Taborgrass Camp is a day-long music camp with a track for beginners and intermediate/advanced musicians. We want to engage with you musically, socially and bring all the goodness that camp offers to you! Lunch will also be provided. We aim to share what has worked for us as performers and mostly - get out of our heads and into the music! Instructors will be Crystal Lariza, Joe Suskind, Lillian Sawyer, and Kaden Hurst.
Beginner Track: For people who are excited to learn how to participate in a bluegrass jam with zero to limited experience. We will learn jamming basics, how to jam with others, work on rhythm and vocals too. Class limited to 5 participants.
Intermediate/Advanced Track: For people who are ready to take their musicianship to the next level. We will dig into vocals, instruments, arranging & ensemble playing, performance coaching and an opportunity to perform at the end of class. Class limited to 15 participants.
Please stay tuned as we're always working on the next bluegrass event. Be sure to sign-up for our newsletter or follow us on Facebook or Instagram to stay in the loop. Until next time!
We've been hard at work planning a day filled with music education, jamming, and a place to build community for you! We're even hosting a good ol' fashioned band scramble with band coaching too!
Workshop Descriptions:
Jamming Fundamentals with Kaden Hurst: Wondering how to participate in a bluegrass jam, what the etiquette is, and how to communicate with fellow jammers? This is the place for you.
Jamming Beyond the Basics with Joe Suskind and Lillian Sawyer: If you’re feeling cozy and comfortable with the basics of bluegrass jamming and want to make things a little more interesting, this is the place for you. Topics may include: fills, split breaks, songs with lots of chords, and how to make a jam gel together.
Jam! Come and join an open jam! Some jams will have hosts, some are not, all are open to you. There will also be a Feather Jam for those just trying out jamming, who want to play slow or who want some hands-on guidance. Jam hosts through-out the day includes: Lillian Sawyer, Mitch Cline and Jeff Wold.
Bluegrass, Rhythm and You with Kaden Hurst: Bluegrass is a beautiful clockwork of each instrument rhythmically interlocking with the others. How can we understand that clockwork better? What can the rhythmic roles of the other instruments teach you about yours? How does a rhythm section really groove? Come on by and we’ll try to find out together.
Harmony Singing with Crystal Lariza: A dive into bluegrass harmony! We’ll work on blending, finding notes, identifying lead, tenor, and baritone parts, and spend a lot of time singing with each other.
Crystal Lariza
All About Fiddle Backup with Lillian Sawyer: Just because we don't play a traditional rhythm instrument doesn't mean we can't play backup! It can be really fun to back up our guitar and mandolin player friends and especially our other fiddle playing friends! In this workshop we'll figure out some basic chord shapes and rhythmic patterns, and maybe we'll even get into the CHOP!
Lillian Sawyer
Mando Multi-vitamin: Come learn all the things Kaden thinks you should practice! This workshops covers a broad swath of ways to get more grounded on your instrument. Right hand technique, left hand technique, fretboard knowledge, string crossings, getting through tunes, fiddle tune stamina, playing ALL the notes, and more.
Kaden Hurst
Techniques for Back-Up Banjo: Once you’ve kicked off the song or finished your break and the spotlight is on someone else, there’s still a lot for you to play (and not play) behind your fellow bandmates to enhance the sound of the group or the jam. In this “all picks on” workshop, we’ll work on skills to get you moving up and down the neck “riding the rails” between movable chord shapes and leading tones. Situational awareness and what to do and play behind the other instruments in the group during a song. Developing a rock solid “Choonk.” Scruggs backup licks and fills. Proper right hand positioning.
Guitar Workshop with Joe Suskind: Unlock ideas, identify resistance in your playing and remove blocks through exploration of right hand techniques. By combining rhythm techniques, cross picking and single note lines, we’ll bridge the gap between rhythm and lead playing. Learn the basics of bluegrass backup rhythm, G-runs, and begin to explore alternate picking.
Joe Suskind
Vintage Instrument Hang with Joe Suskind: A chance to hear and play some treasured vintage instruments! Do YOU have a vintage instrument? Bring it along!
