2020 PERFORMERS
John Reischman and the Jaybirds – The Jaybirds fashion a stylish take on bluegrass that seamlessly blends original songs and instrumentals with Appalachian old-time music for a truly unique band sound. Bluegrass Unlimited calls John Reischman “one of the world’s undisputed masters” of the mandolin, famed for outstanding tone and taste. Many of his original instrumentals have become popular favorites. John began his career in the San Francisco Bay area in the early ’80s with the eclectic Good Ol’ Persons bluegrass band. He was an original member of the legendary “new acoustic” quartet, the jazz-influenced Tony Rice Unit, renowned for highly skilled instrumentals. John moved to Vancouver in the early ’90s and in 1999 formed the Jaybirds. Other members of the Jaybirds are renowned guitarist Patrick Sauber, bassist and versatile lead singer Trisha Gagnon, banjoist Nick Hornbuckle (“downright spine-tingling” said the L.A. Daily News), and fiddler Greg Spatz, hailed as a “world-class bluegrass fiddler” by Fiddler Magazine. Now in their 20th year, with seven acclaimed albums and two Juno nominations, the Jaybirds are simultaneously innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned and 21st-century contemporary. http://thejaybirds.com/
Rafe and Clelia Stefanini - The dynamic father and daughter duo carry on the old-time tradition of family music excellence. Their harmonic twin fiddles and blistering fiddle/banjo numbers never fail to move and thrill audiences. Join them for a fun ride! https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Rafe-and-Clelia-Stefanini-337017892978813/
Cahalen Morrison - Originally hailing from the high desert of Northern New Mexico, Cahalen has made a name for himself. Over the past decade touring solo, as a duo with Eli West, or with his band Western Centuries, Cahalen has played shows and festivals all over the world and performed on stage with the likes of Tim O’Brien, Kelly Joe Phelps, Hot Rize, Crooked Still and Kris Drever. Equally at home on guitar, banjo, mandolin, singing three-part harmony or unaccompanied, he has carved out a place for himself as a unique voice in American music. Cahalen has played throughout the United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, Ireland and much of Western Europe, and at festivals including MerleFest, Red Wing Roots, Rockygrass, Wintergrass, Celebrate Brooklyn!, Strawberry Music Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, Meadowgrass, Timber!, Shetland Folk Festival, Larmer Tree, Kilkenny Roots Festival, TradFest Edinboro, Celtic Connections, and Bluegrass Jamboree. https://www.cahalen.com/about
Lara Manzanares - An award-winning bilingual singer-songwriter of Northern New Mexican heritage. In addition to singing the Mexican boleros, rancheras, and corridos of her sheep-ranching childhood, Lara also composes her own style of music in both English and Spanish. Through a combination of storytelling and songs both playful and sincere, Lara draws on her rural New Mexican roots and her urban experiences across the U.S. and abroad as she sings about love, loss, a sense of place, and her own connection to the land. http://www.laramanzanares.com/
Margot Leverett & Duke City Hora - The Art of the Klezmer Clarinet: traditional Ashkenazi dance music from Eastern Europe and the United States. Margot Leverett, Jordan Wax, and Charlotte Overby comprise a trio that performs the diverse styles, rhythms, and Yiddish songs that make up the klezmer repertoire, as well as share cultural context and stories about the vibrant culture alive in the melodies. https://www.facebook.com/dukecityhora/
Margot Leverett is a master of klezmer, an infectiously joyous and heart-breakingly poignant musical tradition she inherited from the generation of clarinetists who brought the tradition to America. Classically trained at Indiana University School of Music, she was involved in avant-garde music when she first heard klezmer, the dynamic East European music traditionally played at Jewish weddings. In 1985, Leverett was a founding member of the Klezmatics and later established a solo career. Margot Leverett was recently featured as a guest soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, along with Udi Bar-David and the artists of Intercultural Journeys. She has toured Japan with The New York Ragtime Orchestra and been featured in several Off-Broadway productions. Jordan Wax (accordion, Yiddish vocals) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and traditional musician. For the past twenty years he has studied non-classical musical traditions with elders from a variety of cultural lineages in New Mexico, Mexico, and the Midwest. He is currently studying klezmer music with clarinetist Margot Leverett through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts via the New Mexico Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program. In 2013, he was a co-founding member of Lone Piñon. Charlotte Overby (upright bass) has collaborated with Jordan for years, as well as with a number of bands in a broad range of roots music styles. She currently performs klezmer with Duke City Hora and swing-jazz manouche with the Santa Fe based Swing Soleil.
