Thank you to every instructor, volunteer, board member, and picker for making BBU’s JamVal 2025 a success!
February 14 – 16, 2025
at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel
JamVal 2025 will be a weekend-long bluegrass “non-festival” focused on jamming held over President’s Day Weekend (February 14 – 16, 2025). There will be dozens of workshops and jams hosted by loads of amazing musicians and teachers, and one big difference from usual festivals: no big stage show to distract from the picking!
2025 Schedule is Ready!
Download the schedule and start planning your days!
Note: For double-sided printing:
- for the 2-page version select “print on long edge”
- for the 4-page version select “print on short edge”
We are very excited to announce that the BBU has a pre-release web app to help navigate the schedule of workshops and jams at JamVal. The JamVal Session Finder app is loaded with the full JamVal schedule and features a set of filters to show you a more focused list of sessions. To build your own schedule in the app, click the star icon to mark a session as a favorite, and then use the Favorites filter to show your personalized list. Send feedback to [email protected].
Pricing for JamVal 2025 – Tickets available on Friday at the Sheraton. Online Sales are closed.
Ticket | Members | Non-Members |
Weekend Pass (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) | $65 | $70 |
Friday Only | $25 | $30 |
Saturday Only | $45 | $50 |
Sunday | Free | Free |
Age 22 and Under | Free | Free |
We need volunteers for JamVal 2025! Volunteer for just a few hours in exchange for a full weekend pass. Click this link to learn about volunteer jobs and click the button below to fill out the volunteer form:
The Sheraton Room Lottery is now closed. If you are curious how it worked, check out the process here.
Room Lottery winners should be receiving emails from either [email protected] and/or [email protected] to purchase their rooms within the next week or two.
12 Different Friday Afternoon Classes at JamVal 2025!
Friday, February 14th from 3 until 6 pm at the Sheraton in Framingham
The BBU is excited to announce 12 different classes on the afternoon of Friday, February 14th, immediately before JamVal begins. The classes are three hours long, from 3 until 6 pm, and the cost is $40 ($45 for non-members). All of the proceeds go directly to the teachers (the BBU doesn’t take a cut), and you don’t have to attend JamVal to join one of these classes. Here are the classes and teachers:
For high-intermediate and advanced musicians:
- Kenny Smith (2-time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year, Kenny & Amanda Smith Band)
- Maddie Denton (fiddle, IBMA New Artist of the Year East Nash Grass)
- Bill Evans (banjo, Steve Martin Banjo Prize winner and member of the American Banjo Music Hall of Fame)
- Mike Bub (5-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year, formerly of The Del McCoury Band, with whom he won nine IBMA Entertainer of the Year awards)
- — these JamVal All-Stars will be joined by:
- Nate Lee (mandolin, formerly of The Becky Buller Band)
- Roger Williams (Dobro, BBU Heritage Award Winner)
For beginner and low-intermediate musicians:
- banjo — Catherine “BB” Bowness
- guitar — Flynn Cohen
- mandolin — August Watters
- lead singing — Taylor Ackley
- harmony singing — Tony Watt
- bass — Steve Roy
All of the classes will meet on the same schedule (from 3 until 6 pm on Friday, February 14th), so you can only sign up for one of them. It’s quite possible that the teachers would be willing to sit down with you another time during the weekend – just email them to ask!
All you need to do to register is to email your teacher directly. Class size is limited to 15 and pre-registration is strongly encouraged.
Class Descriptions and Contact Info
Kenny Smith Originally from Nine Mile, Indiana, Kenny is widely considered one of the most important and influential flatpicking-style guitarists of his generation. A two-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year award winner, his professional credits include six years with the popular Lonesome River Band and an exceptional solo CD, Studebaker, released on Sugar Hill Records in 1997. A much anticipated Guitar Solo CD, Return, was released on Gat3 Records in 2012. Winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s prestigious Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2003, the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band combines gutsy, heartfelt vocals, brilliant instrumental talents, and a powerful, contemporary sense of song choice and arrangement into one of the most compelling new sounds in bluegrass today. Kenny is in great demand at guitar workshops and master classes, teaching at the renowned Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend series, Kaufman Kamp, Acoustic Music Camp, Augusta Bluegrass Camp, and at guitar workshops at major events such as IBMA. He has released a two-DVD instruction set on AcuTab Publications. Kenny also operates an online teaching website named KennySmithGuitar.com. It is a subscription-based format that includes all levels of playing ability.
High Intermediate-Advanced Guitar Class
Rhythm
How to become a better rhythm player. I will be teaching our role in a bluegrass setting and how important it is to the overall sound of the music. I will teach a G-run and it’s use in a song. I will demonstrate some advanced rhythm patterns I use in my playing to make the rhythm sound more interesting.
