October 2-6, 2024

Do you love acoustic blues guitar? So do we. For 11 years we've dedicated 5 days to bringing the best acoustic players and teachers here to Menucha for an extended weekend filled with all the blues and fingerstyle guitar goodness.

Arriving Wednesday afternoon you'll be welcomed to our slice of Pacific Northwest heaven. Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be filled with classes, getting to know fellow players, and taking your playing to the next level in classes and jams. Friday night you can show your skills during the student concert just for Blues participants. On Saturday night you'll be treated to a public concert featuring the instructors. Sunday after breakfast and some last musical moments, we'll part ways to return home filled with good music, inspiration, and an even greater love for playing your guitar.

Come and immerse yourself in five days of instruction with four of the best acoustic blues musicians.

Artistic Director, Mary Flower, has brought together a stellar faculty for 2024:

  • Pat Donohue
  • Sam Broussard
  • Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes
  • Mary Flower

Cost to Attend & Registration

Registration will open Februray 14, 2024 at 10am Pacific Time

Register!

 

Cost to Attend

The costs below are per person and all-inclusive of class fee, all 12 meals (Wednesday dinner - Sunday lunch), public concert, and lodging. Your cost will vary according to the number of people you are willing to share a room with.

  • Triple Occupancy (you and 2 roommates) $895
  • Double Occupancy (you and 1 roommate) $995
  • Single Occupancy (just you!) $1095
  • Commuter (classes, lunches & dinners, no overnight lodging at Menucha) $780

Would your partner/spouse like to come with you and stay in the same room with you but not take the classes? They can! The cost for them is $458. Total cost for the two of you is $1553

 

Optional Purchase Protection and Menucha's Cancellation Policy

During registration you will have the option to add Purchase Protection from Purchase Protection LLC. "Purchase Protection is not an insurance policy.  It is a service by Purchase Protection LLC that will refund you 100% of your event fees, taxes, and dues should you be prevented by unforeseen circumstances from attending the event."

Please read what is covered and their terms to decide if this is something that you want to add. It is only available at the time of registration. It is an additional cost paid directly to Purchase Protection LLC and not administered by Menucha.

Learn more about Purchase Protection

Read Menucha's cancellation policy here.

2024 Faculty

Pat Donohue holding his guitar

Pat Donohue

Pat is one of the most listened-to finger pickers in the world. As the guitarist for the “ Guys All-Star Shoe Band” of Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, for twenty years, Pat got to show off his savvy licks and distinctive original songs to millions of listeners each week. Pat’s musical tastes are eclectic. Though he considers himself foremost a folk guitarist, Pat’s influences are rooted in bluesmen Blind Blake, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters and Miles Davis. He manages to blend jazz and blues with folk, and the mix is seamless. Over the years he has captivated audiences with his unique original compositions, dazzling instrumentals and humorous song parodies, including Sushi-Yucki and Would You Like to Play the Guitar?

Learn more about Pat Donohue

Sam Broussard

A high-wire artist on an open-tuned guitar, Sam Broussard writes and performs unforgettably cinematic songs bound by gorgeous melodies, soaring vocals and dazzling musicianship.Expect out-of-the-ordinary songwriting and hints of rhythms picked up in travels to Africa and the Philippines on Geeks, Broussard's stunning 15-song debut release. From the lush solo performance of "That's Us" through the full acoustic production of "Screws, Pins and Bolts," Geeks tells memorable tales of our neighbors, relationships and, most importantly, moments of decision.

Fans of Sam's work with a range of artists (including underground band Radio Free Nashville, Sonny Landreth, Stephan Eicher, Michael Doucet, T-Mamou, Jimmy Buffett and Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys) will find Geeks headed for new territory. Broussard plays virtually all the instruments on the disc, and consistently delivers unique and evocative takes on the lives he chronicles.

As a solo performer, Broussard effectively translates the album's full production to a single low-tuned guitar and his powerful vocal attack. In the words of acclaimed artists Pete & Maura Kennedy, "Sam is a unique new voice on the scene. Great songwriting, great vocals, great guitar. These songs are highly personal, but grow from the deepest roots of American music."

Learn more about Sam here and here.

Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes

Bruce Sunpie Barnes is a veteran New Orleans musician, former Park Ranger with the National Park Service for 30 years, actor, photographer, book author, former high school biology teacher, former college football All-American, and former NFL player (Kansas City Chiefs). Sunpie Barnes' many careers have taken him far and wide. He has traveled to over 50 countries playing his own style of what he calls Afro-Louisiana music incorporating Blues, Zydeco, Gospel, Caribbean and African influenced rhythms and melodies. He is a multi-instrumentalist, master accordion and harmonica player, also piano, rubboard, talking drum, and dejembe. He learned accordion from some of the best Zydeco pioneers in Louisiana including Fernest Arceneaux, John Delafose, and Clayton Sampy. Along with his musical group Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, he has performed at festivals and concerts across the US and around the globe. Sunpie has recorded 6 critically acclaimed CDs with his compositions currently featured in 16 Hollywood film productions.

