Sharon Gilchrist has long made her home in the American traditional acoustic music scene. Whether she's playing mandolin or upright bass, singing a traditional ballad or performing original material, you hear an artist steeped in traditional Appalachian music relaying those sounds through her own diversified musical lens. Sharon has performed with the Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, Scott Nygaard and John Reischman, Darol Anger, Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, Uncle Earl, The Kathy Kallick Band, Bill Evans, Scott Law & the Bluegrass Dimension and the Ger Mandolin Orchestra directed by Mike Marshall. She is currently based in Nashville, TN.

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​In addition to performing, Sharon is a well-respected teacher of the mandolin. She is available for private mandolin instruction in-person and online via Skype. Be on the look out for a new zoom workshop series happening September through November, 2021! Sharon has four mandolin courses available for subscription on the instructional website www.pegheadnation.com: Beginning Mandolin, Intermediate Bluegrass Mandolin, Mandolin Fingerboard Method and Melodic Embellishment. These courses are widely praised for offering a strong foundation for beginning players while charting a clear path forward to an intermediate level where players improvise comfortably, sounding true to the style of bluegrass while learning early-on how to develop their individual style.

 

As an instructor, Sharon is particularly know for her ability to clearly articulate and break down the physicality of playing mandolin such as posture and technique as well as the more conceptual aspects of playing music such as theory, improvisation and overall musicianship.

 

Sharon has taught extensively at music camps throughout the U.S., Europe and Australia while her private student base spans ten different countries.
From 2004 - 2012, Sharon served as mandolin instructor at the Santa Fe University of Art & Design. She was the first person to receive a BA in Mandolin Performance from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Sharon also studied arranging and composing in multi-media productions at Belmont. While in Nashville she became music composer for an art collective in Nashville called DDD which produced several major art exhibits in Nashville. She also scored music for several films while living in New Mexico.

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Go to the Music page to hear and purchase excerpts of Sharon's recorded music. Selections include original songs, original film score and record releases  with the Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, Darol Anger E-and'A and the Harmonic Tone Revealers trio album with John Reischman and Scott Nygaard.

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Check this in depth interview by Daniel Patrick featuring Sharon on the Mandolins & Beer Podcast (Episode #19).

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Sharon loves using D'addario Strings and gear and plays a 1991 Gilchrist F5 mandolin.

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Contact Sharon for performances, instruction and music composition at: info@sharongilchristmusic.com.