Banjo 1, Beginning Banjo: Chance McCoy is a Grammy winning Indie Folk musician, music producer and film composer from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Chance grew up in a musical family. As a young man he took an unlikely musical direction, studying traditional folk music of Appalachia with old master musicians from West Virginia under a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. After many years steeping himself in the lost traditions of American string band music he went on to win Fiddle, Banjo and Dulcimer championships as well as first place honors in the International String Band contest known as ‘Clifftop’. In 2008 he released ‘Chance McCoy and The Appalachian Stringband’ a collection of traditional music recorded live around one mic that slowly gained a cult following among Old Time Music enthusiasts.

Banjo 2, Intermediate Banjo: Tim Bing originally from Barboursville WV, is widely recognized as one of the best old time banjo players anywhere. A nominee for the first class of inductees into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, Tim learned his craft first-hand from such legendary West Virginia greats as Sherman Hammons and Frank George. His driving yet intricate drop-thumb style has led to many banjo contest blue ribbons. He is a member of the Bing Brothers Band, and has performed across the U.S., Canada, Ireland Australia and Scotland. He can be heard on “Banjo Legacy” and “Just For The Sake Of It”.

Banjo 3, Intermediate/Advance Banjo: Stephen Casto was raised and resides in Pocahontas County WV where he learned banjo from the likes of Charlie Loudermilk, Junior Spencer and Tim Bing. His driving style is influenced by the Bing Brothers and the Hammons Family. A former student of Allegheny Echoes and a graduate of Glenville State College, he currently plays with the old time band, Mudhole Control. Stephen placed 4th in the Old Time Banjo contest at Galax in 2019.

Fiddle 1 Beginning: Ben Davis is a hard driving fiddler from knapps creek in pocahontas county west virginia. he started playing at age nine and came under the influences of legendary fiddlers Junior Spencer and Jake Krack. He won the 2015 Vandalia Youth fiddle contest and has high place finishes in the adult division of the same. He has also taken 2nd and 3rd place at the Fly Inn Festival contest in Huntington WV. Ben is currently the old time fiddling sound behind the band Mud Hole Control , who grabbed a place at the Galax Old Time Fiddlers Contest in 2022.

Fiddle 2 Intermediate: Dave Bing began playing guitar when he was five years old, banjo in his mid-teens and fiddle soon after. He was lucky to have learned from several different old time fiddlers with various styles and incorporated these styles into what has become his own. Dave has taught and performed old time music internationally and does annual fiddle and banjo workshops in Spain and England. His style of teaching focuses on rhythmic bowing techniques, different methods, dynamics, and timing that makes an old time fiddle tune more interesting to listen to and fun to play. Dave performed with his brothers for over 25 years and organized and performed with the groups Gandydancer and High Ridge Ramblers. He now lives with his wife on a farm in central West Virginia and builds fiddles.

Fiddle 3, Intermediate/Advance: Jake Krack, from Nicut, West Virginia, started playing the fiddle at the age of six. He has spent over fifteen years studying and apprenticing with West Virginia master old-time fiddlers Melvin Wine, Lester McCumbers, and Bobby Taylor. He has performed and taught workshops at venues such as the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Chicago Folk Festival, Merlefest, and the Detroit Festival of the Arts. Jake has won fiddle contests at Vandalia, Appalachian String Band Festival, Galax Old-time Fiddlers Convention, Mt. Airy Fiddlers Convention, Ed Haley fiddle contest, and the Henry Reed Fiddlers Gathering. He currently is the fiddler with The Bing Brothers. Jake serves as the Director of Operations of the Board of Allegheny Echoes.

Fiddle 4, Intermediate/Advanced: Tessa McCoy, from Saint Albans, W.V., has been playing fiddle since she was five years old. First starting with classical violin lessons, she began her journey into old-time fiddling at 12, taking lessons from well-known fiddler Jake Krack. With influence and help from Emily Miller, Tessa also has flourished into a powerful singer and enjoys singing traditional songs as well as creating harmonies. She is currently finishing a degree in Computer Science, recording a CD and is playing and performing with the Big Possum Stringband. Tessa placed 1st in the Fiddle Contest at Vandalia in 2019, and her band placed 1st at Clifftop in 2019 and 3rd at Galax in 2018.

