Jam Camp Instructor Bio

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Keith Yoder is a talented instructor and musician with an unconventional approach to music education. Self-taught, he first picked up a guitar in high school and has since added numerous other instruments to the inventory he plays. He has played for 37 years (and counting!) and has taught full-time since 1994. Keith teaches and equips students on guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, resophonic guitar, bass, and drums. An Iowa native, Keith loves time with his family, jamming with friends (old and new), watching documentaries on Netflix, eating the famed White Castle or Krystal burgers, and cheering for the Minnesota Vikings. 

 Keith would love to meet you at the Strawberry Jam Camp and pick some tunes! 

Bob has bluegrass roots going straight back to Bill Monroe, The Father of Bluegrass Music, Bob toured and recorded with the late great musical master during the 70’s, learning much about songwriting and performing which he now brings to audiences all over the world.

Copper Creek, Rebel, and Green Valley recording artist Bob Black has performed with Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Marty Stuart, John Hartford, Ralph Stanley, Ronda Vincent, The Whites, Frank Wakefield, and many others. He is a singer-songwriter and instrumentalist of international acclaim. Expanding the definition of Bluegrass, Bob Black weaves modern sounds into the ageless fabric of tradition. He has appeared on the Grand Ole Opry many times.

Bob has written a book about his experiences working with Bill Monroe entitled “Come Hither to Go Yonder” and  recently published another book, "Mandolin Man: The Bluegrass Life of Roland White". 

Scott Amos began his entertainment career in 1st grade, as a class clown, sacrificing honor, dignity, and respect for the entertainment of others. A 35-year veteran of the performing arts and a banjo player, Scott offers instruction on nearly every bluegrass instrument, guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, and bass, as well as vocal training to interested beginners. As a promoter of Bluegrass and Acoustic Music he actively provides consulting services to acoustic music promoters/music events across Southeast, Iowa.

Scott currently shares his skill as a banjoist and consultant for The Bluegrass Blondies AKA the Amos Family Band (2008 – current). The Bluegrass Blondes were named 2019 SPBGMA Gospel group of the year. 

 Award-winning guitarist Bill Cagley is a talented and versatile musician.  He has been a full-time professional musician since 1987, performing  across the United States. Bill has recorded and released several outstanding albums. Bill currently resides in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area where he can be found entertaining  at  historic sites, bluegrass festivals, weddings, farmers’ markets, coffee houses, and family outings, and music camps. As Bill likes to say, it's music of all ages for all ages.

Paul Roberts has been playing bluegrass music since 1978.  He plays banjo, bass and guitar, and is a singer-songwriter.  He has done a great deal of performing with two of Eastern Iowa's theatrical groups, Iowa Theatre Artists Company and The Old Creamery Theatre.  Paul has fans among bluegrass lovers throughout the state of Iowa and beyond.  His unusual sense of humor shines through in many of his songs and onstage comments.  He has been teaching students to play banjo, guitar, bass guitar, and the big bass fiddle for more than 17 years and enjoys teaching at the Strawberry Jam Camp and IceJam.  Paul plays banjo with his wife in the Great Bluegrass Herons, the McPunk Brothers and Goin Up Caney.  He also plays bass in the Banjoy Band, and electric guitar in his church band Sharon Praise.  He likes to pick!

Daryl has worked for the City of Camanche, Iowa for more than 30 years. While growing up music was always a part of family gatherings and church functions. He enjoys music of all kinds and has been playing stand-up bass on the church praise team. Daryl has been playing Up Right Bass for several years and currently playing with the McPunk Brothers for 25 or so years and enjoys teaching and jammin'. He enjoys making new friends as we all grow and learn together on our musical journeys. 

Donna Ulisse is a key figure in the bluegrass, folk and acoustic music scene as a singer and songwriter. In 2017 she was the winner of IBMA Song of the Year for the song “I Am A Drifter” recorded by Volume Five. Her single “It Could Have Been the Mandolin” from the album Hard Cry Moon topped the Bluegrass Unlimited chart at #1 for two months in a row in 2016 and the album topped the Roots Music Report chart at #1. Donna’s 2012 Christmas album All the Way To Bethlehem was called “a masterpiece” by Kyle Cantrell, host of Bluegrass Junction on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Edward Morris, writer for CMT.com dubs her “one of the most commanding voices in bluegrass music.” She authored the book The Songwriter in Me: Snapshots of My Creative Process and is the founder of Lil House Songwriting Workshops offering aspiring songwriters the opportunity to write with her and other pro writers in order to improve their skills. 

Singer/songwriter born into a mountain music, gospel music bluegrass family. Rick's father Richard Stanley a cousin of Carter and Ralph Stanley and was a fiddler. The Stanley Brother's style of music was just part of growing up. Rick wrote his first song at the age of 15 and what a song it was, Home In The Mountains. About that same time he wrote a second song Kentucky Tears which was later changed to Fallen Tears. Both songs have been recorded by Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys with it's lead singer at the time Keith Whitley. The song was part of the Stanley Tradition Album that was nominated for a Grammy. Since then both songs have been covered by several other noted artists. Today (he's not 15 anymore) he writes with his wife Donna Ulisse and teaches song-writing at the Lil House Song-writing Workshops. Plan to attend the Strawberry Jam Camp/Songwriters Workshop and enjoy Rick's easy going style of songwriting and unique talent.

 Referred to by Billboard Magazine as "One of Music Row's greatest veteran tunesmiths," Jerry Salley has had an incredibly successful, multi award-winning songwriting career. Nominated in 2019 for the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Salley is the 2018 & 2019 IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Songwriter of the Year and was named the 2003 SESAC Country Music Songwriter of the Year. In 2022, Salley won his second prestigious DOVE Award (with Dolly Parton) and in 2020 he was nominated for a Grammy in the Gospel Roots category for producing the multi-artist project, Gonna Sing, Gonna Shout. Salley has had over 550 different songs recorded and his songs have sold in excess of 19 million records worldwide. Writing and singing in Nashville since 1982, he has written multiple hits in country, bluegrass, and gospel music and may well be the most successful songwriter to have earned equal recognition from all three genres of music.