Joe Collins
2007 NATIONAL MOUNTAIN DULCIMER CHAMPION!
DIVERSIFIED DULCIMER, Play in All Keys
CROSSING OVER TO THE FUN SIDE, Intro to crosspicking
Joe Collins has been a folk musician and mountain dulcimer player since the late 70s. He is a songwriter, vocalist, and an occasional guitarist originally inspired by artists like Simon & Garfunkle, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, and Kris Kristofferson. However, now that he is older and "pudgier," he realizes that Burle Ives was a much stronger influence than he ever imagined. His performances are sprinkled with a lot of humor and some excellent mountain dulcimer playing - sure to bring a smile to audiences of all ages. Joe graduated from East Carolina University with bachelor and master degrees in English, from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity with Religious Education, and from NC State University with a Doctorate in Adult Education.

Terry and Pam Lewis
ACCLAIMED MOUNTAIN DULCIMER PERFORMERS
BLUEGRASS DULCIMER, Play With BG Band
USING TABLEDIT, Write Your Own Sheet Music
Terry began playing stringed instruments in grade school. He played guitar in Rock and Roll bands as a teenager and upright bass in bluegrass bands as an adult. He also plays banjo, violin, and dobro. Terry has been playing dulcimer for 35+ years. He gives private lessons, group lessons, has conducted mountain dulcimer workshops around the country. Terry is very active in several dulcimer clubs and performs locally in the schools and national parks. Terry and Pam host the Cumberland Gap Dulcimer Gathering each May in the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park.

Dr. Bill King
CHRISTIAN HUMORIST AND STORYTELLER
STORYTELLING, Add Interest and Humor to Your Performance
STAGE PERFORMANCE, Billy Bob Bohannon on the Scene
Bill King holds a doctorate in divinity and is president of Tuskegee-Lee Baptist Association. However, he is appearing at the Lee County Gathering as his alter ego, Billy Bob Bohannon. Billy Bob is a country bumpkin that has entertained audiences all our the south. "I realize that life is not all fun and laughter, but I also believe life is much better when we can add a little of that along with all the other "stuff" that comes our way" says Dr. King. His story-telling class will help you spice up your performances with humor and tales.

Bill Hogan
SACRED HARP SINGER AND TEACHER
SINGING SACRED HARP, Tradition and Method
LIVE PERFORMANCE, Gifted Singers on Stage
Bill's father was a church choir director and high school band director in Phil Campbell, Alabama. His family was always in church and always singing together. In January of 1996, Laura Boosinger and Tim Abell were in Mobile and Laura taught a three night Christian Harmony class at our church. About ten people attended including a life-long singer, Mr. Bill Green, and he invited everyone to a Sacred Harp convention in Bay Minette, Alabama. Bill attended and was given me a book. After attending singings for a few years, Mr. Green and the Mosley family appointed him to be the chairman of the Baldwin County Convention. Bill held monthly singing classes in Mobile and currently holds monthly classes in Wetumpka. While in Mobile, he and his wife, Nancy, enjoyed sharing music with the Westminster Early Music Consort, the Mobile dulcimer group and the members of Sweet Prospect Celtic Band of Pensacola mostly playing guitar and recorders. They relocated to the Montgomery area and now enjoy singing and picking with those at Wetumpka Presbyterian Church and with the people of the community. He works for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Nancy is the office manager at Pediatric Healthcare.

Bob Taunton
CLAWHAMMER BANJO PLAYER AND FOLK ARTIST
BASS DULCIMER, Learn to Play Accompaniment
BANJO I, Beginning Clawhammer Banjo
Growing up in rural Alabama, Bob was fascinated with the musical forms he encountered. Hymns in church, sacred harp singing schools, black sharecroppers singing in the fields, Hank Williams at the local school-house, and Grand Ole Opry radios shows, all contributed to his love of music. He taught himself to play keyboard instruments at his grandmother's parlor organ at age twelve, and was playing for church services soon after. When the folk music craze hit in the 1950's, Bob go himself a banjo and never looked back. He is now retired from his day job, and spends his time building and playing instruments, and performing.

Dr. Gwen Taunton
FIDDLIN' COLLEGE PROFESSOR AND VOCALIST
BEGINNING FIDDLE, Bowing, Tuning, a Few Tunes
FIDDLE II, Add to Your Repertoire
Gwen has been playing banjo for around 20 years He originally started with a bluegrass band from Auburn known as the Saugahatchee Syrup Soppers. Where he record his first bluegrass album entitled "Home Folks". After playing with the band for around 7 years, he left to complete his college degree. Then in 2001, he joined Highway 280 as the banjo player. In 2005, he developed problems with his right hand which has prevented him from playing banjo, so he has picked up the fiddle and has been fiddling since about that time. Gwen has a Ph.D. in Information Systems and is a computer science instructor at Southern Union State Community College in Opelika Alabama.

