Instructors August 2023

Jarred Albright has played the violin since he was seven years old and music has been his focus ever since. He started off playing classical music but switched to the fiddle style learning Celtic, folk, old-tyme, and bluegrass before entering post-secondary to pursue jazz performance there. Since then he has endeavoured to teach himself to sing and play mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Music has taken him around the world including the United States, South Korea, Scotland, England, and Ireland. These days Jarred keeps himself busy performing with many diverse local acts around Alberta, as well as writing, recording, producing, filming, and of course sharing his love of music with his students.

Website:  Jarred Albright

After receiving a crystal radio kit about age eight Doug Leece became fascinated with two things, electronics and the music that can come out of them. Several decades later Doug has collected a hybrid of experience performing, recording, writing, producing and teaching but the fascination has not diminished.

Somewhere along the path Doug discovered the joy of helping others bring their musical expression to life and giving them a chance to shine. Those roots likely germinated over many years and many bands, teaching others their parts and imparting a little music theory along the way. Things took a little more formal form when he began an adult only 8-week guitar class night school called CampFire guitar that ran for five years.

Many a Friday night, pre and post pandemic you may have seen Doug working behind the scenes with the sound and stage crew for Varsity open mic shows, supporting even the shyest artists in their 15 minutes of fame. A long-time friend of F.A.M.I Doug knows what it is like to be a student as well as a teacher. He brings a heartfelt commitment to every class member’s enjoyment while adding a little more music to a world in need of song.

'Canadian Folk Heroine' is the tagline on Cara Luft’s web site. That’s a pretty cheeky claim to live up to, yet it’s a perfect way to describe Cara. She’s a fine and award-winning musician, singer and songwriter, a plucky performer with an impish sense of humor and a founding member of a Canadian folk super-group.

To quote the roots magazine No Depression, "Luft has a rich tradition in folk music – it’s safe to assume that she knows her stuff – and upon listening it becomes quite clear that she is indeed a formidable songwriter and performer. ”Darlingford” marks her third release as a solo artist, and finds the lovely Ms. Luft continuing to hit her stride and setting the bar for the talented few who’ll follow in her footsteps."

I am very excited to be leading FAMI’s Bass-ics for Acoustic Bass Guitar class this August. It is a privilege to work with musically passionate people in a camp / workshop setting.

I have always been drawn to rhythm sections – the foundation for musical magic. My initial attempt to play bass involved trying to navigate an upright bass. The lack of frets created a serious problem and that effort ended quickly. Not easily deterred, I regrouped and have since worked diligently to be a bass player (i.e., not a guitar player who “plays some bass”) mainly in a folk, acoustic, and roots environment, I have also stretched into swing and rock, with the occasional bluegrass, celtic, and rock tune. Super fun. And, yes, I now own and play an upright bass.

Currently, I play several instruments (bass, harmonica, acoustic / electric guitar, with a touch of mandolin) and sing (lead / harmony) in the Calgary-based band Horizon Ridge. We have played at festivals, folk clubs, public and house concerts, and gala events in Canada and the US.

I have led several workshops and classes for FAMI, taught privately, and am honoured to be a long-time Board member of the organization.

Websites: Horizon Ridge

Rick Moore is excited to be returning to instruct at FAMI after the Covid hiatus. Rick was an educator in the Red Deer School District and has taught music in many other settings as well.

Over a long musical career he has played many styles of music and studied with some fine North American players including Radim Zenkl, John Reichman, Mike Dowling, and Ralf Buschmeyer. His training includes classical guitar studies and music theory with the Royal Conservatory of Music. In addition, Rick has received training as a Clinical Musician from the Harp for Healing group in the US.

In recent years Rick has played with several accomplished bands including Morningside Bluegrass, Canyon Mountain Boys, The Button Down Boys, and the Swing Time Allstars.

Rick’s recording career includes performing on the  Juno winning album Proud Like a Mountain. He has recorded many children’s songs and is currently finishing off an EP of original songs.

Rick Moore is passionate about the value of music as medicine and always looks forward to passing musical knowledge on to others!

Dave is from County Kildare, Ireland. He began his musical career playing in rock bands around Ireland but traditional music soon took over for him. After experimenting with many different alternate tunings for his songwriting he found that DADGAD tuning was the sound he was looking for.

Listening to bands like Planxty and the Bothy Band inspired him to explore the rhythmic possibilities in Irish music. Dave has developed a percussive and complimentary style of playing which has been described as the "engine" of sessions.

Based in Dublin and Galway, Dave has played with some of the top names in Irish music such as Frankie Gavin and Maurice Lennon. Now living in Calgary,

Dana Sipos is an acclaimed Canadian songwriter who invites the listener beneath the surface through a nuanced lens that isn't afraid to be out of focus at times. Sipos’ talent for earthen imagery, rich spiralling vocals, and textured finger-picked instrumentation sets the stage for a deeply moving performance. Described as "one of the greatest songwriters out there" (Gold Flake Paint UK) Sipos is a consummate performer and has toured extensively through North America, Europe, the UK and Australia. 

Dana has facilitated youth songwriting workshops in remote communities in northern Canada and worked as a facilitating artist at Learning Through the Arts, an outreach and education program of the Royal Conservatory of Music and at festivals across north America. She is a particpaing Songwriter and Victoria Project Lead for Carnegie Hall's education program, The Lullaby Project.  She was invited to participate in the inaugural Songwriter Residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and has enjoyed the collaborative environment of many arts residencies across North America.

Written partly in residence at the Banff Centre and partly in the early weeks of the pandemic, her 2021 release The Astral Plane, explores imprints of memory, cycles of grief, loss and renewal and the deep connections between inherited trauma and the ecological crisis of our time. It was lauded as a " mesmerizing jewel of an album" (No Depression) and garnered Sipos a Solo Artist of the Year nomination at the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Dana now resides on traditional Lekwungen Territory among the redwoods and wilds of Vancouver Island, British Columbia and is very excited to be teaching at FAMI for the first time. 

Website:  Tenderly Skewed Folk

Barry Truter lives in Vancouver, BC, and has been a traveller for much of his life. His music and songwriting are influenced by the places he has lived and worked including India, Hong Kong, Fiji, USA, Pakistan, England, Canada, and a spell as a trainee deck officer on a deep-sea freighter.

Barry is a co-founder of the Georgia Strait Music Camp (formerly Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop). He teaches guitar privately, and for music institutions in the Pacific Northwest. He performs solo, and with folk group Fraser Union.

Barry has released two solo albums, Bullfrog Sessions and Traveller, in addition to five albums with Fraser Union. His book Traveller: Stories and Songs in the Key of Connection published in September 2021, contains music scores for his original songs as well as a dozen travel memoir stories and a sprinkling of poems, all with a common theme: connection through music.

Websites:  Barry Truter / Fraser Union

Brian Volke- Artist (singer/songwriter) / Father and Grandfather / Teacher

Brian hails from Regina, Saskatchewan and has been playing guitar since the age of nine, and writing songs since age eleven. Brian traces his musical influences from Johnny Cash and Elvis, through the Beatles and the Monkees, to the Classic rock of Led Zeppelin and the Who.

In high school he wanted to play guitar like Pete Townshend but ended up playing like Bruce Cockburn, or maybe a mixture of the two. Then came many joyous years of playing Celtic music: Irish, Scottish, East Coast and West Coast (Spirit of the West). The best compliment he ever received was: ‘I thought you were a Maritimer!”

Discography includes: Acres of Chrome (solo) 2021 / Carmel's Parlour (with My Son Ted) 2014 and Home Again (with Tir Na Nog) 2003.

Website:  BV Tunes