Austin, TX
Old Time Music Weekend
January 31-February 2, 2020
Meet the Instructors
Janie Rothfield
Int/Adv Old Time Fiddle
Janie Rothfield is an award winning clawhammer banjo player and fiddler who has been playing old-time music “forever.” She has toured professionally for over 35 years, during which she has also been a composer, recording artist, band leader, teacher, and event organizer, with fans around the world. Her clawhammer banjo style borrows heavily from both the traditional and inventive aspects of her fiddle style, and is characterized by great power, drive and in-the-pocket rhythm. Her teaching method combines an easy to learn technique that combines strategies for learning to play by ear quickly with a focus on musicality and rhythm! Janie performs with numerous old time and dance bands, and currently tours with the duo, Hen's Teeth. Her latest solo CD, “Out of Thin Air,” features 15 of her own compositions.Two of her tunes have won the Best Non-Traditional Tune at Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival! Her newest solo CD, OUT OF THIN AIR, features all of her own compositions and songs, and in 2016 she release both wonderful CD of Fiddle/Harmonica duets with harmonica master, Brendan Power called PUFNSAW, and OFF THE CUFF AND ON THE FLY with her duo Hen's Teeth (With Nathan Bontrager)! Jane performs with numerous bands, including Coracree, Hen's Teeth, The Janie Rothfield Old Time Trio and with daughter Shona Carr as Little Missy.
Janie has taught clawhammer banjo and fiddle for over 35 years, privately and at camps and festivals such as Banjo Camp North, Midwest Banjo Camp, Old Songs Summer Camps, Janie's Jumpstart, Heart of the Alleghanies Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Folk College and the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, FOATMAD Weekend (Wales), in England, Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands, and Australia.
"Janie came highly recommended so I had high expectations. They were met and exceeded. I've been playing fiddle for years, trying to learn from books and the internet. After Janie showed me the proper way to hold the fiddle and bow, and proper bowing technique, all those tunes I know became so much easier to play. Then she showed me the most important thing about playing any instrument; the difference between playing notes and making music. And the whole time I never feel like I'm taking lessons. I feel like I'm just hanging out playing music and learning new things. Most importantly, I'm excited about learning because it has become fun again." Jamie McCracken- Janie's Fiddle student
“Janie has shown me how to pull the melody out of old time tunes on my banjo… to make them less busy and more musical. I had developed some poor habits throwing every banjo cliché I ever learned into each tune I played. Janie showed me how to strip out all of the unnecessary stuff… to concentrate on the melody and rhythm which ultimately “pops” the tunes and makes them more beautiful.” Tim Wade-clawhammer banjo (Doylestown, PA)
Video from an episode of Get Up In The Cool: Playing Bentons Dream. https://youtu.be/OIHvClIV16I
Video of Janie Fiddling Hell Broke Loose in Georgia https://youtu.be/BllDgHZ-BRM
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Pete Peterson
Int Clawhammer/Fingerstyle banjo
Pete Peterson is a legendary (and prize winning) banjo player in both clawhammer and fingerstyle banjo. His banjo playing has won a number of prizes at Clifftop and other contests. His extensive knowledge, skill and experience playing traditional old time music is unrivaled, making him in high demand as a teacher and contest judge as well! Pete has taught at Mars Hill Blue Ridge Old Time Week, Augusta Heritage Camps, and others including Maldon, Australia and Gainsborough, England. Pete has been a judge at the Charlie Poole Festival, Fireback Fiddle Contest, Clifftop and other places. He got his first guitar and banjo over fifty years ago and now plays one of Charlie Poole's banjos. Together with his wife Kellie Allen, he plays in the Orpheus Supertones, with Smith, Allen & Peterson, and in the Jane Rothfield Trio. He frequently writes reviews and articles for the Old Time Herald.
Pete’s recordings include three with the Orpheus Supertones on the Mudthumper label, one as Waking Up Tillie (Randy Johnson fiddling) and his duet CD with Kellie.
As a teacher, his approach is to work with each student, building on what they already know, first to learn and then to apply new techniques. In clawhammer playing, getting the thumb off the fifth string as soon as possible in the learning process is key; Pete wishes that someone had shown him this fifty years ago when he was starting.
Videos of Pete Peterson
Kellie Allen
Int Guitar and old time songs
An accomplished old-time singer and sought-after backup guitarist and bass player, Kellie Allen hails from Kansas but now lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania with her husband, Pete Peterson. She started playing old-time tunes with her brother, fiddler and banjo player Greg Allen, while she was in her teens. Kellie sings old-time and early country duets with her partner Pete Peterson, and teaches guitar, bass, and singing at festivals and music camps. She performs and tours with the award-winning Orpheus Supertones, as well as Sugar Pie, and other old-time ensembles. Kellie has developed a driving backup guitar style with bass runs, listening extensively to guitar heroes such as Roy Harvey, Riley Puckett and Charlie Monroe. Her vocal influences start with Maybelle Carter, Julia Mainer, and gospel great Jeanette Cooke, and include the tenor singers of the great brother duets such as Ira Louvin and Bill Monroe. She is also an excellent lead singer, having won a number of solo singing prizes at festivals. She and Pete have a CD of duets titled "I'll Never Forsake You. “
For more info, go to https://kellieandpete.net
Check out Kellies great guitar playing here with the Orpheus Supertones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=36&v=dxQ5QOGyhuo
With Janie playing Walnut Gap by Snake Chapman- https://youtu.be/B4vIUssSDVg
