2008 Performers
A complete list of all performers in alphabetical order can be found at the bottom of the page.
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Robin and Linda Williams and their fine Group
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Robin and Linda Williams are like your next-door neighbors - assuming your neighbors are the salt-of-the-earth and top-flight performers to boot. One minute you picture borrowing a cup of sugar from these two; the next, you're completely stunned by their jaw-dropping talent. Bottom line: You feel right at home at a Robin and Linda concert, and their music stays with you like an old friend.
Favorites of fans and promoters alike, they have crisscrossed the continent (and beyond) for more than three decades, performing the tunes they love & a hearty blend of bluegrass, folk, old-time and acoustic country. From The Grand Ole Opry to Austin City Limits, Music City Tonight to Mountain Stage, clubs, festivals and countless other venues, Robin and Linda never cease to wow audiences wherever they go. |
| Carolina Chocolate Drops
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The Carolina Chocolate Drops are a group of young African-American stringband musicians that have come to together to play the rich tradition of fiddle and banjo music in Carolinas’ piedmont. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson both hail from the green hills of the North Carolina Piedmont while Dom Flemons is native to sunny Arizona.
Although we have diverse musical backgrounds, we draw our musical heritage from the foothills of the North and South Carolina. We have been under the tutelage of Joe Thompson, said to be the last black traditional string band player, of Mebane, NC and we strive to carry on the long standing traditional music of the black and white communities.
Joe’s musical heritage runs as deeply and fluidly as the many rivers and streams that traverse our landscape. We are proud to carry on the tradition of black musicians like Odell and Nate Thompson, Dink Roberts, John Snipes, Libba Cotten, Emp White, and countless others who have passed beyond memory and recognition. |
Mike Cross
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There was a time when only a handful of students and alumni in Chapel Hill, NC, showed up faithfully when entertainer Mike Cross played a local club. Now, thirteen albums, numerous network radio and television appearances and hundreds of concerts later, things are rapidly changing. Whether he is appearing at Symphony Hall in Boston or an outdoor music festival in California, people across the country look forward to seeing their favorite fiddling storyteller and sharing the fun with friends. |
| Mary Flower
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Reviews Press Biography Working in both the intricately syncopated Piedmont fingerpicking style and her own deeply bluesy lap-slide guitar, Mary Flower has earned raves from critics and audiences alike for her springwater-clear vocals and guitar mastery. As the only woman in history to twice place in the top three at the legendary national Fingerpicking Guitar Championships, and with six critically acclaimed CDs and three instructional DVDs to her credit, Flower is in demand for festivals, concerts and guitar workshops on both sides of the Atlantic... |
| Stevie Coyle
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Former rhythm, fingerstyle and lap steel guitarist / vocalist with and co-founder of The Waybacks and solo performer. Co-conspirators over the years have included Roy Zimmerman, The Foremen, Bob Frassetto and The Back Room Boys, Rory McNamara and The Frontmen, Marla Fibish & Jamie Bell and The Heart Of The Roll and Doug Adamz. Regular contributor to Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Stevie gives guitar lessons both at home in the the San Francisco Bay Area and while on the road. |
| Aaron O'Rourke Trio
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The unique acoustic sound of the Aaron O’Rourke Trio is sure to have audiences standing on their chairs hoping to get a closer look! The same original sound that has captured the attention of festival producers has also garnered many new fans from all over Florida. Their music is filled with energy and youth while being delivered with passion and the experience of Aaron O’Rourke (mountain dulcimer), Mickey Abraham (mandolin), and Mike Snelling (bass fiddle). The group is well rehearsed, with mood evoking arrangements -- the Trio’s sound often has the effect of quieting an audience, allowing everyone to hear their subtleties, nuance, and tone.
Just wait until you hear the Trio play Aaron’s upbeat original song, “Insomniac” or their grooving interpretation of the old-time classic, “Turkey in the Straw.” Mike’s smooth bass lays the perfect foundation for Aaron and Mickey, who are both lively and interactive soloists. These three musicians have joined forces to bring a new light to folk music -- when you hear the Trio you are reminded that there is new music yet to be explored. |
Beverly Smith and Carl Jones
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For Years Carl Jones and Beverly Smith have appeared on the traditional music scene, at festivals, on record, at contests and dances, in various bands and formations, playing just about anything with strings or tossing in vocal harmonies wherever there was the oppportunity. In their recordings they bring those years of experience to the art of the duet—songs and tunes, old and new, done simply and with love.
Carl Jones toured with Norman and Nancy Blake as part of the Rising Fawn String Ensemble, playing mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. He often plays as a duo with James Bryan, and is sometimes found pickin' as part of a trio with Bruce Green and Don Pedi. Carl has been an instructor at Pinewoods, Port Townsend's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Mars Hill Old Time Week, and the Swannanoa Gathering. His songs have been recorded by the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Rickie Simpkins, and others.
One of the most respected guitar players in old time music today, Beverly Smith is also in demand as a singer, fiddler, and dance caller. She has made numerous recordings, backing up fiddlers Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, Tara Nevins and Brad Leftwich, vocalizing with Irish musicians Mick Moloney and John Doyle, and also singing with bluegrass great Laurie Lewis. She has taught and played at many camps and folk festivals and, in addition to her collaboration with Carl, also plays with old time band The Rockinghams.
