Instructors May 2023

Born and raised on the Alberta prairies, Dan comes from a long line of musicians and performers, Cutting his teeth on country bar floors and early indie projects. Schooling took him to Red Deer College for study in Theatre, lighting and sound design before transferring over to music, majoring in performance and business. Since then, it’s been a long line of performances and studio sessions, working with artists such as Drew Gregory, Tommy Charles, Samson’s Delilah, Roy Warhurst, The Dang Package, Rachelle Van Zanten, the Dirrty Show, Mocking Shadows, Joanna Borromeo, and many more.

Dan is an educator and clinician in percussion and ukulele around the central Alberta region. He spends time in schools doing rhythm workshops, and has built a rockband program for both middle and high school students attending in red deer. He currently coordinates the NCF music camp in august and is the Backstage coordinator for the Robson Valley music festival in Dunster B.C.

In his spare time you can find him riding rollercoasters, adventuring through thrift stores, or hanging with his bassett hound, Roadie.

Doug Baker was interested in music from an early age and took up the guitar at 13. Initially playing in a rock and roll band during high school, he has focused on folk and acoustic music for many years. Solo and in various groups, Doug has performed in churches, coffee shops, folk clubs and festivals. He has led singing groups for children, youth and adults, provided private guitar lessons and has taught a number of classes at FAMI.

He is a former executive member of FAMI and the Nickelodeon Music Club and has acted as a juror for the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Doug currently plays in a Celtic session group (Gan Ainm) and in a duo with Michael Pollock (Called by the Sea).

Steve is a substantially self-taught (“lots of short-cuts and bad habits!”) multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter who got his first 6-string at the age of eleven and had his first professional gig shortly before turning sixteen in 1974, playing guitar and mandolin with the English Folk group “Cuckoo’s Nest”.

With a day job that subsidised a bad case of G.A.S. (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome!) he has been fortunate enough to travel extensively and play in diverse settings from Country Folk with “Just Five” – a 1980s “institution” in Mombasa, Kenya; Country Rock and full-on Rock ‘n Roll with “Rocky Roads” in Sarawak, East Malaysia; regular Folk and Acoustic settings in the UK (with “The Volunteers”, “Full House” and Graham Bellinger & “Root Chords”), Netherlands and Denmark; and Americana and Bluegrass with trio “Across the Water” in Houston, Texas.  Since moving to Calgary in late 2010, Steve has performed solo; with son Christopher, and with “Horizon Ridge”, featuring his wife Helen and fellow FAMI alumni Dianne Quinton and Peter May. He also plays as an instrument & harmony-vocals sideman with The Carolyn Harley Trio and both he and Helen play with Calgary singer/songstress and fellow FAMI instructor Christie Simmons.

Currently counting 6, 9, 12-string, bass, tenor & baritone guitars, dobro, mandolin, mandola & mandocello, bouzouki, cittern, banjo and Appalachian dulcimer in his musical armoury, this jack-of-all strings (and master of none!) has a repertoire encompassing styles ranging from British and American Folk Tradition; contemporary singer-songwriter; country & bluegrass; folk & gospel acapella and good old rock ‘n roll, as well as his own compositions. He has recorded five CDs with Across the Water; a solo album - “Nooks and Crannies” - featuring his own compositions, and two CDs with Horizon Ridge.

Steve lives on Calgary’s west side, builds & repairs guitars & other instruments, and helps to run the Rocky Mountain Folk Club.

Website:  Horizon Ridge

Don is quite literally a natural-born singer. He began his career as a performer at the age of three, when he sang at a community concert, in the now-gone village of Ensign in Southern Alberta. Don was proudly accompanied by his father on the banjo. Over the years the two of them performed together at many such concerts.

At the age of 10, Don was introduced by his Dad to Calgarian Marilyn Perkins, who happened to be teaching night school classes in Don’s area. Don’s Dad was a student in her class, and told Marilyn that his son could sing as well. When she heard Don sing, she said “You must come to Calgary!” So come he did … and for the next nine years Don performed in operas and musical theatre in Calgary.

In the early 70’s, Don damaged his voice, and many thought he would never be able to sing again. His vocal coach of the day advised him to work harder, which only increased the damage. Eventually Don studied under Ken Neilson, in what became for him an apprenticeship of how to teach voice. Don received Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education degrees from the University of Calgary. Don became one of the premiere vocal coaches in Calgary, much in demand by the famous and unknown alike. Don is also an active member of the Canadian Voice Care Foundation. Their mission is to provide care for people who use their voices professionally. If you’re a folk-festival type, you may recognize Don from either the Calgary or Canmore festivals, where he’s a familiar face and voice as emcee and volunteer.

Don likes to stay somewhat under the radar, preferring to sing with other people rather than for them, although he has done a tremendous amount of performing on his own. He discovered his professional passion … to teach people how to freely and joyfully sing … almost 30 years ago. It was such a profound experience for him that he obtained a copyright for the phrase “Singing For the Joy of It,” which is also the name of a class he taught through Chinook Learning Services. It’s evident in his student’s dedication that Don has a strong impact … many of these students have returned for several years to his classes, simply for the opportunity to work with such a talented man.

Calgary’s “Captain” Steve Hazlett is the drummer behind a diverse number of acts including roots group Heather Blush & The Uppercuts, southern rock band Bryson Waind & the Citizens’ Band, and honky tonkers Rod Warnock & The Bottom Dollars.

Hailing from Windsor, ON, Steve spent many years listening to Detroit radio stations, hopping the border for shows of all kinds, and honing his drumming chops playing in bars while still underage. He has called Calgary home now since the mid 1990s and established himself as a must-have drummer.

