Meet your counselorS

Spend a week with like-minded folk, singing, strumming, writing, reflecting, and philosophizing on the possibilities of music. Added to this sympathetic environment, we have some of the finest musicians available to share their experience and insight, and a fantastic body of attendees, who never cease to amaze with their enthusiasm, breadth of knowledge, and development.

Richard Thompson is a critically acclaimed guitarist, singer, and songwriter, with a unique style and vision.

Richard grew up in London, the son of a music-loving policeman father and a Vera Lynn sound-alike mother. His early musical taste was shaped by Django, Jimmy Shand, and Jerry Lee on the family gramophone. His early school band featured Hugh Cornwell (of the Stranglers), before he co-founded Fairport Convention as a teenager. He then had a ten year collaboration with his ex-wife Linda Thompson before a highly successful solo career that has resulted in more than 40 records, numerous film and television scores, and over 400 songs. Selections from his critically acclaimed catalogue have been recorded by Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, Los Lobos, REM, Bonnie Raitt, Alison Krauss, and countless others, earning him both the British Ivor Novello Award for Songwriting as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards for Songwriting at the Americana Awards in both Nashville and London as well as the BBC.

  • As a guitar player, Thompson is a musician’s musician. Wildly innovative on both electric or acoustic guitars, his distinctive style incorporates a wide range of influences, from traditional British and Celtic styles to jazz, rockabilly, and more. He has been recognized with the Orville H Gibson Best Acoustic Guitarist Award, the MOJO Les Paul Award, plus Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 20 Guitarists of All Time list. He was honoured by the Queen of England with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to music, and by the University of Aberdeen with an Honorary Doctorate. On the Americanarama Tour, Bob Dylan himself played Thompson’s song ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning.’  

    He has released two ‘lockdown’ EPs, ‘Bloody Noses’ and ‘Serpent’s Tears”. His memoir ‘Beeswing’, released in April 2021, is a Sunday Times non-fiction top five bestseller.

  • Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Laura Veirs has produced 14 albums over 25 years, toured internationally and collaborated with numerous luminaries such as kd lang, Neko Case, Sufjan Stevens, Bill Frisell, Jim James, Colin Meloy, Kate Stables, Sam Amidon, Karl Blau, Shahzad Ismaily and many others. Veirs was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in October 2024. She blends poetic, nylon-string fingerstyle folk songs with the rough edges of experimental music and indie rock. 

LAURA VIERS

MARTIN SIMPSON

  • In recent years, he has been a lynchpin in the award-winning Full English, The Elizabethan Sessions and, in 2015, recorded Murmurs, an exciting new album with Andy Cutting and Nancy Kerr. Martin’s latest solo album entitled Trails and Tribulations was released in September 2017 on Topic Records. Album guests include Andy Cutting, Kathryn Tickell, Nancy Kerr and John Smith.

    He has had the most nominations of any performer in the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, an astonishing 32 times, 13 of those as Musician of the Year, winning that particular accolade twice.

    A virtuoso player without question, but above all Martin Simpson conveys his diverse treasure trove of material from the heart, performing with rare subtlety, intensity and honesty. A true master of his art.

  • Item descripti“Martin Simpson has transcended borders and oceans to quietly become a superb storyteller and musician of great depth and unquestionable taste.” Stephen Fearing

    The remarkable intimate solo performances Martin gives go from strength to strength - every gig is a masterclass. He travels the length and breadth of the UK and beyond, giving rapt audiences passion, sorrow, love, beauty, tragedy and majesty through his playing. “What’s it like being the best guitar player in the world…?” Martin’s modesty and grace prevented him from answering this BBC Radio 4 interviewer’s question recently, but the facts speak for themselves.

    40 years after he recorded his first album, Golden Vanity, in 1976, Martin is known as a guitarist of formidable talent. Equally at home playing English traditional folk, American folk and blues and his own compositions, he is consistently named as one of the very finest fingerstyle guitar players in the world.

    He is listed in Gibson Guitars’ Top 30 Acoustic Guitarists of all time, and Acoustic Guitar readers voted him number 12 guitarist in the world in 2005.

    Universally acclaimed as one of the finest ever acoustic and slide guitar players, and a fine banjo-picker to boot, his solo shows bear witness to an artist at the very top of his game. Whether interpreting material from tradition or singing his own potent self-penned songs, Simpson is a remarkable storyteller: captivating and profoundly moving. His own songwriting produced the poignant ‘Never Any Good’, from Prodigal Son, 2007’s Folk Album of the Year.

    Martin continues to collaborate with a dazzling array of people from across the musical spectrum: Jackson Browne, Martin Taylor, June Tabor, Richard Hawley, Bonnie Raitt, Danny Thompson, David Hidalgo, Danú, Richard Thompson and Dom Flemons are among the great musicians he has worked with.

