Jim Richter (jimrichter.com)
Jim Richter is a multi-instrumentalist (mandolin, banjo, guitar) who over the last 40 years has focused on roots-based American music with a special focus on traditional electric and acoustic blues. Jim started his musical life as a bluegrass banjoist, followed by many years as an electric guitarist specializing in the styles of Freddy King and Hollywood Fats. However, the last two decades, blues mandolin has truly been the niche Jim was meant to embrace. Though respectful of the historical blues mandolin pioneers, Jim has sought to expand blues mandolin expression and repertoire though leveraging his background as an electric blues guitarist. Jim has become recognized as one of the leaders in this area. Also, Jim’s extensive knowledge of guitar-based classic rock has led him to transcribe and arrange many tunes for mandolin that show how versatile the mandolin can be in reimagining rock tunes without “bluegrassifying” them. Jim is most proud of the work he has done in mandolin education especially for adult learners. Partnering with Don Julin, Jim developed the Jim Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us that focuses on three areas: 1) mandolin instruction for the non-bluegrasser, 2) adult learners who need a different approach to instruction and 3) teaching students how to harness what they already know to build self-efficacy and immediate use of that knowledge while playing with others. This camp enters its 10th year in 2023. Jim’s discography includes his own self-titled work, The Road Home (tribute to Butch Baldassari), Tribute to Yank Rachell, Hootenanny with Gordon Bonham (live concert DVD), and Too Damn Cold by the Forecasters. Jim is also a licensed mental health counselor who directs a mental health center in Indianapolis, Indiana and was a doctoral candidate in psychology before deciding enjoying life was more important.
Don Julin (donjulin.com)
Don Julin is one of Michigan’s premier instrumentalists and the nation’s foremost mandolin educators. From jazz to folk, gypsy to avant-garde, Julin is loved for his talent and fluidity. 2012 saw Don release his CD Vibe, as well as the much acclaimed Mandolin for Dummies, a much needed addition to mandolin instruction. 2014 will see Don’s release of Mandolin Exercises for Dummies. Don has achieved national acclaim for his original compositions from his cd’s Tractor and Mr. Natural. Don has won national songwriting contests and his music is often heard on NPR’s radio magazine All Things Considered. Don performs thoughout the United States and Europe and has been a featured performer for the Classical Mandolin Society of America including other international events. Don’s performances with Billy Strings over the last two years have shaken up the old time and Americana worlds. The last half dozen years as seen Don rally multiple mandolin instructors together to contribute to Don’s “Mandolins Heal the World” instruction site.
Mike Compton
(www.mikecompton.net)
Befriended and mentored by Bill Monroe, the acknowledged Father of Bluegrass Music, Mike Compton is one of today’s foremost interpreters of Monroe’s genre-creating mandolin style. Mandolin students from around the world make the pilgrimage to his annual Monroe Mandolin Camp, where Compton and a select handful of other experts teach everything from the basics of bluegrass mandolin to the most intimate details of Monroe’s endlessly inspiring mandolin style.
Compton’s mastery of mandolin is at once effortless and exceptional. A compelling entertainer either alone or with a group, his skills as a singer, arranger, instrumentalist, composer and accompanist also make him in-demand as a band member and ensemble player at festivals, clubs and concert halls, recording sessions, music workshops and as a private instructor. With more than 140 albums in his discography, including work with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Patty Loveless, Compton has helped keep mandolin a cool, relevant sound as the modern musical styles ebb and evolve to reach an ever broadening audience.
When A-list Americana producer T-Bone Burnett needed experts in authentic rural musical styles to anchor the landmark O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie project and subsequent tour, he called upon Compton’s unique knowledge and signature mandolin style to authenticate the Soggy Bottom Boys’ rootsy sound. That Grammy Award Album of the Year -winning album went on to sell seven million copies and sparked a global revival in old-time and bluegrass musical styles.
Equally skilled in bluegrass, old-time string band music, country blues, rootsy Americana styles, and much more, Compton soars beyond easy categorization as an acoustic mandolin player and singer.
Gifted at tastefully incorporating rural, roots-based lead and rhythm mandolin styles into modern Americana music, Compton’s unique musical skillset allows
Laurelyn Dossett (https://www.laurelyndossett.com/)
Singer/songwriter Laurelyn Dossett lives and writes in Stokes County, NC. Her songs have appeared in film and television (Hell on Wheels, Ain’t In it for My Health) and have been recorded by many artists including Grammy-winning Levon Helm (Anna Lee) and Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops (Leaving Eden).
In 2020-2021 Laurelyn hosted “A Place in the Band,” a discussion series sponsored by the Blue Ridge Music Center. This series of recorded interviews focused on women in bluegrass and roots music, both artists and industry professionals, the particular challenges that they face, and their rich history or contributions to bluegrass and folk music.
She has partnered with Triad Stage’s Preston Lane on six plays-with-music: Brother Wolf (2006), Beautiful Star:An Appalachian Nativity (2006), Bloody Blackbeard (2008), Providence Gap(2010), Snow Queen (2013, and Radiunt Abundunt (2016). In 2018 she wrote the songs for playwright Mike Wiley’s Leaving Eden; it premiered at Playmaker’s Repertory in 2018.
Her song cycle, The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs was commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony and premiered in Raleigh in 2011, Grant Llewellyn conducting. Guest artists on that project included Mike Compton, Rhiannon Giddens, Joe Newberry and Jason Sypher. The cd “The Gathering” made many of the top 10 holiday cds in 2011, including the NY Times, the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune. The Wall Street Journal said “It’s what the holidays were before shopping and Irving Berlin.” It was reprised by the Winston-Salem Symphony in 2019, Timothy Redmond conducting.