Intro to Old Time + Jam with Kaden Hurst and Lillian Sawyer: Many a bluegrass musician has asked “so…what’s the deal with old time?” Come get oriented to one of bluegrass music’s parent genres! Lillian and Kaden will give an overview of how an old time jam works, what each instrument might do differently between bluegrass and old time, and demonstrate some of their favorite old time tunes. Then, we’ll all have an old time jam!
Musician Ergonomics: Setting Up a Balanced Foundation with Zoe Schlussel: This workshop will be an introduction to musician ergonomics. Playing-related tension, pain, or injury come from prolonged, unaddressed imbalance, both in the body and mind. We will learn how to find balance in our bodies, both standing and sitting, and how to apply this to playing and performing. If you have ever had tension or pain while playing, deal with stress or anxiety around practice or performance, want to learn how to prevent future injuries, or are just curious to learn about musician health, join us!
Zoe Schlussel
Band Scramble with Crystal Lariza and Joe Suskind: A good old fashioned band scramble! Sign up on the sheet in the lobby to get paired with other attendees to form a band, rehearse some songs, and perform at the end of the day on the main stage! Joe Suskind and Crystal Lariza will be on deck for coaching, advice, and stage fright pep talks.
Bring your family and friends and join us for our monthly Bluegrass Open Mic!
Tuesday, September 16th, 2025
Doors 6:30pm, Show 7-9pm
Sliding scale: $5-10
The Artichoke at 2007 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202
Here's a great opportunity to perform on a professional stage in Portland's Premiere Listening Room at The Artichoke with an Ear Trumpet Labs single condenser mic. Whether you're a seasoned performer or new to the stage, we want to hear from you! Bring your band, your jam group, or put together a new one!
We encourage and welcome you to join us for an exciting and fun evening at the Artichoke, you might just discover your new favorite band! A family-friendly event for all!
To sign up to play or get tickets to the show, click here!
Thank you to all those who attended and supported Taborgrass at our Spring Workshops! Don't forget to sign-up for our newsletter to be the first to know when our next event will be.
Our Spring Workshops will be an entire weekend filled with workshops, jams, an open mic, performances and a band coaching program. The Taborgrass faculty will include: Patrick Connell, Chuck Holloway, Kaden Hurst, Crystal Lariza, Lillian Sawyer, Zoe Schlussel, and Joe Suskind. Hope you will join us!
What a day it was yesterday for the Taborgrass community at the Taborgrass Winter Workshops!
Sending out a big heart-felt thank you to everyone who supported us, purchased tickets, donated to Taborgrass, attended the workshops, participated in the open mic, stayed for Portland Radio Ponies show, and showed us how the bluegrass community is still very much thriving. It was a full house most of the day and so we thank you for your patience as well. It was so wonderful to see everyone singing, playing music, and being together.
Thank you to all the Taborgrass teachers, performers, and volunteers for all of your hard work and support to make this event happen!
Thank you Stacey at Chick Rose’s School of Bluegrass for coming to help spread the love of bluegrass to the next generation. Check out their Facebook page to stay updated on future jams and events.
Thank you everyone at Artichoke Music for generously hosting us. Please be sure to check out their website to find out about more future music classes and events.
Thank you again and stay tuned for future Taborgrass events!
-Day pass: SOLD OUT!$30 at the door for access to all workshops, open jam, open mic, and evening performance. Programs are for adults and youth (under age 16 must be accompanied by an adult).
-Evening ticket:SOLD OUT!$10 at the door for open mic and Portland Radio Ponies performance.
-Kids ages 6-14 years old: Chick's kids registration has closed. Free between 11-1:30pm for kids participating in the Chick's Kids program.
Schedule:
Main Stage at Cafe
Front Classroom
Back Classroom
11am-1pm
Chick’s Kids
1pm-1:30pm
Taborgrass Workshop Check-In
Chick’s Kids
Performance
1:30pm-2:45pm
Harmony Singing with Crystal Lariza and Kaden Hurst
1:30pm-2:45pm
Open Bluegrass Jam hosted by the Portland Radio Ponies
1:30pm-2:45pm
Taking a Fiddle Break on a Banjo Tune with Lillian Sawyer
3pm-4:15pm
Bluegrass Jamming 101/102 with Patrick Connell and Kaden Hurst
3pm-4:15pm
Banjo Kick-Offs with Chuck Holloway
3pm-8:30pm
OPEN JAM
Room is open! Come and jam here to your heart’s content!