TNT - The Nameless Trio
DULCIMER PLAYERS, TEACHERS, AND ARRANGERS
BEGINNING DULCIMER, DAD, Techniques and First tunes
DULCIMER ENSEMBLES, Playing in Parts
The trio, Ginny Cliett, Linda Smith, and Deby Libby, are all members of the Knoxville Area Dulcimer Club, where they met during 2004/2005. They formed an ensemble in October 2006 and have been having a blast ever since. Fall 2007 they came out with their first CD, Starting Off With A Bang!. They currently have plans for another CD and a tablature book that will include their arrangements from both their debut and upcoming CD's. Sharing what they have learned has been their mission, and what they've nick-named "Team TNT Teaching", has been a natural development - playing together, performing together, and teaching together. Some- thing they are proud of is that "graduates" of their beginner's class last year at Wilderness Wildlife Week in Pigeon Forge, TN, came back this year to perform for the new class - we've successfully passed on "the dulcimer bug"!

Denise Guillory
HAMMER DULCIMER CHAMPION
HD EMBLISHMENTS, Add Interest to Your Playing
HD CHORDING, Playing for Vocals or Backup
Denise Guillory has been playing the Hammered and Mountain Dulcimers for some 20 years, teaching and performing her many talents to include a beautiful clear singing voice that touches the hearts of audiences locally and around the United States. Denise performed with her band "les Amis" for 13 years and now is performing solo or with other musician friends as well as teaching private HD and Mtn. Denise has also stepped into the music director position (long time held by Paul Andry who has moved to North Carolina) for the Bayou Dulcimer Club located on the north shore of New Orleans, where every Thursday she teaches new music and performs with them for community gigs and club events. Denise has a very supportive and driven teaching style that focuses on how the student learns and has had wonderful success with students one on one and groups in workshop settings as well. Her patience is appreciated and her belief that anyone who sets his mind to learn music will someday achieve their dreams of being part of the Bayou Dulcimer The dulcimer (either form) has enriched so many people's lives in so many ways. Pinch yourself and say it is so, that you were chosen to play one, it's one of God's gifts, spread the WORD.

Deborah McCord
DULCIMER/AUTO-HARP PLAYER AND VOCALIST
AUTO HARP CHORDS AND MELODY, Play Lead or Backup
CHILDREN'S DULCIMER, Playing for Those Under Twelve
A native of Loachapoka, Alabama, Deborah is from a musical family. Her father and uncles started a country music band from Loachapoka that became well known in the area. Deborah grew up singing with her family, in church choirs, high school chorus, and later, the Auburn University Choir. She has played the autoharp since elementary school, and plays a little guitar and ukulele. She fell in love with the mountain dulcimer in the early 1990s and that has become her major instrument. She is the founder and leader of the Whistle Stop Pickers, the local dulcimer group of the Lee County Historical Society, and along with her husband teaches children's dulcimer classes at local schools. She is also an active member of the Montgomery Dulcimer Players and the North Georgia Foothills Dulcimer Association. Along with her husband Allen, she teaches children's dulcimer classes at local schools. Professionally, she holds a Master's Degree in Education and is retired from a 26-year teaching career. Currently, she is an adult Sunday school teacher and education consultant leading professional development classes for teachers.

Marty Hoerr
NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE AND SONGS
INTRODUCTION TO THE "INDIAN" FLUTE, Tunes and Techniques
NATIVE AMERICAN LORE, Tunes and Their Meanings
As a child in Indiana, Marty played dress-up in self-made Native American clothing. Her Irish mother and Italian father couldn’t easily explain this magnetism to Native American play. This interest was only the beginning of a life-long study of Native traditions, music and lore. Marty attended Purdue University where she majored in Art and Elementary Education. To deepen her understanding of primitive people and skills, she began attending workshops in 1992 and concentrated on Native American music. She shares this interest at camps, schools, libraries and festivals. Marty will teach traditional songs, rhythms and lore of Native American cultures. Students will sing the songs and create the rhythms as we explore the musical environment of the native peoples. In the Native American flute class participants will learn about the history, ornamentation, music styles, finger patterns, and care and maintenance of the Native American flute. Several types of flutes will be on display and will be discussed and played. Participants should bring their own flute and there will be several flutes for sale.

Fred Lord
STRING INSTRUMENT PERFORMER/ TEACHER
MANDOLIN I AND GUITAR I, Familiarization, Chording
MANDOLIN II AND GUITAR II, Picking Styles, Backup
As a child in a musical family, Fred had access to his grandmother's piano, and was playing by the age of five. Prep school brought him opportunities in band playing clarinet. After school his musical abilities landed him a soot in the USO where he toured Europe, Greenland, and the Arctic from 1972-1977. Back home, he helped run the family's hardware and feed store until a few years ago, when he converted it to a music studio, picking parlor, and dance hall. In his studio, he teaches guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass. Fred regularly books nationally known musicians for special appearances in Loachapoka.