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 TrueGrass, Turning Point, 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 coordinated the Kids’ Academy at Strawberry Park from 2005 through 2010, and 2011 will be their sixth year coordinating Podunk Festival Kids’ Academy. Tim teaches mandolin and serves as musical director, selecting the tunes and organizing the performance. Vicki takes care of all the paperwork and incidental organization details. They are both looking forward to meeting the Kids at Podunk!
Louise Muller discovered bluegrass as a teen, she formed a band and won several First place awards at Fiddle Contests in the Virginia area. She has studied with members of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Portland String Quartet. Currently, she gigs in the New England area with various orchestras and ensembles (Band of Humans, South Street Duo, Yankee Dogs, Stephanie Hansen, and the Phoenix String Quartet) as well as performing solo and in studio session work. An award winning sculptor, she designs and builds one-of-a-kind electric 5-string violins. She also maintains a private teaching practice for students of violin, viola, and cello.
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 has performed on stages in the U.S., Ireland, and Europe. She 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, releasing two CDs, and currently performs with her band Turning Point. She plays guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and has a thriving teaching practice. Her song “Like a Train” won the 2010 Podunk Bluegrass Festival Songwriting Contest.
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. 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.
Peggy Ann Harvey is probably most familiar to fans of the bluegrass band "Traver Hollow" with whom she played fiddle for 25 years. Peggy is a classically trained clarinetist who also plays piano, flute, soprano saxophone, autoharp, and harmonica in addition to the fiddle. She has played with Springwater and Amy Gallatin’s all-female trio called The Hot Flashes. Currently she is performing with Gail wade and "Turning Point" and the Bluegrass Band "Truegrass". Her immense talent for harmony arrangement allows for some stunning vocal blends in any musical endeavor she is involved with. She has toured extensively throughout Europe and Canada and has performed on nine recordings to date.
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