Come experience a Coletrain Music Workshop and see what all the buzz is about.

2019 Dates Coming Soon! | Buena Vista, CO

Buena Vista, Spanish for “good view,” is nestled at the foot of the Continental Divide. It is the sort of community most people only dream of — a great place to live and play, from rafting and fishing to hiking, biking and much more.

2019 Dates Coming Soon! | Bowie, TX

The Hall was inspired by the dance halls of Texas and the great saloons of the 1800s. Located in the charming town of Bowie, Texas, The Hall is a one-of-a-kind place that will bring you back in time.

Who is this workshop for?

The Agenda

{Tuesday}

4pm to 6pm – Registration at Coletrain Music Academy located at 900 South Main Street, Buena Vista, CO 81211

6pm to 9:30pm – Mix & Mingle Potluck Jam Session – join us for a casual and fun BYOB backyard jam session and get to know the faculty and each other.

{Wednesday}

7am – 8am – Yoga & Movement with Roch Lockyer

8am – 9am – Free time to freshen up and grab a bite

9:30am – 11am – Applied Instrument classes begin

11am – 11:15am – Coffee & Personal Break

11:15am – 12:00pm – Last Applied Instrument class before lunch

12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch

2pm – 2:45pm – Personal Time, Meditation or Outdoor Adventure

3pm – 4pm – Group Jam / Assigned Ensembles

5pm – Evening Performances

{Thursday}

7am – 8am – Yoga & Movement with Roch Lockyer

8am – 9am – Free time to freshen up and grab a bite

9:30am – 11am – Applied Instrument classes begin

11am – 11:15am – Coffee & Personal Break

11:15am – 12:00pm – How to Build a Better Band

12:30pm – 1:30pm – Lunch

2pm – 2:45pm – Personal Time, Meditation or Outdoor Adventure

3pm – 4pm – Group Jam / Assigned Ensembles

5pm – Evening Performances

{Friday}

7am – 8am – Yoga & Movement with Roch Lockyer

8am – 9am – Free time to freshen up and grab a bite

9:30am – 11am – Head to The Loft Orpheum Theater (413 E. Main Street, Buena Vista, CO 81211) for Coaching of Individual Ensembles

11am – 12:00pm – Ensemble Performances at The Loft Orpheum

Get To Know The Faculty

All our faculty are elite performers on their respected instruments and are revered for leading music workshops all over the world.

Coleman (Coletrain) Smith

Coleman’s love affair with the violin at the tender age of 3 at which time he began studying the Suzuki Violin Method. After studying a variety of musical styles in his formidable years, Coleman was eventually awarded a full Presidential scholarship to the music department at Marywood University where he studied music performance and minored in music pedagogy. Coleman developed his unique approach to violin while playing with a multitude of the nations top performers such as Asleep At The Wheel, original members of The Texas Playboys, Ramin Karimloo, Clay Akin, Tim Carbone, The Drew Emmit Band, Hickory Project and a multitude of other professional groups. Learn more about Coleman here.

Carl Minorkey

Carl Meinecke hails from the plains of West Texas. His background in classical and jazz styles serves as a good base.  Relocating to the Gunnison Valley in 2008 he was thrust into string band music. Playing in Gunnison Valley bands Poverty Gulch, Gypsy Jazz Social Club, and Simpler Times Bluegrass over the years plus backing up local musician Drew Emmitt when in the valley. To further his bass style, Carl has studied with such bass legends as Eric Thorin and is currently working on advancing his skill set on the cello. Past teachers include Paul Sharpe, Jeff Bradetich, and Nick Scales to name a few. Learn more about Carl here.

Mark Morris

5th generation Colorado Native, Mark Morris began playing guitar when he was 10 years old. His musical tastes gravitated from folk and country to bluegrass and jazz by the time he was a teenager. He graduated from the University of Colorado in the fall of 2007 with a degree in music business and has been a professional touring musician/promoter/teacher/athlete since. His music and skiing has taken him across the world throughout US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Central America, teaching camps, and workshops. Mark started Rapidgrass with Coleman Smith in 2012 and also founded Rapidgrass festival in 2009 with Sister Sarah and Rapids & Grass festival in 2014. Learn more about Mark here.

