Featured Artists of the Hootenanny Cafe Radio Show

Apple & Setser (Brad Apple & Pam Setser,) officially a duo since 2017, have played music together on and off for 30 years and have similar performing backgrounds in their respective family bands. Both musicians grew up playing music at the Ozark Folk Center and traveling the region performing separately. The duo regularly performs at the Mountain View Meeting Place in Mountain View, Arkansas, and travels the road to play shows and promote their music throughout the area. Apple & Setser were nominated for Best Acoustic Act for the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards. Apple & Setser's self-titled debut album APPLE & SETSER is a collection of new originals, classic favorites and lesser-known traditional songs that take us on a nostalgic visit to that past when songs told stories that touched our hearts and memories. The album takes us on a journey back in time with foot-stomping songs, fond thoughts of family and friends but also digs deeper into our souls with a few songs about lost love. Brad Apple and Pam Setser capture our hearts by producing an album chock full of the sweet sounds of acoustic stringed instruments and the flavor of Mountainview, Arkansas, featuring notable and award-winning bluegrass and gospel guest musicians David Johnson, Tim Crouch and Danny Crawford. Golden-voiced singer and multi-instrumentalist Pam Setser, based in Mountain View, Arkansas, was nominated for Americana Artist of the Year for the 2021 Arkansas Country Music Awards. The folk/bluegrass/country singer and musician was part of her family's band (The Simmons Family Band) for 16 years. Her experiences included appearing on Hee Haw and performing for Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. Pam has performed at the Ozark Folk Center since 1973. She also had the honor of sharing the stage with Grandpa Jones, Ramona Jones, The Whites, and Joni Bishop. Pam also performs with the Pam Setser Band, Apple & Setser, and the Ozark Granny Chicks, an old-time string band quartet. Pam plays autoharp, mountain dulcimer, guitar (left-handed!), upright bass, and spoons. Pam's discography includes four albums with "The Simmons Family Band," five mountain dulcimer albums with her mom Jean Jennings, and three solo albums; At Last, Crooked Ridge (familiar tunes), and her most recent release on the Bell Buckle Records label, Now (primarily originals, an Americana mix of folk, bluegrass, gospel, 1930s swing, and country.) Brad Apple is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter with a smooth, expressive and commanding voice suited to folk, country and bluegrass. His original songs have been recorded by Auldridge, Bennett & Gaudreau, and the former members of J.D. Crowe and the New South, known as Flashback. Brad's Acoustic Music Talk podcast featuring interviews with artists and discussions about all facets of acoustic music, was nominated for Best Publication/Podcast for the 2022 Arkansas Country Music Awards. Brad played in his family band for many years and regularly performed at regional bluegrass festivals and the Ozark Folk Center State Park. His family ran The Apple Family Bluegrass Festival from 1979 to 1984. Brad was the audio mastering engineer at Raney Recording Studio in Drasco, Arkansas, for 10 years. Today, he has a recording studio where he records and masters his own projects and for other artists.

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“Arielle Silver is a born communicator... exudes intelligence and humanity.” – MUSIC CONNECTION (Hot Unsigned Artists / Top Prospects)

Arielle Silver is a consummate storyteller whose rich, expressive voice and acoustic guitar frame expansive melodies that echo her tours and travels across the American heartland. The daughter of a guitar-strumming architect and a bookworm religious educator, Arielle was raised on folk festival fields and synagogue pews, in woodsy and watery places up and down the Atlantic Seaboard. She moved to Boston for college, where she studied classical and renaissance woodwinds, and moonlighted as a folksinging busker in Harvard Square.

Now based in Southern California, Arielle lives just a traffic jam away from the Pacific Ocean. After a decade break from performing music to focus on creative writing and Eastern philosophy, her fourth album, A THOUSAND TINY TORCHES (2020), is luminous, literate, and alive, with songs that crosscut exacting details of the seismic heartbreaks of ordinary life. Recognized in numerous songwriting contests, the album has been heard regularly on tastemaker station 88.5FM (KCSN Los Angeles), was a New Discovery in American Songwriter, and a 2020 Top 10 Albums in Americana Highways.

Arielle currently serves as Secretary for Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) Board of Directors. She teaches Creative Writing at Antioch University Los Angeles and for the International Women's Writing Guild, is producer and host of the podcast Tomes & Tunes, and co-owns Bhavana Flow Yoga, where she teaches daily Zoom yoga and leads retreats with her sweetheart, the composer/songwriter Darby Orr.

She loves pie.

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A pure-voiced poet and a dulcimer wizard weave their voices and instruments into a rich, harmony-driven sound that is fresh and innovative. Intricate arrangements, harmonies “so tight, they pulse” (Mary Cliff—WAMU-FM), comic repartee, a repertoire ranging from critically-acclaimed originals and contemporary songs, to finger-dancing instrumentals and unexpected covers---these are the hallmarks of every Jubilant Bridge performance. Vox Populi winner at the Independent Music Awards and two-time finalist for Best Group/Duo in the International Acoustic Music Awards, Jubilant Bridge comes from a rich aural tradition, but surprises audiences with counter melodies, changing time signatures, and well-chosen dissonance. The duo’s instruments go beyond simple accompaniment; the arrangements and the songs themselves are meshed. They use the vocabulary, but step outside of the conventions, of folk, rock, and pop---not simply stitching together genres, but folding the seams under. Every song becomes their own.

Vocalist and guitarist Carol Van Alstine provides Jubilant Bridge with most of its distinctive original songs. She comes to songwriting by way of poetry. Often inspired by dreams, and musical and lyrical phrases that take her unexpected places, her emotionally wise songs depict states of mind and heart and the conflicts between them. Her awards include the BMI Songwriter Award for her song “Power Lines,” as well as Silver in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, one of the longest-running song competitions in the nation, and several Honorable Mentions in the Billboard World Song Contest. With a voice that has been described as “striking,” “ethereal,” and “far purer than Michael Jackson’s fondness for gloves,” she is often asked after a show, “How does such a big voice come out of such a small person?” Her musical experiences range from performing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon to singing soprano in Renaissance choirs.

Mountain dulcimer wizard and vocalist Willie Jaeger takes what is often thought of as a “simple” folk instrument and discovers its complexity. He strums, he fingerpicks, he flatpicks, he plays lead, and he even experiments with electric dulcimer. His unique style of playing, and his popularity as a teacher at the renowned Swallow Hill School of Music, inspired Westword, Denver’s alternative weekly, to vote him Denver’s “Best Local Folkie.” He won Silver in the national mountain dulcimer championship at Winfield, Kansas, has been a finalist twice for Best Instrumental in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, and won a Gold Medal for Best Original Instrumental Composition at the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival. An engaging singer with a lyrical baritone, he also plays hammered dulcimer and guitar, and composes instrumentals and the occasional song.

Carol and Willie have six recordings. Their latest , “A Bell A Bird A Star,” called “a gem of a Christmas album” by Significato Journal, achieved #7 on the Folk DJ charts. It consists of beautiful songs of the Christmas season by 20th-century composers, some based on medieval texts; traditional carols in several languages; and Latin pieces. Many of the songs are not often heard except by choral ensembles, but here, they are intricately arranged for two voices, guitar, and dulcimer. Gracing the collection are several original songs and instrumentals, including the title track, for which Carol was a finalist in both the Grassy Hill Songwriting and SongDoor competitions. The duo’s five previous recordings include “Power Lines,” in which Victory Music Review found “an amazing level of melodic richness and complex songwriting,” and the songs “musical and lyrical tapestries that can be surprisingly deep and poetic.”; “Happenstance”; “Under Shattered Skies” (which Victory Music Review proclaimed “a rich aural feast”); “Another Run At the Mountain”; and “Crazy Like The Wind.”

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In a country that loves its Celtic music, it’s no surprise that Vancouver’s Pat Chessell has become known as one of the most exciting roots artists in Western Canada. Pat’s rootsy vocal style, charismatic stage presence and expert musicianship (guitar) are making for an ever-growing audience of enthusiastic fans. While his mostly original music falls solidly under the broad umbrella of ‘Celtic’, Pat’s range is prodigious and eclectic. It’s been variously described as straight-ahead “folk”, “upbeat Celtic influenced Canadian folk/pop”, and “moving mid-and-up-tempo contemporary Celtic”, among other labels. His tunes have also, on occasion, known to be tinged with Americana influences. But, to cut to the chase, it’s all Pat’s music. Its music played and performed, and often written, in Pat’s distinctive and unique voice; strongly rooted in the Celtic tradition, but with an open-hearted connection to the place he calls home and the modern world around him. His lyrics are at turns profound – or witty and high-spirited – but always dynamic and relatable.

