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, guitar, vocals, and most recently, mandolin - 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
The Hazel Project - TIMOTHY - The Bagboys - Mudsills
Upcoming Shows
This section has become increasingly hard to keep up with! Click The Hazel Project website to see what we are up to, and if you don’ t find what you’re looking for, send me a note by clicking the “Contact” button above to ask me where I’m playing in your area!
2026
June 1 at the Beehive, Boston / with Caleb Swan and Friends
June 9 at the Rising Tide Brewery, Portland, ME / with the East Bayside Bluegrass Collective
June 18 Red Apple Farm, Phillipston, MA / with the Almost Grown-Ups
June 19 The Hazel Project @ the Andover Community Coffee House, Andover, NH - 7pm
June 23 at the Rising Tide Brewery, Portland, ME / with the East Bayside Bluegrass Collective
June 26 The Hazel Project @ ROMP / Owensboro, KY / 12:30pm at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.
July 4 The Morris Bluegrass Festival, Morris, CT / with Timothy
July 23-26 The Hazel Project AND Timothy @ the Ossipee Valley Music Festival / S. Hiram, ME
July 31 The Hazel Project @ The Granite / Redding, CT
Aug 14 The Hazel Project @ MainStreet Warner Stage / Warner, NH
Aug 18 Backroom at the Burren (duo with Betsy Green)
Aug 28 The Hazel Project @ Moore Dam Bluegrass Festival / Concord, VT
Aug 29 The Hazel Project @ House Concert / Springwater, NY / Benny Bleu opens
Aug 30 The Hazel Project @ Three Corners Bluegrass Festival / Chaffee, NY
Sept 3-6 The Hazel Project AND Timothy @ Crooked River Gathering / Hiram, ME
Sept 19 Timothy @ Planet Granite Music and Dance Festival / Redding, CT
Oct 18 The Hazel Project @ Forest of Bliss House Concert / Carlisle, MA
Nov 6-8 I’ll be teaching at Ashokan Banjo Weekend, Olivebridge, NY
Nov 20 with Duck Duck Goose! at the Greenfield, MA Contradance
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 had the great honor of playing with Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis, and Della Mae for a set at Grey Fox 2025. Thanks to Dean Loomis for filming this one.
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 buddies 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:
Someone posted our album “I Will Not Think Bad Thoughts” to YouTube! CLICK HERE