Brooklyn house camp 2016 TeACHING STAFF

|| HOSTS ||

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN - DIRECTOR
LAUNA SCHWEIZER & BILL LIENHARD - homeowners

▽

|| INSTRUCTORS ||

Mike + Ruthy | Alec Spiegelman , Kristin Slipp , & Benjamin Lazar Davis of CUDDLE MAGIC | Stephanie Coleman | Lauren Balthrop | ADAM MOSS

▽

|| CAMP STAFF ||

All of our camp staff are crucial to creating the loving and supportive community that is Miles of Music:

TIMOTHY TUCKER - CHEF | AMY HELFAND - PRODUCTION MANAGER | SHEENA OZAKI - ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR
LAUREN BALTHROP - MARKETING DIRECTOR | ELISE LEAVY - INSTRUCTOR LIAISON

▽

|| HOSTS ||

Kristin Andreassen is a singer, a songwriter and a percussive dancer who combines those skills in musical performances that are both “inventive” (The New Yorker) and “haunting” (NPR’s Folk Alley). Before releasing her 2015 album Gondolier, she toured as a member of some the most respected acoustic groups of the 2000s: the stringband Uncle Earl, the "folk noir” singing trio Sometymes Why, and the Appalachian clogging troupe Footworks. Kristin's songs range from the playfulness of her #1 children’s hit "Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes” to emotive soundscapes as heard on Showtime’s The Affair and in this shadow art video collaboration with 2016 Miles of Music instructor Anna Roberts-Gevalt. An experienced teacher and square dance caller, Kristin is a true believer in the transformative power of music camps for all ages. She’s been on staff at a dozen such camps including Ashokan Fiddle & Dance, the Augusta Heritage Center, Voiceworks, Southern Girls’ Rock Camp in Memphis, Rockygrass Academy and the inaugural Wheatland Music Camp. Kristin studied creative writing, history and community development at Montreal’s McGill University, and she is nearly as surprised as her parents that she seems to have found a career where she employs all three of those skills in balance. www.kristinandreassen.com

|| INSTRUCTORS ||

Mike + Ruthy met in NYC in 1998 and never looked back. He's a poet considered "one of the best songwriters of his generation" (LA Weekly). She's a chanteuse who grew up in the American roots underground, the daughter of GRAMMY-winning fiddler and educator, Jay Ungar. These two believe in the transformative power of a great live concert. They write top-tier songs, tour with their kids and peerless five-piece band, and perform for audiences worldwide. Folk music at it’s core, the band is amplified by rock elements - a sound they’ve taken to calling rural rock. Their latest release Bright As You Can (Thirty Tigers) brought them to new heights in 2015, spending 15 consecutive weeks in the Americana Radio top 40, with accolades from the likes of the Boston Globe ("One of the year's standout Americana albums”) and Wall Street Journal ("The 14-song collection spans folk, bluegrass, vintage country and just about everything else that falls under the catch-all heading of ‘Americana.’”) This fall Mike + Ruthy are supporting Ani DiFranco throughout the Northeast and in 2016 they’ll be debuting the new band at Scotland’s Celtic Connections festival with a tour of US festivals to follow.  http://www.mikeandruthy.com

Alec Spiegelman is a Brooklyn-based singer, composer, arranger, & multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwinds. He is a member of the band Cuddle Magic. As a sideman, on stage and in studio, he’s worked numerous creative songwriters such as Amanda Palmer and Anais Mitchell. He’s arranged and orchestrated wind instruments on countless recordings, among them three albums by The David Wax Museum and Kristin Andreassen’s Gondolier. Currently he’s producing a record for Jennifer Kimball (formerly of The Story). His musical-comedy duo (with Kelly Roberge), Ronald Reagan – Boston’s Premier 80s Pop Saxophone Duo, has shared comedy stages with Eugene Mirman, Kristin Schaal, and Reggie Watts. His early musical education included lots of improvising in the jazz tradition (broadly defined), formal studies with Steve Lacy and Ran Blake, and a thorough (informal) grounding in r&b saxophone best-practices (a la Junior Walker) directed by Doo Wop survivor Little Joe Cook. www.alecspiegelman.com

Kristin Slipp, once of the most adroit and malleable vocalist of today, is “a force to be reckoned with,” (JazzTimes). Whether weaving in and out of a 6-piece rock band, bouncing against a Wurlitzer, or blending with other unaccompanied voices, Slipp is keenly aware of the boundless capacity of her instrument. In the many musical contexts in which she is engaged, Slipp’s musicianship is powerful and unmistakably her own. As a vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter in indie pop band Cuddle Magic, Slipp has honed a love of the ensemble and of polyrhythmic pop song while touring nationally. Her pursuit of the unorthodox extends into Twins of El Dorado, a voice/trumpet duo that explores the concept of the art song and the intersection of text and music. As a devotee of song, Slipp interprets the jazz standard repertoire with pianist Dov Manski, the two of whom released their debut album, “A Thousand Julys,” on Sunnyside Records in 2013 to critical acclaim. A sought-after collaborator, Kristin has been honored to share stages and studios with a diverse mix of some of her favorite musicians including Fred Frith, Steve Reich, Ran Blake, Dagmar Krause, Zeena Parkins, Son Lux, Darius Jones, Carla Kihlstedt, Anthony Coleman, Rubblebucket, Anaïs Mitchell, Phyllis Chen, and Lisa Bielawa. www.kristinslipp.com

Benjamin Lazar Davis is an arranger, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He's collaborated with Joan As Police Woman, Anais Mitchell, Kimbra, Luke Temple, Okkervil River, Larkin Grimm, Jesse Harris, Delicate Steve, Lip Talk, Margaret Glaspy, and Star Rover. His current creative projects include Cuddle Magic, 2001, a duo with Lake Street Dive's Bridget Kearney , and Chime Wisely.

For the past 15 years, Stephanie has performed and taught old time fiddle throughout the United States, Europe, and Australia and remains a regular finalist in the renowned fiddle contest at the Appalachian String Band Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia. She's recorded and toured with all-girl stringband Uncle Earl, with clawhammer banjo master Adam Hurt, and in a fiddle duo with Cleek Schrey. Here in town you can catch her on Monday nights at Gowanus’ Lowlands Bar, where she's a regular at the weekly old-time jam session there.

Lauren Balthrop is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter born and raised in Alabama where her family gatherings always included sing-alongs of the Everly Brothers, the Andrew Sisters, the Louvin Brothers, and the Beatles. She formed a big folk-rock band and "small town" with her brother called Balthrop, Alabama and they've toured all across the states. They have plans to write an "Our Town" inspired musical. Her 60's inspired girl group, The Bandana Splits, has released two records with songs landing on shows such as HBO's 'Bored to Death'. Lauren has one solo album with another one on the way under the name Dear Georgiana. She's also toured extensively as a multi-instrumentalist for Elizabeth & the Catapult and Ximena Sariñana. Lauren is a knitter and tap dancer too! www.deargeorgiana.com

Brooklyn based fiddler and songster Adam Moss’s musical career can most easily be characterized by the variance of his influence. Adam loves playing in the Klezmer, Bluegrass, Old-time and Swing traditions, creating a very unique and innovative style in a performance setting. He is actively touring with Boston’s Session Americana, Brooklyn's The Defibulators, Ana Egge, and has formerly toured on Anais Mitchell’s “Hadestown,” tour, and with Texas’s 3 Redneck Tenors. In addition to the above, Adam is currently working on multiple projects, including his original solo project, his family band “Moishe Circus," and is often found accompanying his twin brother David Moss on his own solo project.