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Curtis & Loretta’s music comes straight from the heart. The husband and wife duo’s extraordinary harmonies and proficiency on a parade of stringed instruments create an alluring frame for their poignant original songs. The current menagerie includes folk harp, mandocello, guitars, clawhammer banjo, and National steel ukulele, plus a bit of kazoo, harmonica, and shakers. Based in Minneapolis, the folk singer-songwriter duo racks up countless miles each year, criss-crossing the U.S., to play for their loyal following. Curtis Teague’s down-home sense of humor and Loretta Simonet’s theater background engage the audience in an experience that runs the gamut of rolling with laughter to holding back tears, with plenty of side-trips in between. Their latest CD, When There’s Good to Be Done, is all songs Loretta wrote about real-life people who overcame great challenges in their lives. Minnesota Bluegrass said, “These are amazing stories - and each song is more powerful than the last... Instrumentally, the pair are a folkie power duo. Capable of double-digitry, they limit themselves to a half dozen instruments on When There’s Good to Be Done.” They were awarded a Creative Support for Individuals Grant in 2022, Arts Tour Minnesota Grants in 2018 and 2010, and an Artist Initiative Grant in 2015, all from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and were named Best Acoustic Performers of the Twin Cities by City Pages. Their CDs have appeared on “Top Albums of the Year” at folkradio.org, and they’ve received several nominations for “Best Acoustic Folk Artist” for the Minnesota Music Awards. They’ve released nine recordings, and shared billings with such luminaries as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Holly Near, Vassar Clements, Claudia Schmidt, and many more! Curtis Teague and Loretta Simonet are married (to each other!), and live in Minneapolis. “Known simply as Curtis and Loretta to most folks, the husband and wife duo of Curtis Teague and Loretta Simonet has been making vital and lovely music together for some three decades. With their brilliant, self- penned odes, these two take music and give it space to hang out for you to enjoy. Accompanied by an array of instruments including but not limited to Celtic harp, mandocello, mandolin, guitars, clawhammer banjo and National steel ukulele, plus a touch of kazoo, harmonica and shakers, they blend humor and realism in a poignant performance of super-duper stuff.” ... Tom Irwin, Illinois Times Curtis and Loretta are in many ways the quintessential folk duo: finely honed vocal harmonies of multidimensional intrigue, abundant talent on an array of stringed instruments, deep traditional roots, great originals, and equally strong strains of gravity and playful irreverence. Loretta's remarkable originals are often certifiable tearjerkers, tackling, for instance, the ravages of Alzheimer's and the story of a concentration camp heroine. Loretta pulls it off by sidestepping melodrama in favor of eloquent writing and clear-eyed journalistic detail. It's both musically riveting and spiritually invigorating.” ... Rick Mason, City Pages “The duo sings beautifully.....The singing is robust and the accompaniment of mandocello and Celtic harp very lovely.” ... Tom Druckenmiller, SingOut! "Keeping the modern folk tradition alive.” ... Frank Gutch, No Depression

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With her po8werful voice, captivating melodies and finely-crafted lyrics, Susan Cattaneo is one of Boston’s most respected singer/songwriters. A compelling performer and vivid storyteller, Susan’s music blends folk, rock and blues with hint of country. Call it New England Americana.

Following up on the success of her chart-topping double album. The Hammer & The Heart, Susan Cattaneo is releasing All is Quiet in April of 2022. Susan is known for her lyric and melodic craft, and for this project, she brought her mastery to a quieter place. Embracing simplicity and vulnerability, the nine songs on All is Quiet speak to the personal nature of loss, relationships and hope for the future. All is Quiet was recorded remotely during 2020 and features the beautiful guitar work of national talents, Kevin Barry and Duke Levine and was co-produced with Lorne Entress.

Critics, audiences, and fellow artists have instantly connected with the personal nature of Susan’s songs. Susan is a three-time Kerrville New Folk Finalist (2020, 2018, 2015) and a three-time nominee for Best Americana Artist at the Boston Music Awards (2020, 2019, 2018). Susan won the 2018 CT folk Festival, and has been a finalist or winner at some of the country’s most prestigious songwriting and music contests including the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Philadelphia Songwriters Project, the Wildflower Festival, the IndeFollowing up on the success of her chart-topping double album. The Hammer & The Heart, Susan Cattaneo is releasing All is Quiet in April of 2022. Susan is known for her lyric and melodic craft, and for this project, she brought her mastery to a quieter place. Embracing simplicity and vulnerability, the nine songs on All is Quiet speak to the personal nature of loss, relationships and hope for the future. All is Quiet was recorded remotely during 2020 and features the beautiful guitar work of national talents, Kevin Critics, audiences, and fellow artists have instantly connected with the personal nature of Susan’s songs. Susan is a three-time Kerrville New Folk Finalist (2020, 2018, 2015) and a three-time nominee for Best Americana Artist at the Boston Music Awards (2020, 2019, 2018). Susan won the 2018 CT folk Festival, and has been a finalist or winner at some of the country’s most prestigious songwriting and music contests including the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Philadelphia Songwriters Project, the Wildflower Festival, the IndeFollowing up on the success of her chart-topping double album. The Hammer & The Heart, Susan Cattaneo is releasing All is Quiet in April of 2022. Susan is known for her lyric and melodic craft, and for this project, she brought her mastery to a quieter place. Embracing simplicity and vulnerability, the nine songs on All is Quiet speak to the personal nature of loss, relationships and hope for the future. All is Quiet was recorded remotely during 2020 and features the beautiful guitar work of national talents, Kevin Barry and Duke Levine and was co-produced with Lorne Entress. pendent Music Awards, the International Acoustic Music Awards, 5 Unsigned Only, the USA Songwriting Competition, the Mountain Stage New Song Contest and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Her last album The Hammer and The Heart charted #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and yielded a #1 song on folk radio and a top 10 album of 2017. Susan is also an in-demand educator and collaborator. As a Songwriting Professor at the Berklee College of Music for the past 20 years, Susan has helped students work on over 15,000 songs in all musical genres and styles and mentored over 2,000 artists.

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Deidre McCalla doesn’t merely take the stage - she owns it. Her songs embody hope and celebration, struggle, loss, and longing - sometimes all in one song! A dreadlocked singer-songwriter-guitarist for close to five decades Deidre McCalla, Black woman, mother, lesbian, feminist, has long been in the forefront of the growing number of Black musicians reconfiguring perception of how Black folk do folk. With five independent albums to her credit, including her most recent release Endless Grace, Deidre McCalla has touched audiences from Maui to Maine, church basements and college coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall. Her music taps a variety of musical styles with Deidre’s vocal the connecting thread drawing the listener in with rich warmth and a feather-light depth. Deidre McCalla’s powerful songwriting exhibits an unyieldingly honest perspective grounded in her life and expressed with a simple and direct lyric touch that fearlessly celebrates the power and diversity of the human spirit. The Austin-American Statesmen cites Deidre as “...a highly distinctive voice in a crowded field of contemporary folk music" and Sing Out Magazine lauds her CD, Playing for Keeps, as a work of "power, conviction and grace.” Deidre McCalla's first Olivia Records album Don’t Doubt It is listed as one of 25 Classic Women’s Music Albums by Ms Magazine. In 2021 Deidre received a SERFA Award from the Southeast Regional Folk Alliance for distinguished service and exceptional contributions to folk music in the Southeast region of Folk Alliance International. Deidre McCalla came of age in the fiery blaze of NYC's folk heyday - a time when Greenwich Village clubs were filled with the likes of Dylan, Baez, and Ochs; a time when Motown ruled the top of the charts and the streets of America screamed with anger and civil unrest. Her first album, Fur Coats and Blue Jeans, was released on Roulette Records when Deidre was 19 and a student at Vassar College. With a theater degree tucked under her belt and an acoustic guitar tossed in the back of a battered Buick station wagon, Deidre McCalla hit the proverbial road and never looked back. Deidre later majored in jazz guitar at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and released three albums with the pioneering women's music label Olivia Records. A much beloved performer in both folk and women's music circles, Deidre McCalla has shared the stage with a long list of notables that includes Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Holly Near, Odetta, Cris Williamson, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. She has taught Performance at Warren Wilson College's Swannanoa Gathering, and songwriting at Common Ground on the Hill. Deidre's work has been published in Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, The Original Coming Out Stories, and Chrysalis: A Feminist Quarterly, and she is featured in The Power of Words: A Transformative Language Arts Reader. Deidre is a proud member of AFM Local 1000 and the North American Folk Alliance

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Rissi Palmer's gift lies in reaching across all musical boundaries. While she made her mark in Country Music, she is equally at home in R&B music, bringing the entire spectrum of popular music to bear on music she calls “Southern Soul.”

