Doug Unger to Host Clawhammer Banjo Workshop at Blue Sky Folk Festival, Sept. 16

Doug Unger and his work.

Master banjo builder Doug Unger will be presenting a clawhammer banjo workshop Sept. 16 at the Blue Sky Folk Festival, in Kirtland, Ohio. Unger is a former Kent State University art professor and an Ohio Arts Council grants and fellowships recipient, as well as an accomplished banjo player in his own right.

Unger will be leading a clawhammer banjo workshop with Paul Kovac under the "Small Tent" from 2 to 2:45 p.m.

Established in 2010, the Blue Sky festival is hosted at the East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church on Chillicothe Road in Kirtland. The event features concerts, workshops, community jams, family crafts and other fun activities. Tickets are $15 at the gate or $12 if you purchase online. Get a $3 discount at the door if you bring and instrument to join in the various jam sessions. Youths age 12 and under are free.

Attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets. With multiple indoor and outdoor jam areas and an inside main stage, visitors will have plenty of opportunities to play, sing, dance and listen.

Prior to Unger's workshop, there is an organized old-time jam under the "Big Tent" from 1:15 to 2 p.m., led by local musicians Joel Specht and Ken Roby. In addition, Dave Rice is co-hosting a harmonica workshop focusing on blues and old-time music, and there is a fiddle workshop. View the master schedule here.

The Blue Sky festival is organized by the Northeast Ohio Musical Heritage Association, which also organizes the Lake Erie Folk Fest (in collaboration with the Shore Cultural Centre).

Unger was previously featured at the Glory-Beaming Banjo in 2015 in the post titled, "Master and Apprentice: Banjo Builder Workshop in Historic Peninsula, Ohio." He'll be conducting a similar event on Sept. 23 as part of Peninsula's annual Music on the Porches. Stay tuned to preview of that event in the coming days.

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The Glory-Beaming Banjo

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