A weekend of old time music classes, concerts, jams at Stephen Foster State Park on the beautiful & historic Suwannee River.

21 Members, Created 2/1/2011 -

Administrators: Jim Strickland (owner) , ChuckJo

Orpheus Supertones at Stephen Foster Old-TIme Music Weekend September 7-9 2012!

From ChuckJo on 6/23/2012 6:38:39 AM

Hello Friends,

Please mark your calendars for the Stephen Foster Old-Time Music Weekend (formerly the Suwannee Old-Time Music Weekend) September 7-9.  This event takes place at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, Florida.  This year we are featuring The Orpheus Supertones (Walt Koken, Claire Milliner, Kellie Allen, Pete Peterson and Hilary Dirlam) Chuck Levy, and Florida Masters Greg Allen, Bob Murphy, and Caitlin Murphy who perform as “Joe Bone”.

We are amazingly lucky to be able to offer this slate:

Some brief remarks about the guests:

Walt will be teaching advanced clawhammer banjo.  As a member of the Fat City and Highwoods String Band’s Walt has been a trailblazer in the resurgence of old-time music starting in the 1960’s.  He is the winner of the old-time banjo contest at Clifftop. 

Claire Milliner is an extraordinary fiddler, who has been collaboration with Walt has yielded some terrific recordings as well as the Milliner-Koken Collection of Fiddle Tunes.  This massive volume of 1400 tunes is an astonishing achievement.  Claire will be teaching advanced fiddle.

Pete Peterson is a master of pre-bluegrass finger-style banjo.  He is renowned for his ability to channel the likes of Charlie Poole, Uncle Dave Macon, and Frank Jenkins, as well as for his own dynamic approach to the banjo.  He will teach finger-style banjo.

Kellie Allen is an accomplished old-time singer and sought-after backup guitarist and bass player. She started playing old-time tunes with her fiddler brother, Greg Allen, while she was in her teens and has been singing and playing ever since she can remember. Known for her Riley Puckett-esque backup style, Kellie will be teaching old-time guitar and singing.

Hilary Dirlam, known for her bass and guitar playing, has been fascinated by the banjo for decades. Hilary has learned from and played with Luke Smathers, Carroll Best, Gordon Freeman, and Doug Philllips. She is one of the founders of the Old-Time Herald magazine and has been the directed the Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week at Mars Hill College for twenty years. Hilary has authored several banjo tab books, her most recent being “Banjo Without Tears: Simple Banjo Tunes” and has taught banjo to groups and individual students for many years. Hilary will be teaching beginning banjo.

Our Florida Masters are Greg Allen and Bob Murphy who will be joined by Bob’s daughter, Caitlin Murphy.  Both Greg and Bob are highly respected multi-instrumentalist Florida old-time masters, whose music conveys a deep knowledge and respect for tradition, while still being all-out fun!

Chuck Levy is a Florida's Old-Time Banjo Champion, and Florida’s Old-Time Fiddle Champion. Chuck has been honored with both the Thelma Boltin and the Ed Fleming Awards for his contributions to old-time music in Florida.  Chuck’s mastery has been recognized by Gold Tone, which has developed a 6-string banjo, the OT-6, to Chuck’s specifications.  Chuck will be teaching intermediate Old-Time fiddle.

For a registration form contact:

The Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park                                                                                      Telephone: 1-386-397-4478