Instructors - Great Guitar Camp Jan 15-17, 2027

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Whether you’re ready to learn some new chords, get your fingers strolling up and down the guitar neck, or just want to jam out on some favorite tunes, there’s an instructor who can make it happen!

 

DANNY GOTHAM’s musical roots spread deep and broad, a master flatpicking and fingerpicking instrumentalist, cutting his musical teeth playing in various rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass and country bands. In 1980, Gotham took Second Place in the prestigious National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, KS. His musical collaborations include accompanist to the great folksinger Tom Paxton and original "Prairie Home Companion" music director, Peter Ostroushko. As a teacher, he has maintained an extensive private student roster, and, since 1974, conducted numerous workshops in the US and Canada. Gotham, along with Jane Peppler and Bob Vasile, founded Picknbow in 2011.

Danny teaches flat-pick, fingerstyle guitar technique, repertoire, and arranging.

JON SHAIN, from Durham, NC, is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, fiery acoustic guitar work, and evolved musical style that combines improvised Piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime. In 2019, Shain won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN in the solo/duo category. Jon has released nine solo albums to date, along with two albums with duo partner FJ Ventre, a Jon Shain Trio live album, and one album of co-writes with Joe Newberry. Shain’s newest album, Odds…and Even So, recorded at Good Luck Studios was released September 1, 2026 and went to #12 on the Folk Radio chart. Shain is also the author of the music books ‘Gettin’ Handy With the Blues – a Tribute to the Legacy of W.C. Handy’ and ‘Jon Shain’s Fingerstyle Guitar Method’, both published by Mel Bay.

Jon teaches all aspects of guitar technique, slide, songwriting, and blues.

 

FJ VENTRE has played bass with numerous and diverse acts from The Triangle area over the years. He enjoys exploring the musical gamut, be it playing and singing modern folk blues with old friend Jon Shain; backing up extraordinary singer-songwriter Wes Collins; getting his early hot jazz and swing kicks with Huzzah!; or paying homage to old-school country and rockabilly greats with the Nashvilifiers (along with fellow instructor Danny Gotham). 

As a highly sought-after teacher of upright acoustic and electric bass, he’s one of the most popular music teachers in the area. Otherwise, you can find him hunched over his virtual recording console at his Good Luck Studio, where he records, mixes and produces various projects (often collaborating with producer Jon Shain), Past clients/collaborations include Jon Shain, Joe Newberry, Danny Gotham, Barry Gray, Dean Driver, as well as many Picknbow friends.

FJ teaches all levels of acoustic and electric bass as well as sound system use, home recording, and music theory.

SAM FRAZIER is a guitarist, singer and songwriter from Greensboro, NC whose music blends emotional and musical complexity with the heart of a rock-n-roller. He has released two solo CDs (Half a Million Years and Sam Frazier). He was a member of the band Tornado with whom he released a long playing record album (First Alert) and a CD (When a Breeze Breaks Your Bones), and has opened shows for Joan Armatrading, The Neville Brothers, America, The Funky Meters, The Duhks, The Del McCrory Band, The Atlanta Rhythm Section, Eric Church, Craig Morgan & Root Boy Slim, to name a few.

Currently, he performs solo, with his band, Sam Frazier & the Side Effects and with Jeffery Dean Foster & The Arrows. Occasionally he is privileged to accompany folks like Florence Dore, Molly McGinn & Laurelyn Dossett. You can find out where Sam’s playing next at

Sam teaches guitar technique and songwriting.


MAMIE MINCH is a longtime staple of New York City’s blues scene. Listening to her sing and play is like unpacking a time capsule of American music that’s been stored in her 1930’s National steel guitar for decades and filtered through a modern femme sensitivity. Mamie began playing guitar as a teenager in her bedroom listening to reissues of classic country blues on repeat. Her job at a local record store gave her first dibs on releases from labels like Yazoo and Document. She would hurry home and try her hand at picking out the songs of legends like Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Memphis Minnie and Bessie Smith. She loved the steady thumb and percussive right hand of these blues players, but she also devoured lots of different styles of music, from soul to psychobilly and old time to punk rock. When she’s not making music, Mamie spends her days as a guitar repair luthier at Brooklyn Lutherie, the shop she and her business partner, Chloe Swantner, opened in 2014. It remains one of the few women-owned and -operated shops around.  She also teaches, writes articles about luthiery and guitar playing for She Shreds and Acoustic Guitar magazines, and runs the annual Ukulele Building Camp for Girls in Brooklyn, NY.  

Mamie teaches guitar, classic blues, and guitar maintenance.