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At the Friendly School of Folk Music, our instructors are those who continue to immerse themselves in the music community. They gig, they write, they record, they teach.
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Rob Pierce
Rob Pierce is the owner of the Friendly School of Folk Music and the visionary behind the Friendly Community. A lifelong musician, Rob is available to teach drums, guitar, piano, banjo, ukelele, vocals, percussion, and harmonica. Rob works with students of all ages, and loves to help each student find their passion with the right instrument and style of music.
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Cheryl Tomblin
Cheryl Tomblin is known in the local music scene for her Pipes Project and Night Cap Sessions, and she is revered as a multifaceted singer/songwriter. Cheryl is available to teach the violin/fiddle, piano, guitar, and vocals.
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Cliff Killion
Cliff Killion is a longtime Oak Parker with music roots that go back to playing string bass for the Irving School band and OPRF symphony orchestra. He’s been a guitarist or bassist in countless garage, basement, and working bands ever since. Cliff has recorded many original songs with various groups in studios and orchestras, and currently, he plays with the Packastanleys, Dukes & Pearls, and Blue Lincolns. With a gifted ability to play whatever he hears, he shares his talents through teaching guitar and bass at FSOFM.
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Jon Williams
Jon Williams has been a gigging musician in Chicago for 24 years. He’s played with dozens of groups, including Mount Pilot and Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire, and he currently performs with the Hat Stretchers, Mountainaires, and Peter Joly Group. Being proficient in traditional jazz, country, blues, bluegrass, and rock circa 1950-75, Jon is a highly respected musician and instructor. He shares the Friendly Tap stage every 1st Thursday with Rick Sherry and Kip Rainey, and every 3rd Sunday with Peter Joly Group. Jon plays and teaches guitar, mandolin, fiddle, piano, and bass.
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Maggie Dahlberg
Maggie Dahlberg has a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University. She has been teaching piano lessons to students of all ages and levels for over 20 years.
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Ryan Joseph Anderson
Ryan Joseph Anderson was the former frontman for the
beloved Chicago garage-rock band Go Long Mule, which released two albums—2011’s
Kissing The Gunner’s Daughter and 2013’s Albion—and carved out a touring niche
in the Midwest before disbanding this winter. To record a new solo album,
Anderson decamped to Nashville to collaborate with Andrija Tokic at the Bomb
Shelter studio. On Weaver’s Broom, Anderson displays his lyrical songwriting
gifts in stripped-down settings. The new album evokes the open-tunings of Nick
Drake as well as the barroom howl of Tom Waits. - American Songwriter. See where Ryan is playing next and listen to his latest album at Ryanjosephanderson.com
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Connor Ostrow
As the youngest instructor at the Friendly School of Folk Music, Connor Ostrow (the 2015 Illinois State Fair Fiddle Champion) is available to teach fiddle and violin. He is active in the bluegrass music scene, performing with award-winning teen performers through his Basement Bluegrass band. He also plays with local sensations like Ethan Kinsella and Matthew Francis Andersen, as well as the legendary Oak Park Farmer’s Market players, and most recently with the Gin Palace Jesters.
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Carl Larson
Carl has a bachelors degree in music from Roosevelt University in Chicago Illinois. With over 20 years of teaching experience, he teaches as well as plays guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo and ukulele.
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Nigel Mack
Chicago blues ‘triple threat’ (slide guitar, harmonica and vocals) Nigel
Mack delivers a high-energy show that fuses blues classics with the
punch of contemporary original blues. Seamlessly switching between
instruments, Nigel Mack is equally proficient at them all. These are
talents honed by years of relentless touring in support of
his critically acclaimed CDs, Devil’s Secrets, Road Rage and High Price to Play.
Nigel’s latest release, the award winning, all-original, Devil’s
Secrets, was the #1 Canadian blues CD of 2012, nationwide in Canada on
Galaxy Satellite radio. Mack’s original compositions have been featured
on television sound-tracks ‘Dawson’s Creek’, ‘The Street’ and ‘Time of
Your Life’. Nigel is available to teach harmonica and guitar! Visit http://nigelmack.com
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Gary Cleland
A lifelong Chicagoan, Gary Cleland is classically trained. He studied at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University and privately with current and former members of the Chicago Symphony, as well as other noted professionals such as Warren Benefield, Joe Guasafeste, Jim Palacek, Brian Ferguson, Jack LaSpina. Early in his career, Gary performed in the Chicago Lyric Opera, Basically Bach, a number of the local symphonic orchestras, and various jazz groups, as well as in the pit for many of the musicals that came through Chicago’s top-rated theaters. He is sought out by singer-songwriters, folk and jazz groups for his versatility. As a founding member of CR6, he finds the array of international musical influences in the repertoire as an opportunity to draw upon the full range of his musical background. Gary is available to teach Upright Bass.
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Jeff Burke
Jeff Burke has been a professional musician for over 17 years, specializing in mandolin, guitar, and banjo. As half of the duo Jeff & Vida, he has performed thousands of shows across the US and Europe. Jeff’s down-to-earth teaching style and positive approach to playing and learning music have endeared him to students in classes and workshops far and wide. He has hosted regular classes and workshops at the Station Inn and The Country Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN and is currently offering lessons is association with the Friendly School of Folk Music. He is a sought after sideman and currently performs with a number of touring and regional acts around the country.
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Terry White
Vice President -Board Member
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