The daughter of Georgia natives, Rissi was born near Pittsburgh, PA and spent her adolescent years in St. Louis, Missouri. Raised in a musical family that loved both country and R&B, Rissi was a part of a singing and dancing troupe sponsored by a local television station at age 16, and by the time she was 19 years old, she had already been offered her first publishing and label deal.

In 2007, she released her debut album Rissi Palmer, charting singles, “Country Girl,” “Hold On To Me,” and “No Air.” Since then, Rissi has independently released a Christmas single, her first children’s album, Best Day Ever and an EP titled The Back Porch Sessions. Her most recent album, Revival, was released in 2019 and has been critically hailed as her most personal and uplifting work to date.

A few highlights throughout her musical career include performances at The White House, New York's Lincoln Center and multiple appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. She has toured extensively across the country, sharing stages with Taylor Swift, The Eagles, Chris Young, Charley Crockett and many more. Rissi has also made numerous national appearances on Oprah & Friends, CMT Insider, CNN, CBS This Morning, GMA, Entertainment Tonight, and FOX Soul's "The Book of Sean and has been featured in Associated Press, Ebony, Essence, Huffington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, NPR's "All Things Considered," PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, to name a few. As a passionate voice for country artists of color and those who have been marginalized in mainstream country music, Rissi launched her own radio show Color Me Country with Rissi Palmer on Apple Music Country. Since making its debut in August 2020, listeners have been treated to in-depth and riveting, often funny, yet very necessary conversations with Brittney Spencer, Cam, Chapel Hart, Crystal Shawanda, Maren Morris, Miko Marks The War and Treaty, Darius Rucker and Mickey Guyton and author/journalist Andrea Williams. Fans can tune-in live to Color Me Country with Rissi Palmer every other Sunday on Apple Music Country  at 4pP/7pE. To watch previous episode on-demand, click HERE. In conjunction with her radio show, Rissi created the Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund designed to support new country artists of color who are just beginning to build their music careers. Rissi is also a Special Correspondent for CMT's Hot 20 Countdown. The weekly series airs Saturdays and Sundays on CMT at 9a/8c and features chart-topping music videos, news stories, live performances and candid interviews from country’s biggest stars.

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Since meeting at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1991, Mark Viator & Susan Maxey have been on a musical journey through the clubs and venues of Austin and across Texas, through the Rocky Mountains, the American West, and Louisiana. Along the way they’ve succeeded in drawing from their divergent musical backgrounds. For Mark, it's the rhythms of his Cajun origins, country blues, singer-songwriters, and for Susan, classic country twang and Texas storytellers. Somehow, they have succeeded in developing a sound that is both roots driven and original. They incubated their approach by playing and singing with such Austin artists as Jim Stringer, Slaid Cleaves, Jane Gillman, Marce Lacouture, Steven Fromholz, Bobby Bridger, the Flying A’s, and many others, developing their craft and paying their dues. Mark and Susan’s songwriting is a poetic extension of the lives they lead. Listen closely and you can hear the questions that haunt them, the people and landscapes that inspire them. Their songs are full of emotion and heart, as they question the greater purpose of their paths. Musically and lyrically their songs are full of life and energy. Mark’s guitar playing, especially his slide work, has gotten him recognition through the years. Susan’s voice has been called “one of Austin’s unsung treasures.”  Their most recent record, Where the Road Leads, was released in 2020. “Mark and Susan have a rare ability to bring the listener into their musical world.  With a mix of Louisiana and Texas music, their southern soul makes the music shine.” – Mike Penard, Radio ISA, France “Mark Viator & Susan Maxey have put out a string of quality albums over the years.  Their latest, “Where the Road Leads,” is full of heartfelt, homespun songs with Texas twang and Cajun spice, inviting and satisfying – like a great meal with friends.”  — Slaid Cleaves, Recording Artist

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Twin Kennedy is a Nashville-based identical twin country/roots duo originally from the small town of Powell River, BC in Canada. With Carli on guitar and vocals and Julie on fiddle and vocals, these sisters have been described as "Nothing Short of Awesome!" (Cashbox Magazine). Twin Kennedy’s acoustic show has been a hit across North America, and the twins were recently honored as Distinguished Alumni at the University of Victoria. 3-time CCMA nominee, VIMA winner, and Grand Prize Winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Twin Kennedy is known for their sibling harmonies, heartfelt songwriting and high energy show that blends their classical training with their country roots. Most recently, Twin Kennedy released their album “Homebound”, which was featured by media across North America including Billboard, The Country Network, The Bluegrass Situation and CMT. Their single "Wise Woman" won the East Coast Music Award and MusicNL Award for Video of the Year. In the words of the Nashville Examiner, “Twin Kennedy is 100% made for the stage and made to entertain!”

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Steve Madewell has been a working musician for more than fifty years.

He has performed throughout Ohio with destination shows in multiple states and several other countries.

He also enjoyed a career in the public sector working for regional park systems where he supervised and directed a host of park operations including land acquisition and environmental education. He has worked on the development of dozens of park facilities and been involved with the permanent protection of thousands of acres of open space.

While still actively engaged with conservation organizations he concluded a remarkable conservation career to focus on writing, recording, and performing music.

Steve’s songs have a deeply personal edge to them. He uses music as a tool to celebrate his appreciation of nature. His songs frequently feature a story set in a well described landscape or place. This gives the listener a sense that they are visiting the setting through the music.

He has three solo albums, Rivers and Trails, Arrow Creek, and Hometown Blues.

Hometown Blues was released in October 2021 and is being played on and in rotation of dozens of folk radio stations across the US, Canada, and the UK.

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Sue Horowitz is a singer-songwriter with a story to tell. She currently splits her time between Ithaca, NY and York Beach, ME and loves living by the water. She grew up in New Rochelle, NY. In her past lives, she has worked as director, instructor and consultant in the field of Speech Language Pathology, been a religious school director, youth worker and song leader, worked in special education, taught guitar, and volunteered in her community. Sue is married to Rob, an oncologist and hospice physician, has 2 wonderful grown children with awesome partners, and is a serial owner of labrador retrievers. Although she was always involved in performing and leading music and singing, Sue became a late bloomer in composing, in her 40s. Sue has released 3 Jewish spiritual albums, "Eleven Doors Open" (2016-recorded in Boston), "In the Water" (2010- recorded in Nashville), and "The Power and the Blessing" (2013-recorded in Nashville). Sue has a wonderfully successful career in the Jewish worshop community, which she describes as "the best job ever". Over the last 15 year, she has been an artist in residence at communities, homes, and conferences throught the country. Her music has been published in many resources such as "Songs of Jewish Protest", "Ruach", "CCar Hagaddah", "Manginot" and "WCN Women's Voices" She was honored to be chosen as the Women Cantor's Network 2021 song commision of the year. Sue is a regular on Jewish Rock Radio, and other Jewish music radio shows. The founder and creator of the Jewish Songwriting Cooperative retreat, now in it's 5th year, Sue loves to lead songwriting workshops and retreats. Several years ago, after attending several song writing retreats herself, Sue released her first Folk/America album "Notes From The Garrison" (2016- recorded in Boston). Following that release, she was a featured performer at the DJ Choice Showcase at her first NERFA conference. Sue has just released her 2nd Folk/American album, her 5th CD of original music. "Strings, Wings and Curious Things", debuted at # 3 on the Folk Radio charts, her single "January" charted at #4, and she charted as an artist at #4. She hopes to continue touring and adding more folk concerts to her schedule. Christine Lavin said, "This is one first-rate songwriter". Stacy Beyer noted, " Sue is the songwriter that writes songs every other songwriter wishes they had written.” Her authentic, intimate, clear strong voice and guitar playing compliment her wise narrative songwriting. Sue is honored to be a featured recording artist on the Hootenanny Cafe!

