​Metamora Performing Arts
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Metamora Mandolin Gathering Instructors
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Registration is necessary for these workshops, and can be done the day of the event. There is a cost saving if you register early for all day, which includes five workshops.
Scott Napier has been a Professional Musician since 1996 touting two decades of experience. He is the director of the Bluegrass & Traditional Music program at Owensboro Community & Technical College in Owensboro, KY.
A native of southeastern Kentucky, Scott Napier picked up a mandolin as a teenager and has hardly set it down since. Scott began his professional career in 1996 as mandolinist with bluegrass legend Larry Sparks. After leaving the Lonesome Ramblers, Scott spent a year touring with International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning female vocalist Dale Ann Bradley and appeared on her 2006 release “Catch Tomorrow.” Around the same time, Scott was also a member of the house band for many episodes of the PBS series Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour in Lexington, KY. Scott was then recruited by Grammy award-winning artist Marty Raybon to tour the country as part of Marty’s band, “Full Circle.”
Scott joined The Lost and Found and helped to complete their 2009 album, “Love, Lost and Found” .
Mike Scott of Mike Scott and The Nashville Band asked Scott to join them in 2012 for a twelve-day tour playing bluegrass music in Israel; Scott notes this as a highlight moment of his career, and it remains one of his favorite travel experiences thus far.
In 2014, Scott accepted a full-time teaching position at Hazard Community and Technical College’s Kentucky School of Bluegrass and Traditional Music (KSBTM) in Hyden, KY.
In March 2024 Scott moved to the director position at the Bluegrass & Traditional Music Program at the Owensboro Community & Technical College.
In 2018 and 2020 Scott was nominated by the International Bluegrass Music Association for their Mentor of the Year award. In addition to his busy teaching schedule, Scott continues to freelance as a player, filling in with various bands for both in-person appearances and recording projects. He also offers private lessons and continues to write songs almost daily. Scott is endorsed by Gibson mandolins, Weber mandolins, GHS Strings, and BlueChip Picks.
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Andra Faye
Three Chords & the Truth: Singing and playing the Mandolin
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Blues Mandolin: Blue Notes and Getting Your Blues On​​​​​
Andra Faye was a member of Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women from 1992 until their retirement in 2009, and has earned a sterling reputation for her multi-stringed versatility, especially for blues mandolin.
She currently performs around Central Indiana region with her partner Scott Ballantine.
Memphis Beck Gentry
Women in Music, a personal history
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Types of Music to Play on the Mandolin
Memphis Beck has been playing music since she was 6 years old and playing on stage since age 12.
Her professional performances began with playing the guitar and singing folk music. At age 20 she began playing the mandolin and that has been her main instrument ever since. Beck grew up in a very musical family (grandfather played fiddle at barn dances, her mom and all her aunts and uncles played piano, and or guitars, and banjos.) Memphis Beck has played in several bands over time, including The Falls City Ramblers, the Memphis Red Hots, and Nuance and Old Uncles. Most recently she has been involved in organizing a concert series about Women in Music for her local library .She does some holiday concerts and house parties in the region. Now that she has retired from her nursing career, she is able to be involved more in music and is all about supporting live music!
Memphis Beck Gentry has a chapter in the book Pretty Good for a Girl by Murphy Hicks Henry. We suggest finding a copy and reading about Beck and other women pioneers in the Bluegrass world.
Don Julin
Five Notes that Change Your World:
Using pentatonic scales to find common melodies
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Getting the Most Out of Your Metronome & Practice Apps
Don Julin, the author of the best-selling "Mandolin For Dummies" (Wiley 2012) and creator of Mandolins Heal The World (online mandolin school), has developed a reputation for being one of the most eclectic mandolin players/teachers on the scene today.
Don has released over 20 CDs of original music and played on countless others. His original compositions appear in many network and cable television programs. Recent clients include HBO, NBC, Showtime, Bravo, National Geographic Explorer, and more. His 2024 release, Fractured Fiddle Tunes, is a collection of re-imagined traditional fiddle tunes.
Julin was instrumental in launching the career of bluegrass phenom Billy Strings. The duo Billy Strings & Don Julin toured the USA in a mini-van (2013-2015), playing over 500 shows to bluegrass fans, young and old alike. The duo recorded two CDs (Rock of Ages 2012) and (Fiddle Tune X 2014).
Scott Risner
Improvising Using Double Stops
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Tone Up! Get the Best Tone Out of Your Mandolin
Scott Risner is currently the multi-instrumentalist with Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle, with whom he tours venues and festivals around this part of the country.
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He has a long career in the music industry
Scott started playing guitar at 16 and Mandolin at 19. Moved to Indianapolis in 1985 to play bluegrass with Classified Grass (Alison Krauss was a member). In 1989 while in Nashville, toured east of the Mississippi with a Mike Scott and The All American Band and in 1991 joined J.D. Crowe and The New South. Starting a business took him away from touring. In 1996 moved back from Nashville for the second time to Cincinnati and joined the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars and the Lazy Boyz. Also, formerly a member of Tupelo Honey, Northern KY Bluegrass Band, Earl's Gone Wild and The Blue Poppys.
