Harmony Singing with Val Mindel and Emily Miller

This will be harmony intensive, which means we'll roll along the basics and onto some of the harmony challenges one faces in singing duets and trios in American old-time, country and bluegrass music. Blend and buzz will be the theme of the afternoon. In addition, thanks to Emily's long expertise as lead singer with The Sweetback Sister, participants will look what's involved in putting across a lead in a honky-tonk song. Mostly, we'll sing non-stop!

About Val and Emily:

Val Mindel and her daughter Emily Miller count up more than 50 years of American traditional and country music between them, singing, teaching and performing together for much of Emily’s life. In addition to their work together, Emily performs with husband, West Virginia fiddler, guitarist and songwriter Jesse Milnes (www.emmyandjesse.com/) and with The Sweetback Sisters (www.thesweetbacksisters.com), a popular country band heard on such national venues as Mountain Stage and A Prairie Home Companion. Val has played with a number of bands, including the West Coast’s Any Old Time String Band and most recently with banjoist and songwriter Joe Newberry. She is on staff at numerous music camps across the U.S. and beyond and is the author of So You Want to Sing Folk Music, part of the “So You Want to Sing” series published by Rowman and Littlefield in conjunction with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Val teaches at Jalopy whenever she can make the trek from West Virginia, where they both live.