About John
John Treacy is a bluegrass musician who plays mandolin and guitar and sings lead and harmony vocals in several bands. He also gives private mandolin lessons as well as group workshops at music camps. John is a certified teacher of the Wernick Method of teaching bluegrass jamming.
For the last 25 years, he has been performing in one or more bands at a time, playing a mix of old time, bluegrass, and other acoustic music. John offers individual instruction for students of mandolin and has taught workshops on jamming and bluegrass repertoire at Walker Creek Music Camp, California Bluegrass Association’s Summer Music Camp, and Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. From 1992 through 2008, John was on the leadership team for California Coast Music Camp and served as site director and president of the board of directors.
He lives in the Napa Valley and travels to every music camp and bluegrass festival on the West Coast that he can manage.
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Participants in John’s workshops and private lessons have said:
“John is not only a fantastic musician, but an incredibly patient teacher whose unflappable nature helps to create a very safe environment in which to learn new skills.” — Tom Patterson
“John is relaxed and responsive in bringing forth new material to support and encourage my growth and the current and ongoing challenges I’m working with on the instrument.” — Daniel Michael
“John Treacy has a clear, and creative way of teaching that’s very accessible. He’s an accomplished mandolin player and has a wide repertoire of bluegrass material. His method of demonstrating the ways to hear chord changes is brilliant!John is patient and thorough and would be a welcome addition to any learning situation. Also a helluva a dancer!” — Kathy Kallick
“John’s workshop on common chord changes and patterns in Bluegrass was very well thought through and organized, and accessible to every level of camper. He engaged everyone with humor and warmth, and got the entire circle engaged in playing and singing the songs. His familiarity with a vast range of tunes was clear in his knowledgeable response to more advanced players, and his inviting good nature had beginners singing and playing along.” — Richard Brandenburg
“I first met John as a fellow camper, rather than instructor. Even then, his breadth of knowledge and comfortable playing style stood out. I’ve since taken a couple of courses from him, and in each case, I find him a patient, knowing, flexible, instructor with a broad range of information and the willingness to give each student the help they need to succeed. He’s calm, reassuring, and encouraging. In other words, a great teacher and a great musician.” — Brian Bechtel
“John’s friendly, comfortable attitude that automatically transfers to the students, I think everyone felt safe to go out on a limb and push their boundaries.” – Wernick workshop anonymous student feedback
“I found out that I had a lot of weakness in my jamming skills, a lot more that I thought that I had. This is actually a good thing that I want to find out. I was taught a lot of ways to improve my jamming skills” – Wernick workshop anonymous student feedback