Laurelyn has written songs for various protest movements in North Carolina including My Beloved Enemy and Vote Against Amendment One. She remains a voice for social justice and environmental activism in North Carolina and beyond. The River’s Lament is her testament to the devastation of the Dan River coal ash spill. She founded and continues to host the annual “Songs of Hope and Justice” at the North Carolina Folk Festival.
Laurelyn has taught songwriting and singing at the Augusta Heritage Center and the Monroe Mandolin Camp, as well as at many universities, workshops and festivals. She is the recipient of the Betty Cone Medal of Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship for songwriting, the Chris Austin songwriting contest at Merlefest, and has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
Laura Boosinger (www.lauraboosinger.com)
After living throughout the south during her teenage years, her family came to North Carolina in 1975 when Laura Boosinger was seventeen. In January of 1976, she enrolled at Warren Wilson College where her life took a dramatic shift. Laura learned that she could take banjo lessons for college credit! Having no idea what she had really signed up for, she met David Holt and began a lifelong friendship with her mentor. She “designed” her own major around Appalachian Music and Studies. Laura began playing and performing with Holt and numerous other players around the Asheville area, which she adopted as her home, just as the area and its musical community adopted her. In 1984 she took over David Holt’s chair in the Luke Smathers Band, driving to Canton, NC for practice every Sunday through 1997. She learned the mountain swing style that the Smathers brothers created after hearing swing music on the radio in their formative days. They adapted tunes like “Whispering” and “Darkness on the Delta” to string band instruments and became a popular dance band throughout the region. Their repertoire included popular music from as far back as the 1920s, old-time fiddle tunes, western swing, and classic country. This band served as a training ground for Laura, and her experience with the Luke Smathers Band developed a wide repertoire and skill base.
One of Laura’s truest musical friendships has been the one she formed with George Shuffler, guitarist and bass player for the Stanley Brothers for over two decades. Shuffler helped innovate the cross-picking style of guitar so prominent throughout Bluegrass today. Cross-picked guitar and clawhammer banjo might not seem like a natural pair, but Laura and George turned the sound into a recording that artfully combines mountain tunes with Bluegrass standards, Mountain Treasures.
Laura has been a mentor for numerous young musicians in western North Carolina, always happy to sing another chorus or play a line one more time for inquiring young ears. One of those young musicians is Josh Goforth, with whom she has toured extensively in the US and Scotland. Their music is a combination of mountain standards, traditional ballads, and old pop songs. Their album, Most of All, is a striking blend of beautiful harmonies and virtuosic playing.
Laura’s newest venture is with the legendary Mike Compton. They call themselves The Knackered Ramblers. Watch for a performance near your and the new EP “We B Ramblin’.”
“Laura has recorded numerous solo albums, including Let Me Linger, Down the Road, and Sing it Yourself! She is instrumental in maintaining the tradition of shaped note singing from the Christian Harmony in workshops at Merlefest and The Earl Scruggs Center and annual singings across the region. Proficient in instruments including banjo, guitar, and autoharp, she also teaches multiple instruments and offers vocal coaching. She has vast experience teaching residencies in Southern Mountain Music to public school children of all ages. She has been a mainstay at numerous festivals in western North Carolina for decades and serves as a Master of Ceremonies for The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, the oldest folk festival in the nation, and at Shindig on the Green every summer in downtown Asheville, NC. Laura serves as a consultant to the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina project which strives to sustain the rich music traditions of the western North Carolina and the region. Laura was inducted into The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2017.
Additional Staff: Concert Performance
Gordon Bonham (http://gordonbonham.com/)
Gordon Bonham brings together a mix of styles from the Mississippi Delta to the back alleys of Chicago, from big Texas shuffles to jumpin’ West Coast swing. After several years of tearing up the road, Bonham brings it all together in Indiana, the Crossroads of America.
Bonham has performed several times with the legendary Pinetop Perkins, most notably in Cleveland along with Robert Lockwood, Jr. as part of the grand opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He played off and on for ten years with the late Indianapolis blues mandolin man, “Yank” Rachell, as well as Chicago piano man Jimmy Walker. He also handled the guitar spot for the late harmonica ace Gary Primich in Austin, TX in the late “80’s. Gordon has worked three times with Bo Diddley as band leader and rang in the 2000 new year at the Slippery Noodle playing with Blues Brother Matt “Guitar” Murphy. Other notable gigs include a mini tour with “Ice Cream Man” John Brimm and sharing the Main Stage at the Chicago Blues Fest with Billy Boy Arnold and the late Sunny Land Slim. Bonham has also opened for such greats as Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Solomon Burke and B.B.King.
Locally, Bonham was a founding member of the critically acclaimed Cooler Kings, followed by the Gordon Bonham Blues Band. Their CD “Low Down and Blue” was chosen by David Lindquist of the Indianapolis Star as no.3 of the Top Ten Releases of 1999. He continues to be a host of the blues jam at the world famous Slippery Noodle Inn, and is a regular with the Indianapolis Jazz Fest.
With two European tours, and recently two tours of Sweden, the growing list of memorable gigs and credentials continue to stack up, making Gordon Bonham’s music a must have for anyone who appreciates serious and soulful blues.
The Banister Bluegrass Band (https://www.facebook.com/BanisterFamilyBluegrassBand/)