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The Rough & Tumble are as easy to detect as a stray dog on your doorstep-- and as difficult to send home. The dumpster-folk, thriftstore-Americana duo, consisting of Mallory Graham & Scott Tyler and their menagerie of classic folk and homemade instruments, have been hobbling around the country in their 16ft camper with their two dogs since 2015, taking their songs to the far corners of the US and to the weird little towns they pass along the way. Love Is Gross...but it looks good on you, the newest collection of songs by The Rough & Tumble is a "fun project of kinda, sorta love songs" released February 11th, just in time for Valentine's Day. This comes on the heels of We're Only Family If You Say So, the 2021 album about what it means to be family, and what it means to lose it. With singles debuting on American Songwriter, The Bluegrass Situation and Grateful Web referring to the album as "a must listen," it has been embraced by fans for its stark honesty, unique storytelling and well-crafted melodies, especially at a time when families are deeply divided. With any luck, The Rough & Tumble will be traveling to a city near you in 2022.

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Joe DeFlorio is a singer-songwriter, guitarist originally from New York and currently residing in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Joe is a member of Nashville Songwriters Association, selected as "one to watch "for his song "Died and Went to Heaven". Joe has had several cuts published by major labels, Atlantic, BMG and J Records including "She's My Only Vice " “He’s Me Now” and "Mickey Mantle Days", featured and played in Yankee Stadium on Mickey Mantle Day. Joe was a founding member and co-writer for the NY Pedestrians, a popular original 5 piece band in the NY Metro area. He has spent the last few years as guitarist and vocalist in the Tried and True Trio, a popular acoustic vocal group on the Long Island circuit. Now residing in Ocean Isle Beach NC, Joe is fronting 3 Peace, an acoustic trio. Joe has recently released a new 14 song CD ,"Lets Pull Together", available on Spotify and Apple Music under stage name Joe Rio.

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I can't imagine anyone in the world who doesn't know of Pete Seeger. Through song, speech and fortitude Pete Seeger inspired so many of the singer songwriters that are played on this show every week. His courage to take on the polluted Hudson River led to the creation and beauty of The Clearwater Sloop that sails up and down the Hudson River every summer to bring notice that the job of keeping the river clean for generations to come is never done. His courageous efforts and activism in the name of peace and civil rights ring true to this day and will continue to do so for years to come "...if we all stick to together".(a quote I often heard Pete say) But through it all, he couldn't have done it all without his incredible wife, Toshi Seeger, at his side. She was an awesome force to be reckoned with and so, this year the Hootenanny Cafe Radio, not only presents it's annual Pete Seeger Birthday show, but also honors Toshi Seeger and what would have been her 100th birthday (July 1). The songs for the Pete Seeger mini concert with selected by their daughter, Tinya Seeger. And the theme that Tinya chose for the Singer Songwriter Showcase: Songs By and About Women (in honor of Toshi Seeger.

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Jane Godfrey has been playing the guitar since she was eleven and singing harmonies with her sisters and brothers since further back than memory serves her. Jane was a shy middle child growing up in a household of nine siblings, where music and art were staples whether at home in St. Louis or at the family cabin in Minnesota. Although Jane didn’t realize it at the time, traditions like family sing-alongs and music jams with her siblings were the foundation on which her songwriting imagination was built. Two college degrees and three children later, Jane left her job as an educator of the hearing-impaired and deaf and began pursuing creative interests. She tried her hand at creating educational materials and greeting cards and then began dabbling in songwriting. In an auspicious twist of fate, the magazine “Girl Scout Leaders” arrived in the mail with a back-cover ad for a songwriting contest, so Jane wrote three songs and submitted them. “Thank You Ms Juliette”, a bluegrass tribute to the founder of the Girl Scouts, won the contest and Jane’s recording was included in the GSUSA’s 2000 CD, Sisters Hand in Hand. In the meantime, always the late bloomer, Jane realized she had finally found her calling. Jane’s passion for songwriting grew, prompting road-trips to Nashville where her skills were nurtured by attending songwriting workshops and performing at writers’ showcases, including the Bluebird Café. Her original intention was to write for other artists because standing on stage and performing for others was both dream and nightmare for Jane. But realizing that she needed to overcome her performance anxiety in order to get her songs heard, she hit the open mics. In order to keep herself from giving in to the critics in her head, Jane adopted the philosophy “Do it badly until it’s good!” Jane’s first solo gig coincided with her 50th birthday, and then encouraged by audience requests, she hit the studio bringing in her siblings for instrumental backup, vocal harmonies, and moral support. Jane's 2007 release Choose Beauty is a collection of songs honoring the ordinary and revealing the beauty and little truths in everyday life. It showcases strong melodies in an eclectic mix of folk, rock and a little Western swing. The CD’s final track “Finally Loving Myself” was included along with songs from Paul Williams, Mary Gauthier and Jon Vezner in Gracie Vandiver’s 2008 Prism Award winning CD Trail of Light. Within four years after her debut CD, Jane experienced the loss of her mother, her sister and a close friend. With a heightened awareness of life around her, Jane slowly but steadily worked through her grief with a renewed sense of purpose. Jane dug in and opened further her soul, writing songs around topics that matter deeply to her. The added depth and heart of Jane’s writing is striking in her 2019 release Imagine We Have Wings, where again she called on her siblings for backup instrumentals and harmonies, and produced an album that bears witness to Jane’s love and understanding of the human condition. Jane possesses both a poetic sensibility, influenced by literary songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Patty Griffin; and drawing inspiration from John Prine and Steve Goodman, a knack for storytelling with a subtle sense of humor. Imagine We Have Wings made the top ten in the Folk Alliance International folk chart in September 2020. In October 2020, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Gene Weingarten, posted Jane’s video of one of the album’s songs, “Breakfast” in the Washington Post in his live chat, “Chatological Humor with Gene Weingarten”. Proudly embracing the moniker “Bravest of introverted entertainers”, Jane continues to write and perform in her self-titled genre of "Urban Campfire Cabaret". She performs locally and nationally as a solo artist, as half of the duo “CatBird” with Chicago singer/songwriter Sue Fink, and occasionally with her siblings in “The Murphy Family Band”.

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A baby girl was born to parents who loved music. The story goes that she started singing before she could talk.

One day her parents brought home a toy piano. She played it and played it until it grew into a big piano.

It was a special day when a neighbor stopped by, saw the piano, and started playing. The little girl was entranced.

The memory of that music stayed in her heart. When her fingers were strong enough, she began taking lessons.

She devoured the lessons.

Then a guitar came into her home and once again she fell in love.

Always there was song. She sang with the guitar, she sang with the piano. She started singing harmony one day while singing with her Dad. She sang in choruses. She sang in trios.

She wrote her first song when she was seven and kept on writing.

Along the way she picked up other instruments, enjoying the variety of sounds they made, and the songs that appeared when she played them.

When she grew up she sang in coffee houses, at festivals and colleges, and even sang at a world’s fair.

As the years went on, she recorded 6 full-length albums.

She has said “a song doesn’t seem finished to me until it’s shared with others.

She’s loved that her music has touched people’s hearts and souls, and has so enjoyed these words written about her music:

By jove, I think she’s got it! — John Lennon

I discovered your music by complete chance whilst traveling the USA recently. Flicking through the record collection of a friend of a friend and your album 'Harvest' caught our eye, we put it on and were blown away. I listened to it three times over."

— AH

Definitely my "Peace for the People Album" of the year. Peace Unending gets my vote for "Anthem of the Year" as well. Womenspirit Rising, Taking You With Me, Full Moonlight Dance and the title are written by Karen Beth. That's why this release shines. Fine, fine songs. Every track is strong (the definition of an OMAR). I hope we hear more from her soon.

— Airwaves

"Once you have heard Karen Beth's voice, you know it. It is an indelibly distinctive sound; a sensitive, lilting and rhythmic swing from note to note. Most remarkably, it is stylistically authentic." — Gary Alexander, The Daily Freeman

“Beth is a real musician. She writes songs with melodic interest, and she plays a number of instruments very well. (We heard her on guitar, piano and accordion!) she has a quiet intensity which I found captivating. Variety was the spice of the evening —Les Gerber, The Woodstock Times

And the story continues ...

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Carole Wise is a singer/songwriter from Brunswick Maine. Her music is sweet and soulful, drawing on a lifelong passion for education, the beauty of the natural world, and the adventures of finding truth through life's challenges. Her music is also organic - grown and nurtured from the seed of a feeling or a visual. "I do not chase a song," Carole says. Nature is where her spirit thrives and meditative walks are often the source of the seeds - as in the hawk she watched soaring above - that was the seed from New Frontier. Once planted in her mind and heart, Carole gifts it the time to grow.

Cadenza of Freeport, ME states, "Carole is a dedicated, talented singer/songwriter who offers provocative lyrics to encourage us to engage in the world around us. Her style is comfortable and honest. Her musical talent and experience is obvious."