Technique
How to play using the least amount of effort. How to get more tone out of your instrument. How to play a hammer on and a pull off. How to slide. Hand position when you go up the neck. Playing on your fingertips. How to get a clean sound.
Lead
How to build an arpeggio from a major scale. How to make music out of an arpeggio. The fine points of pick direction. Landing on other chord tones when we go to a new chord. Start thinking about phrasing.
To join this class, contact Kenny at [email protected]
Maddie Denton is a third-generation fiddle player from Murfreesboro, Tennessee who began playing at the age of five. After a successful tenure as a contest fiddler, winning nationally recognized titles such as the 2016 Grand Master Fiddle Championship and 14 state championship titles, Maddie now spends her time playing fiddle for International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) “New Artist of the Year” award recipient: East Nash Grass, and formerly The Dan Tyminski Band.
Nominated for the Americana Music Association’s “Instrumentalist of the Year” award in 2024, Maddie enjoys working in the studio and is proud of her work on IBMA’s “Album of the Year” nomination from East Nash Grass: Last Chance to Win, as well as Grammy nominated “Best Bluegrass Album” for Dan Tyminski: Live from the Ryman.
Before “retiring” in 2022 to pursue music full time, Maddie taught high school biology for five years at Siegel High School. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, where she played NCAA Division I college golf and helped the Lady Raiders win back-to-back conference championships.
High Intermediate-Advanced Fiddle Class
At Maddie’s JamVal fiddle class on 2/14, we will be diving into all things music, from the perspective of the fiddle. You don’t even have to play fiddle to attend! This class will be open to all skill levels and instruments, and we will be discussing basic theory knowledge, how to improvise, building blocks for taking solos in jams where you may not know the tunes, the various roles of all the instruments in a bluegrass band and how they all fit together, and anything else students would like to learn! It’s a 3-hour class that you’re paying hard-earned money to attend, so Maddie will cater to you!! Come prepared with your instrument, questions about any and all things MUSIC, and be ready to learn!!
To join this class, contact Maddie at [email protected]
Bill Evans. Steve Martin Banjo Prize recipient and American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame member Bill Evans is one of the most experienced bluegrass banjo teachers in the world, having taught thousands of players of all ability levels over fifty years of teaching experience at music camps, workshops and one-on-one lessons. Bill is the author of Banjo For Dummies and hosts nine video instructional projects for Homespun Music, AcuTab Publications and the Murphy Method. He also teaches five online courses for Peghead Nation and continues to teach one-on-one Zoom lessons to students from all over the world. He learned directly from banjo greats such as Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ben Eldridge, Bill Emerson, Alan Munde and Tony Trischka. As a performer, Bill has recorded and toured with Dry Branch Fire Squad, Dan Crary, Alan Munde, David Grisman, Peter Rowan and the California Bluegrass Reunion, among many others. You can learn more about Bill by visiting www.billevansbanjo.com or www.youtube.com/BillEvansBanjo.
Bluegrass Banjo Jam Survival Skills Class (High Intermediate-Advanced)
This class will be filled with practical skills that you can use in your next jam session or band rehearsal. Topics include developing precise right and left-hand playing technique and getting a great tone from your instrument while playing with relaxation, the role of the banjo in a jam session and how to support different instruments and roll patterns and up the neck techniques and hot back-up licks. You’ll also learn what kind of licks to use where, classic kick-offs and endings, playing in different keys, waltz time and fiddle tune backup. We’ll also cover how to create solos on the fly, hearing song form and chord progressions and more, based on student requests. Tab samples will be provided but it is not necessary to read tab well for this class. Bring your banjo and let’s pick!
To join this class, contact Bill at [email protected]
Mike Bub is one of the most in-demand bassists in Nashville today. He is a 5 time IBMA Bass Player of the Year award winner and played with the Del McCoury Band for 13 years, winning 9 Entertainer of the Year awards. Mike has worked as a session musician and producer as well as a go to bass player for many touring artists. Recent years have seen Mike recording and performing with the likes of Vince Gill, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, Tim O’Brien, Shawn Camp, Dale Ann Bradley, Chris Scruggs and countless others.
Where’s G on this thing? High Intermediate-Advanced Bass Class
40 years of practical experience condensed into three hours of tips and tales from a journeyman “Need to Know” bassist. Wondering what to expect? We’ll talk basses and setup, getting a good sound, learning about the intricacies of timing, how to become a more intuitive bassist, how to “lead a singer” and amongst this will be tales and toils of a lifelong bluegrass musician, playing the bass.
