Autoharp Workshop with Bryan Bowers

Legendary autoharp player and storyteller Bryan Bowers will teach an autoharp workshop and play a solo concert Sunday, Dec. 16 at the Olalla Community Hall. The events are sponsored by the Olalla Community Club and the Olalla Bluegrass & Beyond Festival.

The workshop will take place at the Community Hall from 2-4pm. Pre-registration is required. Visit Brown Paper Tickets to sign-up for the workshop. (Olalla Community Club members: show your membership card at the door and receive a $5 refund on class fee.) The class is open to all playing levels, but you must tune your instrument before you arrive at the class. “There are a lot of strings on an autoharp, and we really don’t want to spend time tuning up. I have lots of good stuff to share, and that’s what folks are there for,” Bowers said. 

The concert will take place at 7pm, also at the Community Hall. Purchase tickets at the door.

Bowers, 72, is one of only four members of the Autoharp Hall of Fame. He’s also in Frets Magazine’s Gallery of Greats with the likes of such musical virtuosos as Chet Atkins, Itzhak Perlman, Tony Rice and Mark O’Connell. Bowers grew up listening to the call-and-response songs of the field workers and gandy dancers of rural Virginia. “I just thought that music was something that everybody did,” he said. “It wasn’t ‘til years later that I realized what I’d been raised around.”

Bowers has lived in Seattle since 1971, and performs all over the world. He has redefined the autoharp and is well known for his storytelling prowess and his uncanny ability to enchant an audience. He received two standing ovations for his performance at this summer’s Olalla Bluegrass & Beyond Festival.

For information on the Dec. 16 autoharp workshop and also the concert on the same date, email bands@olallabluegrass.com or phone (253) 857-5604. The Olalla Community Hall is located at 12970 Olalla Valley Road, Olalla.

Must register in advance through Brown Paper: http://bpt.me/300961