Will Devitt - Guitar, Banjo, Folk Music
A performer, composer, and guitar teacher for more than 20 years, Will taught in Japan and has played with new muisc ensembles, poets. and country-dance bands. Will has taught for the Stafford Music Academy since 2009 and currently writes music for and performs in the progressive folk-rock duo, Davis + Devitt.
Shane Bucci - Guitar, Classical Guitar
Hayden Bean - Guitar, Classical Guitar
Elias McDermott-Sipe - Guitar
With seven years of experience instructing in guitar, ukulele, and piano, Elias began his teaching journey in August 2022 at Stafford. A profound passion for blues, jazz, and classical music defines his musical inclination. His performances are a regular feature at notable venues in Bloomington, Indianapolis, and the greater Indiana area. Collaborating with Bluewater Kings for weddings and various musicians across the Midwest has become a notable aspect of his musical endeavors. In addition to his teaching and performance pursuits, he dedicates time to music production, crafting original songs, and sharing guitar and instrumental samples with artists and producers in the industry. He is a member of the prestigious Ernie Ball Music Man Brotherhood of the Guitar.
Ben Jackson - Guitar, Classical Guitar
Ben Jackson is a multi-instrumentalist and educator based in Bloomington Indiana. Jackson actively studies and performs all types of music including rock, country, blues, bluegrass and classical music. Jackson has a masters degree in classical guitar performance from the Jacobs School of Music, and is actively pursuing a doctorate from the same university with minors in arts administration and music education. Jackson is dedicated to taking a modern approach at guitar instruction that incorporates new styles with classical techniques. In addition to the guitar, Jackson also plays and teaches the Mandolin, Beginner Banjo, and the Bass Guitar.
Otis Cantrell received his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies on Guitar in May of 2014 and is currently pursuing coursework to become a nationally certified music therapist. Originally from Anderson, Indiana, he now resides in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife and two dogs and teaches guitar, bass, drums, and ukulele in the local area and online. He can be seen performing gigs across the Midwest laying down grooves on guitar in the local soul group The Vallures, the indie-funk group Imunuri, and on banjo and ukulele in Mr. Taylor and his Dirty Dixie Band. Otis has been teaching beginner ukulele and drum lessons; intermediate bass lessons; and up to advanced guitar lessons since 2009 culminating in 6000+ hours and counting of experience. His teaching style is tailor-made for each individual student based on their likes and needs in order to maximize the benefits of lessons. His large collection of musical influences and interests have made him a versatile musician who is grounded in many styles, specifically surrounding the mediums of blues, bluegrass, funk, and anything with a groove.
Patrick Callanan - Banjo, Guitar, Acoustic Bass, Mandolin
Patrick has been a professional musician for over 50 years (10 years full-time). He has had the honor to play with such notables as Bruce Anderson, Dale Sopheia, Jeffrey Armour, and Kevin Teare (all Members of MX-80 Sound), as well as Michael Brecker, Caroline Peyton, Roger Saloom, Michael Bourne, Mark Bingham, and Don Preston. His bands have opened for Poco, the Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Savoy Brown, and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. He plays a variety of instruments: guitar, bass, pedal steel guitar, dobro, fiddle, mandolin, viola, cello, drums, hand percussion, and mouth harp.
He is a piano technician, works on strings, brass, and woodwind instruments, and builds violins and banjos.
He studied music at Indiana University, where he studied electronic music, and University of Maryland, where he did graduate work in composition. He was studied composition privately with Anthony Stark.
Eddie Meadows - Drums & Electric Bass