Great Guitar Camp Jan 2025 - Instructors
Whether you’re ready to learn some new chords, get your fingers strolling up and down the guitar neck, or just want to jam out on some favorite tunes, there’s an instructor who can make it happen!
Danny Gotham’s musical roots spread deep and broad, a master flatpicking and fingerpicking instrumentalist, cutting his musical teeth playing in various rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass and country bands. In 1980, Gotham took Second Place in the prestigious National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, KS. His musical collaborations include accompanist to the great folksinger Tom Paxton and original "Prairie Home Companion" music director, Peter Ostroushko. As a teacher, he has maintained an extensive private student roster, and, since 1974, conducted numerous workshops in the US and Canada. Gotham, along with Jane Peppler and Bob Vasile, founded Picknbow in 2011.
Danny teaches flat-pick, fingerstyle guitar technique, repertoire, and arranging.
Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style – combining improvised piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime. He is the 2019 winner of the International Blues Challenge in the solo/duo category. Shain’s most recent solo disc, ‘Gettin’ Handy with the Blues: A Tribute to the Legacy of WC Handy’, was released in 2018 and with in a year, also as a guitar tab book published by Mel Bay. This was quickly followed by a second Mel Bay book on finger-style guitar using Jon’s original songs to teach this technique. Shain’s latest releases recorded along with long-time collaborator FJ Ventre are the gorgeous roots album, Tomorrow Will Be Yesterday Soon (2019) and Never Found Way to Tame the Blues (2021). He’s in the studio right now working on his next album of original songs. Jon is the Teaching Workshop Coordinator at Picknbow.
Jon teaches all aspects of guitar technique, slide, songwriting, and blues.
Multi-instrumentalist Charles Pettee plays mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar, banjo, and harmonica. He is a founding member of the internationally touring Flying Fish recording artist, The Shady Grove Band, composing the lion’s share of their original songs. During his 30-year career as a full-time professional musician, Mr. Pettee has traversed North America, Canada, and Europe logging over 7,000 performances, and racking up some 13 albums to date with his bands, collaborations, and solo projects, which showcase nearly 100 of his compositions. Charles also has a strong commitment to music education, especially that of children and youth. He has been a teaching artist in schools throughout North and South Carolina, as well as offering private instruction on mandolin and guitar. Charles and his son, flatpicking wiz Jackson Pettee, look forward to the release of their first album “Slippery Hill Bluegrass” in December 2024.
Charles teaches flat-picking guitar technique, mandolin, and songwriting.
FJ Ventre plays some of the most brilliant, kick-ass upright and electric bass you’ll ever see and sings honky-tonk and country-swing as if he’s borrowed Bob Will’s hat and string tie. He currently performs with numerous acts from The Triangle area, including Jon Shain, Wyatt Easterling, Wes Collins, the bennys, Nantahala and others. He has also played with the Chris Stamey Group, the Swang Brothers, Rebecca and The Hi-Tones, Mel Melton and the Wicked Mojos, The Stars Explode, and Tom Maxwell. He’s also added songwriting to his extensive musical resume and toolbox, and is a highly-sought after teacher of upright acoustic and electric bass in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill Triangle.
Many local musicians have benefited from his expertise as a recording engineer. His studio, Good Luck Studio, has recorded and mixed projects for Jon Shain, The Swang Brothers, Jeff Hart, Hailey Clark, The Infidels, Tad Walters, Tom Maxwell, and many others including Picknbow campers Nick Hutson, Taylor, Leah Kaufman, Penne Sandbeck, Suzanne Schmid, Lynn Swisher Spears, and Alex Hardy.
FJ teaches sound system use, home recording, and all levels of bass.
Mary Flower is an internationally known and award-winning picker, singer/songwriter and teacher, the Midwest native relocated from Denver to the vibrant Portland, Oregon music scene in in 2004. She continues to please crowds and critics at folk festivals, teaching seminars and concert stages domestically and abroad, that include Merlefest, Kerrville, King Biscuit, Prairie Home Companion and the Vancouver Folk Festival, among many. A finalist in 2000 and 2002 at the National Finger Picking Guitar Championship, a nominee in 2008, 2012 and 2016 for a Blues Foundation Blues Music Award, and many times a Cascade Blues Assn. Muddy Award winner, Flower embodies a luscious and lusty mix of rootsy, acoustic-blues guitar and vocal styles that span a number of idioms – from Piedmont to the Mississippi Delta, with stops in ragtime, swing, folk and hot jazz. Flower’s eleven recordings, including her four for Memphis’ famed Yellow Dog Records — Bywater Dance, Instrumental Breakdown, Bridges and Misery Loves Company — show a deep command of and love for folk and blues string music. For Flower, it’s never about re-creation. Her dedication to the art form is a vital contribution to America’s music.
"A national treasure in your own backyard" -Jorma Kaukonen
“A world class finger-style guitarist and lap slide player.” – Downbeat Magazine
“There are few musicians in the genre bringing as much creative spark and low-key mojo to this century-old music…” – Acoustic Guitar Magazine
“Marries acoustic blues with touches of ragtime, folk, and jazz…the interplay is always interesting, often provocative, and sometimes breathtaking.” – Living Blues
Mary teaches all aspects of blues guitar technique.