Education

  • A.A. Prince George's Community College
  • Studied with Alan Jabbour, Director of Library of Congress Folk Music Division
  • Studied with Traditional Old Time Fiddlers Franklin George, Pete Sutherland, Allan Block, Bill Hicks Fourth Degree

Areas of Expertise

  • Individual and Class Instruction on Fiddle, Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar
  • Traditional Music of the Southern United States and Ireland
  • Correct Form and Intonation on Fiddle, Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar
  • Set Up Advisory and Execution on All Instruments Taught
  • Performance: Individual and Bands

Background

I teach ear training in the Old Time Tradition, as I was taught by grand masters in the field. As a result, I bring a lot of young musicians, disenchanted with other methods, back into their music!

Many of my Davidson students have gone on to professional careers, in folk music. I've taught 3 generations of the Van Hoy family (Fiddler's Grove, NC Festival). North Carolina is the heart of Appalachian Music, and I have been privileged to represent the best of it for many years.

I learned banjo and fiddle from W. Franklin George of West Virginia via my NEA grant. I regularly play in winning bands with players from all over the world who travel to the Southeast to master this music. My band (Jake Krack's) won first place at Clifftop, the most prestigious Old Time festival in the world, in 2006.