To join this class, contact Mike at [email protected]
Nate Lee is an International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning instrumentalist and renowned teacher of private lessons and music camps. A veteran performer, Nate has played with the best, including Alan Munde, Tony Trischka, Becky Buller, The Kentucky Colonels, David Grier, Irene Kelley, Town Mountain, and the Jim Hurst Trio. Questions about the class, contact Nate at [email protected]
Nate’s teaching website: https://www.playnately.com/
Nate’s artist website: https://thenatelee.com/
High Intermediate-Advanced Mandolin Class
Get jam-ready in a fun and judgment-free atmosphere! You will learn pro chopping technique, jam/band skills, technique for speed, tremolo, and more! There will be written materials for you to take home, and we’ll keep in touch after the class so you can ask questions any time. If you love the mandolin but feel unprepared for advanced jams, stuck in slow gear, or just not having as much fun as you’d like to, this class is for you! There are only 15 spots in this class, so sign up now: https://bit.ly/NateLeeJamVal
Roger started playing the resophonic, Dobro style guitar in
1963, when he was just a young teenager. Within the first year, he had already debuted with The Lilly Brothers and Don Stover at the Hillbilly Ranch in Boston where they had performed for nearly two decades. Since then he has gone on to perform and/or record with many well-respected bluegrass and folk acts on the national and international circuit such as White Mountain Bluegrass, Joe Val, Don Stover, and Hazel Dickens to name just a few. Career highlights include thirteen overseas tours with various artists, including a performance at the acclaimed Dobrofest in Slovakia, and teaching workshops at Resosummit, as well as during Bluegrass Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV. He currently does extensive studio work and performs with Amy Gallatin & Stillwaters, and The Hot Flashes.
High Intermediate-Advanced Dobro Class
The workshop will begin with a collection of one-measure dobro licks from the repertoire of some of the pioneers of traditional bluegrass dobro. We will then take a look at applying these licks in a 1-4-5-1 chord progression. Tablature for these will be provided. We will then look at examples of how they are used in songs and instrumentals. Then the class will be taken through a sampling of 1 to 4 (i.e., from G to C) and 1 to 5 (i.e., from G to D) chord progressions and given examples of how they are used in context. Again, tablature will be provided for these. Playing with and backing up a vocalist will also be addressed.
The latter part of the workshop will be geared toward answering requests/suggestions from pre-registered participants who have e-mailed me their particular needs. These could include a difficult lick, part of an instrumental that proves difficult to decipher, or variations on a melody.
To join this class contact Roger at [email protected]
BB Bowness hails from New Zealand and has made a home in Boston for the past decade. She co-founded the band Mile Twelve who have toured intentionally and won numerous awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association. BB was awarded the 2020 Steve Martin banjo prize. BB’s banjo playing is an exciting synthesis of new and old ideas. “She demonstrates a command of the instrument, and plays with great rhythmic clarity both in the traditional and progressive realms. J.D. Crowe co-mingles with the future,” says Tony Trischka. Her euphoric energy and love of the banjo are readily apparent in any of her live performances.
Beginner-Low Intermediate Banjo Class
We’ll cover basic right and left hand technique, rolls, simple and moveable chord shapes, playing bluegrass song melodies with different rolls and some common bluegrass banjo licks. An introduction into the three main styles of banjo playing will be covered, Scruggs, single string and melodic style. This class will primarily focus on picking technique; ways to improve consistency and accuracy while introducing more Scruggs style vocabulary into your playing. The goal will be to make you feel more comfortable playing music with others in a bluegrass jam setting. To join this class contact BB at [email protected]
Acoustic Guitar and mandolin player Flynn Cohen has performed all over the world with many notable acts in traditional and contemporary acoustic music. He can be seen in concert with the American folk band LOW LILY (formerly known as Annalivia), and legendary Irish Accordion player John Whelan, as well as duo shows playing music from his four solo albums.
Beginner-Low Intermediate Guitar Class
We’ll be using your existing guitar knowledge and showing you how to best apply it to the bluegrass idiom. We will focus on playing simple melodies with bass runs and also provide an explanation of bluesy licks, which are central to bluegrass guitar. There will also be tips on technique and developing a practice routine.
To join this class, contact Flynn at [email protected].
August Watters is a multi-stylistic, multi-instrumentalist with a multifaceted career—but before that, he grew up in the bluegrass culture near Bill Monroe’s festival in Beanblossom, Indiana. A Berklee Ear Training professor for 18 years, August was the first (Spring, 2000) to teach bluegrass ensembles through Berklee College’s Ensemble Department, and also taught string labs and private mandolin lessons for Berklee’s String Department. August is the author of three mandolin instruction books, published by Berklee Press, Hal Leonard, and Amazon KDP.