  • As a story teller Adam Traum wraps his catchy hooks with infectious grooves. His songs have a consistent verve, which reflects his belief in music as an essential element of the human experience. The material Adam writes evokes images of an Americana landscape spinning tales of love, heartbreak, beauty and the occasional observational diatribe. When he performs live Adam brings his sunny disposition and genuine love of playing music to the stage. His tasteful instrumental chops and relaxed, but powerful voice are a great compliment to his well-crafted songs. 

  • The rootstock of Traum's music germinated in the fertile ground of the Catskill Mountains. He was raised in a musical family in Woodstock, New York, with a front row seat to music history. His passion for music was enhanced by going to many festivals and shows in his formative years. As an aspiring guitarist Traum was always welcome to pick along at jam sessions with family friends, many of whom happened to be musical luminaries. 

    Traum regularly raided his father’s (Happy Traum) record collection listening to the masters of electric blues, country and folk in addition to regular doses of rock albums he got at the local record store. He would spend hours playing along and figuring out his favorite riffs. Thanks to the time spent exploring these musical avenues, Adam became a well-rounded musician able to nimbly shift between genres.

    After tenures in several rock bands as a young musician, Traum found the truth, beauty and honesty in the roots music he was raised around. One year at MerleFest in North Carolina, he had a musical epiphany after seeing Tony Rice and Doc Watson play guitar. No gimmicks, no effects: just wood and steel! It was music made by people, for people. The authenticity of those performances is the benchmark he continually strives for whether playing acoustic or electric music.

    In addition to being a busy performer, Adam is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and active music educator with many popular videos on homespun music instruction. 

    Adam has a number of solo releases, and a brand new album soon to be out with his band Wolf Run, which has a more electrified sound while still holding fast to his acoustic roots musical sensibilities. 

ADAM TRAUM

  • Sloan Wainwright is a singer and a songwriter of rare power and subtlety serving up doses of the real and the mysterious in a soaring, soulful contralto. Singing with the extended McGarrigle-Wainwright family, Sloan has rocked the house from Carnegie Hall to London’s Royal Albert Hall, and has released eleven memorable records since her self-titled debut in 1994.

  • She brings the same energy to her work as a solo artist, melding the best of pop, folk, jazz, and blues to create a unique, soulful hybrid. Sloan has been playing clubs, concerts, and festivals coast to coast for over three decades, triggering tears, hoots and hollers with deeply personal lyrics that connect life’s mysterious dots.A born storyteller and poet, Sloan started writing songs when she was 10. “Sitting at the piano and making up songs was my playground – a very safe place, magical and mystical. I surprised myself with what was in my head and how it all fit together.”

    For the last 30 years, she has been sharing that process with students, spreading the gospel of personal expression and lyrical reinvention. Sloan’s open-hearted approach to singing, songwriting and letting loose has made her a treasured presence at a host of prestigious workshops, including The Swannanoa Gathering, Summersongs, Summer Acoustic Music Week, Winter Acoustic Weekend, Cape Cod Songwriters Retreat, Moab Folk Camp, and Frets and Refrains Guitar & Songwriting Camp. She is thrilled to be returning to Frets and Refrains again this summer, to share her love of song and story.

SLOAN WAINWRIGHT

  • Teddy Thompson is an acclaimed singer-songwriter with a career that has consistently garnered critical praise. NPR proclaims that he’s “the musical equivalent of an arrow to the heart,” while The New York Times calls his work “beautifully finessed.” Teddy released his first, self- titled album in 2000.

  • In 2002, Thompson played a key role in drawing his mother out of a 17-year musical retirement to record her landmark disc Fashionably Late, which he played on and co-produced. Thompson also toured as part of Rosanne Cash’s band before signing with Verve. Soon after, Thompson released his much lauded 2006 sophomore album Separate Ways, which demonstrated how much his songwriting, performing and record-making skills had evolved since his debut. It was followed in 2007 by Up Front & Down Low, a collection of personally charged readings of classic American country songs that demonstrated Thompson's increased assurance as a performer and interpreter. In 2008, Thompson released the upbeat and highly acclaimed, A Piece of What You Need, which was declared “one of this year’s best” by The Guardian and debuted at #9 in the UK’s pop charts. A fifth studio effort, Bella, was released February 2011 to much acclaim and led to touring the world with Elton John among other things.