Carole's most recent release "Long Way Home" charted as No. 18 on Folk Radio in November 2021, and keeps moving forward from there. The album was co-produced by Carole Wise and Jud Caswell, and was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jud Caswell of Frog Hollow Studio, Topsham, Maine. Carole’s vocal and acoustic guitar performance is accompanied by a stellar ensemble of Maine musicians: Mike Burd, Denny Breau, David Wakefield, April Reed-Cox and Jud Caswell.

Carole's belief in her creative process flows into all of her creative genres: music, writing, photography, and painting. They are all reflective of her personal relationship to the world, and speak to the universal experiences of humanity. Whether at a music venue, a gallery showing, or a poetry share, Carole's connection to her audience is the performance.

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Singer-songwriter pianist Jeffery Straker grew up taking piano lessons in small-town Saskatchewan and has gone on to perform over 100 shows per year across Canada, Europe and Latin America. The rootsy-storytelling of his songs has the power to transport a listener - out onto a lake in Canada’s North or to the main street of a prairie town. A clever lyricist with an energetic approach to the piano, his song writing has drawn critical comparisons to the likes of Harry Chapin, Kris Kristofferson & Billy Joel while maintaining a style distinctly his own. He’s recorded his ROOTS/FOLK music for CBC radio’s ‘Canada Live’, has seen his songs used in film, TV and theatrical productions and in 2019 won a Western Canadian Music Award. Recently he was awarded “Roots/Folk Artist of the Year” at both the 2020 & 2021 Saskatchewan Music Awards.

A musical vagabond, he’s toured internationally as far as The Netherlands, Mexico and Nunavut with tour stops ranging from intimate house concerts to theatre shows and festivals. Never one to let ‘genre’ constrain him he’s also taken the stage in sold-out concerts performing his songs with symphony orchestras. International highlights include winning the prestigious Vina del Mar (Chile) song competition, representing Canada while performing to a festival crowd of 20,000 people and a TV audience of 100,000,000 viewers across the Spanish-speaking world. He also recently performed live on BBC Radio in the UK. Jeffery’s 2017 12-song recording, “Dirt Road Confessional” dove deep into his personal storytelling style and debuted at #5 on the iTunes Canada singer-songwriter charts. It played on CBC Radio and college/community radio across the country with listeners and critics taking note. The Chicago Free Press has written, “Rufus Wainwright, as well as k.d. lang are among the Canadians making essential and beautiful music. Add the name Jeffery Straker to that list”.

Straker’s most recent full-length album “Just Before Sunrise” launched in May 2021. Produced by Russell Broom (Calgary AB) the album strikes a reflective and optimistic tone, with many of the songs written in the wake of the sudden & unexpected passing of Jeffery’s mom. Two co-writes with Royal Wood feature on the recording. Several singles were released in the lead up to the launch including the upbeat “Light a Fire” and the pensive ‘Morning Light’. ‘Ready to be Brave’ was sparked by time spent as artist-in-residence at a summer camp for LGBTQ2+ youth in Saskatchewan and speaks to finding the courage for difficult conversations. ‘Play that Song Again’ in the feel of an old-time waltz adds to the varied soundscape of the recording. The launch was celebrated with a 6-show national virtual tour and a 55 date “Pandemic-Piano-Backyard-Tour” crossing the country in the summer of 2021. The album was voted #2 in the Saskatchewan Music Awards Best Albums of 2021 rankings, by music lovers across the province. “Direct, honest and sure-handed, there's a magic to Straker's folk-based piano styling and powerful storytelling…a brand of contagion well worth catching” (The Walleye/Just Before Sunrise)

Jeffery is a classically trained pianist and swears he was born under the piano on the family grain farm. He was raised by a church-organist mother and auctioneer father which might explain his incredible ability to share songs with audiences.


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“I try to write songs on a human scale, but that also highlight the small details that can lead us to think about larger issues. I often walk around for days or weeks with some question about how the world works, or why people do what they do, chewing at me, and try to find that image or phrase that creates a way in – a seed to build the song around. “

Doug Kolmar is an award-winning singer/songwriter based near Portland, ME. Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, with parents who worked in theatre, he was steeped in the music of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley from an early age, and still harbors a soft spot for their wit and romanticism. A varied musical journey followed, including jazz guitar studies, stints in rock and blues bands, and a Master’s Degree in Music Composition from NYU. Since moving to Maine 20 years ago, he has focused on writing and performing songs that connect with audiences by telling stories of everyday struggles, with warmth, empathy, and a touch of dark humor. He regularly performs around New England as a solo artist and with the Folk/Americana group, Arcadia Band. A reflection of his dedication to the craft of songwriting, Doug is also currently President of the Maine Songwriters Association. So Said Life, his fourth solo album, will be available in April 2022. His music is available on all the popular streaming platforms as well as at his website http://www.dougkolmarmusic.com, you can also follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dougkolmarmusic

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Attraction is inexplicable. It’s pheromonal, quasi-spiritual, physiological and physical. For songwriter-pop artist Natalie Gelman, the pull to music has almost been innate. As an eight-year-old, she freely roamed the wilds of New York City, stoking the fire of her artistry, spurred on by violin and piano lessons, and her innate singing and songwriting gifts.

The Ojai, California-based artist has aptly titled her milestone release, Moth To The Flame. The 13-song album is a sublimely melodic and heartfelt blend of polished production, telepathic musicianship, and finely crafted pop with emotionally raw lyrics and storytelling. Natalie’s songwriting recalls sophisticated-but-still-pop tunesmiths such as Jewel, Sara Bareilles, and Jason Mraz. Her songs are subtly lush, detailed with ethereal atmospherics, majestic cello flourishes, chiming electric guitars, stately piano, and layers of dreamy vocals.

“I have put years into this album. While working on it, I got married, lost my mom to Alzheimer's, and had the opportunity to open for major artists,” Natalie says. “The songs on the album were written before going through those things, but the pain and passion are in the performances and recordings. These songs have taught me to focus on the love you can give and the integrity with which you live your life.”

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Big Little Lions are an award winning duo who were born out of a collaboration that won them a JUNO Award in 2014. Since then they have been cranking out infectious folk pop songs that are jam-packed with emotion and tight harmonies that sound like the product of two people working side-by-side instead of living in different countries.

They have released 6 albums to date, which have garnered them awards including the CFMA Ensemble of the Year, Independent Music Awards Americana Single of the Year and the John Lennon Songwriting Competition Song of the Year. Their critically acclaimed music has appeared on the CBC’s Top 20 and featured on shows like q and Vinyl Cafe. The duo consists of Paul Otten and Helen Austin, both hugely prolific songwriters - their music has been placed in hundreds of movie trailers, ads, network TV shows and on MTV.

They are currently releasing a new song a month, most of which are on some great Spotify editorial playlists. Their music has been dubbed ‘a blissful marriage of new folk and sophisticated pop’ by Mariposa Folk Festival, and is packed with emotion and tight harmonies.

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A laché is an athletic feat of movement — a leap of belief that involves holding onto something and swinging in repetitive motion, gathering momentum, and releasing into mid-air before landing or moving to another object.

Singer-songwriter Rachel Garlin, who tours nationally and who has earned songwriting honors at the Newport Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass, Kerrville, and Edinburgh Fringe, has been called “a troubadour in motion.” A lifelong athlete who played basketball at Harvard, she learned both the term and the skill of laché-ing while training over the past year to compete in the upcoming season of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior.

Garlin’s music career follows a similar trajectory. Her lastest EP, The State That We Are In, came as a quick laché-leap from her 2020 LP, Mondegreens, which earned praise from her hometown paper the San Francisco Chronicle (where she was commended for her community involvement through weekly Sidewalk Session performances), Americana Highways, Country Queer and more. Radio also embraced Mondegreens, with regular airplay in major markets like San Francisco, NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, as well as global streaming platforms like Folk Alley, Folk Music Notebook, and SiriusXM’s The Village.

The State That We Are In — recorded and mixed at a distance across San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Paris — features four COVID-era originals, plus a singular cover of “Layla,” a solo rendition that flips the script on Clapton’s iconic recording and exists as a musical nod to Garlin’s wife of the same name. Rooted in a sense of immediacy and marked by Garlin’s imagery-rich songwriting style, the album is filled with tasty strings and finger-picking, a wake-up-call rhythm section, and a refreshing breeze-through-the-window draft of woodwinds and brass. Producer Jonny Flaugher’s multi-dimensional arrangements strike up chemistry with Garlin’s literary lyrics and conviction-filled vocals, allowing for a provocative walk through songs both personal and political.

