Four days of world-class fingerstyle instruction, hands-on workshops and intimate evening concerts in the stunning Tennessee autumn during peak fall colors.
Limited Availability. ONLY 20 SPOTS LEFT
Join artists & learners for a life enriching guitar retreat in the beautiful Tennessee autumn with Fingerstyle masters Shane Hennessy, Antoine Dufour & Collin Hill.
Special Guest Artists
Richard Smith
National Fingerpicking Champion
Sean McGowan
Fingerstyle Jazz Virtuoso
Gareth Pearson
International Fingerstyle Artist
What You'll Learn
Fingerstyle Guitar Skills
Essential fingerstyle skills from basic to advanced will be covered to give you a solid foundation.
Proper Right & Left Hand Position
Gaining Control of Your Hands
Advanced Fingerstyle Techniques
Tapping, Tremolo
Artist Masterclasses
Up close hands on instruction from world-class fingerstyle guitarists. Get answers to your questions from the best.
Advanced Fingerstyle Techniques with Gareth Pearson
Solo Fingerstyle Jazz with Sean McGowan
Daily Guitar Workouts with Steve Krenz from Beginner to Advanced
All Skill Levels are Welcome - but a Basic Understanding of Guitar Chords, Skills and General Fingerstyle Technique is Encouraged.
Essential Musicianship
Learning how to think like a fingerstyle guitarist.
Arranging Songs for Solo Guitar
The Gear You Need & The Gear You Don't
Setting Up Your Guitar for Ultimate Playbility
Practice Strategies for Results
"The retreat was a perfect fit for me - it is one of the best experiences I've had in years."
- Dave W., Asheville, North Carolina
SPECIAL GUEST ARTISTS
Richard Smith
“The most amazing guy I know on the guitar. He can play anything I know, only better.” - Chet Atkins, CGP
National Fingerpicking Champion, Richard Smith is constantly touring with a repertoire of fingerpicking classics, originals, fiddle tunes, blues, Joplin rags, jazz standards, classical repertoire and everything from pop to Sousa marches. Richard has performed or recorded with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Tommy Emmanuel, Suzy Bogguss, Steve Wariner, Earl Klugh, Martin Taylor, Joscho Stephan, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, John Schneider, Lee Roy Parnell, Brent Mason, and a host of others.
Sean McGowan
...His sense of harmony and amazing technique are world class – he is an inspiration to any serious guitarist. - Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine
Sean McGowan is a fingerstyle jazz guitarist who combines many diverse musical influences with unconventional techniques to create a broad palette of textures within arrangements for solo guitar. His first recording "River Coffee" won Best Independent Release of the Year Award from Acoustic Guitar Magazine. His project, "Sphere" was named one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s “Essential Albums of 2011”, and Sean has been featured on the cover of Fingerstyle 360 Magazine.
Gareth Pearson
"Gareth is fast becoming one of the worlds most renowned instrumental guitarists" - BBC Radio
Gareth Pearson, aka “The Welsh Tornado” is appropriately named, seeing he combines fingerstyle pyrotechnics, with explosive lead runs making Pearson one of the most exciting acoustic musicians gigging today.
Gareth's distinctive style can be heard, sharing the stage with Tommy Emmanuel and Andy McKee with his creative and innovative arrangements covering a wide spectrum of genres, including country, folk, classical, pop, and Jazz along with his own beautiful original compositions.
Steve Krenz - Conference Host
Nashville guitarist, Steve Krenz has played guitar with numerous Grammy winning artists live and in the studio. A sought after guitar educator and speaker, Steve’s top-selling guitar instruction course, Gibson's Learn & Master Guitar won the Acoustic Guitar Magazine Player’s Choice Award for Best Guitar Instructional Material.
Steve has helped countless thousands of guitarists in almost every country in the world learn how to be a better musician through easy to understand, no-nonsense guitar instruction.
Steve is the founder of GuitarGathering.com which serves 28000+ YouTube subscribers and over 4 million views with guitar training and live streaming lessons.
Info & Lodging
All Meals & Lodging Included with Registration!
Location
All events, meals, and lodging will be at the beautiful Deer Run Retreat in the Lodge. Directions, photos and more can be found at the link below.
Lodging
Lodging will be in 8 beautiful lodge-style rooms with a total of 25 beds. There are two rooms that can accommodate a married couple.
You will be bunking up with new guitar friends in a variety of beds and bunk beds in very comfortable rooms. Each room with private bath and WiFi.
Unfortunately, there are no private rooms available.
If you have a preference on who you would like to room with, just let us know and we'll try to accommodate.
If you would prefer lodging off-site, our retreat hotel partner is the Holiday Inn Express - Spring Hill. A short 10 minute drive from the retreat. You are responsible for acquiring your own reservation.
There is no discount if you choose to room off-site.
Meals
Full breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks included with registration. Breakfasts are full, hot breakfasts with items such as eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, french toast, coffee, juices. Lunches and dinners may include items such as lasagna, brisket, burgers, BBQ chicken. Delicious desserts to possibly include cheesecake, chocolate cake, fruit.
Gluten free menu options available - just let us know when you register.
Daily Schedule
Thursday October 26th
3:00pm Check In / Registration
4:00pm Welcome with Steve Krenz
5:00pm Group Fingerstyle Lesson
6:00pm Dinner
7:00pm Student Performances
7:30pm Evening Concert with Walter Rodriquez Jr.
Friday October 27th
8:00am Breakfast
9:00am Morning Guitar Workout with Steve Krenz
10:30am Walter Rodriguez Jr Guitar Masterclass
Noon Lunch
1:00pm Workshops
2:00pm Let's Learn a Tune
3:00pm Guest Artist Masterclass
4:00pm Free Time / Jam Time
6:00pm Dinner
7:00pm Student Performances
7:30pm Evening Concert with Thomas Leeb
Saturday October 28th
8:00am Breakfast
9:00am Morning Guitar Workout with Steve Krenz
10:00am Guitar Masterclass with Thomas Leeb
Noon Lunch
1:00pm Workshops
2:00pm Let's Learn a Tune
3:00pm Guest Artist Masterclass
4:00pm Free Time / Jam Time
6:00pm Dinner
7:00pm Student Performances
7:30pm Evening Concert
Sunday Oct 30th
8:00am Breakfast
9:00am Guitar Masterclass
10:30am Pack & Check Out
Registration
Pricing
Registration includes admission to the retreat, all workshops and concerts, 3 nights/4 days beautiful accommodation and all meals.
- Registration: $1095
Registration does not include:
- Personal Guitar Setups with Greg Voros. Prices are per instrument. $60/Acoustic $55/Electric (New set of strings included with each setup.)
With limited spaces available for this retreat, spaces are on a first come - first served basis.
Cancellation Policy
All Purchases are Final and Non-Refundable.
However, if cancelled before dates below, funds can be credited to a future Guitar Gathering conference or Fall Fingerstyle Retreat registration.
Before July 1st: Full Credit of Funds to Future Event
Before August 1st: 75% Credit of Funds to Future Event
Before September 1st: 50% Credit of Funds to Future Event
After September 1st: No Credit of Funds to Future Event
Got a Question?
Have a question or concern? Contact us at [email protected] with any questions you might have.
"Everyone felt like family...a wonderful group and setting...presented very well a totally new dimension to fingerstyle guitar...and what it takes to get there. In short everything was an incredible experience."
“This has to be the highlight of my guitar journey so far. I’ve never played outside of my house. It was a great experience to just be around other guitar players."
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