Caroline's performances are known for emanating a high level of infectious energy and jaw dropping guitar playing. Her genre spans many styles: rock/blues/folk/country to southern roots. She is not only an accomplished singer/songwriter but also a respected musician that can cut it up on a 12-string guitar and woo the crowds with her piano ballads. She has recorded and shared stages with The Indigo Girls and Bonnie Raitt (1985-2005) in venues such as San Antonio's Majestic Theater, Denver's Red Rocks, and Berkeley's Greek Theater. Caroline's performance history includes headlining at the Kerrville (TX) Music Festival; (CA) Mendocino Music Festival and High Sierra Music Festival; (Seattle) Bumbershoot and Folk Life Festival; (NY) Falcon Ridge;, and more.

In May 2006 she embarked on a 2 month European tour including an invitation to be the first woman guitarist to teach and perform at the famed Schörndorf Guitar Festival in Germany. She also plays in England, Wales, Germany, Belgium and Holland to sold-out crowds. She returned to the U.S. to headline at the prestigious Mendocino Music Festival to standing ovations, and headliner for the Kerrville Wine and Music Festival and ending the year at the Moab Music Festival in Utah.

What critics and fans are saying about Caroline Aiken:
"Aiken's guitar work is astonishing, especially as much of it, including slide, is on 12 strings making this disc required listening for anyone who thinks s/he plays the blues or owns a 12 string "-Tom Petersen, Victory Review Magazine, Dec 2005
"Anyone who's ever heard the sultry, bluesy voice of Caroline Aiken knows she's the real deal. She infuses each song with true grit and years of performing experience, sanding down the rough edges just a little with her soft Southern drawl."-Mare Wakefield, DIY Salute, Performing Songwriter Magazine, 2005
"Caroline Aiken, often sighted as one of the cornerstones of the Decatur folk movement, has long been at the forefront of modern folk and acoustic expression. Her soothing, fine wood-grain voice purrs with a youthful innocence one minute, then growls like a wise old blue singer the next, marking each song with her trademark, time-honed stamp of quality."- Georgia Music Magazine, July 2005
"Your performance was absolutely stellar. You made a bunch of new fans if the reactions I heard from the people was any indication. I can speak for one avid new fan who is very definitely going to be following anything you d---and that's me. Your stage presence and musicianship was fully as good or better than anything I have ever seen, and I've been a concert goer for most of my 50 something years. I will remember your version of "Madman Across the Water" as long as I have a memory "-Ken Krauss, Mendocino Music Festival Marketing Director, August 2006

Starting out after hearing the recently departed Virginia Bluesman John Jackson in 1967, Ainslie has been immersed in Blues and American traditional music. Ainslie took an independent BA in Music Theory and Composition from Washington & Lee University, and graduated Magna Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1974. He has worked in avante garde and Broadway theater productions, toured in Europe under the auspices of the United States Information Service, and in addition to touring nationally and internationally has worked as an artist in educational settings, presenting teaching concerts on the African roots of American music. These popular teaching concerts illustrate America's hidden music history with live performances of worksongs, blues, gospel and jazz. Ainslie is a mesmerizing historian and inspired musician who has a deep reverence for the tradition and history of the music he presents.

Drawing on the musical legacies of Delta Blues legends Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters, the East Coast's Blind Blake, and Durham's own Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Boy Fuller; Scott is a noted performer and scholar with more than a decade of experience teaching elements of African and African-American music to students of all ages, both in the classroom and from the stage.

Coming of age during the Civil Rights era, Scott continues to have a deep reverence and affection for cross-racial exchange and approaches the tradition with the care and respect it is due. Scott honors the African and American roots of the tradition and presents a mesmerizing tour of both the music and the history of the Blues.