In both music and these Ninja Warrior games, it takes practice, strength, and a certain amount of courage to let go of something, reaching for the next bar to hold or space to occupy. With The State That We Are In, Garlin tried to release her preconceived notions of what an album should sound like and instead focused on the process--the creative work and collaboration, as well as the feelings and instincts that go into making music. She wrote music every day of February, allowing herself to be a vessel for expression — inspired by the famous quote by modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham who reminds us to “keep the channel open.”



As a result, the songs on The State That We Are In tell a range of stories all sprung from a well of authentic impulses to create. The ballad “Some Weights Are Heart to Bear” has a deep and haunting air, whereas the up-tempo track “The State That We Are In” serves as biting commentary on current American politics including gerrymandering and climate change (topics Garlin is well-versed in addressing, as a certified educator, community activist, and songwriting mentor at San Francisco’s Sunset Youth Services).

On stage, Garlin combines a warm stage presence with songs and stories related to her work as an artist, athlete and activist in her own community and beyond. Just like with the laché, it’s all about building momentum and knowing when to let go and fly.

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Songs from the heart touch the heart. And as we are touched we feel a full range of feelings, which move us to heal, connect and take meaningful action. Through her original songs and other songs that inspire her to cover them, piano playing singer-songwriter Linda Marks brings her whole heart to music, reaching the heart of the audience. Linda is a multi-genre artist anchored in contemporary folk, integrating elements of jazz, gospel, pop, and Latin in her songwriting arrangements. Over the past decade, she has played many of Boston’s top venues including Scullers Jazz Club, Club Passim, The Burren, City Winery, Club Cafe and Ryles, as well as participating in festivals and performing arts series like the Newton Festival of the Arts, the Rhode Island Folk Festival and the Boston Public Library. Linda has both performed at and written songs especially for fundraisers and non-profits such as Buddy Dog Humane Society, The global Light Up The Love movement, Upstage Lung Cancer, Charity Umbrella and the Cat Connection. She has been featured in the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and Metrowest Daily News, and on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” Linda has released ten albums, nine with award-winning Doug Hammer of DreamWorld Productions. Her first of two pandemic albums, Monuments Of Love was released at a triple album release concert at the Burren on 8/1/21. Her second pandemic album, Home, was released digitally on 11/25/21, and as a special CD mastered by Grammy award winning sound engineer Glenn Barratt of Morningstar Studios on 01/01/22. Linda is at work on her 2022 album Every Day Legends, and a special folk album in collaboration with Erik Balkey of Hudson Harding Music and Glenn Barratt. Linda's career is a tale of two chapters: the first one starting in toddlerhood where her first word was piano, having her first work performed public in 8th grade, studying music with honors and distinction at Yale with Tony-winning composer Maury Yeston, co-founding Yale's 3rd women's a cappella singing group "Something Extra," collaborating as a duo with singer-songwriter Lisa Wexler post-college, and releasing her first studio album "Dreams And Themes." The undertow of life took its toll for several decades as Linda raised her now young adult son as a single mom and cared for her mother with Alzheimer's. While Linda ventured out as she could during that time, it was not until the end of her mother's life in 2013 that she could fully devote herself to music once again. Building community through music and the arts has been a lifelong commitment. Linda co-founded artist-alliance group Women In Music Gathering, created the Music Salon as an intimate house concert series in 2014, and pivoted to grow it as an online community during the pandemic, and is a LadyLake Entertainment Artist. To provide upliftment during pandemic times, Linda has been playing a weekly lifestream, "Songs From The Heart, Meditations For The Heart" on her personal Facebook pages since March 2020.Special projects in 2022 include a new song written with lyricist Mike Greenly, "Let There Be Love," a duet with singer-songwriter Kemp Harris on her new song "Safe Harbor," and a new song being written for Unsung, a brand new book by Diane Cameron Elam about the struggles of Delta Blues musicians. Linda has served on the board of the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists for many years, and is a member of FAI, RISA, NERFA and ISSA.

Listen to your body...follow your heart...

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Reggie Harris is a singer- songwriter, storyteller and world-renowned song-leader who is a powerful interpreter of the global music narrative. A passionate, engaging inspirational entertainer and concert artist Reggie is known for focusing new energy on the important role of music in the discourse for inclusion and the struggle for human rights using the lessons of history as a base. As an expert on the music of the Underground Railroad and the Modern Civil Rights Movement he is at home on stage as performer, lecturer, or leading discussion in seminars or in the classroom.

Mentored by luminaries Pete Seeger and Bernice Johnson Reagon and other elders of the community, Reggie represents all that is best in social and cultural musical and narrative engagement. His powerful work on the music of Underground Railroad and of the role of music in the Modern Civil Rights movement has raise public awareness within education and historical circles. He has presented for thousands of all ages in audiences at colleges, schools and in public festivals, symposiums and concerts throughout the U.S. Canada and Europe.

A 2021 winner of both the Spirit of Folk Award from Folk Alliance International and the W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Award, Reggie is a charismatic community builder Reggie who was featured in 2020 on CNN’s Silence is Not An Option with Don Lemon and in the New York Times to discuss his familial connection as the descendant of slavery as a great-great-great grandson of confederate General Williams Carter Wickham and his slave Bibhanna Hewlett with his White cousins.

A teaching artist in the Kennedy Center’s CETA program (Changing Education Through the Arts) and a fellow for the prestigious Council of Independent College lecture program he also serves as Co-President and Director of Music Education for the Living Legacy Project, an advocacy group that sponsors Civil Rights pilgrimages throughout the South and online education seminars worldwide. http://www.uulivinglegacy.org

His 2018 CD “Ready To Go” ranked as the #5 CD of the year on the Folk DJ Charts and was in the top 30 on the US Folk DJ charts for 5 months of 2018. The title cut was the #1 song for May 2018. In 2019 Reggie and Greg Greenway released the CD “Deeper Than the Skin” in response to their challenging and insightful presentation of the same name. Reggie is currently a rotating DJ featured on Prisms: The Sound Of Color on The Village on SiriusXM Radio

His April 2021 release “On Solid Ground” is a CD of 13 songs compiled in response to the challenges and changes in American civic circles stirred by the COVID pandemic and years of racial and political unrest that erupted post the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and thousand of others. Reggie’s leadership in racial and interfaith dialogue continues to open opportunities for dialogue and courageous conversation.

A featured artist in the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” Portrait Series by Maine artist Rob Shetterly https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/reggie-harris Reggie is also a recipient of a 2018 Magic Penny Award from the Children’s Music Network for lifetime achievement in music.

His many recordings and collaborative CDs can be found at: www.Reggieharrismusic.com They contribute to the national dialogue on history, wellness and to the opening of dialogue and courageous conversations.

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Armed with original songs and feisty, powerhouse vocals, Karen Morand delivers soulful roots with gritty gospel on the side. Karen radiates with energy in live performances both solo and when accompanied by her acoustic trio The BOSCO Boys (Benny Santoro on cajon/drums and Aaron Verhulst on guitar, pedal steel and mandolin). A graduate from the University of Windsor’s music therapy program, Karen enjoys experimenting as a multi-instrumentalist – piano, guitar, ukulele, accordion and the banjo. Karen’s songs celebrate the joys and broken parts of real life.  She is the recipient of the 2016 Canada South Songwriting Contest and finalist in the Blues and Roots International Song Contest 2021 In concert, Karen performs original songs spanning her four album releases, alongside folk classics and new favorites from her songwriter friends. She appears live both as a versatile soloist and accompanied by the Bosco boys.  Since her first studio release, “Carry On” (2012), followed by “I Think I'll Lose My Mind Today” (2014), Junkyard Heart (2016) Karen has maintained an intense schedule of performances throughout Canada. Karen has brought her music to eclectic backdrops including inner-city churches, stages tucked deep into the Ontario forest, classrooms, living rooms and concert halls. Her first solo and most recent release, “Every Flash of Light” (2018) is an EP including co-writes with Nashville songwriters Steve Hindalong (the Choir), Kelly Kessler and Linda McRae (Spirit of the West). Other collaborations include her recent pairing with internationally renowned bluesman, Manitoba Hal Brolund as bluesy gospel Americana duo, “Even the Bird Was Free.” Highlights of Karen's musical adventures feature showcases at the Songwriters' Symposium and SWERFA, both in Austin, Texas, sold-out performances at The Bank Theatre in Leamington, appearances at the Winterfolk, Blue Skies and Kingsville Folk Festivals and joining the Windsor Symphony to perform her original song as part of the Six String Nation project.   Karen Morand and the BOSCO Boys’ newest album is “Ghost Hotel” (February 2022).  Praise for Ghost Hotel: "Bringing the twang down from Canada, this award winner and her acoustic crew show just how to raise the roof once the power goes out.  Just because they keep it simple doesn’t mean they don’t go deep and have their finger on the pulse of loads of contemporary things that are easy to take for granted.  Her pen is definitely mightier." Chris Spectre - Midwest Records "Karen’s new album is sooooo good!!!...Been waiting for this album! Karen Morand & The Bosco Boys new album Ghost Hotel out now! Unbelievably awesome! Perfect production and impeccable songwriting." Dan MacDonald Hear + Now AM800 What some folks are saying about Karen Morand: “I met Karen Morand at the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals in 2010 where I was a mentor. She was just beginning her career as a singer/songwriter and I was immediately impressed by her warmth and straightforward attitude. She has made great strides since then and has just released her second recording of her own material. Her songwriting belies the amount of time she’s actually been writing and I believe she is on her way to becoming an artist who will be a force on the Canadian music scene”  