Sunpie is the Big Chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, one of the oldest existing Black Carnival groups in New Orleans. Sunpie is also an active member of the second line parading organization Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

Learn more about Sunpie here and here

 

picture of Mary Flower with her guitar

Mary Flower

Mary Flower’s immense finger picking guitar and lap-slide prowess is soulful and meter-perfect, a deft blend of the inventive, the dexterous and the mesmerizing. Her supple honey-and-whiskey voice provides the perfect melodic accompaniment to each song’s story. An internationally known and award-winning picker, singer/songwriter and teacher, the Midwest native relocated from Denver to the vibrant Portland, Oregon music scene in 2004. She continues to please crowds and critics at folk festivals, teaching seminars and concert stages domestically and abroad,  that include Merlefest, Kerrville, King Biscuit, Prairie Home Companion and the Vancouver Folk Festival, among many.

A finalist in 2000 and 2002 at the National Finger Picking Guitar Championship, a nominee in 2008, 2012 and 2016 for a Blues Foundation Blues Music Award, and many times a Cascade Blues Assn. Muddy Award winner, Flower embodies a luscious and lusty mix of rootsy, acoustic-blues guitar and vocal styles that span a number of idioms – from Piedmont to the Mississippi Delta, with stops in ragtime, swing, folk and hot jazz. Flower’s 11 recordings, including her four for Memphis’ famed Yellow Dog Records — Bywater Dance, Instrumental Breakdown, Bridges and Misery Loves Company — show a deep command of and love for folk and blues string music. For Flower, it’s never about re-creation. Her dedication to the art form is a vital contribution to America’s music.

Learn more about Mary Flower

Schedule

What's the schedule for Blues in the Gorge like?

Check out the 2023 Schedule while we're working on the 2024.

 

WEDNESDAY Septebmer 27, 2023
TIME LOCATION: Wright Hall
3:00 PM Arrival & Check-in
4:15 PM Welcome & Orientation
5:50 PM Meal servers to dining hall
6:00 PM Dinner
7:15 PM Staff Intros,  Class Overviews, Q&A with instructors
10:00 PM Quiet Time in Wright Hall
Jams use Creevey or Greenhouse
THURSDAY September 28, 2023
TIME LOCATION: Wright Hall LOCATION: Ballard Hall
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:15 - 10:15 AM
Class 1
Kristina Olsen
Fretting Away Your Time OR Practice Makes Perfect
(All Levels)
Mamie Minch
Your Dancing Right Hand

(Level 2,3)

Break
10:30-11:30 AM
Class 2
Kristina Olsen
Guitar Soloing for people who have no clue
(Level 2,3)
Mary Flower
One Simple Blues in E
(Level 1)
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00-2:00 PM SPECIAL GUEST!
2:00 PM Break
2:15-3:15 PM
Class 3
Mary Flower
The Bluesy Side of Lap Slide Guitar
(all levels)
Guy Davis
Jam Class
(All Levels)
3:30 PM Break
3:30-4:30 PM
Class 4
Mamie Minch
Playing Together
(All Levels)
Guy Davis
Fingerstyle Guitar
(level 2,3)
5:00 -5:30 PM Intro to Jamming with Adam Scramstad
6:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Playing Well Together
All Instructor Presentation
10:00 PM Quiet Time in Wright Hall
Jams use Creevey or Greenhouse
FRIDAY September 29, 2023
TIME: LOCATION: Wright Hall LOCATION: Ballard Hall
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:15 -10:15 AM
Class 1
Mary Flower
One Great Tune in Open G Major Tuning
(Level 2,3)
Mamie Minch
Playing Together
(Level 1)
Break
10:30-11:30 AM
Class 2
Kristina Olsen
Slide Guitar
(Level 2)
Guy Davis
Blues Harmonica
(Level 1,2)
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00 PM SPECIAL GUEST!!
2:15 -3:15 PM
Class 3
Mary Flower
Guitar Styles of Rev. Gary Davis (1/2)
(Level 3)
Guy Davis
Song Writing
(All Levels)
2:45 PM Break
3:30-4:30 PM
Class 4
Mamie Minch
Your Dancing Right Hand (#2)
(Level 2,3)
Kristina Olsen
Freddy Green Chords to take you from blues to Jazz
(level 3)
Freetime
6:00 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Student Concert - sign ups at Camp
10:00 PM Quiet Time in Wright Hall
Jams use Creevey or Greenhouse
SATURDAY September 30, 2023
Wright Hall Ballard Hall
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:15-10:15 AM
Class 1
Kristina Olsen
Groove, Grunt and Gimme
(Level 3)
Guy Davis
Performance Class
(All Levels)
Break
10:30-11:30 AM
Class 2
Mary Flower
Guitar Styles of Rev. Gary Davis (2/2)
(Level 3)
Mamie Minch
Your Dancing Right Hand (#3)
(Level 2,3)
12:00 PM Lunch
1:00-2:00 PM SPECIAL GUEST!!
Break
2:15-3:15 PM
Class 3
Kristina Olsen
Pushme Pullyou or The Physics of Partner Dance
(All Levels)
Guy Davis
Box and Rack
(Level 2, 3)
Break
3:30 - 4:30 PM
Class 4
Mamie Minch
Guitar 101
(All Levels)
Mary Flower
Another Great Tune in Open G Tuning
(Level 2,3)
5:30 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Acoustic Blues Concert CONCERT is held at the Corbett Grange Hall --we'll have maps, it's about a mile away, and included in your registration fees!
10:00 PM Quiet Time in Wright Hall
Jams use Creevey or Greenhouse
SUNDAY October 1, 2023
Wright Hall
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:15 AM Pack-up Time, early jam, or sleep in
10:30 AM All-Camp Gospel Jubilee
12:00 PM Lunch
Travel safely on your way home.