His newest cd Thunder's Mouth is riding high on the charts for XM Radio's Bluesville. More about Scott at cattailmusic.com

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

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

His two post-Motown CDs, “From the Edge of The World” released on Moo Records in 1996, and “This Twisted Road” self-released in 2001, have both gotten great reviews.  With roots in pop, jazz, country, rock and R&B, Severin surprises his acoustic audiences with melodies and grooves that are not usually heard in folk circles, and regularly writes in each of those genres.  Many acoustic music lovers have already heard Severin’s music as recorded on CDs by Freebo, James Lee Stanley, Alfred Johnson, and Kerrville New Folk Winner David Roth.

Severin currently teaches guitar and songwriting at Old Town Music in Pasadena, as well as at the SummerSongs West songwriting camps in Cambria, California.  He lives happily in an old part of Los Angeles with his wife Melinda and an assortment of dogs and cats.  More information can always be found at www.severinbrowne.com.

Severin can be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more than a decade, Kate Campbell has been one of the most clear-eyed, poetic and revelatory chroniclers of the Southern experience in popular music. Blessed with an angelic voice, unsinkable tunefulness, a master storyteller's eye for detail plus the even-handedness to examine life's blossoms AND bruises, Campbell has assembled a body of work unsurpassed in consistency or soulful artistry.

Kate's uncanny grasp of life and times in the Deep South is such that Ballet Memphis is presenting a command performance of "South Of Everywhere," which features her music.

Incessant touring in the US and United Kingdom has built and reinforced a remarkably devoted fan base, and Campbell has appeared on such respected national radio programs as Larry Groce's "Live From Mountain Stage," NPR's "Morning Edition" and "World Cafe."

Craig Carothers In the last three years alone he’s driven 80,000 miles to play in more than 50 cities in 20 states. When you figure in the airplanes and rental cars, it adds up to a lot of scenery and a lot of songs.For Craig Carothers, the journey, and the songs, began in the Pacific Northwest. Craig’s parents were both music teachers. Around the house, sounds ranged from Brubeck to Mancini; Victor Borgé to Jonathan Winters. Later influences included Motown, Joni Mitchell, Tom Lehrer, and The Beatles.

Venues were plentiful around his home in Portland, Oregon, and Craig spent more than 20 years playing almost every night of the week inside a forty-block radius. During that time, he toured with or opened for a wide variety of acts: Mose Allison, Karla Bonnoff, Jonatha Brooke, Rosanne Cash, Bruce Cockburn, cPaula Cole, Robert Cray, Catie Curtis, Crash Test Dummies, Donovan, Peter Himmelman, John Hiatt, Leo Kottke, Patty Larkin, Michael McDonald, Dennis Miller, Anne Murray, Danny O'Keefe, Leroy Parnell, Paula Poundstone, Boz Skaggs, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Richard Thompson, Jethro Tull, Romeo Void, Loudon Wainwright III, Tim Weisberg, David Wilcox, Warren Zevon, and many others.

for more info on Craig, visit http://www.craigcarothers.com

Dave Cook, a professional recording engineer for more than 20 years, has worked with artists such as the B-52's, Suzanne Vega, Michelle Schocked, Phoebe Snow, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Ellis Paul, Beck and many more.

2007 FINALIST Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase
NOMINATED 2006 for 3 Just Plain Folks awards including:
Female Singer-Songwriter Album of the Year
Female Singer-Songwriter Song of the Year
New Folk Song of the Year
WINNER 2004 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Competition
EMERGING ARTIST 2004 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Showcase
TOP TEN 2004 Mountain Stage NewSong Festival Songwriting Competition
RUNNER-UP 2004 Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Competition
NOMINATED 2004 for 3 Just Plain Folks awards including:
Female Singer-Songwriter Album of the Year
Americana Song of the Year
Children's Song of the Year

Mark Dann is a professional recording engineer and sideman/bass player extraordinaire. For more than 30 years he's worked with many artists at his studios in New York City and Woodstock, including engineering and playing on the legendary Fast Folk Musical Magazine recordings.

For more info visit: www.markdannrecording.com

Pat Donohue is a master guitarist and talented singer-songwriter of blues, folk, and jazz. Pat Donohue's talents are displayed weekly in his appearances on public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" where his guitar playing, writing, and singing are featured regularly...

