Scott Napier

Posted on by Hhmmc

Scott NapierA native of Hazard, Kentucky, Scott Napier picked up the mandolin as a teenager and has rarely set it down since. In addition to his nationally recognized mandolin work, he is also an accomplished bluegrass guitarist, known for a flat-picking style rooted in the traditions of Eastern Kentucky and influenced by legends like Doc Watson, Norman Blake, and Larry Sparks. Whether teaching, performing, or recording, Scott brings soulful authenticity to every instrument he plays.

Scott launched his professional career in 1996 as mandolinist for bluegrass legend Larry Sparks. Over the next decade with the Lonesome Ramblers, he toured internationally—including performances in Japan, at the Washington Monument for a 4th of July celebration, on A Prairie Home Companion, and on GAC TV’s Alison Krauss and Friends. He has earned a mandolin endorsement from Gibson and appeared multiple times on the Grand Ole Opry. Following his work with Sparks, Scott toured with Dale Ann Bradley and Grammy Award-winner Marty Raybon, and later joined The Lost and Found at the request of Allen Mills, helping to complete their 2009 album Love, Lost and Found.

Since 2014, Scott has taught at Hazard Community & Technical College’s Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music (KSBTM), where he earned the rank of Associate Professor and completed his bachelor’s degree at Morehead State University. He worked closely with bluegrass icon Bobby Osborne and, in 2017, founded the Bobby Osborne Mandolin Roundup—an annual one-day camp for players of all ages, taught by Bobby, Scott, his wife Lauren Price Napier, and guest instructors. He has been nominated five times for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Mentor of the Year award.

Scott is also a published author, with contributions to Bluegrass Unlimited, Fretboard Journal, Bluegrass Today, and Mandolin Café. As of March 2023, he serves as Program Coordinator for OCTC Capital Bluegrass & Traditional Music at Owensboro Community & Technical College.

Jane Henderson

Posted on by Jim Kendrick

Jayne Henderson is a luthier based in Asheville, North Carolina, and one of the few women in the world who specializes in handcrafting custom ukuleles alongside guitars. A former aspiring brain surgeon turned environmental lawyer, Jayne’s journey into lutherie began as a practical solution to pay off student loans. She asked her father—legendary guitar maker Wayne Henderson—to build her a guitar she could sell. His response: “I’ll help you make one, but you have to do the work.”

She did. The guitar sold, the debt diminished, and a new passion was born.

Over the past decade, Jayne has built more than 150 instruments, earning a reputation for her extraordinary craftsmanship, environmentally conscious material choices, and soulful connection to each piece she creates. Her work has caught the attention of icons like Doc Watson and has been featured by NPR, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and Blue Ridge PBS.

Jayne’s approach to building blends traditional Appalachian techniques learned from her father with modern sensibilities and sustainable practices. She often sources wood from her own backyard or rescues high-quality “scrap” pieces from other builders’ burn piles—transforming them into exceptional instruments with new life and purpose. From black walnut and North Carolina maple to salvaged koa and Kona coffee wood, Jayne believes each piece of wood has a story, a soul, and a song waiting to be heard.

Her ukuleles, which now account for about half of her output, are especially close to her heart—not only because she plays them herself, often with her young daughter Matilda, but also because they offer space for creative experimentation. From brass and copper inlays inspired by jewelry-making to delicate “tree of life” fingerboard designs, each instrument is deeply personal and artistically expressive.

Jayne builds exclusively to order, with a long list of clients who trust her to interpret their vision and translate it into wood, tone, and detail. “I meet a person, get a hint of their personality, and I see their instrument in my mind,” she says. “Everything I make has so much of me in it.”

She has created matching guitar-and-ukulele sets, instruments with kudzu vine inlays for goat farmers, and pieces that showcase the unique resonance of overlooked Appalachian hardwoods. Whether crafting a ukulele or a dreadnought, Jayne brings the same precision, passion, and playfulness to every step of the process.

Don MacRostie

Posted on by Jim Kendrick

Don MacRostieDon MacRostie, widely known for his Red Diamond mandolins,
has been building them for 50 years. For the past 20 years his focus
has been on making mandolins that incorporate the essence of the
Lloyd Loar signed mandolins of the early 1920’s.

For forty years Don was a major part of the Stewart-MacDonald
crew designing and producing parts, supplies and tools for the
lutherie community. In this capacity at StewMac, he had his hand
in the design and production of the instrument kits and plans,
resurrection the 3-ply maple banjo rim, and many of the lutherie
tools sold by StewMac today.

Over the years he has been an active member of the Guild of
American Luthiers and A.S.I.A. presenting at many symposiums,
and mentoring aspiring instrument builders. For sharing his
knowledge and for his artistic achievements, he was recognized in
2022 by the Ohio Arts Council with an Ohio Heritage Fellowship.

