August Week II Fiddle

Endlessly inspired by bonds of kinship forged through music, Cellist, composer, and teacher
Sammy Wetstein found his love for music traveling between multigenerational folk music camps
and festivals in search of a musical community to call home. His journey led him to pursue a
degree in folk and jazz string performance at Berklee College of Music and become versed in a
variety of styles, performing, recording, and teaching throughout the worlds of classical, jazz,
and traditional Celtic, New England, Bluegrass and Old time fiddle music.
As a multi instrumentalist fluent in playing accordion, guitar, mandolin, bass, violin, and viola, he
has appeared at venues such as the Newport Folk Festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass festival, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Berklee College Of Music Convocation, The Library of
Congress, and the annual International Bluegrass Music Association festival. He has served as
faculty at Maine Fiddle Camp, The Swannanoa Gathering, The Ashokan Center, Fiddle Hell,
Pinewoods dance Camps, and the IBMA Kids on Bluegrass Program.
Sammy has appeared alongside artists such as the Grammy winning 8 Bit Big Band, jazz icons
Joe Levano and Kenny Barron, renown string players including Eugene Friesen, Darol Anger,
Mike Marshall and Jason Anick, and toured with trailblazing folk artists Jake Blount and Nic
Gareiss. Advocating for furthering the role of the cello in traditional music, he has been featured
on Bluegrass Today and Sirius XM Bluegrass Junction. In 2024 his new acoustic quartet Catfish
in the Sky was a winner of the Freshgrass band competition, and his Celtic trio was voted one of
the top 5 Celtic bands of 2022 by Irish and Celtic music podcast.
Sammy’s love of music stems from his dream to find belonging and bring others together, and in
his teaching he hopes to encourage string players of all ages and backgrounds to find freedom
in their music, explore global music styles, and play music as a means to exist in community
while better understanding oneself.

Words from Mitch Reed:
“I am a multi-instrumentalist, traditional music instructor, and storyteller. I was born in Bayou Vista, Louisiana, raised in Lafayette by musicians and storytellers from Mamou. At 15 I began playing the fiddle and studying traditional Cajun and Creole music. By 17 I toured as a cultural ambassador in Smithsonian Institution Office of Folklife Programs, and have continued to work with them since 1989.

During my career, I have played alongside Louisiana greats such as Canray Fontenot, Bois Sec Ardoin, Charles Neville, and George Porter. I have performed on four Grammy Nominated albums, and in 2009 I was awarded a Grammy with BeauSoleil for the album “Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival”. Over the years I have built an extensive repertoire and learned an old style of playing which is evident in my sound today.

After I retired from 11 years on the road as the bass player and second fiddler with BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, I moved from Louisiana to Maine with my wife and our family. These changes helped me continue passing on the unwritten tradition of Cajun and Creole fiddling and storytelling while exploring the connections between the musical traditions of Acadia and Acadiana.”

Mitch will be teaching either bass or fiddle during the week-long sessions in 2024

Maine musician Owen Kennedy is delighted to be on staff at Maine Fiddle Camp this year, after attending many years as a camper!  An award-winning fiddler rooted in the Maine Maritime musical tradition and immersed in his growing passion for Scottish music, Owen splits time between Maine and Cape Breton where he’s studying Gaelic language, culture, and music at Beinn Mhàbu. Owen’s love of traditional music and enthusiasm for performing has taken him all around New England, into Canada, and over to Scotland and Shetland, where he has played with Ellen Gawler and the Pineland Fiddlers, Young Tradition Vermont’s Touring Group and Youth Commission (now Sap Line), and in duos with Benjamin Foss, Ethan Tischler, and Seán Heely. Owen is the 2022 New England Regional Open Scottish Fiddle Champion, and the 2021 Junior US National Scottish Fiddle Champion.  His powerful playing can capture the melancholy of a Scottish air, mimic the sound of pipes in a march, or drive a good ol’ New England contradance tune.

