Dance, Music, & Song Camps
Sam Bartlett has pursued music as a dance musician for the past 41 years. He grew up in Vermont, noodling on his grandmother’s mandolin at an early age, and acquired a five-string banjo at the age of 14 after seeing the Earl Scruggs Review perform. He began learning fiddle tunes on tenor banjo while traveling in the dense network of local contra dances. He studied mandolin with Tiny Moore and Peter Ostroushko, but is completely self-taught on the banjo.
Sam has recorded and performed with a huge assortment of old-time musicians over the years, among them: Jeff Goehring, Pete Sutherland, Garry Harrison, Dirk Powell, Paul Brown, and Brad Leftwich. His playing has been featured in two Ken Burns documentaries, and his original music has been profiled on NPR’s All Things Considered. Sam’s banjo playing on Garry Harrison’s Red Prairie Dawn recording inspired a new generation of old-time finger pickers.
In addition, Sam is known for his philosophy and performance of Stuntology, a hilarious iconoclastic performance of tricks any one can do with everyday objects.