Pat will be teaching guitar inspiration for songwriters. The goal is to show students basic Merle Travis and Chet Atkins style fingerpicking and rhythm guitar patterns that will hopefully inspire your songwriting process and help you accompany yourself as performers! 

Biography:  Pat picked up a Jazz Studies degree in NYC at William Paterson University and then moved to Nashville upon the request of Chet Atkins who heard Pat on a demo tape. Chet invited him to play on his album "Sneakin' Around" with Jerry Reed, and later featured Pat's guitar and compositions on his 1994 releases "Read My Licks" and "Simpatico" with Chet Atkins and Suzy Bogguss. Pat continued to tour and record with Chet for several years, and was named as one of his top twelve favorite guitarists in the Oct. 2001 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine. Read more here!

Jim explores the craft of writing humorous songs. Using examples from some of his favorite funny songwriters (and a few of his own), he will offer strategies and highlight some of the differences in approach from more serious songwriting. Some good writing rules are best broken when going for a laugh. Structure, rhyme schemes and the particulars of writing parody songs will be discussed, all in an effort to inject a little absurdity into your creative process. 

Biography:  Gigging professionally since age 14 and a career musician all his adult life, Jim Bizer has been around the musical block. He's been songwriting since his early teens and has released numerous CDs worth of original music by himself, with his duo partner Jan Krist, the writers collective The Yellow Room Gang and as part of Floyd King & the Bushwackers. Grand Prize in the Great American Song Contest and his selection as a Kerrville New Folk finalist (four times!) are among the accolades Jim has received. He still finds the process of songwriting to be something of a mystery.   Read more here!

Have you ever been drawn to a song when you couldn't even hear the lyrics? Had a wordless riff become an earworm that
loops in your head? Been moved by the texture or mood of the music playing under the lyrics of a song? Struggled to keep your songs from sounding too similar? These, and other aspects or powers of songs, may be coming from the arrangement applied to a song. Every version of every song has one. We often fail to recognize arrangement as a powerful tool for the songwriter or producer. In this session, we will explore the power of arrangement!

Biography:  Mark Jewett is a Detroit area singer-songwriter whose work has been recognized by American Songwriter Magazine. In a relatively short time, he has traveled from "I've never written a song or performed alone" to recording 2 CDs, the most recent receiving multiple nominations for 2017 Detroit Music Awards. He eagerly gives significant credit for his achievements to Above The Bridge Songwriters Weekends, having attended the event every year since its inception. Through this wonderful event/institution, he has learned much and developed relationships with other attendees and staff that proved to be life changing. Mark's influences and song styles defy a singular genre description and range from folk to rock and pop to country and blues. Read more here!

Biography:  Jamie-Sue is the Founding Artist and Senior Agent at Smokin' Sleddog Records, a boutique record label and national booking agency based in Michigan. Her esteemed and diverse roster includes 3-Time Detroit Blues Champ John Latini, Irish Music Award nominees Siusan O'Rourke & Zig Zeitler, festival faves The Moxie Strings, National Jazz artist Annie Sellick, renowned guitarist and harmonica player Pat Bergeson, 38-time Detroit Music Award Winner Jill Jack, guitar virtuoso Elden Kelly, and sled dog race champ Tasha Stielstra as part of the educational outreach division. This year Jamie-Sue pushed herself away from her computer screen to release her first album in 12 years called "The Post-Victorian Woman's Guide To Reckless Flirtations."   She trained in vocal performance for 10 years and is certified in Arts Management and has a degree in dance.   Read more here!