Owen’s debut album “Oh When: Now,” recorded with Owen Marshall, features tunes from the Maine Maritime tradition as well as favorites from Scotland, Cape Breton, and Shetland.  Owen is also wrapping up a solo project, 50 Fiddlers from 50 States, available on YouTube.  In addition to performing, Owen has been giving private fiddle lessons in-person and online since 2019 and also offers group lessons at Beinn Mhàbu. Owen’s enthusiasm for teaching is fueled by his excitement to share what he has learned from the many mentors who have generously taught him over the years, including so many of the amazing Maine Fiddle Camp staff.  Whether in Maine, Vermont, or Cape Breton, Owen is not one to miss the chance to be outside exploring.  If he’s not playing for a dance, at a session, or on stage, he’s likely to be enjoying time on the water, cooking up fresh-caught fish by bonfire, or taking a walk in the mountains along quiet gravel roads.

Find him on YouTube and social media @fiddlerokennedy or at www.fiddlerokennedy.com.

Adelaide Morgan is a fiddler and multi-instrumentalist currently residing in East Tennessee. A long time Maine Fiddle camper, Adelaide started playing fiddle at the age of five and was lucky to grow up deeply inspired by the vibrant group of musicians in Maine. Since first being introduced to bluegrass at eight years old, Adelaide and her twin sister Amelia have performed extensively together, their music evolving over the years into a dynamic blend of styles that reflects the roots of their musical upbringing.

Adelaide’s love for music led her to East Tennessee State University, where she is now studying  Bluegrass, Old Time and Roots music. In Tennessee, she continues to perform alongside her sister and other musicians, playing contra dances, bluegrass gigs, and teaching fiddle.

Adelaide offers private lessons, both virtually and in person.

email: [email protected]

phone: (207) 951-7294

Elizabeth Anderson Howe is the 2020 US National Scottish Fiddle Champion and the 2016 Perth All-Scotland Fiddle Champion.  Her stylish and vibrant fiddle playing has delighted audiences and dancers across the East Coast. As a duo with her brother Ben on cello, Elizabeth has played to full houses at iconic Boston venues The Burren and Club Passim, and has given popular performances and workshops as far away as France and Scotland.  A graduate of Berklee College of Music, she teaches string instruments as a middle school and private instructor.

Maine coast musician, and member of the North American Fiddler’s Hall of Fame, Frank Ferrel is considered one of the seminal traditional New England and Maritime fiddlers. In fact, Boston Globe music critic, Scott Alarik called him, “One of the finest living masters of the genre.” his CD recording, Yankee Dreams, was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in their, “Select list of 25 examples of American folk music on record.” His original compositions have enjoyed great popularity in the Canadian Maritimes, and have been recorded by such notable Canadian fiddlers as Buddy MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac, Brenda Stubbert, Tracy Dares, Maybelle Chisholm, Andrea Beaton, Joe Cormier, Shane Cook, Tara Lynn Touesnard and Douglas Cameron and J.J. Chaisson. He is a regular fixture at local traditional dances and concerts, and has preformed and toured throughout North America, Ireland and the British Isles, including numerous appearances with the legendary Celtic group, The Boys of the Lough. He has also been a regular featured guest on the National Public Radio series, A Prairie Home Companion, and is included on their CD recording, PHC Tourists. Frank has recorded his music for national labels including Rounder records, Flying Fish, Voyager and Great Meadow Music. He has written numerous books of traditional music, and has contributed numerous articles to folk and music magazines and journals.

Frank Ferrel 114 Old Brunswick Road, Bath, Maine 04530, USA, (207) 449-1614 (home), (207) 841-9918 (cell) www.frankferrel.com [email protected]

Elaine Malkin has played the violin since the age of 5. She was part of the resurgence of contra dances in Maine in the early 70’s, having learned from Otto Soper and Dudley Laufman. She played New England contra dances until 2009, when she began an intensive study of Québécois fiddle with mainly Éric Favreau, but also with Lisa Ornstein, André Brunet, Yvon Mimeault, and Liette Remon. This music has completely captured her heart and she uses a traditional Québécois repertoire for contra dances, concerts, and other venues. Learning, teaching, and sharing this special music is her greatest joy.