 

Tony Williamson

Posted on by Jim Kendrick

2018 North Carolina Heritage Award recipient Tony Williamson is a visionary musician, composer, musical instrument expert, teacher and mentor.  He has played stringed instruments, most famously mandolin, for six decades and has been receiving awards and honors for his music for nearly 50 of those years. Never content to rest on his laurels, today Tony continues to perform live and travel internationally and has recordings with fresh new concepts in progress.

Tony was born and raised in rural Piedmont North Carolina to a family of wood-workers and musicians.  His grandfather, Alfred, made his own musical instruments (at one time his banjo was on display the N.C. Museum of History) and inspired his grandchildren, who began playing music around 1957.  With Tony on mandolin and his brother Gary on banjo, they became child sensations and by 1969 had won first places in the coveted “World Championship” in Union Grove, North Carolina.  In 1968 the Williamson Brothers recorded “John Henry” for Follett Publishing Co. for an anthology called “Discovering Music Together”. Also included in this book and LP record album collection were contributions from “Blood Sweat & Tears” and the Boston Symphony.

After taking a degree with highest honors at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1975, Tony answered the call to go on the road with a touring band, the Bluegrass Alliance, whose alumni include Vince Gill, Sam Bush and Tony Rice.  Afterwards, working in a succession of bands led him to the top of his field playing classical, jazz and folk music as well as bluegrass.  His credits include performances on stage and/or in the recording studio with Alison Krauss, Chris Thile, Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Bobby Hicks, Tony Rice, Vassar Clements, David Grisman, Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Don Stiernberg, and Robin and Linda Williams of Prairie Home Companion fame.  In addition to the prestigious NC Heritage Award, his list of honors includes the IBMA recorded event of the year in 1994, many on-stage highlights such Mando-Mania at Merlefest and an unforgettable performance for Luciano Pavarotti!

Jeremy Wanless

Posted on by Jim Kendrick

Jeremy Wanless is celebrated for his own rugged and bluesy take on the traditional Blue Grass mandolin style created by Bill Monroe. As a teenager, Jeremy studied under internationally known mandolin masters Mike Compton and Skip Gorman. Jeremy worked for years on staff at the Augusta Heritage Center, American Mountain Theater, Gandy Dancer Theater, and Franks Family Music’s “Greatest Show On Rails” as well as numerous bluegrass ensembles over the years. A patient teacher with a refined musical manner, Jeremy teaches mandolin both privately and publicly and performs regularly with the “Phrawg Giggers” and “Franks Family Music.”

Jeff Burke

Posted on by Jim Kendrick

Jeff Burke is a professional musician and instructor who teaches bluegrass music and improvisation to individuals and groups. He plays Guitar, Mandolin and Banjo and has performed and recorded with a number of bands over his 23 year career. Jeff has worked both independently and in connection with the Wernick Method to bring group jamming classes to both Nashville, TN and Chicago, IL. He founded the popular bluegrass jamming class at the World famous Stayion Inn and works extensively with the Country Music Hall of Fame to provide hands on acoustic instrument and jamming workshops for their youth and family programs.

In 2020 Jeff Became the general Manager of The Station Inn in Nashville, handling day to day duties and booking the bands. In 2021 he left Station Inn to join the management and booking team at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in Madison, TN where he is currently employed. He is also involved with Bluegrass Wednesdays at American Legion Post 82 in Nashville. Jeff also produces 2-3 day jam camps at festivals around the country and has been a faculty member at numerous music camps.

Mission Statement

Posted on by Jim Kendrick

Preserving and Promoting the Music and Cultural Heritage of Authentic First Generation Bluegrass

Committed to building community from around the world, as well as forging platforms and connections for the next generation of musicians, the MonManCamp presents programs that ensure the continuation of this truly original and powerful American art form called Bluegrass Music. At MMC, our missions are to:

  • Preserve the music created and recorded by Bill Monroe
  • Use the transformative power of music to foster relationships while building communities worldwide
  • Educate contemporary music enthusiasts about fundamental building blocks, stylistic elements, and techniques that are unique to this music
  • Present a curriculum that forwards an understanding of the players and culture that created Bluegrass music
  • Cultivating:
  1. Creativity through collaboration;
  2. Self-Compassion & Resilient Spirit:letting go of perfectionism and taking a journey based upon one note, one tune, or one song at a time;
  3. Brain Development via self-assessment, critical thinking skills, engagement of non-verbal brain activities for fine motor skills, mathematical reasoning (via chord progressions, rhythm, melodic intervals, etc.)
  4. Folklore or the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community passed through the generations by word of mouth
  5. Connection:
    • via facilitating cross-generational gatherings and one generation passing it down to the next;
    • laughter and joy through music;
    • continuation and longevity of this music by growing the branches of future players and appreciators;
    • using the stories and roots of bluegrass music with all of its rich history, context, narratives of hardships, triumphs, and musical history to demonstrate our connectedness and similarities