Alex Johnstone

Alex Johnstone has spent the last many years touring around bars, bluegrass festivals, and kids music camps all over America and Canada as a member of the Colorado-based bluegrass band Spring Creek. He started his musical life as a teenager playing electric rock and blues guitar and took up the mandolin and fiddle in his early twenties. Alex started playing out professionally while ski bumming in Crested Butte Colorado and also where he met the other members of Spring Creek. Learn more about Alex here.

Ethan Smith

Ethan Smith is a Texas native and has been playing violin since age five. He earned his degree in violin performance at Marywood University in 2007 where he also began his teaching career alongside conducting several youth ensembles. Currently residing in Austin Texas he teaches roughly 40 students weekly and plays around town with a variety of ensembles falling within many genres including jazz, bluegrass, western swing and klezmer.
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Billy Cardine

Billy Cardine is a genre-blurring composer, slide guitarist, and multi-instrumentalist who currently performs with a variety of bands and is an active session musician and producer.  He has been featured on, BBC World’s Destination Music, the PBS Roadtrip Nation, the new Jerry Douglas Production “Southern Filibuster”, The History Channel’s Our Generation, and at The Ryman Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Bonnaroo and NPR’s Mountain Stage. Learn more about Billy here.

Raphaël Maillet: Master Of All Things Fiddle

Raphaël Maillet, a CNR medalist from Avignon and Montpellier, has a degree in musicology, plays regularly in orchestral formations (notably the Orchestra of Catalonia) and teaches violin at festivals and international workshops.
Without renouncing his classical heritage, he also plays the “fiddle” – the violin without a bow tie – and then participates in Bluegrass and Oldtime (American folklore), Country, Irish, Quebec, Corsican, Romanian, jazz, rock, traditional balls, tango, and records many records. His greatest influence is Gilles Apap, an international soloist, from whom he draws a true philosophy of the violin.
He also works “art-scenic” in several companies of theater and dance, and distils all in Accordzéâm!

Learn more about Raphaël Maillet here.

Workshop Wellness

Yoga & Meditation with Surrender In The City

Jen has over a decade of experience teaching both yoga and meditation. She teaches group classes and leads workshops at a variety of studios in the Denver area. In addition to this, she offers private one-on-one instruction in Surrender coaching, yoga, meditation and lagree movement. Jen also specializes in corporate team building and retreat planning creating custom programs and packages for companies big and small that support culture, health, and core value goals. Jen holds certifications in Lagree Method, RYT 200hr, Kids Yoga certification, and Restorative Yoga certification.

Learn more about Jen & Surrender In The City here.

Ad-hoc Opportunities

Gypsy Jazz & Le Pompe Rhythm Guitar with Roch Lockyer

Roch is one of the few American guitarists who immersed himself in the tradition of Django Reinhardt living and studying in France with the best purveyors of this style.  Roch will offer a workshop in rest-stroke picking technique and how to play correct Le Pompe rhythm focusing on what separates this style of playing from the American forms of swing and acoustic music.  Not unlike Django Roch had to relearn to play his instrument after a traumatic accident and multiple reconstructive surgeries.  A lifelong Yoga practitioner Roch is a published yoga researcher in peer-reviewed academic journals.  He has been traveling and studying in the east for decades and offers a unique perspective on health for musicians, overuse injuries, and preventative maintenance.

Learn more about Roch Lockyer here.

Come for the workshop, stay for the weekend festivities!

Join us June 29th – July 1st for a full weekend of festivities with 3 days of music featuring more than a dozen bands, a beer festival with 48 of the country’s best craft breweries, epic after parties, a beautiful rafting trip on the Arkansas River and the Grand Opening of the Surf Hotel’s Ivy Ballroom featuring Leftover Salmon. For a full lineup of the Rapids & Grass festival, click here. To attend the Leftover Salmon private event, click here. Limited availability.

Pros

Our workshop instructors are all certified, professional musicians who have years of teaching and performing experience.

Swag

We are so fortunate to have partnerships with a variety of businesses offering products and services. All of our early bird attendees will walk away with a VIP swag bag full of goodies!

Lessons

Each day is chock-full of curriculum intended to maximize your learning potential and set you up for success.

Food

We offer easy convenient options for a quick bite before, during and after each workshop. From local walkable recommendations to food trucks that will be available to you on site.

Wellness

All of our workshops offer mediation and yoga options for intention setting, mindfulness and self-awareness.

Entertainment

Our workshops are hosted in premier travel destinations that offer family-friendly activities, city nightlife, and outdoor adventure.

What they’re saying about CMA Workshops…