Avourneen - Avourneen (pronounced a-VORE-neen), a Denver-based trio that specializes in Irish folk, doesn’t have direct geographic ties to Ireland. The band is composed of guitarist/vocalist Adam Goldstein, a Denver native (who claims the of moniker “Denver’s Favorite Irish Jew”), violinist CL Morden, a classically trained violinist who earned a bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver and was a member of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra and other orchestral ensembles, and Kenny Martinez, a veteran of area rock, pop and jazz bands and a talented bassist. Together, they play a brand of Celtic music that is both timeless and innovative, a take on the genre the Celtic Connection calls “unique in Colorado – and perhaps in the country.” https://avourneen.com/
Bluegrouse – Carol Calkin, Laurie Swisher, Jonti Fox, and Jess Wilton - friends bringing their love of music and laughter to audiences in and around Durango since 2015. Their high energy, spirited musicianship, and great vocal harmonies make for a fun performance. Combining bluegrass favorites, folk, country, and swing, audiences can sing along or get up and dance! https://www.facebook.com/bluegrousedurango/
Higher Ground Bluegrass - Higher Ground Bluegrass (HGB) has established itself as New Mexico’s premier bluegrass band. Founded in 1998, band members Ken “Duke” Weddington (banjo, guitar, vocals), Dave Devlin (mandolin, dobro), Fred Bolton (guitar, vocals), Pat Mahoney (fiddle, vocals), and Laura Leach-Devlin (bass, vocals) have been together since 2011. Performing original material penned by members of the group, the band also plays a variety of traditional and contemporary selections. Their philosophy remains one of developing dynamic arrangements of their original material, as well as lesser known songs, and adding something new and unique to standard bluegrass tunes to make them their own.
https://highergroundbluegrass.com/
Rob Martinez - Rob Martínez, New Mexico State Historian, is a native New Mexican and an accomplished folk musician, performing and promoting New Mexican Hispanic musical traditions for many years with his brother Lorenzo and their father Roberto Martinez in the group Los Reyes de Albuquerque. Pursuing his interest in New Mexican culture and history at the University of New Mexico, Rob earned an M.A. in Latin American history, with an emphasis on church, cultural, and social practices of the Spanish Colonial period in New Mexico. Rob has performed musically throughout New Mexico and has presented music and New Mexican culture at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, D.C., the NEA’s National Heritage Fellowship Awards, and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Not-a-Business/Rob-Martinez-State-Historian-of-New-Mexico-109223374168818/
Gerry Carthy – A Lifetime of Traditional Irish Music! Gerry Carthy was born on the West Coast of Ireland. He plays a variety of instruments including banjo, guitar, tin whistle, saxophone, fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki, and vocals. Inspired by the folk revival of Irish music in the 60s and 70s, Gerry played at sessions around Galway including as a founding member of the traditional Irish session at the Crane Bar, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary – the longest running session in Galway. Now living in Santa Fe, Gerry performs at Celtic festivals throughout the United States and in the Santa Fe region.
http://www.gerrycarthy.com/
Steve Cormier - Singing cowboy music of the American West - music about the human condition, western version, Steve’s music, while mainly old and traditional cowboy fare that reflects his nine years as a ranch and farm hand, also provides insightful background information and stories. Steve has performed in film and television productions as diverse as Wyatt Earp and Breaking Bad. He has performed at musical festivals around the country, including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, The Folklore Society of Greater Washington, D.C., New York Folklore Center, and the Albuquerque Folk Festival. https://www.facebook.com/steve.cormier.14
Aztlan Southwest Dancers – Through traditional storytelling, song, and dance, the Aztlan Southwest Dancers, lead by Tomas Eaglebear and his family, have been sharing interactive cultural presentations throughout the United States and internationally for twenty-five years.
https://southwestdancers.com/
Robert Shlaer (Piobob) – Although he only began playing the pipes in 2010, Robert has been involved in music for decades. In the 1970s, he built copies of 18th-century flutes and recorders while seriously pursuing Baroque music. Robert plays the Great Highland bagpipes as a solo piper and is also a member of the Order of the Thistle Pipes and Drums.
Ruth Alpert - Flatfoot and Buck Dancing (related to clogging) are the traditional, solo, percussive dance forms that go along with Southern Appalachian Mountain Music – fiddles, banjos, guitars, mandolins. Ruth was introduced to the music and dancing of the southern mountains in 1969 and it went straight to her heart and never let go! She has taught workshops, danced with old-time Appalachian string bands, and busked (street performed) in at least six states. She won the National Championship in Senior Buck Dance in 2013 and 2014 at Uncle Dave Macon Days Festival in Murfreesboro, TN. Currently, Ruth is the percussion section of The Honeysuckle Possums, an all-female string band playing original and traditional music.