which won IBMA's Song of the Year Award. Every Lewis/Rozum performance leaves audiences amazed at how well the pair’s voices harmonize and blend. Their many radio appearances include WSM's The Grand Ole Opry and APM's A Praire Home Companion. Once after Garrison Keillor yodeled during a segment of "The Lives of the Coyboys", he quipped, "I'm pretty good, but I'm no Tom Rozum.
Tom has taught mandolin and singing at the Augusta Heritage Workshops (10 yrs); and Bluegrass at the Beach (15 yrs); and for many years at the Telluride Academy; the Rocky Grass Academy; the California Coast Music Camp; the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes; Centrum Foundation's Voiceworks; the Alaska Bluegrass Cruise, Camp Ho-He-Ha (Alberta, Canada); and the British Columbia Bluegrass Camp. We gladly welcome him back for his sixth year with us at CBA Music Camp.
www.tomrozum.com
Vocals, Levels 2/3—Singing is the most direct method of communicating with an audience musically, and is probably the most fun you can have without getting into trouble. This class will cover the basics of good singing: tone, timing, taste, breath control, and pitch. We'll explore getting the most out of a song by making sure it's in the "right" key, and try to remove or lessen any obstacles that may block delivery of the message. We'll work on keeping the singing instrument "in tune" so that we get maximum tone and volume with minimum effort. In harmony singing, we'll work on phrasing and blend in duets and trios, sometimes combining with Tom Rozum's vocal class to get the maximum benefit from the instructors.
Prerequisites: Ability to carry a simple melody, or harmony part on your own.
What to Bring: A recording device, plenty of batteries, a water bottle, and a well-rested body.
Laurie Lewis has long been a key figure in bluegrass, traditional country, and folk music circles. She was a founding member of the West Coast bluegrass group the Good Ol' Persons in the mid '70s and of the Grant Street String Band in the '80s, a member of the bluegrass all-woman super group Blue Rose, and sang in The Bluebirds (with Linda Ronstadt and Maria Muldaur). Laurie is highly regarded as a singer (twice voted International Bluegrass Music Association "Female Vocalist of the Year"), duet partner (she has recorded wonderful duet albums with fellow Good Ol' Person Kathy Kallick and long-time bandmate Tom Rozum); and instrumentalist (she is a renowned fiddler, and a solid rhythm guitarist and bassist). Her instinctive feel for the lyric content of bluegrass, country, and folk material is a major reason for her popularity among lovers of traditional repertoire.
A dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, Laurie was coordinator of Bluegrass Week for over ten years at the Augusta Heritage Workshops in Elkins, VW, teaching fiddle, vocals, harmony singing, and ensemble playing. She has taught at Centrum Foundation's Voiceworks and the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA; Telluride Academy; British Columbia Bluegrass Camp, Wintergrass Academy, Camp HeHoHA in Alberta, Canada; and Rocky Grass Academy; and has been the coordinator of, and a teacher at, Bluegrass At The Beach in Nehalem bay, OR, for 15 years, not to mention numerous other vocal and harmony singing workshops throughout the US and Canada for the last 25 years. She’s been a popular teacher at our camp, and we’re glad to have her back.
www.laurielewis.com
