2027 Instructors, Coaches & Faculty

Crystal Lariza and Joe Suskind are the core members of Never Come Down, a Portland, OR, based band that weaves together modern and traditional styles of American music. The band released their first studio album, Better Late Than Never, in 2021 and their second LP, Greener Pastures, in 2024. They’ve toured internationally and have found acclaim at festivals such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Iceland Airwaves, John Hartford Memorial Fest, Americanafest, FreshGrass, and RockyGrass. In early 2025, they were sponsored by the U.S. Department of State to tour the Balkans as part of the American Music Abroad (AMA) cultural diplomacy program, where they performed and led workshops in five different countries.

Crystal Lariza, Portland, OR native, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist and is as eclectic as they come. She made her way through folk rock bands and soul bands before immersing herself in the world of acoustic music with her band, Never Come Down. She has written songs for TV and commercials, was nominated for Vocalist of the Year in 2022 and 2023 by The International Bluegrass Music Association, and has opened for world class acts such as Mavis Staples, Robert Plant, Old Crow Medicine Show, and The Travelin’ McCourys. She currently lives in Hood River, OR, and teaches vocal empowerment and harmony workshops between touring.

Joe Suskind, born and raised in Portland, OR, grew up in a musical family, winning and losing his first paycheck as a child roadie for his father’s country band. He swore off country music as a teenager but kept up the guitar and has been playing ever since. As falls the apple, he could not escape the music of his youth and has been writing, singing, and playing bluegrass music for the past ten years. As a founding member of Never Come Down, he is a dyed-in-the-wool flat picker and sometimes prolific songwriter. He has been a guitar teacher in and around the Pacific Northwest and remains a devoted student of the music he has now, at last not reluctantly, accepted as his own.

Michael grew up in the train town of Niles, California in the San Francisco East Bay hills. His songs read like short stories, full of heart, humor, and a keen eye for detail. Seasoned vocals and clean guitar work underscore the characters and places in his travels. He tours the US as a solo act, and occasionally gets a band together as McNevin & The Spokes. He is a winner of the Kerrville New Folk Award in Texas, a seven-time winner of the West Coast Songwriters “Song Of The Year” award, and a Performing Songwriter magazine “DIY Artist Of The Year.” He’s shared hall stages with Johnny Cash & The Carter Family, Donovan, Shawn Colvin, Laura Nyro, Richie Havens, and many others across the US and Europe. Festival appearances include Strawberry, High Sierra, Kerrville, Redwood Ramble, American River, Philly Folk Fest, and SummerFolk. He has five CDs and a couple of hard-to-find cassettes. Michael is also an Etch-A-Sketch artist of some renown. See Mike’s website

Devon McClive is a San Francisco-based singer-songwriter, cellist, pianist, and music teacher. She leads her own project, Devon McClive and Sons, and has released three albums, with her song “Shine Through” featured in a national television commercial. As a cellist, she tours extensively across the U.S., Mexico, and the U.K. with the folk-rock group The Sam Chase and the Untraditional.

When she’s home from the road, Devon shares her passion for music through teaching piano and cello to students of all ages—a practice she’s dedicated herself to for over 15 years. Outside of performing and teaching, she loves making up silly songs with her son. See Devon on Bandcamp

As a multi-faceted musician, Stan is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and conductor, in one amazingly musical power pack. He recently released the rock opera Silver Bullet in co-production with Derek O’Brien (Social Distortion). His album Long Day’s Journey was named a “DIY Top Ten” record by Performing Songwriter magazine in 2002. He has co-produced multiple records for Moonshine, Corrina Carter, Jellykka, Onward Etc., and Rick Schiller, among others. As an educator, he taught music at Coastline Community College for 26 years and authored an online music history course. He is the Music Director at St. Peter’s by the Sea Presbyterian Church in Huntington Beach, where he also hosts a concert series and runs a band camp for kids every summer. Stan’s gifts are an invaluable part of camp year after year. See Stan’s website

Dave Pascoe and Laura Benson are founding members of the band Late for the Train, a modern string band rooted in American folk and bluegrass. They’ve released three studio records—Plant It or Build It in 2020, The Flowers of Yesteryear in 2024, and Echoes of the Muse in 2026—and have toured extensively in the western US. In 2024, the band took their first international tour to Ireland, where they played at the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival and the Doolin Folk Festival and were featured on TG4—the national Gaelic language TV station.

