Banjo

Clawhambassador

Photo by Jim Dombkowski

“That banjo attraction and his continuing passion for music has people shaking and moving to American roots music.”
— D.E. Bentley, Owl Light News

Clawhammer Banjo

I am obsessed with all things clawhammer. It’s an expressive style whose beauty is a consequence of its limitations. No two clawhammer banjo players sound quite the same because the technique naturally lends itself to the player’s individuality. A technique invented by African herders and enslaved Caribbean musicians, and honed by interactions with fiddle tunes, it is percussive, it’s melodic, it’s worldly, and it’s versatile. My style stems from the local Finger Lakes tradition characterized by the ‘Ithaca’ sound having studied with regional clawhammer visionaries Mac Benford, Richie Stearns, and Bruce Molsky.

In-person Instruction

Weekly Jam: Every Wednesday from 4 to 6pm, a group of us gather at the Little Lakes Community Center in Hemlock NY for the Old Time Music Hour. We learn and discuss a tune or musical concept, and then we jam our repertoire. It’s fun, friendly, and good way to meet your neighbors/FLX locals. So far we have worked on these tunes.

Workshops: I also regularly teach workshops at old time camps. In-depth study surrounded by other learners and teachers. A weekend can really slingshot your playing to the next level of enjoyment! I’ll be teaching at these upcoming camps:

Winter Village Music Camp – January 8-11, 2026 in Ithaca, NY

Tutorials and Tab

I periodically release tune tutorials on youtube. I focus on tunes that appear on my albums March of the Mollusk, Banjo Meditations, and Banjo Jubilations. If you have requests from those albums, or other tunes you’ve heard me do, please reach out! Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel and keep an eye out. In the videos I teach a tune, and also cover other aspects of playing banjo and making music. So far I’ve posted tutorials for the following tunes:

Tennessee Waltz | Big Sciota | Leland’s Waltz | Say Darling Say | Old Grimes

also, The Clawhammer ‘Cluck’

I have tablature for each tune I post. You can purchase them HERE!