The 1983 National finger-picking champion, Donohue's style blends blues and folk in a critically acclaimed display of guitar artistry. His original songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Suzy Bogguss, Loose Ties, and many other National performers. Pat has been a featured performer at major music festivals, including The Newport Folk Festival, Telluride Festival, and the Philadelphia Folk Festival, as well as performing regularly in concerts and clubs around the world.

Donohue has just completed his forth recorded work, "BACKROADS" on Minnesota's, Bluesky Records. A collection of all new original songs, "Backroads" includes musical support from such artists as Chet Atkins, Howard Levy, and Butch Thompson.

Pat's previous recordings include, "Two Hand Band," "Life Stories," and "Big Blind Bluesy.

Pat Donohue's guitar skills are shared through his many teaching events. His travels for "Prairie Home Companion" and his solo performance engagements enable him to conduct in-person group workshops throughout the nation. He participates in teaching camps, most recently this Summer at the Augusta Heritage in Elkin, West Virginia, where he taught advanced swing and blues.

Pat also has three video's available on Stefan Grossman's, Vestopol Series "Jazz Classics for finger-style guitar," "Rags to Rock," and the newly released performance video, "In Concert at the Freight and Salvage," which not only displays Pat's wide range of guitar styles, but also features the warmth and humor he brings to his live performances.

Although Pat went to college in Milwaukee and lived and performed in Denver, Colorado for a number of years, He is a life-long resident of St. Paul, Minnesota where he currently lives with his wife, Susan, and their 11 year old daughter, Daisy.

When Cliff Eberhardt released his debut album in 1990, a lot of people discovered the musician that songwriters and acoustic music fans had raved about for years. Eberhardt is a songwriter and performer of remarkable passion and wit. Compatriots have long admired his work, with artists like Richie Havens, Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky, and Buffy St. Marie recording his songs.

Eberhardt has performed since age 15, when he hit the club circuit with his brother. He toured solo for over 10 years before he recorded his first CD, and played guitar with Richie Havens and Melanie. He has taught at many workshop events and we're thrilled to have him as a guest instructor this summer.

cliffeberhardt.com

Our dear teacher and friend Kenny Edwards passed away Wednesday, August 18th, 2010, in Santa Barbara surrounded by his family. Rebecca Troon got to see him before he passed away and told me that he was in no pain and passed peacefully from this life. If you ever met Kenny or heard him sing or had him play your music with you, you know what a masterful and talented artist he was. One of the truly great hearts and legendary heroes of our generation. We will remember Kenny with great love and affection always.

Denise Jordan Finley, from the Woodstock, NY area, writes songs based on the profoundness of the ordinary. Her latest CD, HAUNTRESS, is a collection of her most eerie ones. In addition to having toured internationally as a singer/songwriter, she has worked in virtually every capacity in regional theaters. Denise is the writer of numerous one-act plays, and presently composes for musicals and directs music for the Center for Performing Arts in Rhinebeck, NY and the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia, NY.

Legendary singer/songwriter Bob Franke will be joining us again this year. Bob's songs are considered classics, fueled by his deep faith and the real-life lessons taught him by his 30 years of playing everywhere from concert halls to street corners.

Bob has appeared in concert a coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, bars, streets, homes and churches in 32 states, four Canadian provinces and England. His tours are treasured for their craft and compassion. His concerts have appeared in lists of the top five musical events of the year chosen by critics in the Boston and San Francisco Bay areas. In 1990, he was nominated as an Outstanding Folk Act by the Boston Music Awards.

bobfranke.com

From bass player/band member with Bonnie Raitt for a decade to countless studio sessions and tours with artists ranging from John Mayall, CSN, Maria Muldaur and Ringo Starr, to T.V. appearances on "Saturday Night Live," "Midnight Special," and "Muppets Tonight," as well as tuba performances with Dr. John and the legendary Spinal Tap, Freebo has achieved status and respect in a creative and highly competitive field.