Helen Newell grew up in Maine surrounded by the New England Folk scene. Her parents, Kaity and Carter Newell are founding members of Maine Fiddle Camp, and Helen has spent every year of her life at MFC, first as a camper and now as a staff member since 2018.

Helen graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2022, where she studied Violin Performance and American Roots. She is now living in Nashville, where she has an active performing life as a professional violinist, playing in orchestras, musicals, recording sessions, chamber groups, and folk bands.

She currently teaches violin in-person in Nashville and online to students of all ages. Her teaching philosophy is to make playing the violin enjoyable and effortless, reduce tension, and explore styles that make you love music even more!

Kaity teaches fiddle in Damariscotta and has played for dances for many years with The Maine Country Dance Orchestra, and with the band The Lady Bugs. A native of Great Britain, Kaity has brought many a fine tune from the British Isles to our local dances. Kaity also plays viola in the local community orchestra and has four children, all of whom play music and come to camp every year.
7 Creek Lane Damariscotta ME 044543 207-563-8440

Ed Pearlman is based in South Portland, enjoys many styles of fiddle music, and is best known for Scottish and Cape Breton fiddling, often working with his son Neil, daughter Lillie, and his wife, dancer Laura Scott. He has taught in-person workshops and private lessons since the 1980s, and since 2014, has run www.fiddle-online.com, an instructional fiddle website offering many styles and techniques. Ed co-led music and walking trips to Scotland for 14 summers, and now writes weekly posts about them on substack.com, as well as weekly posts about learning fiddle. Ed has worked closely with many top fiddlers, wrote for Fiddler magazine for several yeas, and was the music columnist for Scottish Life magazine for 24 years. He directed the Boston Scottish Fiddle Club 1981-99, and the Roaring Jelly open contra dance band for several years. With Neil on piano, Ed has toured widely and recorded 3 CDs (one with Lillie on fiddle). Together, they published a book of 150 original tunes called the “Pine Street Collection”. Ed invented the popular Finger Finder, a slide rule for violin fingering in all keys. In 2024, Ed was inducted into the Scots Trad Music Hall of Fame, an honor rarely awarded to people living outside the UK.  Contact: [email protected]

John started his early musical life as a drummer, but by some miracle got hooked on traditional music in his teens.

John’s been teaching fiddle and harmonica at MF Camp since its start in the mid 90’s.  He’s been known to get a few silly skits going for the evening variety show. He teaches fiddle, guitar and harmonica privately and can be contacted at [email protected] 338-0296 (cell 213-3294).

Maggie Robinson has been teaching fiddle since 2003.  She began taking fiddle lessons the age of 10 and became concert mistress of her school orchestra during her senior year.   Many years later she discovered Contradancing and fell in love with the music  She took the violin out of the closet and began learning fiddle tunes. She completed a course in 2003 at the Hartt College of Music, Theater, & Dance on “Teaching Fiddling”.

Currently she is teaching at several locations in greater Portland, and also regularly calls for contra dances around the state.

A new England fiddler and folk singer, Lissa grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk music and dance community, where she cut her teeth as a musician at a very young age. She has continued to explore music throughout her life, leading to her graduation from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (2001). Her list of mentors includes Greg Boardman, Alasdair Fraser, David Kaynor, and Hankus Netsky. While embracing a diverse pallet of musical influences, she still stays true to her New England roots.
For more info on Lissa, check out her website at www.lissafiddle.com

Pam sings and plays several instruments in the folk trio, T-Acadie, is fiddler and singer for the Maine-based Cajun dance band, Jimmyjo & the Jumbol’Ayuhs, plays fiddle and mountain dulcimer in the contradance band, Scrod Pudding, and performs solo or with guitar player and caller Bill Olson. She is an accomplished tunesmith and has composed scores of tunes, from lively jigs and reels, to entrancing airs and beautiful waltzes.

(more…)