John Haywood
Kentucky
banjo and fiddle
John Haywood is a banjo-playing tattoo and folk artist in Whitesburg, Kentucky. He owns and operates the Parlor Room Tattoo and Art Gallery – a tattoo shop that draws visitors from all over the world to Letcher County into the far southeastern corner of Kentucky. “Many come for a tattoo, and some to experience a little bit of our culture,” Haywood says of his shop.…
Trey Hensley
Guitar
Trey Hensley is a GRAMMY®-nominated musician and singer/songwriter who was voted the 2023 Guitar Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. He has been referred to as “Nashville’s hottest young player” by Acoustic Guitar magazine. In addition to a storied solo career and a duo career with award-winning resophonic guitarist Rob Ickes (NPR has called them “two musical phenoms”), Trey has worked with a diverse list of artists including Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Marty Stuart, Earl Scruggs, Dolly Parton, Taj Mahal, Tommy Emmanuel, Rodney Crowell, Old Crow Medicine Show, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Little Feat, Leftover Salmon and REO Speedwagon.…
DaShawn and Wendy Hickman
Wendy and DaShawn Hickman are a married couple of sweetheart musicians, rooted in gospel roots and soulful tradition. They share a home in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.
DaShawn is one of today’s foremost players of Sacred Steel, a blues-gospel tradition started in the Pentecostal-Holiness churches of the 1930s. He grew up hearing the pedal steel in the tiny House of God church his family attended in Mt.…
Avery Hill
Avery Hill is a life-long musician, trained educator, and performing singer-songwriter. She began teaching music in 2013, and quickly became a staple instructor of the Portland (OR) ‘ukulele community. Over the years, she has led ‘ukulele classes, workshops, and jams that focus on building valuable skills, deepening oneʻs sense of musicality, and appreciating the place of music within our greater culture and history.…
Rich Hill
Rich Hill is from Wyoming. He began learning Gaelic when he was seven years old from a Scottish immigrant who had come to the Rocky Mountains. He met a “new family,” the Gaels of Vancouver, in 1989. He has been heavily immersed in Gaelic since that time, teaching and singing in Scottish Gaelic. He is a founder of Slighe nan Gaidheal and Féis Seattle, and is also well-known in Seattle’s early music scene.
The Tennessee Hillbuddies
Tennessee
fiddle, banjo, guitar, singing
The Tennessee Hillbuddies like their stringband music in the traditional style: rhythmic, rowdy, and all but refined. They are about good music and good times, and their performances are known for causing hats to fly. The band is comprised of Henry Barnes, Conner Vlietstra, and Trevor Holder.
Henry Barnes, originally from Washington Courthouse, OH, is now residing in Carter County, TN.…
Daniel Ho
Past Faculty
From his simple beginnings in Honolulu to his life amid the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, Daniel Ho has worked over the years as a musician, producer, singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, engineer, and record company owner. The most compelling of these roles has been as a six-time GRAMMY Award winning producer, featured slack key guitarist, and artist in the “Best Hawaiian Music Album,” “Best Pop Instrumental Album,” and “Best World Music Album” categories.
Gary Hobbs
Vocal Accompaniment
Drums
Drummer Gary Hobbs is a native of the Pacific Northwest and lives in Vancouver, WA. He has played professionally for over 4 decades and appears on over 60 recordings. Gary played with The Stan Kenton Orchestra from 1975 through 1977. Through the years Gary has played with Randy Brecker, Bud Shank, George Cables, Ken Peplowski, Pete Christlieb, Greta Matassa, Anita O’Day, Dan Siegel, Glen Moore, The New York Voices, Eddie Harris and many more.…
Brandon Hobson
Faculty
Dr. Brandon Hobson is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow. He received his Ph.D from Oklahoma State University. His novel, Where The Dead Sit Talking, was a finalist for the National Book Award, winner of the Reading The West Award, and longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, among other distinctions.
Jen Hodge
Bass
Jen Hodge is a Grammy-nominated bass player, currently living in New York City and originally hailing from British Columbia, Canada. A versatile and passionate musician, Jen is in high demand for her rock-solid bass playing, her consummate professionalism, and for the warm, infectious spirit she brings to the bandstand. Jen is a fixture of NYC’s hot jazz community, frequently featuring in the house band for the long-running Mona’s Tuesday Night Hot Jazz jam session hosted by multi-instrumentalist Dennis Lichtman, and performing with such artists as Bria Skonberg, The Hot Sardines, Jon-Erik Kellso & The EarRegulars, Cynthia Sayer, and Danny Jonokuchi & The Revisionists.…