The Denison University music department will host the Second Annual Bluegrass Festival, featuring singer/songwriter Claire Lynch, her bandmates Jim Hurst and David Harvey, and the Andy Carlson Band, with a series of workshops and a concert on Saturday (Feb. 4). The workshops run from noon to 4 p.m. and the concert with the Claire Lynch Band and the Andy Carlson Band is set for 7 p.m. in Burke Recital Hall, in addition to a post-concert jam session at Brew's Too, in downtown Granville, beginning at 10 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.

The variety of musical workshops will begin at noon with a banjo workshop led by Greg Earnest and Richard Hood. It will be followed by a mandolin workshop with Michael Smith at 12:45 p.m.; flatpicking guitar with Casey Cook at 1:30 p.m.; and a bluegrass band clinic with Claire Lynch, David Harvey, Jim Hurst, and Keith Morris at 2:30 p.m. in the Burke Hall Rehearsal Room.

Lynch has been in the bluegrass business since she was a young girl, but it wasn't until a 1995 Grammy nomination for best bluegrass album for her Rounder debut, Moonlighter, that her talents were widely recognized. Her 1997 album, Silver and Gold, earned a second Grammy nomination.

Lynch joined the Alabama Front Porch String Band as the lead singer in the 1970s and regularly toured the Southeast for several years. She later launched dual careers as a songwriter and session vocalist and her harmonies have appeared on albums from such leading artists as Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Patty Loveless, among others. The Front Porch String Band re-emerged in 1991 and quickly evolved into one of the most exciting post-modern bluegrass bands on the circuit. In 2003 the Claire Lynch Band was formed as Lynch was joined by former bandmates Jim Hurst and David Harvey. They have been touring since last April.

The Andy Carlson Band performs music ranging from traditional Old-Time Appalachian, Bluegrass, Swing, Blues, "New" Grass, Classical and Contemporary Acoustic. Fiddler/violinist Andy Carlson has twice been named the Georgia State Champion Fiddler and was the 2000 Ohio Grand Champion fiddler. The New York Times described him as a "demon fiddler." He earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in violin performance from the University of Iowa. Carlson is currently assistant professor and chair of the music department at Denison. He has authored "A Guide to American Fiddling" for Mel Bay Publishers. Other members of the Andy Carlson Band are Michael Smith on mandolin, Greg Earnest on banjo, Casey Cook on guitar, and Keith Morris on bass.

Smith began playing music at age 13, first on electric guitar and then on mandolin in 1999. A full-time musician, Smith plays with the Atlanta-based bluegrass band The Dappled Grays. He also teaches bluegrass mandolin and does studio work. Earnest began playing the banjo at age 11 and has performed and recorded throughout the Southeast with a number of bluegrass bands since his early teens. Since 1990, he has been a member of the Athens, Georgia-based band "The Warblers."

Cook also began playing bluegrass music early in life. He is a founding member of "The Dappled Grays" and since 1999, this bluegrass and new acoustic quintet has released a first album and has shared the stage with national touring musicians such as The Del McCoury Band, David Grier, and Mike Compton. Cook has been featured in "Flatpicking Guitar" magazine and works full time as a musician and entertainer. Morris earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in music performance at the University of Georgia, where he studied double bass. He has performed with the Charleston Symphony, Columbus Symphony, and Macon Symphony, among other Southeastern regional symphonies. He currently works as creative director of special effects and design at IQ Television Group in Atlanta and continues to be an in-demand performance and session player in the area.

CALENDAR INFORMATION: Denison University,Denison hosts the 2nd Annual Bluegrass Festival with a series of workshops and concerts, featuring the Andy Carlson Band and the Claire Lynch Band; workshops begin at noon and run through the afternoon and the concert begins at 7 p.m., Saturday, (Feb. 4) in the Burke Rehearsal and Recital Halls. Free and open to the public. Please call (740) 587-6220 for more information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

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Barbara Stambaugh

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