Guitar workshop with Jorma Kaukonen

beaker
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:49 am

Hello TG friends,

I wanted to tell you about my recent experience of taking a guitar workshop from Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna). I found out that Jorma has a ranch in Ohio and has guitar weekends there. His ranch is called the Fur Peace Ranch, as in.... "it is a fur peace from anywhere"..... a local colloquialism. The weekend that I attended was a Tribute to Rev. Gary Davis. There were two other instructors there. Woody Mann and Roy Bookbinder. Both are amazing players, especially Woody mann. Wow!... he was over the top good!
When I got to the ranch I was shown around, there were two workshop spaces, one with a music library upstairs filled with music biographies,guitar books and DVD's. There is a concert hall called the Fur Peace Station and a dining area, and a scattering of cabins for the guests. The rolling hills of Ohio were beautiful at this time of year and the ranch was a very relaxing environment to focus on music for a few days. The other guests were from all over North America, and we also had one Aussie and an Italian amongst us. Everyone was very friendly and laid back. I enjoyed meeting them, discussing music (Our collective wisdom was great enough that we stayed away from politics and religion) and learning with them. The camp staff went out of their way to make us all feel welcomed. They even knew me by my first name by the first day. I felt right at home.
On the morning of the first day, I went to the workshop where Jorma was going to teach, there was an empty seat in the front row on the left. I sat there. Soon after, Jorma showed up and took his seat. It was right in front of me, four feet away! I remained there for the entire weekend. Over the course of the weekend we learned four songs, all of which were quite a challenge, but Jorma fit in time to give everyone some one on one instruction. And we had an excellent assistant instructor named Marjorie Thompson who was extremely helpful. One of the highlights was a performance put on by the instructors. It was a totally unplugged affair. The room was that small! There were only 30 of us in attendance! First Jorma played about 5 songs, then him and Woody jammed on a song (the best part), then woody played and then Roy played. It was a real treat! these guys are some of the best players in the world, and I was seeing them play from only a few feet away. All of the instructors had known Rev. Gary Davis in New York in the 60's and Woody and Roy even learned to play guitar from him... for 5$ a lesson! There were lot's of hilarious stories from their lives in the folk and rock and roll world. After the musical performance, Woody showed the documentary that he is has produced about Rev. Gary Davis. We saw the second screening ever! The film was great and all three of the instructors were interviewed in it so it was cool to watch it with them. The film will eventually be on PBS or at one of the film festivals, so look out for it. It is called Harlem Street Singer.
Anyway, my experience was a thrill of a lifetime and I would recommend it to anyone. It was a ton of fun, I learned a lot and got many guitar playing tips!

Beaker.... AKA Arran.


beaker
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:31 am

Does anyone know how to attach photo's? the select image file to attach does not seem to work. Thanks, Beaker.


Craig
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:56 am

Wow! Sounds like an AWESOME experience. I'm happy for you that you got the opportunity to do this. Thanks for sharing with us.

Craig


dsmarion
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:15 pm

I would love to do this sometime since it's only a couple hours drive from where I live. Pricey though so I will need to save some $$$ before considering it.

Scott


dennisg
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:46 pm

This sounds nothing short of awesome, Beak. You're a lucky guy.


thereshopeyet
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:23 pm

Thanks


beaker
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:55 pm

Thanks for your tips Dermot. I will try again. Beaker.


BobR
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:03 pm

Beake,

Sounds like you had a fantastic experience. :woohoo: :woohoo: I hope you'll be able to post some pics.

Bob


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