August has a Masters of Music Education from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, from Berklee College in Jazz Composition and Arranging. He has studied the early roots of the American mandolin extensively, to help mandolinists explore new paths for the future.
Beginning-Low Intermediate Mandolin Class
Are you ready to jam? The Bluegrass Beginning/Low Intermediate Mandolin class is designed to jump-start your playing with the skills needed to join the jam session, and also to help guide your future growth.
We’ll cover basic technique: hand position, pick direction, and other crucial details to help you gain confidence and find the tone within your fingers. Next, we’ll talk about essential chords and melody patterns, fretboard layout, improvisation, and easy ways to navigate the instrument and learn tunes quickly. You will leave the class prepared to jam, and with specific tools in hand, to facilitate future learning.
To join this class, contact August at [email protected].
Taylor Ackley is first and foremost a folk musician. Born into a working class family with a remarkable heritage of traditional American music, his work grows directly out of the rich musical expression cultivated across the generations of pickers, singers, song writers and fiddlers that populate his family tree. Taylor is a scholar, composer and performer of American Roots music. His research works to understand and analyze American Folk and Roots music as art grounded in the experiences of poor and working-class people. He has presented papers at a number of conferences and panels including the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Northwestern Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology and is also in demand as a guest lecturer at colleges and public institutions.
Lead Singing Class
In this class, we will discuss all of the most important parts of being a good bluegrass singer, from vocal production to repertoire selection. Our focus will be on singing lead, in either jam or performance contexts, but much of the class will relate to all singing applications. During the class, everyone will get a chance to sing as a group and individually. We’ll learn some standards together, but there will be space for students to share some of their favorites with the rest of the class. In this class we’ll cover:
· Healthy vocal techniques to aid projection
· Singing in-tune and using expressive intonation
· Slides, leaps and other vocal ornaments
· How to choose songs and place them in good keys for you and others
To join this class, contact Taylor at [email protected]
2024 IBMA Momentum Mentor of the Year award winner Tony Watt has performed throughout the United States and Europe, on the Grand Ole Opry, and beyond. His performance and jamming videos on YouTube have over 1.5 million views, including his version of Cherokee Shuffle with Noam Pikelny and Andy Falco which has been viewed over 200,000 times. He has been featured in Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass Today, and four separate times in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Tony currently performs locally with his band, Southeast Expressway, as well as his Dad’s band, True Life Bluegrass. He is a graduate of Leadership Bluegrass, has served on the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Education Committee and the IBMA Board Selection Committee, and is currently the Vice President and Education Co-Director of the Boston Bluegrass Union (BBU).
Harmony Singing Class
The Harmony Singing Class is open to all instruments, all levels – both rhythm and lead players – but it is geared towards those who have trouble finding harmonies on their instrument and/or with their voice. The class is focused on two core skills: learning how to determine harmonies and learning to teach yourself to sing harmonies using your instrument as a guide. Harmony singing is often taught only by ear, and while that’s a great way to learn, it can be challenging for some people. The course will teach you how to match your singing to your playing, making it easier to find the right notes and stick with them. And, you will learn how harmonies are created and how you can create harmonies of your own after the class is over. There are no prerequisite songs, and you don’t need to be able to read music or play lead. You will need to bring an instrument with you to class, and although it’s not required, please familiarize yourself with the G Major scale in the first position of your instrument.
To join this class, contact Tony at [email protected]
Steve Roy is a multi-instrumentalist from Eliot, Maine who plays and teaches upright bass, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and ukulele. As a bass player, he has toured nationally and internationally with many of the acoustic world’s top acts, including Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, John Reischman, Molly Tuttle, Joe K. Walsh, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Joy Kills Sorrow, and many others. As a mandolinist, he currently performs with Old Hat Stringband. Bluegrass Now Magazine calls Steve a “devastating weapon.” He is a faculty member at 317 Main St. Community Music Center in Yarmouth, ME, and at Portsmouth Music and Arts Center in Portsmouth, NH. Steve is the Program Director at Nimblefingers Old Time & Bluegrass Workshops in British Columbia, and he has taught many other music camps and workshops throughout the USA and Canada.
Beginner-Low Intermediate Bass Class
In this class, we’ll cover all the basics of playing bass with other people. We’ll get to know the roadmap of the fingerboard, plus we’ll work on how to construct bass lines for bluegrass songs, old time tunes, and even some swing tunes as well. We’ll learn some bass runs and some walking bass lines, and we’ll also explore some other tricks and techniques, such as slapping.
To join this class, contact Steve at [email protected]