Vicki Baker and Tim St. Jean
(Coordinators)
Tim St. Jean and Vicki Baker have been making music together as a couple since 1997. In performance, Tim plays the guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, hammered dulcimer and concertina. He has a long history of playing in a number of bluegrass bands, including Springwater and Shady Creek. As educators, Tim teaches private lessons on all his instruments; Vicki teaches English at Three Rivers Community College and is a certified horseback riding instructor. As Kids’ Academy Coordinators, they combine their strengths and divide the labor; they have coordinated the Kids’ Academy at Strawberry Park for the last two years, making the 2009 Podunk Festival Kids’ Academy their fourth. Tim serves as musical director, selecting the tunes and organizing the performance. He also teaches mandolin. Vicki takes care of all the paperwork and incidental organization details. They are both looking forward to meeting the Kids at Podunk!
Robin Warren (fiddle)
Robin Warren studied classical violin as a child, giving solo violin recitals in Boston’s Brown Hall and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She then became a Master Fiddler, taking first place prizes in numerous fiddle contests in North Carolina and New England. She was the first fiddler ever to win the coveted Fiddler of the Festival title during 3 different years at Fiddler’s Grove in North Carolina. For this, she was granted the title of Master Fiddler. She is also one of several fiddlers featured in the 1994 PBS Special entitled “Fiddler’s Grove, a Celebration of Old-Time Music”. She has appeared on over 2 dozen albums and collections.
Louise Muller (fiddle)
Starting at the age of 5, Louise Muller received private violin instruction for almost 20 years. Along with performing in student orchestras and ensembles, she studied with teachers that were members of the National Symphony Orchestra, the Portland String Quartet and Oberlin College Professors. When a teen, she discovered bluegrass, formed a band and won several First place awards at Fiddle Contests in the Virginia area. In more recent years, she gigs in the New England area with various orchestras, ensembles, solo performances, and studio session work. Some of the most recent bands are: Band of Humans - blues, folk rock, South Street Duo – folk, standards, bluegrass, Yankee Dogs - country, rock, folk, blues, bluegrass, swing, Stephanie Hansen - country, and the Phoenix String Quartet - Classical string quartet. An award winning sculptor, she has designed and built one-of-a-kind electric 5-string violins, today she maintains a private teaching practice for students of violin, viola, and cello.
Dave Dick (banjo)
Dave Dick began playing the guitar at age seven in his local church and at age thirteen he started banjo lessons. Rapidly, he became skilled enough to join a band, and also teach banjo lessons. Starting in 1981 with Bear Acker and Billings Gap, through recording with Roger Williams, Dave has played with Back Roads, the John Herald Band, The Robin Kincaid Band, Southern Rail, Salamander Crossing, and Northern Lights. He has done studio work with Valerie and Walter Crockett, Paul Della Valle and the Ink Stained Wretches, Rick Lang and Friends, Go!, Little Big Wheel, and Mark Erelli. He is also a producer for CMH Records. In addition, Dave is a teacher of banjo, mandolin, and guitar, and also works full-time as a stringed instrument repairman at Union Music in Worcester.
Gail Wade (guitar)
Gail Wade's music is an evocative melange of Americana, bluegrass and blues. A strong guitarist possessing a rich soulful voice, her interpretations of the classics are fresh and her original songs beautifully crafted. For twenty years she has performed on stages in the U.S., Ireland, and Europe. Gail has toured as a member of The Hot Flashes and as a side-musician with singer-songwriter Gary Ferguson. In recent years she has stepped to the forefront, recording Journey, her debut CD, and currently performs with her band Turning Point.
Tim St. Jean (mandolin)
See above
Linda Turner (bass)
Linda Turner grew up with bluegrass music and first played bass in 1977 with Kentucky Wind. She joined her banjo-playing brother backing up Dick Lee, playing country music and square dances as The Eight Mile River Band. She is currently the “token adult” performing on bass with Sugar Creek, a kids’ band comprised of Taylor Cyr, Jaime Harvey, and Ben, William, and Patience Trickett—who have all been regular attendees of Kids’ Academies at a variety of bluegrass festivals. This is Linda’s fourth year teaching in the Kids’ Academy, and she really enjoys encouraging young people to take a look at bluegrass music and see how much fun it is.
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