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John William Davis
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John (William) Davis, thanks to well-placed bribes, extortion schemes, and shameless begging is a 2005 South Florida Folk Festival New Folk winner, a 2004 Kerrville New Folk winner, and winner of the 2002 Swallow Hill Songwriting Competition. He was also a finalist for the Wildflower Songwriting Competition in 2003, but generally stunk more than the bribes could offset that particular outing. His debut album, Dreams of the Lost Tribe, received much critical acclaim. It was one of only nine albums to earn a perfect '10' from Folkwax reviewers. One cut, 'Okefenokee', was runner-up for 'Best Roots Song of 2004' at the Just Plain Folks music awards ceremony in LA in October. Davis has been chosen as a judge for the 2005 Kerrville New Folk competition. Davis remarked on hearing the news, "Hot dang, I can smell them 55-dollar bills already!" |
Gatorbone (formerly VTW) 
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Gatorbone (formerly VTW)
Lis and Lon Williamson along with Gabe Valla, Jason Thomas and Mickey Abraham continue to set the standard for contemporary folk and bluegrass in Florida. Old friends and new songs have resulted in an all-star lineup – the new band is simply called Gatorbone and the band’s polished sound is refreshing. Lyrical depth and musical dynamics are trademarks of the Gatorbone sound and they are sure to transport the listener to another place. The heart and soul of the group are the songs, both the lyrical and instrumental originals, along with a selection of traditional jazz and oldtime tunes that make for a lively show. Gatorbone features three of Florida’s most recognized and accomplished acoustic instrumentalists...Gabriel Valla on guitar, Jason Thomas on the fiddle, and Mickey Abraham on the mandolin. Look for Mickey performing with The Aaron O'Rourke Trio as well!
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Amy Carol Webb
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"Amy Carol Webb" defined, is "beloved song weaver." She is passionate, powerful, and poignant. She's the girl next door and no ordinary woman. Born and reared in Oklahoma, Amy traces her heritage back to Native Americans through her Great-Grandmothers who settled Oklahoma when it was still a Territory. Amy's music reflects the same pioneering spirit, tenacity, integrity and never-quit grit. At the age of 5, her folks put her on the stage for the first time. She got her first guitar - a used Harmony gut-string - Christmas day, age 11 and taught herself "Red River Valley" before nightfall. By 14, she was writing and playing music at hometown events, studying works from a remarkably diverse palette of artists - Guthrie to Gershwin, Leonard Cohen to Leonard Bernstein, Bonnie Raitt to Beverly Sills - then graduated college with a degree in performing arts and hit the road from the lower 48 states to Japan, Canada and Mexico to launch her own music career. After taking a break to bring two sons into the world, she burst back onto the acoustic music scene in 1995. Five popular and critically acclaimed independent CD's later, Amy's on the road again, packing the house from Miami to Boston, from celebrated concert halls and festival stages to spiritual gatherings and intimate house concerts, sharing stages with many whose work inspires her own, from Richie Havens to Janis Ian, David Roth to Vance Gilbert. She is "beauty and vulnerability, genuine, sympathetic and electrifying." (Gables Gazette) Her joy is infectious, her courage inspiring, her songs gifts of literate, humorous, often profound poems of one woman's remarkable journey from precious child, to woman to mother ... |
An alphabetical list of all performers
Aaron O'Rourke Trio
Allen Hood
Amy Carol Webb
Barry Brogan
Beverly Smith/Carl Jones
Big Pineapple
Blue Sage Shoes
Bob & Joline Patterson
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Charlie Robertson
Chelsea Saddler
Chuck Levy
Clyde Walker
Dale Crider
Darryl Wise
Deaux Oh
Don Oja-Dunaway
Doug Spears
Elizabeth Roth
Emmett Carlisle
Eric Searcy
Frank Thomas
Gamble Rogers (Video)
Gatorbone (formerly VTW)
Grant Peeples & Frank Lindamood
Hair Peace
Hamhock & Slide
Hartline
Jamie DeFrates & Susan Brown
Jeannie Fitchen
Jerry Mincey
Jim Carrick & Don Blitch
Joe Mark
John Rogers
John William Davis
Katherine Archer
Kim Rivers and Nancy Crockford
Larry Mangum Trio
Lick 'N' Gravy
Magda Hiller/Jack Shawde
Mary Flower
Mary Lou (with special friends, Tammerlin)
Mike Cross
Mindy Simmons
Paradox
Patchwork
Paul Holmes
Poutine
Rebecca Zapen Trio
Red Henry
Rick Kuncicky
Roadside Revue
Robbin Bach
Robin and Linda Williams
Rod McDonald
Sam Pacetti
Sharla June & The Mayhaws
Sharon Dunaway & Dan Pillen
Steve Shanholtzer
Stevie Coyle
The Artful Dodgers
The Dunehoppers
The Morse Family Band
The Robinson Family
The Saltwater Cowgirls
The Storytelling Sims
Those Guys
Tom Ellis
Willie Green
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