    In 2014 Thompson gathered his musical clan to release Family, one of the folk records of the year which garnered a multi-page, in depth piece from The New York Times magazine. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/magazine/teddy-thompsons-folk-rock-family-reunion.html

    In 2016 Teddy released Little Windows, a record of original duets with singer Kelly Jones. The album was recorded live to tape and features an all-star band of backing musicians. Teddy also produced Dori Freeman’s debut album which was hailed by The New York Times as one of the year’s best https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/07/arts/music/new-albums-from-infamous-stringdusters-trixie-whitley-and-others.html?_r=0

    2017 saw the release of the long-awaited Shelby Lynn & Allsion Moorer duets record, Not Dark Yet,  produced by Thompson. 

    Teddy’s new album, Heartbreaker Please is out now!

TEDDY THOMPSON

  • Singer-songwriter, guitarist, London born Zak Hobbs is the grandson of Richard and Linda Thompson, and nephew to Teddy and Jack. In 2015, Zak featured on his family’s collaborative album, called Thompson. Based in the UK Zak works as a solo artist and as a guitarist with Eliza Carthy, The Rails, Sunny Ozell and others.

  •  Zak is an advanced student of Richard’s Hybrid picking technique, a specialty he has been successfully teaching for the last 8 years. Zak will be hosting the workshop, “Creating A Fingerstyle Arrangement in Three Styles.” Time is also given to further tackling the music taught by Richard throughout the week.

    In the evenings Zak co-hosts the Open Mic and is on constant standby if you need guitar accompaniment for your song.

ZAK HOBBS

  • Jack is the son of Richard Thompson and Nancy Covey so being on stage playing music or talking on mic is in his genes. He has recorded music around the world including CDs with Henry Kaiser, Cuban musician Yelfris Valdez, The Thompson Family. Jack now lives in London where he plays in various projects ranging from Ambient music to Metal.

  • With degrees in History and Art History, Jack is also an accomplished abstract painter who recently began doing custom drum-kits and guitars for various musicians as well as album covers and shirt designs for bands in Europe and America. In his free time he studies history, travels, and operates his own music collective and label.

    Jack is a keen naturalist and zoologist so he is your “go to” man if you need help with identifying any of the wildlife at camp – as well as help finding classes, answering questions about the camp, animals, your instrument or if you need some solid bass for your new song at the Open Mic – so feel free to ask him anything!

    Jack is in charge of the F&R merchandise store and the Zoe Klimley Scholarship Program. Jack is the Coordinator and host of the F&R Open Mic along with Zak Hobbs. He will be your MC and DJ host of the phenomenal old-school Dance Party on our final night at Frets & Refrains!

    www.jackcthompson.com

JACK COVEY THOMPSON

  • From folk and folk-rock to the improvisional jazz scene in London in the late 80s, to Welsh rock and reggae, to modern dance sound tracks, to alt pop, world and orchestral music, London born Simon Tassano has been involved with the making, recording, mixing and production of music for many years.

  • He was Richard Thompson’s engineer and tour manager for 40 years, both live and in the studio. His expertise in mixing and preparing live recordings for commercial release was employed on Thompson’s Grammy nominated Dream Attic. He has also had a long collaboration with didgeridoo master Stephen Kent, working together through Lights In a Fat City (the original didgeridoo based combo of the London Rave scene in the mid/late 80’s who released the seminal LP “Somewhere”), Trance Mission (San Francisco based “4th World” band), dance pieces, and many solo projects as producer and engineer.  During the “lock-down”, he has been working closely with Tift Merritt and Peter Askim, mixing orchestral recordings of a suite of Tift’s songs and completed a series of projects with Shawn Colvin. He is working on producing & mixing a body of work by the extremely talented Welsh singer / songwriter, Rob Lear.

    Simon retired from the road in September 2021 and has recently moved to Charlottesville, VA with his wife, Annaliese, where he intends to spend his time in his mix room, interacting with the local music scene and growing a garden.

    He produces and mixes music, corporate podcasts and records the occasional voice over. He is available to mix your project!

    Contact him at  simon@rumiville.com if you are interested in talking to him about the services he offers.

    Check out his Bandcamp page -  https://simontassano.bandcamp.com

    and his website - http://www.rumiville.com

SIMON TASSANO

  • Annaliese’s photographic specialties include the the performing arts, equestrian subjects, and fine art.

    Her work has been seen in many publications, such as Rolling Stone, Variety, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Her fine art work has been recognized in Ex Arte Equinus, Creative Quarterly, Spectrum, many group shows, and a solo show at The Rehoboth Art League.

  •  Her professional writing credits include a column for C’ville Weekly, one for The Hook, and many private, non-profit, and corporate clients. She’ll be documenting all of camp, and images will be available for review and purchase soon after. A copy of one of the group images will be sent to, courtesy of Frets and Refrains. 

     View Annaliese’s work at:
    http://www.annaliesetassano.com
    http://www.stagerightphoto.com
    http://www.equigraphic.com

ANNALIESE TASSANO