Guitar Week, July 27-August 2, 2025
Coming off last summer’s touching memorial to the late Al Petteway , who led this pioneering program for years, coordinator Greg Ruby continues to build on the legacy of Al in forging a a one-of-a-kind workshop experience that salutes the amazingly versatile sounds and techniques of the acoustic guitar. The staff for 2025 includes Howard Alden (jazz), Steve Baughman (fingerstyle and clawhammer guitar), Ray Chesna (music theory for guitar), Jake Eddy (bluegrass), Sam Farthing (Django jazz), Cesar Garabini (Brazilian), Danny Knicely (bluegrass), Christie Lenée (fingerstyle tapping), Adam Levy (jazz and improvisation), Tony McManus (Celtic), Mamie Minch (blues and vocals), and Cory Seznec (fingerstyle). Stay tuned for who will be showcasing as part of Guitar Week’s Luthiers Exhibit!
Since 1991, the Swannanoa Gathering Guitar Week has brought together a world-class staff of teaching artists and dedicated students to the beautiful setting of the Blue Ridge Mountains for a week of classes, concerts and jamming. Removed from the pressures and schedules of everyday life, participants are immersed in what one student has called ‘guitar utopia’. Held on the Warren Wilson College campus near Asheville, NC, the Swannanoa Gathering is one of the finest programs of its kind in the world, having received both the Bronze and Silver Medal Player’s Choice Award for Music Camps by the readers of Acoustic Guitar magazine. Each year, Guitar Week attracts award-winning faculty. Providing quality guitar instruction at every level and in multiple genres and traditions, a week at the Swannanoa Gathering will help you grow as a musician in a supportive community of acoustic guitar lovers, many of whom will become lifelong friends. Whether you are a beginner just learning your first chords, an intermediate player exploring a new genre or a gigging musician hoping to bring your playing to a new level, you will be challenged, nurtured and nearly guaranteed to have a good time. There can be classes in blues, swing, boogie woogie, bluegrass, bossa nova, jazz, Celtic, Hawai‘ian, composition, theory, flatpicking, percussive and fingerstyle, so there is something for everyone in every class period. Please read the class descriptions carefully and self-assess your level before registering. Typically, beginning level classes move at a slower pace and develop foundational guitar skills, while intermediate classes more a bit quicker with the expectation to have the basics under your fingers with advanced levels taking a deeper dive into technique, theory, genre or arranging. For the majority of our classes, it is recommended that students play at an intermediate level – be able to tune their instruments, keep time, play scales cleanly, and know how to play a few tunes with confidence. Ed Dodson will be leading daily ‘slow jams’ where participants can learn easy songs in a relaxed environment and an afternoon ‘Django Djam’ will occur in the Bryson Gym. Our Luthiers Exhibit will feature guitars from several respected builders. Guitar Week runs concurrently with Contemporary Folk Week, and students may take classes from either program.