www.iragitlin.com
Playing Since: 1973
Experience Level: Expert/Professional

Ira Gitlin has made 80 recent additions to Banjo Hangout 

Interests:
[Teaching] [Jamming] [Socializing] [Helping]

Occupation: Musician

Gender: Male
Age: 67

My Instruments:
1992 Ome Silver Monarch;

2006 Kel Kroydon KK-46 Custom, Huberized;

1935 Gibson Style 11

Classified Rating: not rated
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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 3/28/2008
Last Visit 3/10/2026

Ira Gitlin, a native of New York City, is widely known and respected in Washington-Baltimore bluegrass, folk, and roots-music circles as a versatile multi-instrumentalist, teacher, and writer. A former National Bluegrass Banjo Champion and multiple Wammie award winner, Ira has worked with such nationally known performers as Bill Harrell, the Johnson Mountain Boys, and Peter Rowan, and has played on over two dozen recording projects. He can be seen performing frequently with the Blue Moon Cowgirls, Karen Collins & the Backroads Band, the Oklahoma Twisters, Dede Wyland, and other D.C.-area artists. In addition to numerous festival workshops, Ira has taught at the Maryland Banjo Academy (1998, 2000, and 2002), the Swannanoa Gathering (2001-3), the Augusta Heritage Workshops (2004-9), Pete Wernick's Jam Camps (2003-2010), the Grey Fox Bluegrass Academy for Kids (2000-2010), and the Kids’ Academies at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival (2003-2010) and the Joe Val Memorial Festival (2004-10). Ira has written about bluegrass music in the pages of Bluegrass Unlimited, Banjo NewsLetter, and Bluegrass Now, and he has contributed liner notes to several commercial recordings. He has lectured on the history of bluegrass for the Smithsonian Associates, and in 2005 he delivered a paper (“The Parking-Lot Vernacular”) at the world’s first academic symposium on bluegrass. In 1993 Ira was a one-day winner on the television game show Jeopardy.