Attendees of this year’s WinterWonderGrass Festival in Steamboat will have the opportunity to become part of the event in an in-depth, interactive manner. 

A one-of-a-kind educational experience, being hosted by the Coletrain Music Academy, will be a feature of this year’s celebration of music and community. Workshop-based learning will lead to opportunities for children and adults to watch and listen to musicians while also learning how to create string-based magic themselves. 

WWG is to be held in the Knoll parking lot of Steamboat Ski Resort from Feb. 28 – March 2. 

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Robin Vega and Coletrain Smith are partners in the operation of the Buena Vista-based CMA. Over the last seven years, they have worked alongside a team of musicians to ensure that people of all ages can enjoy music by learning how to play the instruments which form the backbone of the bluegrass music canon. 

Vega serves as the marketing director and creative business manager for CMA. Smith, who is her husband, is a master violinist and is also the music director. He also serves as the fiddler for Yonder Mountain String Band, who are in the lineup for this year’s WWG festival.

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Smith began his career on the violin at the age of three and began attending and performing at music festivals at the age of six. As an adult, he wanted to provide the same experience to others, which led to him founding the CMA to provide music immersion experiences in classroom — and festival-based settings.

“It’s really cool to see the synergies and full circle moments of a child watching their favorite artists perform, and then coming over to one of our activations to learn about the same instruments they just heard on stage,” said Vega. “Children can get up close and personal to a variety of string instruments and with professional instruction learn how to properly hold, bow or strum the instrument of their choice, while connecting that to what they saw on stage.” 

Smith’s musical career eventually led to him meeting Scotty Stoughton, who is the organizer and mastermind behind the WWG festivals. 

“We started doing pop-up music workshops at various festivals,” explained Vega. “We were connected with Scotty and we’ve done a few with him at Renewal. We’ve also done Campout For The Cause and now we are venturing into the WinterWonderGrass festivals.” 

The pop-up music workshops are modeled on CMA’s week-long summer camps. The condensed versions of those music experiences allow festival-goers to create music and immerse themselves in an educational and communal setting that’s welcoming to all ages and skill sets. It also allows them to learn from professional musicians and educators. 

Workshops for children include sessions in child friendly areas, where age appropriate materials, curriculum and instruments are provided to activate the minds and musical talents of younger festival attendees. 

The mornings of Feb. 28 and March 1 at WWG will feature workshops for both adults and children before the festival gates open. The timing allows for music-lovers to extend their festival experience in a creative and interactive manner. 

“That’s kind of the newest endeavor with Bonfire,” said Vega. “And, It’s going really well.” 

The partnership with Stoughton has been beneficial for CMA, as several Bonfire festivals are located in Colorado. This allows the smaller-staff of CMA to be more active in the music community while also reducing the stress that comes with traveling to venues that are further away. 

Attendees at the workshops are divided into groups based on the instruments that the “students” are interested in learning. This is followed by applied instrument lessons and afternoon breakout sessions focusing on specific skills such as songwriting, improvisation skills and other instruments. 

WWG Steamboat will feature a one day workshop for children on Saturday and an adult workshop on Friday. The sessions will be held in the ballroom of the Steamboat Grand. The adult workshop will be a group acoustic learning immersion with guitar, violin, mandolin, ukulele and bass, with a focus on the collective learning of melodies and backup rhythms.

The kid’s group is for ages 6-12. Both parents and their children are welcome. The setup is similar to the adults, with instruments being provided by CMA. Participants can also bring their own instruments. There will be an instrument show-and-tell and instruction regarding the fundamentals of playing them in addition to the learning of a song and a family, teacher and student sing-a-long. 

Both the adult and youth workshops will conclude with a public-pick jam session, which will be open to ticket holders of the WWG festival to view or to participate in.

“It’s such a great confidence builder,” closed Vega. “Some of our students who were painfully shy, or had some trauma in their lives…are now on stage and performing, recording their own songs and writing their own songs. It’s cool to really see the evolution.” 

Instructors for the Steamboat workshops will be Smith, Casey Houlihan of Trout Steak Revival, and Kay McKenzie of Steamboat’s Little Moon Travelers. McKenzie assisted at the Renewal Festival workshops and is also a student of Smith’s. 

The workshops require registration and will also have a small fee.

For more information, and to register, please visit Tickets.Coletrainmusicacademy.com/e/wwg-steamboat.