Guitar 1, Beginning: Jesse Milnes grew up immersed in the traditional music of West Virginia. From his earliest days he knew and learned from an older generation of fiddlers, ballad singers, banjo players and more. As a teenager he began to compete in fiddle contests and play for square dancing, while also playing electric guitar in rock bands with his friends. Jesse spent six years touring with his wife’s retro-country band, the Sweetback Sisters. He currently plays guitar with the State Birds, leads his own honky-tonk band (the Jesse Milnes Band) and is an in-demand fiddler for bluegrass bands, songwriters and square dances around the state.

Guitar 2, Intermediate/Advanced: Jesse Smathers, guitar player and tenor singer, with The Lonesome River Band, is from Eden, North Carolina. He began playing the guitar at age 11, mandolin at 15, and In 2009 won the guitar championship of the Virginia Folk Music Association. In 2013, High Voltage, featuring Jesse as the lead vocalist, won first place in the bluegrass band category at the Galax Old Time Fiddler’s Convention. In 2015, LRB welcomed him to the group and in 2017, Jesse won the IBMA Momentum Award for Vocalist of the Year! Jesse comes from a long line of musicians. His grandfather, Harold Smathers, and grand Uncle Luke Smathers, recorded for June Appal and were awarded the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1993 for their contributions to North Carolina Folk Music.

Guitar 3, Advanced: 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.