4:30pm-5:45pm
Old Time for Bluegrass Musicians with Kaden Hurst and Lillian Sawyer
4:30pm-5:45pm
Unlocking your Guitar Voice with Joe Suskind
6pm-7pm
Open Mic
(Dinner break on your own)
7pm-8pm
Portland Radio Ponies performance
Workshop Descriptions:
Open Bluegrass Jam with hosted by the Portland Radio Ponies:Open jam hosted by the Taborgrass instructors. All levels welcome!
Harmony Singing with Kaden Hurst and Crystal Lariza:The nuts and bolts of three part harmony! Learn how to find notes, blend with others, and not go crazy trying. Kaden and Crystal are both members of the band Never Come Down.
Taking a Fiddle Break with a Banjo Tune with Lillian Sawyer:Using the Earl Scruggs tune Fireball Mail, Lillian will demonstrate how to take a solo on a banjo instrumental. She’ll start out by teaching the tune in its most basic form and then illustrate when and how to embellish the tune to make it more appropriate for the fiddle. Lillian is a member of the band Fog Holler.
Bluegrass Jamming 101/102 with Patrick Connell and Kaden Hurst: Come jam! This is a workshop for beginner to intermediate bluegrass jammers, where we'll talk about etiquette, troubleshoot sticky situations, and have a grand ol’ time. Patrick is a member of the band Thunder Ridge. Kaden is a member of the band Never Come Down.
Banjo Kick-Offs with Chuck "Chainsaw" Holloway: Chuck has been playing bluegrass music for the past 5 decades and also is one of the hosts on KBOO's "Music from the True Vine" bluegrass radio show. He is a member of the band Thunder Ridge.
Unlocking Your Guitar Voice with Joe Suskind:Unlock ideas, identify resistance in your playing, and remove blocks through exploration of right hand techniques. Joe is a member of the band Never Come Down.
Old Time for Bluegrass Musicians with Kaden Hurst and Lillian Sawyer: Old time! Traditional music from the Southeast and Appalachia. It's the headwaters for much of what became bluegrass, but comes with its own style, techniques, and jamming culture. Come learn about how bluegrass and old time are different, how your instrument fits into an old time jam, and play some tunes old time style.
Taborgrass presents: a day filled with bluegrass and old-time workshops, jams, an open-mic and performances. For all ages and skill levels, hosted by musicians at the heart of Portland’s bluegrass scene. There will be bluegrass/old time workshops for adults. There will also be a program for kids hosted by Chick’s Kids, a program for kids (6-14 years old) of all experience levels and feature an opportunity to perform on the main stage. The day will be capped off with a performance from the Portland Radio Ponies and Taborgrass instructors.
Workshops will be taught by Brian Alley, Kaden Hurst, Crystal Lariza, and Joe Suskind (from Never Come Down), Patrick Connell (from Thunder Ridge) and Lillian Sawyer (from Fog Holler).
Please mark your calendars --- stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Patrick and Kaden here with an update on Taborgrass.
The long and short of it is that there won't be a recurring Taborgrass class this year. Between parenthood, tour dates, and everything else it takes to keep the wheels turning and the lights on, running regular group glasses is proving to be one project too many. This doesn't mean we're done teaching and getting folks together, and are definitely keen on running more workshops in the future, we just can't quite commit to renting space at Waverly and keeping a recurring class going. Keep an eye on the website and facebook page if you want to stay in the loop on whatever we're cooking up next.
We're both so grateful for all of you. Thanks to everyone who came out to jam and listen to us ramble about fiddle tunes and G runs. Huge thanks to Waverly for hosting us for all these years. And of course, thanks and love to Greg and Linda for making Taborgrass everything that it is.
Hope to see you at a festival/jam/square dance soon. Take care out there Tabograssers!