Steve has toured the country coast to coast and has had the opportunity to jump into the theatre world in Vancouver to play drums for shows such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch and War of the Worlds with Jurgen Gothe narrating. Never satisfied with “just” playing the drums, he has also received high acclaim from singer/songwriters for his torch and background vocals, as well as ukulele playing!

Michael grew up surrounded by music, but it wasn’t until high school that he started to take it seriously. From the beginning, jamming and live performing has always been a big part of his passion for music. After years of playing guitar in rock bands in Vancouver, Mike took a hard turn towards acoustic music by marrying into the critically acclaimed Kootenay-based band As The Crow Flies in 2001. Being that there were already two guitar players in that band, Mike picked up the mandolin and quickly found a home with that tiny instrument.

Since then he has continued to perform with several acts such as The Doggone Brothers, RedGirl, and the Craig Young Band all over western Canada at festivals such as Shady Grove, Northern Lights Bluegrass Fest, Tiny Lights (Ymir) and BlizzardFest (Rossland).

The Doggone Brothers are looking at a busy summer of touring and festivals in 2023, so keep your eyes peeled for their acoustic skulduggery at a venue near you. 

Website:  Redgirl / Doggone Brothers

Award-winning solo musician and co-member of folk/roots duo Flint & Feather, JOAL KAMPS has spent nearly 20 years writing, recording, releasing, performing, touring, and showcasing his original works in North America and Western Europe as an independent Canadian artist. He is deeply passionate about seeing his peers experience their own success in music and works to that end as an arts and artist management consultant, often presenting on the music business.

Joal was honoured to be Canada’s first ever Provincial ‘Artist in Residence and Arts Ambassador’ for Alberta in 2020-21, and has been an official juror or arts consultant for The Prophets of Music Society, Calgary Arts Development Authority, and FACTOR Canada, as well as the YYC Music Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and Western Canadian Music Awards. He is also a Banff Centre alumnus, having participated in their coveted ‘Musicians in Residence’ program.

For more information please visit:

Website:  Joal Kamps / Flint & Feather

Barry Luft's singing has woven rich, colourful threads into the fabric of folk-style music in Alberta for more than fifty years.

Barry presents Canadian, British and American songs and ballads with instrumental accompaniment or a cappella arrangements. He engages his audiences in these musical performances and gives a healthy lift to minds, hearts and voices. Good times leave good memories!

Much of Barry's material is unusual and refreshing. It comes from sources across North America and the British Isles and is seldom known in the everyday music scene. For example, in his repertoire are songs learned first hand at guitar and music camps.

A variety of instruments perks up Barry's performances and his intricate style on the five-string banjo is his trademark. He was taught at age five to play the harmonica by his dad. Other instruments now include guitar, autoharp, English concertina, and Appalachian
dulcimer. However, to this day, Barry claims he's not able to read music well enough to hurt his playing.

Website:  Barry Luft

Jim McLennan has been a serious musician for over 40 years. He was part of the acoustic music scene that flourished in Edmonton in the ‘70s and ‘80s, producing artists like Connie Kaldor and Bill Bourne. His reputation as a finger-style guitarist, composer and arranger has led to features in Guitar Player magazineand an enduring reputation as one of Alberta’s finest guitarists.

Through his interest in arranging the ragtime music of Scott Joplin for guitar, McLennan met American guitar guru, Stefan Grossman and subsequently recorded several of his arrangements for Grossman’s iconic Kicking Mule Record Company in the 1970s.

Jim's first solo CD, Six-String Gumbo, was released in 2011 and was a Western Canadian Music Award finalist for Instrumental Recording of the Year.

Jim has appeared on recordings or in performance with Tom Cole, Ryan Fritz, Eli Barsi, John Fraser, Steve Fisher, Amos Garrett, Dianne Quinton, Paul Rumbolt, Tanya Ryan, Trevor Warke, David Wilkie and Cowboy Celtic, and Denise Withnell. Jim can also be heard with his brother Hugh McLennan in the Western Spirit Band at Western Music and Cowboy Poetry gatherings throughout the West, and on Hugh’s CD, The Creak of the Leather.

Website: McLennan Music

CHELSEA SLEEP is a passionate fiddler, educator, session leader and musical community builder born and raised on the densely rainforested Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.

Chelsea studied closely with prolific Canadian fiddler and composer, Oliver Schroer and has become an advocate for teaching Schroer’s compositions. She has taught at fiddle camps and workshops across Canada and in remote towns in Northern Canada and is well-known as being exceptionally gifted working with new fiddlers of all ages, and for her arrangements for large group ensembles.

In 2016 Chelsea moved into the Rocky Mountains to Canmore, Alberta, where she has grown a fantastic community of enthusiastic fiddlers.

In September 2023 she will celebrate 20 years of teaching.

Corry Ulan has been a musician since the age of seven. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays piano, guitar, clarinet, drums and banjo.

Since moving to Calgary after completing her Bachelor of music from Laurier University in Ontario, Corry has been a part of bands, Nothing But Trouble, The Backyard Betties, New Street and Magnolia Buckskin.

She has been teaching music lessons for the last 18 years and is always accepting new, enthusiastic students!

Website: Magnolia Buckskin

“Dana Wylie is a singer-songwriter, a mother, a side musician, a music teacher, and a theatre artist. In nearly 25 years of artistic pursuits she has released seven albums, written and presented three original music-storytelling theatrical pieces, and played in numerous wildly varied musical ensembles on three continents.

She is a Canadian Folk Music Award nominee and a four-time Sterling Award nominee. To date, no one has given her any awards for parenting.”

Website: Dana Wylie