Christy Gross (aka Christy Lou) is thrilled to teach the old-time banjo masterclass at Maidencreek Old Time Music Festival this year! Christy is a multi-instrumentalist and has played folk music for as long as she can remember. She taught herself guitar at age ten and has had a steady stream of opportunities and gigs to play from that time forward. Twelve years ago, Christy's husband surprised her with a banjo and the rest is history. She quickly fell in love with clawhammer banjo and has studied with Allison DeGroot, Adam Hurt, Hilarie Burhans, Joe Newberry, Lukas Pool, and many other modern masters of clawhammer banjo. She has served as clawhammer banjo teacher at Bucks County Folk Music Shop, is co-founder of several old-time bands including: Cornflower Jam, Pickle Creek Stringband, and the Station Mashers Stringband. Christy loves to write original music in the old-time style, has co-produced a studio album, and is currently producing a second old-time album with Pickle Creek to be released in 2026. 

 

Christy's master clawhammer banjo class will cover tunes from West Virginia and participants will work on techniques such as slides, hammer-ons, alternate string pull-offs, ghost strokes, accuracy, and clarity of tone.

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Each Master Workshop has 12 spaces for students. 

Pre-registration is required for Master Workshops.

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