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This CalArts music graduate has composed music for commercials/TV, films, and radio shows all over the globe (including Old Fashioned, The Fosters, This American Life Radio, The Art of More, and Last Tango in Halifax just to name a few). She also has music placed all over China, Sweden, The UK, and Australia. Posner appeared in two episodes of GLEE on season four playing banjo and guitar, and in 2018 she appeared in the Freeform TV show Famous In Love in playing banjo on the Conan O’brien Stage.

Posner has scored four films including: Award winning short animation, Elizabeth Sees, Across Land Across Sea, and Through Their Eyes, and the recently released Documentary Lady Buds. Posner was a primary role playing banjo and singing in a Bank Of America commercial for the Ken Burn’s new PBS Country Music Documentary in 2019, while performing and touring with her Americana folk band Abby and The Myth.

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Drummer-turned-guitarist Kim Ware of the Good Graces is known for her unique brand of raw, folk-leaning “southern indie” music. Performing with a rotating cast of musicians, Ware has been crafting tracks with both guts and heart since picking up her first guitar in 2006. She’s one of those rare artists whose melodic lines and candid lyrics feel so natural they’re almost unnatural; she’s been praised as a “songwriter’s songwriter” as well as “an Atlanta treasure” by local musicians and press alike. Named after Ware’s spirited grandmother, Grace, the Good Graces blend the gritty realness of 90s-era alternative rock with the straightforward charm of classic country and folk, inspired by artists like Lucinda Williams, Liz Phair, Kathleen Edwards, and Lydia Loveless. There’s an irresistibly relatable humanity to Ware’s music, which seems to transcend masculine and feminine perspectives to create an accessible, gender-neutral tone: She’s part Taylor Swift, part Joni Mitchell, with a little John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats thrown in for good measure. Driven by Ware’s knack for deceptively simple narrative lines, the Good Graces make songs that explore life’s unresolvable dichotomies through lyrics that feel both intimate and universal. “I’ve always tried to make my songs a very honest reflection of who I am. But what part of life fits neatly in a box? Life is not a simple thing. So I often end up writing about that non-simplicity.” Born and raised in a small North Carolina town called Kings Mountain, Ware was a shy, introverted child. Her love of music led her to take up drumming, where she could participate in songs safely from the back of the stage. She got her first drum kit for Christmas at sixteen and taught herself to play, drumming in alt-rock bands (including popular Wilmington, NC act Tex Svengali) throughout her twenties and thirties. Eventually she moved to Atlanta, where she joined two bands whose songwriters (Jeff Evans of Chickens and Pigs and Mary O. Harrison of Virginia Plane) inspired a new appreciation for lyric-driven, narrative songwriting. But it wasn’t until finding an old acoustic guitar at the Lakewood Antiques Market in '06 that Ware began writing and singing her own work as the Good Graces. the Good Graces dropped debut full-length album Sunset Over Saxapahaw in 2008, followed by several EPs. Next came full-lengths Drawn to You in 2013 and Close to the Sun in 2014, developing a uniquely southern, stripped-down indie style driven by percussive guitar and Ware’s characteristically pure vocal twang. In 2017, Ware teamed up with Atlanta guitarist, songwriter, and producer Jonny Daly to release third full-length Set Your Sights (acclaimed by major music outlets Noisey and No Depression) and 2018’s The Hummingbird EP. Daly also contributed to 2019’s Prose and Consciousness, recorded over a handful of live sessions at The Green House in Atlanta, as the Good Graces’ sound evolved into a more expansive, atmospheric Americana still rooted in simple, acoustic folk. Over the years, and Kim and the Good Graces have toured the East Coast, Texas, California, and the Midwest, performed at festivals including 30A, NXNE, and LEAF (where Ware was a finalist in the 2019 NewSong Singer-Songwriter Competition), and shared stages with a long list of renowned artists, including Indigo Girls, Sierra Ferrell, The Love Language, Elizabeth and the Catapult, Granville Automatic, and The Old Ceremony. During the 2020 pandemic, Ware launched two projects designed to connect local artists and friends despite quarantine restrictions: a virtual Facebook venue called “Kimono My House,” which includes members across the world and continues to grow daily, and a podcast called "Quarantuned With the Good Graces," where she interviewed musicians about their creative processes and the need for artists to stay connected.

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Nationally known Maine-based writer/performer Jud Caswell has a demonstrated writer’s eye for detail, drawing from the experiences of his home and community, always bringing to his writing an inherent sense of optimism. His most recent record, “Live at the Seagull Shop” was the #1 CD of the month on the March 2020 FAI Folk DJ Charts. Jud’s songs have received wide recognition - as a Kerrville New Folk winner, being recorded by Judy Collins, having the “#4 Song of the Decade” as named by New York’s WFUV Radio, and in being taught in the songwriting curriculum at Berklee. Jud turned the pandemic into an opportunity to support his fans and community with his daily “Morning Cordial” video, sharing the warmth and connection of music while raising money for local charities. He continues to record at his home based studio, and is actively writing and recording for his next release.

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Abigail Dowd calls herself a “song catcher” rather than a songwriter. She’ll be playing her guitar and picking out riffs, and she’ll find songs and lyrics spilling out fully formed from some creative place she really can’t explain. But she knows it comes from some place deep, some place spiritual. That, she says, is so much a part of her. Those songs make up Abigail’s third album, “Beautiful Day.” The album’s 12 songs touch on her childhood in North Carolina and her five years working and living in Maine. But mostly, the songs mine her present life in North Carolina. She and her husband discovered firsthand the ferocity of Mother Nature, the warmth of neighbors and the resiliency of the human spirit. During a 13-month period, from September 2018 to October 2019, their home in Greensboro, North Carolina, was flooded six times. Two weeks before Christmas, city officials bought their house and demolished it because the floods, brought on by hurricanes and torrential rain, caused so much damage. “It was a series of shit storms,” Abigail says. In the beginning, after the first two floods, Abigail had to live with her in-laws for three months because the house made it hard for her to breathe. Jason moved back into their unheated house to repair and remodel it and take care for their cat, Scout, and their dog, Oscar. Meanwhile, Abigail saw specialists at Duke Medical Center because of the pain in her chest. The water damage had affected her lungs and caused so much pain that she worried she would have to quit singing. After Jason renovated the house, Abigail moved back in and stayed for seven months. But that summer, while touring through Georgia and Florida and attending a songwriter retreat in Colorado, the house flooded again –– worse than before.

When Abigail came home, she became a nomad. For five months, she bounced from friend’s house to friend’s house. She didn’t know where she would be or what would happen from one day to the next. It became the most uncertain time of her life –– and the most abundant. She found herself finger picking, memorizing lyrics, hitting record on her iPhone, and working on songs by herself in all sorts of places, at all times of the day. She found songs while staying in her mom’s home, playing on neighbors’ front porch, sitting at a stoplight in her car and parking herself on a boulder in the middle of a creek in Colorado, a rock skip away from where she pitched her tent. The songs came. Abigail’s “Beautiful Day” was born. Abigail recorded “Beautiful Day” during a five-day period in late February 2020 in Fidelitorium, the acclaimed recording studio in Kernersville, North Carolina. Run by Mitch Easter, the indie music legend who co-produced REM’s “Murmur” and fronted the North Carolina band, Let’s Active, Fidelitorium has been a go-to place for years for artists such as Wilco, Suzanne Vega and the Drive-By Truckers. It now became the go-to place for Abigail. Behind the board was Jason Richmond, the Grammy-nominated producer who had worked with everyone from The Avett Brothers to Branford Marsalis. Abigail connected with Richmond after she released her second album. The two talked over coffee about working together on her next project. That next project was “Beautiful Day Abigail’s husband, Jason Duff, her constant sideman, played bass. Richmond then brought in a stable of session musicians –– Joe MacPhail on keyboards, Austin McCall on percussion, Alex McKinney on dobro and pedal steel guitar and Scott Sawyer on electric guitar. “I wrote these songs fearlessly when I went through a period of not knowing where I would live,” she says. “All that reaffirmed my faith. It’s that idea that even when we go through the darkest places, we can be transformed. Then, those places become magical.