PSC Co-Director Dave Pascoe is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, bandleader, educator, and ruthless collaborator. He has spent years fronting and supporting bands on fiddle, mandolin, and guitar and brings a rich, layered experience to his own songs and arrangements. As a sideman, he’s performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, High Sierra Music Festival, Winter Wondergrass, and the Juan de Fuca Festival. In 2017, he and Laura Benson co-founded Every Folk, a traditional music camp for adults. In the time since, he has also taught at California Coast Music Camp, Walker Creek Music Camp, and Occidental World Music Day. Dave lives for the moment when music comes alive in the people around him.

PSC Co-Director Laura Benson began her love affair with music and theater at eight years old. With training in Seth Riggs’ vocal technique, stagecraft, and international performance, she earned her BA in Theater Arts. She cut her teeth busking in London and lived in Spain for two years, learning Galician fiddle in pubs and studying at the Escuela de Musica Moderna in Madrid, where she first began writing songs. In 2014, she released an album of original music with her first band, The Seventh String, and went on to co-found Late for the Train and Every Folk music camp in 2017. Behind the scenes, she’s consulted hundreds of artists who run businesses through Patreon, and is a certified sound healer and embodiment coach. See Late for the Train’s website

Mark is a staple of the East Coast scene, and a musical Diehard battery at song camp as teacher and coach here in the West. A top-notch bassist and professional recording engineer for more than 30 years, he has worked with hundreds of artists at his studios in New York City and Woodstock, including engineering and playing on the legendary Fast Folk Musical Magazine recordings. He’ll be everywhere at song camp—tap Mark for bass lessons, combo performance help, chart writing, and Mac Garageband 101. He’s also the camp Guitar Doctor… we think he has a blue Gui-Tardis. See Mark’s website

Rebecca Troon has been writing songs since the tender age of 17, and has taught songwriting and vocal technique at Pacific Songwriting Camp (formerly SummerSongs and WinterSongs) for over twenty years.

Rebecca has recorded three solo albums, two records with the old-time and originals band Honeysuckle Possums, and two children’s records. She is currently working on a new solo album, and performs originals in a trio with Lisa Macker (bass) and John Goux (lead guitar), adding acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and banjo. Songwriting awards include the Gig Harbor Folk Festival and the International Acoustic Music Awards, Best Folk/Americana/Roots category. See Rebecca on Bandcamp

Sara has been writing songs since the end of the last millenium, with subjects running the gamut from the California fires, to peace and war, to story songs about a burned out Nashville songwriter, a besotted firebug, an ex-lover lookalike, and an itinerant banjo player. She released an album of original songs, Cinders in the Wind, in 2022 and is currently working on a second recording.

A veteran graphic designer for the music industry, Sara has created CD packaging, websites, and other promotional materials for Holly Near, Laurie Lewis, Brittany Haas, Kitka, Wake the Dead and many others. She is happy to answer questions about copyrighting, publishing, streaming distribution, and CD packaging options. See Sara’s website

Severin was raised in a musical family where all the children were expected to play an instrument. He began with accordion, then moved to drums and saxophone before settling on guitar at the ripe old age of ten. His older brother Jackson, a talented singer/songwriter with many albums for the Asylum/Elektra labels, started out as first chair cornet in the elementary school band, where Severin soon joined him on the drums.

A former Motown recording artist and staff songwriter, Severin continues to enchant audiences with his clear voice, masterful guitar playing and finely crafted songs. After leaving Motown in the mid-seventies, Severin spent his time writing and performing in the Los Angeles area, where his songs were recorded by Thelma Houston, Patti Dahlstrom, Colin Blunstone, Twiggy, The Dillards, and Pamela Stanley, who had a Billboard #15 hit with Severin’s “I Don’t Want To Talk About It.”

His three post-Motown CDs, From the Edge of The World (1996), This Twisted Road (2001), and Lucky Man—A Songwriter’s Notebook (2012) have gotten great reviews. With roots in pop, jazz, country, rock and R&B, Severin surprises his acoustic audiences with his melodies. See Severine’s website

Jaynee has been coming to camp for well… 20 years now! She was at the first camp in 2004 at Camp Whittier. Now she attends camp to be of service—to run sound for the evening Coffee House and for the performance classes during the day. She looks forward to camp every year and hopes to write a new song every winter. She will be available for guitar and harmonies throughout camp. Don’t be shy to ask for backup for the Coffee House! We’re here to have some fun! See Jaynee’s website