

FOTMC 2026
Workshop Instructors
Laurie Alsobrook

After a full career in elementary education, Laurie has found a perfect blending of her two passions, teaching learners and playing the dulcimer. She has participated in a variety of festivals, virtual and in-person. Festival credits include QDF, Dulcimer U, BMMF, Central Florida Dulcimer Festival, NGFDA, and the Alabama Folk School. She also serves as co-director of the Stephen Foster Dulcimer Retreat.
Laurie has several dulcimer books and is a weekly contributor to the Send in the Music Virtual Jam, offering dulcimer tab to the participants and serving as a song leader. She hosts a weekly very informal zoom jam and a monthly in-person jam. You can also find Laurie on YouTube, adding “No Frills” videos weekly.
Kathie Aagaard

Long known for her fiddling versatility, Kathie has been involved with the revived FOTMC since its new life in 2022. She also attended FOTMC during the years Ernie Williams and Jim Strickland directed the event.
When she retired from her thirty-five year career as a professional orchestra violist, she was able to devote more time to contra dance bands (she belongs to three at present), and continues to teach fiddling.
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Kathie and Bill are often called upon by Deb Gilman to lead workshops at FOTMC events and at the Florida Folk Festival. (It might be interesting for historians of contra dancing in Florida, to know that Kathie and Bill were part of the original group that began the Tampa Friends of Old Time Dance.
Bill Dudley

Bill Dudley is one of the most well known guitarists in Florida, as well as one who is known in North Carolina and Virginia, playing Old-Time tunes and back-up guitar, as well as playing in several contra dance bands. He has been known to play several styles of music well, such as rag-time, blues, old show tunes, and many popular tunes from the 1920s and later.
Bill has often mentored musicians
Chuck Levy
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Chuck Levy is a Florida Old-Time Banjo and a Florida Old-Time Fiddle Champion. He is equally at home on 5 and 6 string banjos whether freted or fretless, playing clawhammer, two-finger up-picking, and minstrel styles.
Chuck founded and served as the first president of the Florida Banjo Society and is a past president of the Florida State Fiddlers Association. In addition, Chuck directs the annual Stephen Foster Old-Time Music Weekend in White Springs, Florida.
Chuck has been honored with both the Thelma Boltin and the Ed Fleming Awards for his contributions to old-time music in Florida and his skillful musicianship.
A respected banjo scholar, Chuck visited Senegal and Gambia to learn to play the akonting, an African banjo ancestor. His scholarly works have appeared in the Old-Time Herald, Banjo Newsletter, and the book, “Banjo Roots and Branches.” In addition, Chuck has been on the faculty of the Mars Hill College Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week, the Midwest Banjo Camp, and the Suwannee Banjo Camp. Chuck is based in Gainesville, Florida, where he teaches fiddle and banjo. He is a member of the band, The Purple Hayseeds, also based in Gainesville.
Chris Collins

Chris travels to several large Dulcimer festivals in the USA each year with her husband and back-up guitarist, Phil Pittenger. Chris is well-known for her Hammered Dulcimer and Mountain Dulcimer musicianship. They also do a "petting Zoo" where many old-time musical instruments are put out for people to walk by and try them out. Chris and Phil give each instrument's history and how-to-play instructions in their "zoo" visitors. Many smiles and giggles are heard from their tent as people of all ages try out these various old-time music makers.
Chris is a FOTMC hammered dulcimer champion as well as a mountain dulcimer ribbon winner. She demonstrates her musicianship in our Florida jams and at her workshops at FOTMC events, at Barberville Pioneer Settlement, and at many other festivals and music events around the States..
Chris will be teaching and demonstrating the hammered dulcimer in her workshop. She is also a board member and on the FOTMC, Inc. Board of Directors, and is one of the members of the Workshop Committee, helping to bring excellence to our FOTMC workshops.
Miss Moonshine

Miss Moonshine is a well-known percussive dancer, sometimes referred to as a "buck dancer," who will be FOTMC 2026's Dance Ambassador. You will likely see her spreading good will at the Percussive Dance workshops, during our contests, and at various jam circles in the park campground. She is well-known in several States and there are many videos on YouTube of her dancing to music from well-known Old-Time musicians. Please say hello to her if you see her. She is a very welcome addition to our FOTMC family.
Karan Newman

Karan picked up her first fiddle at an auction in Montana in the late 1970s. She brought it back to Florida and proudly showed it to Lloyd Baldwin while sitting around a bon fire. He laughed and thought it would make nice firewood.
Later she bought a real fiddle and took a community education class at Sante Fe Community College from Tom Staley. He introduced the class to many local musicians and the genre of old-time music as well. Tom told us where we could find the local old-time music jams. After a few years Karan picked up a mandolin made that her primary instrument but still brings her fiddle out every once in a while. She is a member of the band, Dim Lights, a favorite for audience members in the north Florida, Saint Augustine and Melrose area. You can see her play mandolin with her band at several Florida festivals, the Florida Folk Festival and the Will McLean festivals are two where she can be found..
Jack Metzger

