Gretchen Bowder
Banjo
Gretchen Bowder has been on the Boston music scene for the past 30 years. She’s been a member of numerous bands on electric bass, vocals, and guitar, but she is known mostly for her work on the BANJO.
Gretchen plays 3-finger style and relishes everything from classic bluegrass to Newgrass, fiddle tunes, Western Swing, Bossa Nova, and jazz of the Great American Songbook. She gives private lessons and teaches at music camps.
You can hear Gretchen perform with a number of New England-area bands, including
Upcoming Shows
Tue Apr 2 - Lily P’s Fried Chicken - Accompanying the Berklee Ensemble “Ain’t That Just Like a Man” - Cambridge, MA, 7:00pm
Sat Apr 13 - Passim Down Home Up Here - Accompanying the Berklee Ensembles “Ain’t That Just Like a Man” and “No Man’s Land” - Cambridge, MA, 4pm and 6pm.
Wed Apr 17 - Medford Brewing Co. Gretchen, Harvey Bag, and friends - Medford, MA, 7-9:30pm
Tue Apr 23 - Lily P’s Fried Chicken - Accompanying the Berklee Ensemble “No Man’s Land” - Cambridge, MA, 7:00pm
Fri Apr 26 - Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Washington, DC in support of the exhibit Music HerStory (click for details) with the Berklee Ensembles “Ain’t That Just Like a Man” and “No Man’s Land”
Sun Apr 28 - The Mudsills at The Plough & Stars - Cambridge, MA. 4-6pm
Tue Apr 30 - Berklee Roots Road Show at the Red Room - Accompanying the Berklee Ensembles “Ain’t That Just Like a Man” and “No Man’s Land” - Boston, MA, 7-9pm.
Sat May 4 - Local Freight - Private Event, Rhode Island.
Sun May 12 - the Bagboys at Mr. Sippy’s BBQ, Rochester, NH. 3-5pm
May 17-19 - I’ll be teaching alongside a cast of banjo luminaries at Banjo Camp North. Reserve your spot now at https://musiccampsnorth.com/2024-mc-bc-registration-information/
Sun May 26 - The Mudsills at The Plough & Stars - Cambridge, MA. 4-6pm
Sun June 2 - Local Freight - Music at the Meetinghouse Summer Concert Series - Chepachet, RI. 2:30pm
Teaching
A former middle and elementary school teacher, Gretchen’s teaching style is hands-on and rooted in developing and practicing actionable skills. Gretchen offers private lessons both in person and on Zoom. She also gives workshops at area music camps such as Banjo Camp North and the Ossipee Valley String Camp. Photo by Lynne Fountain
Contact Gretchen by clicking HERE
Videos
I played Jobim’s Wave at Blue Ridge Banjo Camp 2023 with a masterful backing band: Casey Campbell, Casey Driessen, Bryan McDowell, and Mark Schatz. What a thrill!
Vernon Derrick wrote this tune while he was playing in Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys. He named it after his hometown of Arab, Alabama. The town was so named after a county clerk incorrectly transcribed the name “Arad” into the records to incorporate the town.
Some fun at Blue Ridge Banjo Camp playing a snippet of John Reischman’s Little Pine Siskin with Lluis Gómez and Jake Schepps.
Two Irish jigs: Fly in the Porter + Gan Ainm. I learned them from the playing of Dave Cory and Eliot Grasso on their album North by NorthWest. These are challenging! The fingering in the left hand is very specific, and there are some tricky passages for my right hand too.
Oh hey, I used to play bass in this super cool rock band called Inner Beauty back in the early 1990’s.
You can hear us here:
