Mandolin whiz Don Julin finds jazz, reggae and pure teaching joy in post-Billy Strings era

The Traverse City musician has hit the ground running since the popular bluegrass duo parted ways. On Wednesday, he’ll perform in Grand Rapids for the first time with a jazz quartet led by Jeff Haas.

THE ARTIST: Don Julin
THE MUSIC: Jazz, reggae, bluegrass and more
WHERE YOU CAN SEE HIM: As part of the Jeff Haas Quartet at 8 p.m. Wednesday at SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids; 7 p.m. Thursday with Eye Ham Wes for Music in the Park in Beulah, Mich.; 9 p.m. Saturday with Eye Ham Wes at The Mitten Bar: A Michigan Ideology in Ludington

 

When Traverse City mandolinist Don Julin and young bluegrass guitar phenom Billy Strings parted ways earlier this year, Julin wasted little time diving back into the jazz realm where he flourished previously, starting a reggae jam band, creating a website-based mandolin instruction program and conducting workshops.

He’s also part of a jazz quartet led by Traverse City pianist Jeff Haas and he continues to work on “a studio recording of original tunes that features many of the best players in Michigan.”

Suffice to say, Julin has hit the ground running as an in-demand musician and mandolin teacher.

“Between private lessons via Skype, workshops, camps and donjulinlessons.com, I should have plenty to keep me busy,” Julin conceded. “Of course, I will continue playing local and regional gigs with some of Michigan’s best players, but at this point my focus more on spreading the love of playing the prince of all instruments, the mandolin.”

Julin will showcase his love of the mandolin in Grand Rapids this week when the Jeff Haas Quartet plays SpeakEZ Lounge for the first time as part of the Local Spins Wednesdays series. Joining Julin and acclaimed Traverse City jazz pianist Jeff Haas in the group will be bassist Jack Dryden and Grand Rapids drummer Randy Marsh. The free show starts at 8 p.m. (Read the Local Spins Artist Spotlight feature on Jeff Haas here.)

Julin follows that up Thursday, Friday and Saturday with performances across Michigan with one of his latest performing projects, Eye Ham Wes.

FRONTING A REGGAE JAM BAND AND SPREADING HIS LOVE OF THE MANDOLIN

That five-piece reggae jam band – which also features Traverse City-area musicians Joe Wilson, Dave Collini, Kevin Gills and Wes Ivan – weaves soul and “a little jazz” into its repertoire.

Julin also fronts Don Julin’s Mr. Natural Project, which he describes as “an instrumental acoustic group that plays mostly original music ranging in style from fiddle tunes to jazz.”

As for explaining the difference between playing jazz and bluegrass – which the mandolinist uncorked in fiery performances for two years until Billy Strings moved to Nashville – Julin likes to roll out a joke that musicians are fond of sharing.

“What’s the difference between a bluegrass musician and a jazz musician? A jazz musician plays thousands of chords to three people and a bluegrass musician plays three chords to thousands of people.”

Julin, 56, who studied music theory at Northwestern Michigan College, said while jazz requires “a high level of musical skills along with a comprehensive understanding of composition and harmony,” bluegrass is “a bit simpler and many of the songs have words that make it a bit easier on the listener.”

‘ALWAYS FUN EXPLORING NEW VENTURES’

But he also insisted there are similarities between these uniquely American music forms which emphasize instrumental solos and improvisation.

Julin remains most excited about his mandolin instruction ventures, including the subscription-based mandolin learning center — aka “Mandolins Heal the World” — that he hopes to launch later this year via the donjulinlessons.com website. The program will feature hundreds of lessons, videos, sheet music and practice tracks that will allow “mandolin students around the world to study mandolin at any hour of the day or night.”

The master mandolinist already has published two mandolin books, “Mandolin for Dummies” and “Mandolin Exercises for Dummies,” which have sparked numerous offers to teach at camps and workshops around the country. Julin has hosted workshops in Missouri, Kansas and Michigan, including instructional sessions at Wheatland Music Camp in Remus, Mich. (Check out a Julin workshop video on improvisation below.)

“It is always fun exploring new ventures,” he said of his diverse, genre-spanning projects. “Playing Bob Marley, Johnny Cash and Charlie Mingus all in the same week will surely keep you on your toes.”

VIDEO: Don Julin, “Improv 101 Workshop”

Copyright 2016, Spins on Music LLC