Jack has been playing guitar, mandolin and bass for many years. He is a part-time Florida resident who attends several Old-Time and Bluegrass jams here in Floirda and in other states. He has played back-up guitar for many musicians and bands and can help you understand the importance of the well-played back-up guitar.
He is leading a workshop on Playing Back-Up Guitar, but also will be available for mentoring during FOTMC 2026. If you are beginning musician in guitar or mandolin, you can arrange to meet Jack for a lesson. There will be contact information available at the admissions table.
Abigail Gruber

​ Abigail Gruber is an old-time fiddle player from Jacksonville, Florida. She is a founding member of the Jacksonville old-time jam and a frequent participant at old-time festivals across the east coast. She is a four- time champion of the Florida State Old -Time Fiddle Contest.
Abigail teaches private music lessons from her home, performs regularly in Jacksonville with her husband Andre, her band, the Wetland Stringband, and is the mother of two.
Abigail will be teaching a workshop to the Junior Fiddlers attending FOTMC 2026,
Anna Strickland

Anna Strickland has played fiddle for the past 39 years, and teaches at Ronan School of Music in Jacksonville.
She is a member of traditional Irish band, Aisling Grove, as well as The New Southern Broadcasters, an old-time string band.
In 2012, Anna discovered Sacred Harp shape note singing and has had a passion for introducing others to this acapella group singing tradition ever since. She will be leading the Shaped Note Singing workshop and a singing circle at the Genie Room at FOTMC 2026.
Richard Jones

Richard bought his saw in a music store in Miami over 50 years ago. It came with a canvas gig bag and three pages of instructions. He played it with a fiddle bow.
After moving to Gainesville in 1972 Richard was introduced to Old-Time music at the Baldwin Brothers Wednesday Night Picking in Melrose. But it wasn’t until he started tapping on the saw with a felt-tipped hammer that he was able to play the fast rhythms of Old-Time and Bluegrass.
Over the years Richard was able to play Blues, Rock and even Swing tunes. It is such a versatile instrument and always puts a smile on people’s faces.
Tasha Strigle

Tasha Strigle is an experienced Art Teacher in Marion County Schools, Florida. She is highly creative and very used to helping children find ways to express their own talents using several art medias during the Children's Workshop at FOTMC 2026.
Tasha is also an old-time fiddler and will be helping with the music and workshops as well as the typical art workshops. She is the Manager of the Children's Workshop Area in the Nelly Bly Kitchen and has been a participant in FOTMC events and old-time music for several years.
Andy Kane

Andy Kane is one of Florida's favorite dance callers. He has participated and been a workshop leader for FOTMC, Inc events and activities, including FOTMC's Workshops at the Florida Folk Festival.
Andy has been a caller for many years, calling contra dances in Florida and other States. He will be leading a workshops for children and their parents, and will call the FOTMC 2026 dances.
Andy will be helping to lead a workshop for calling and playing music for contra dances, co-led by Kathie Aagaard and Bill Dudley. This workshop tends to be an enjoyable sharing circle between musicians and callers and those musicians and people who wish to call or play music for contra dances.
Mary Allgire

Mary Allgire has been clogging since 1988 when she first saw the Cross Creek Cloggers at the Florida Folk Festival and went back to Tallahassee to help form the Hot Pepper Steppers clogging group.
She has shared her love of percussive dance and old-time music for over thirty years, teaching workshops for beginners at schools, festivals, and at music camps. She has also called traditional square and contra dances in Florida and other State’s communities.
Mary’s goal when teaching workshops is to provide students with the background of old-time music and dance tradition, teaching basic steps in a fun and relaxed setting to make it possible for her students to join dances and interact with dancers and to begin developing their own unique dance style.
Since the music being played is usually old-time music, students also are introduced to the rhythm and tunes of the old-time (Appalachian) music. This helps create the joyful experiences in Mary’s workshops.
Goody Fuller

Goody Fuller grew up in a musical household with her dad teaching her guitar at age of 9. Country-Western, Old Time and Sunday church choir songs were prominent, with the occasional show tunes thrown in by her harmonica playing mom.
Through Friends of Florida Folk, this music scene became a defining point in Goody's life on New Year's Day 2000. From that point until now, she has been immersed in the various musical offerings in the state, including the enjoyment and sharing of Old Time Music with FOTMC, Inc.
Goody will be leading the Sunday morning singing circle in the auditorium at FOTMC 2026.