Guitar 1, Beginning Doug Hepler, grew up in Richmond, VA. and has been playing guitar since age 13. He started writing songs and tunes of his own about age 18 and played in bands in high school. He started as a student in 1998 at Allegheny Echoes then from 2006 to 2016 taught guitar at Allegheny Echoes. Doug took first in flat-picking in 2002, 2nd in 2004, and 3rd in 2005 at the Virginia Folk Music Association Competition. At present he plays music with Point Judith Band, The Blue Heaven Quartet, The Anvil Brothers, and Wild Honey Trio, plus does some solo work at retirement and nursing homes, and enjoys going to jams around Richmond and Charlottesville.

Guitar 2, Intermediate: Dustin Benson was raised in Jasper, Alabama, where he “grew up” on bluegrass music. His father taught him to play the guitar when he was 12 years old; he began playing the mandolin at 16 and joined his father’s band as the mandolin player at 17. Dustin has played and toured with many bands in the world of bluegrass music. He was nominated for Guitar Player of the Year by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America in 2010. He joined The Special Consensus in 2011. In 2012, the band received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. He has recorded with artists such as Rhonda Vincent, John Cowan, Michael Cleveland, Jason Carter, Gena Britt, and Rob Ickes. Most recently he enjoyed a stint with Don Rigsby and the Fly By Knights.

Guitar 3, Advance: Robin Kessinger, from St. Albans, West Virginia, was the National Flatpicking Champion on guitar in 1985 and 1988. Robin also won the Best Overall Performer at Galax, Virginia. He is the son of mandolin great Bob Kessinger and the great nephew of fiddle legend Clark Kessinger. His adaptations of fiddle tunes have amazed audiences across the U.S. and in Ireland. “Contest Favorites” with Wayne Henderson, “Star of County Down” with Steve Kaufman, and “Breakfast of Champions” with Robert Shafer are among his audio offerings. Robin’s class will concentrate on developing and refining complex and intricate techniques and styles. 

Mandolin - All Levels: Scott Rucker, Scott Rucker, an Eastern Kentucky native, has been playing and performing string band music with a variety of people for about two decades. He has performed at various festivals in several different bands over the years but loves informal jams just as much as performing. Scott plays multiple instruments and styles but is an old time mandolin player first and foremost. He focuses most of his musical energies on adapting fiddle tunes of the Ohio Valley region to the mandolin. Scott’s teaching style focuses largely on teaching tunes that feature different techniques and styles that can then be applied to other tunes and playing situations.

Will Fanning was born in Ireland where singing was a part of everyday life. He has sung and played upright bass and guitar in several bluegrass bands, and sang with the acapella gospel group “Soup Kitchen “for over 20 years at fairs, festivals, and churches across West Virginia. His wife Jill Fanning was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania where she sang in her local church choir. She also taught music throughout her career as an elementary school teacher. She loves playing the fiddle Will gifted her on Valentine’s Day many years ago. As a couple they sing harmonies and play music most Saturday evenings at The BrazenHead Inn, their B&B in Randolph County, WV. Martha Giddings also was born in Pennsylvania but has spent much of her life in West Virginia. Martha’s Grandad taught her to play the ukulele when she was 4. She has been adding instruments to her musical arsenal ever since, including her banjo; a high school graduation gift from her parents. Taught by Woody Simmons, Frank George, and Sherman Hammons, she has been playing and singing for years. Some of her happiest times are spent singing with Will and Jill, two of her dearest friends. The three of them often

sing as a trio, calling themselves “Leftover Soup”

Tim Corbett is an experienced bass player from Lesage, WV who has played with several bands throughout the region including Buck Carroll & Breakin' New Ground, Bobby Maynard & Breakdown, Timberline, Union Ridge, and, for the past 10 years, The Bing Brothers Band. Tim is also plays with Don Rigsby throughout the year. He wears a hat in that band, so he may be difficult to spot. In 2007 Tim hit the professional circuit and played Bass for Blue Moon Rising and Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time, and was featured on the Lonesome Standard Time's Live XM Satellite Radio recording from their show at the Old Town School of Folk in Chicago, IL in August 2006. Tim is originally from The Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, where he was taught by fellow musicians Walt & Keith Edwards, as well as his father. Tim is a knowledgeable and energetic musician, and loves to produce, write, and arrange Bluegrass music.