Thomas Wakefield - banjo

Thomas Wakefield continues to find himself in a wide variety of musical endeavors. Largely an anthropologist and self-taught guitarist, he is also a multi-instrumentalist, including piano, trumpet, Latin percussion, electric bass, banjo, harmonica, mandolin, and ukulele. Thomas has studied many forms of American and International music and currently a professor of Guitar, Jazz Studies, and Ethnomusicology at Randolph Macon College. Thomas is the former music director at Benedictine High School and also the founder of Ashland Music Academy. He has been an endorser for Dell'Arte guitars (a gypsy jazz guitar made in the U.S.) and the Ome banjo company, has performed at the Stonehaven Folk Festival in Scotland, the Army Band, composed the score for the environmental documentary Rapahannock, was the creator of the Time For Miracles project that featured the music of regional jazz musicians to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network, and is the creator and curator of the gypsy jazz festival Djangoary Music Soiree. After leading the well-known ensemble Gypsy Roots, Thomas now performs regularly with his group Peña Verde, whose recent recording is now available on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Band Camp.