The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project
Sharon Gilchrist and Megan Lynch Chowning at the control board and in the studio for the newly released Vol. 2
SPECIAL EVENT (SOLD OUT)
A two-hour intensive workshop with
The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project Trio
Friday June 13, noon to 2 p.m.
Fiddle: Megan Lynch Chowning
Guitar and clawhammer: Ella Korth
Bass and mandolin: Sharon Gilchrist
Level: Progressing intermediate and advanced
Price: $50 ($40 for festival pass holders)
Location: St Christopher’s & St. Aidan’s Hall
70 W Cowichan Ave Lake Cowichan, BC
Workshop is now SOLD OUT
“A stunning collection of 13 of Hartford’s instrumental fiddle tunes and versions of five of his songs, available on CD and vinyl. Julia Belle features a stellar cast of female artists.”
– Julia Belle: The JHFTP Vol 2, reviewed by Folk Alley
Cowichan is excited to welcome Sharon Gilchrist and Megan Lynch Chowning along with Canada’s Ella Korth in the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, a tribute to the music of the late John Hartford.
Megan and Sharon are co-producers of the recently-released Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project Volume 2 that is drawing accolades (“stunning” – Folk Alley) from reviewers. The album brings to life unrecorded gems by Hartford, the late Grammy-winning icon heralded as the patriarch of newgrass. Featuring an all-female roster of outstanding women artists, the project is a follow-up to the Grammy-nominated Volume 1 of previously unrecorded Hartford tunes discovered after his death in 2001.
Ella is substituting for the previously announced Rachel Baiman who is regrettably unable to attend. The Trio is also presenting a special workshop Friday June 13 in Lake Cowichan. UPDATE: The workshop is now sold out.
Best known for his most famous song, “Gentle on My Mind,” Hartford was also revered in bluegrass and folk circles for his quirky lyrics and prodigious output of original material on 30 albums. A key figure in the “progressive bluegrass” movement in the 1970s, Hartford inspired bands like The Newgrass Revival and others. Hartford music is undergoing a renaissance with his material being covered by Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Jason Carter and many more.
Megan Lynch Chowning is a seven-time U.S. national fiddle champion who spent years touring with legendary country music artists Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan, and bluegrass stars like Dale Ann Bradley and Larry Cordle. She is a regular on the Nashville scene and has a popular YouTube series of fiddle tips for all levels. (Check out her Chubby Wise lick). She judged the U.S. National Fiddle Championships three times, and is the co-director of the IBMA-award-winning Nashville Acoustic Camps.
Sharon Gilchrist has performed and recorded with the Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, Scott Nygaard & John Reischman in the Harmonic Tone Revealers, The California Bluegrass Reunion Band, Darol Anger, Uncle Earl, Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, and many others. She is also a respected and influential music educator offering multiple online mandolin courses at pegheadnation.com and teaches at music camps around the globe.
Canada’s Ella Korth, now residing in Nashville, has been a rising talent in acoustic music, recording and appearing with Trent Freeman, John Reischman, Allison de Groot, and Madeleine Roger; touring with Leith Ross in Europe, the US and Canada, and filing in on country telecaster with Boy Golden and Fontine. Adept at guitar, clawhammer banjo and vocals, Ella made a memorable appearance at Cowichan in 2019 in a duet performance with Bella White, and also played the festival in 2022.