Not satisfied with simply resting on his laurels as a top sideman, however, Freebo has continued to push his creative envelope, and has evolved into an award winning singer/songwriter with three solo CDs to his credit; 1999's "The End Of The Beginning," 2002's "Dog People" (songs about the human/canine connection), and his latest, "Before The Separation”, which was nominated in 5 categories in the JPF Awards, had 2 songs in the top 10 of the International Songwriting Competition, and won the prestigious South Florida Folk Festival Songwriting Competition.

Showing his complete arrival and comfort as a singer/songwriter, The Philadelphia Inquirer said of his latest CD, “Freebo’s stepping into a new role of singer/songwriter suits him well. ‘Before the Separation’ flows with a compassionate spirit rooted in '60s ideals, but packing a gently urgent relevancy. The songs are built on Freebo's acoustic guitar and fretless bass, giving them a sublimely folkish foundation that occasionally heads off into rock and soul. The finale, "The Freedom Wall," shows that, in addition to an engaging earnestness, Freebo is also capable of biting irony".

Freebo’s songs span styles from folk, blues, & country to R&B, reggae, and rock'n'roll, and incorporate themes of love, struggle, triumph, peace, and the journey of life. His live performances, mainly on acoustic guitar, take you on a musical and lyrical ride, creating an intimate unity with his audience.

Eric Garrison is a singer/songwriter whose original contemporary music and treatment of traditional material reflect a deep appreciation of both genres. Eric has been hailed for his ability to "create melodies which prove that traditional American music ain't dead yet." (Stamford Advocate, CT) Eric's third solo CD, "Looking for Egypt," -featuring Garth Hudson and the late Rick Danko of The Band as well as Rex Fowler of Aztec Two Step, Bob Franke, John McCutcheon, and a stellar array of Woodstock-area session musicians- garnered national radio play and rave reviews from all quarters. His collaborative release with fellow Summersongs instructor Mae Robertson, "Sweet Dreams of Home," has received awards from several leading parents' organizations promoting family music.

Eric is an alumnus of the Kerrville New Folk Contest and the Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist program. He was featured in the 1998 Folk Alliance Convention's Folkrawl in Memphis and the 1999 Nashville Entertainment Association's Extravaganza. Two of his songs have won awards in the pop and folk categories of the Washington Area Music Association's annual songwriting contest. Since 1992, Eric has taught classes in performance, songwriting, sound reinforcement, and recording at the Swannanoa Gathering, where he is the founding coordinator of the Gathering's Contemporary Folk Week and Performance Lab week programs. He has taught at a number of other festivals and workshop programs, including the Virginia Highlands Festival and Summersongs. In addition to his live performance and recording credits, Eric runs the Carriage Barn Folk Concert series in New Canaan, CT, and has extensive experience as a producer/engineer and owner of China Moon Productions, a Connecticut tape-based recording studio specializing in acoustic music.

Bill Gessner is a songwriter and performer based in Minneapolis. His songs range from the humorous, eccentric and off-beat to visionary and life-affirming. He has released his first CD, Welcome to Gessnerville, pop. 19, produced by Peter Ostroushko. Bill travels extensively and enjoys performing in listening venues and house-concerts. Bill has attended SummerSongs since 2000 and has taught a class and served as a songwriting coach at SummerSongs and WinterSongs since 2002.

billgessner.com

In a musical age created by the singer-songwriter, Steve Gillette has long been considered to be one of the finest. His music has inspired glowing reviews from the critics and the deep loyalty of his fans. Since Ian and Sylvia first recorded Darcy Farrow in 1966, Steve's songs have been sung by dozens of major artists including Garth Brooks, John Denver, Nanci Griffith, Waylon Jennings, Anne Murray, Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt, Spanky and Our Gang, Don Williams, and Tammy Wynette.