Thanks for another great year of songs and tunes and good times. We're all done for the summer, but we'll both be out and about at festivals, jams, and other places bluegrass musicians are found. We'd love to see you there! Take care out there, keep picking, and we'll see you soon!
One class is $10, two for $15! Jamming is a $5 suggested donation.
All classes take place at 3300 SE Woodward St, Portland, OR 97202
Tune Class
This week, we are going to learn Snow Deer! A worthy instrumental that should circulate more widely, if I were in charge of the world. It puts us into some new territory with a major 2 chord. What's a major 2 chord? Come on down and learn all about it.
A whole class just for jamming! Here we'll be working on all the ins and outs of playing music with other people. We'll work on calling songs, taking breaks, listening in, and communicating with your fellow jammers. Bring a song or tune to call!
Note: there will not be a song class this week. The Jam Class has an extra half hour this month, and I will use that to dig a little deeper into one that we've already learned, "say, won't you be mine".
Thanks for making it out to Taborgrass today everyone! You can check out recordings of Rocky Road Blues here, and all the rest of the taborgrass recordings here.
IMPORTANT: Our schedule will be a little different this month due to some scheduling conflicts, see below! Our song this week is Bill Monroe's "Rocky Road Blues", video even further below! We'll be in the somewhat friendlier key of A.
Schedule
12:00 - Doors Open
12:15-1:15 - Song Class
1:30 - 2:45 - Jam Class
12:00-3:00 - Open Jamming
One class is $10, two for $15! Jamming is a $5 suggested donation.
All classes take place at 3300 SE Woodward St, Portland, OR 97202
About
Song Class
This class is all about how to learn and jam on bluegrass songs. We'll be walking you through some bluegrass classics, working on their chord progressions, melodies, and lyrics. The focus will be on giving you new songs to call at a jam.
Jam Class
A whole class just for jamming! Here we'll be working on all the ins and outs of playing music with other people. We'll work on calling songs, taking breaks, listening in, and communicating with your fellow jammers. Bring a song or tune to call!
Hey Folks, the next Taborgrass class is this Saturday 2/18, hope to see you there! Details below:
Schedule
12:00 - Doors Open
12:15-1:15 - Song Class
1:30-2:30 - Tune Class
2:45 - 3:45 - Jam Class
12:00-4:00 - Open Jamming
One class is $10, two for $15, and all three for $20! Jamming is a $5 suggested donation.
All classes take place at 3300 SE Woodward St, Portland, OR 97202
About
Song Class
This class is all about how to learn and jam on bluegrass songs. We'll be walking you through some bluegrass classics, working on their chord progressions, melodies, and lyrics. The focus will be on giving you new songs to call at a jam.
Tune Class
This class is all about fiddle tunes! We'll be learning some jam favorites from the bluegrass and old time repertoire, focusing on getting the melodies in our heads and the notes in our fingers.
Jam Class
A whole class just for jamming! Here we'll be working on all the ins and outs of playing music with other people. We'll work on calling songs, taking breaks, listening in, and communicating with your fellow jammers. Bring a song or tune to call!
In the meantime, enjoy the Grand-parent tune to Salt Creek, Salt River!
See you this Saturday 1/21 for our first class of the year! Class details are below, hope to see you there!
Schedule
12:00 - Doors Open
12:15-1:15 - Song Class
1:30-2:30 - Tune Class
2:45 - 3:45 - Jam Class
12:00-4:00 - Open Jamming
One class is $10, two for $15, and all three for $20! Jamming is a $5 suggested donation. All classes take place at 3300 SE Woodward St, Portland, OR 97202
About
Song Class
This class is all about how to learn and jam on bluegrass songs. We'll be walking you through some bluegrass classics, working on their chord progressions, melodies, and lyrics. The focus will be on giving you new songs to call at a jam.
Tune Class
This class is all about fiddle tunes! We'll be learning some jam favorites from the bluegrass and old time repertoire, focusing on getting the melodies in our heads and the notes in our fingers.
Jam Class
A whole class just for jamming! Here we'll be working on all the ins and outs of playing music with other people. We'll work on calling songs, taking breaks, listening in, and communicating with your fellow jammers. Bring a song or tune to call!