“And these songs that dropped in, they remind me of those magical places. I wanted to share that.”

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John Roy Zat has been performing in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond since the 1970s. His songs have been recorded by Kate Wolf, by Banish Misfortune, Caroline Herring, and others. With Appalachian influences, Cajun, dust bowl, and a dash of rockabilly, JRZ comes from a long line of American singer-songwriters who occupy that space between country and folk music. Think Gram Parsons, John Prine and Jesse Winchester -- you get the idea.

"It was a pleasure hearing your set last night. I was sitting next to a friend of mine from New Orleans who spent time in Nashville as a songwriter, and several times he noted to me the expertise you exhibited in performing your set. Your proclivity for language is apparent in your songwriting, as is the heart you deliver in each song. I'm sure wherever your travels take you, the audiences respond to this warmth and wisdom." T. Martin, Armando's Singer/Songwriter Series

JRZ's latest CD, WHERE ZAT, was released in November 2021 and is just starting to get airplay. Produced and recorded with the legendary Ed Tree, it features a full band on ten new songs. There are story songs about small town life (American Dream Cafe) and the magic of new love (I Took Hold Of Your Hand). There is love I wish I’d never gotten into (Except For That One Thing), fishy love (I’m A Salmon In The River), whimsical love (Let’s Take The Long Way Home) and All About Love -- and a lot more. Hear it on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and everywhere else.

JRZ's three previous CDs have all charted in the top ten on Roots Music Report. Who Zat? features his vocals, guitar and fiddle, with bass, duets, and drums on several of the tracks. Collaborations is a collection of mostly live recordings, made with musicians he performs with regularly. Solo, as the title suggests, is a studio recording of JRZ singing and playing on his own. These are also on Spotify and everywhere else.

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Too tough for folk and too blues influenced for country, Lynne Hanson's brand of "porch music with a little red dirt" can turn on a dime from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a full-on thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next. She's known for her high-energy, roots guitar driven live performances, whether playing solo or with her band the Good Intentions.

Lynne is a two-time Canadian Folk Music Award winner, a recipient of the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award, winner of the Blues and Roots Radio International Song Contest, two-time Folk Music Ontario Blues Award winner, a two-time Indie Acoustic Project Alt-Country album of the year winner, and a two-time Kerrville New Folk finalist.

Over her fifteen-year solo career, Lynne has recorded seven studio albums, published a book of haiku in 2016, and released a book of poetry in February 2020 along with her latest release “Just Words.” Lynne is currently recording a new album slated for release in April 2022.

RECENT QUOTES: “Just Words is an impeccable artistic creation ... will sit alongside the finest country-Americana albums one will encounter in 2020” - Exclaim Magazine

"Canada's own Queen of Americana" - Jan Hall, Folk Roots Radio

"Canadian Americana artist Lynne Hanson turns heartbreak into poetry with a rock backbone ... a tour de force." Glide Magazine

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Jim Jones is a Western/Folk Singer/Songwriter and a native Texan who lives in New Mexico. He was the International Western Music Association’s 2014 Male Performer of the Year and winner of that organization’s 2019 Song of the Year, along with the Academy of Western Artists 2016 Western Song of the Year and the Western Writers of America 2013, 2017 and 2021 Spur Awards for Best Western Song. His songs and books are about the West … cowboys, horses & cattle, cattle rustlers, the coming of the train … songs about people and land, rivers and mountains, the beauty of the Western sky. Jim has produced eleven Western/Folk albums as well as five Western novels, a novella and a Children’s Book in the Western genre. His Western novels include the Jared Delaney series, Rustler’s Moon, Colorado Moon and Waning Moon, and the spin-off series including The Big Empty (2016) and The Lights of Cimarron (2019), published by both Five Star Publishing and Speaking Volumes Press. In addition, his novella, “Scarecrows,” is part of a four piece anthology from Five Star called Perilous Frontier: A Quartet of Crime in the Old West, that was just released in 11/21. His children’s book, Bolo the Brave, illustrated by Kamee Young, was published in 11/20 and was a Western Writers of America Spur Finalist in the category of Illustrated Children’s Books. The second book in the Bolo the Brave series will be coming out shortly. Solo albums include “Race with the Wind,” 2015, “Headin’ Home,” 2018, compilation CD, “Favorites,” 2019, and the recently released CD, “Good Days Are Comin’” in 2021. • Western Writers of America: 2021 Spur Award- “Don’t Say Goodbye to the Cowboy Way,” (Jim Jones, Randy Huston) Western Song of the Year • Western Writers of America: 2021 Spur Finalist- “Bolo the Brave,” illustrated by Kamee Young • International Western Music Association: 2019 Song of the Year- “It’s a Cowboy I Will Be.” • International Western Music Association: The Cowboy Way- Group of the Year, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 • International Western Music Association: 2019 Traditional Album of the Year, “Go West” • Western Writers of America: 2017 Spur Award- “Halfway Down the Devil’s Road,” (Jim Jones, Allan Chapman) Western Song of the Year • Western Heritage Wrangler Award: 2017 Best Traditional Western Album, “The Cowboy Way”; 2019 New Horizons Award for Co-Producer of “I’ll Ride Thru It” by Deanna McCall • Academy of Western Artists: 2016 Western Song of the Year • Western Music Association: 2014 Male Performer of the Year • Western Writers of America: 2013 Spur for Best Western Song- “Texas is Burnin” • Academy of Western Artists: 2008 Male Vocalist of the Year • Western Music Association: 2011 Outstanding Western Book- Colorado Moon

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David Kleiner is an award-winning singer songwriter. His “Stand Up for Freedom” (co-written with Mick Choder) won the Philadelphia Songwriters’ Project’s Vote Festival award for best song. During David’s performance as winner of the Performing Songwriter Competition at the Avalon Folk Festival, the audience at that clothing optional event gave his song “That’s Why I Fight” a memorable standing ovation. David has recorded two studio CDs since his return to Philadelphia. Sing Out described his This Human Heart, as “all about intensity and passion.” Minor7th.com raved, “Words are magically transmuted into music.” France’s Cry of the Coyote named The News That’s Fit to Sing--his homage to the topical songwriters of the 1960s--among the year’s 5 best releases. David has headlined Philadelphia area venues including the Mermaid Inn and World Café Live Upstairs.

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Freshly nominated for Canadian Folk Music Contemporary Singer of the Year, Nova Scotian funeral director-turned-songwriter Terra Spencer discovered her passion for crafting songs while touring with country artist Ryan Cook, after being recruited as a backup singer in 2014 while scooping ice cream at a music festival. Since making her solo debut in 2018, she has charmed audiences in the Maritimes, Ontario, the UK, and Europe with deft fingerstyle guitar, gospel piano, butterscotch voice, and easy onstage conversation, making you feel knee-to-knee with her even in a room of 500. Her knack for telling intimate stories with heart and humour has caught the attention of Canadian musical mentors like David Francey and Ron Sexsmith, and she has become a sought-after studio vocalist and co-writer, leading a successful series of Words & Noise songwriting workshops in person and online. Terra's debut recording Other People's Lives was nominated for 2019 Music NS Americana Album of the Year, and she was selected by Dave Gunning to receive an Emerging Artist grant from the National Arts Centre in 2020. Her newly-released followup Chasing Rabbits, recorded at Sonic Temple in Halifax during quarantine, is a collection of very personal songs about family life and wildlife, leaving and longing, and the meaning of home. Set against the backdrop of the Canadian winter, the album features some of Nova Scotia's best players including The Bombadils and Bela Strings, with Terra in the producer's seat. Chasing Rabbits has received international airplay, quickly claimed spots on numerous lists from critics, DJs, and listeners of the Best Albums of 2020, and recently took home the 2021 Music NS Award for Folk Recording of the Year. Following a successful full-band summer tour celebrating the golden anniversary of the music of 1971, Terra is at work on her third album, produced by international artist Ben Caplan and set for release in spring 2022 with a cross-Canada tour.

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