In addition to performing in 31 countries, Steve has performed on over 100 college campuses and has taught numerous workshops and seminars on songwriting, guitar theory, and record production. Steve is the author of the book Songwriting And The Creative Process, published by The Sing Out Press in 1995. His film credits include writing and singing the main title theme for M.G.M.'s The Outfit, Walt Disney's The Pond, The Grass Is Greener, Summer Run, and Door To Door. Steve has also written songs for the Walt Disney characters Jiminy Cricket, Dumbo, Rainbow Brite, and Winnie the Pooh.

Steve traveled to Japan with the "Day Of The Dolphin" concert series in Tokyo in 1976, and has been active in the anti nuclear movement and other social causes. He has received ASCAP and BMI performance awards, and was honored by the World Folk Music Association as a 1988 nominee for the Kate Wolf Award. He has been a featured performer at many festivals, including Clearwater’s Hudson River Revival, Fox Hollow, International Songwriter's Festival at Frutigen (Switzerland), The Mariposa Folk Festival, The Old Songs Festival, Owen Sound Summerfolk Festival, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Vancouver Folk Festival, The Walnut Valley Festival, The Winnipeg Folk Festival, and is a director and long-time participant in The Kerrville Folk Festival.

You can find out more about Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen at www.compassrosemusic.com.

Nicola writes lots of songs. She plays guitar, ukulele and fiddle. She is a life learner and a joy facilitator, cultivating and sharing her process through music and workshops and coaching. Inspired by nature, acts of kindness, and a growing appreciation of life's twists and turns, her intention is to grow in aliveness and inspire those around her to do the same.

There's 5 CDs and presently a ukulele-inspired CD in the hopper. 3 CDs are original material; The last two are songs based on the poetry of Hafiz--an amazing 14th century Sufi poet (similar style to Rumi)- as translated by Daniel Ladinsky. She shares her creative flow with others teaching songwriting at the local college and doing workshops on creative flow and writing around the country.

Besides doing her solo shows and teaching, Nicola also plays in an ol' timey girl-grass band called the Honeysuckle Possums: herself plus Susan Reeves, Lisa Macker, Ruth Alpert and Rebbecca Troone. They make a rowdy, genuine noise of foot-stomping glee. Three songwriters w/ three-part harmonies, fiddles, ukulele, banjo, mandolin (plus the usual guitar and base) and an o'l timey clogger...yep, they have fun.

bio coming

Kim and Reggie Harris are two vibrant, superbly talented and engaging performers whose captivating stage presence has inspired audiences around the world for over 25 years. As singers, songwriters, storytellers, educators, historical interpreters and cultural advocates, they have used their remarkable voices and their unique talents to bring new insights to the entertainment and educational spectrum.

Born in Philadelphia, PA. a city rich in musical and cultural heritage, Kim and Reggie were both exposed to a wide range of composers and musical genres. Their training, nurtured in their individual homes and enhanced in their churches and schools, enriched their musical vocabulary. It was the start of what has evolved into the " Bach to Rock" musical approach (with the strongest elements being Folk, Gospel and Jazz) that is so prevalent in their music. They met, by chance, at a summer camp in 1974. While attending Temple University they honed their performance skills in the clubs and coffeehouses around Philadelphia.

In 1980, Kim and Reggie "hit the road" touring universities, art centers, schools and other concert venues. Their strong material (both original and otherwise) and complex harmonies, combined with their stunning voices and informed stage patter, has won them accolades and fans that has them in constant demand. They average over 275 performances each year!

They have been featured in performance at the Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institute, The International Children's Festival in Canada,The Wang Center, The Pike's Peak Center, various festivals in the U.S, Canada and Italy and a host of universities, schools, churches and performing venues.

They have proven themselves to be exceptional people who can entertain audiences of all ages and backgrounds. They continue to distinguish themselves as artists of integrity who show respect for their craft and their audiences by working to expand their skills and build on their knowledge base.

Kim and Reggie are presenters in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Touring workshop program providing teacher training and arts events that encourage the use of the arts in the classroom.

They are featured artists in Silver Burdett and Ginn's "World of Music", a leading educational music series; they have, in collaboration with Chatham Hill Games, produced the "Underground Railroad Activity Set" (a video, game and teaching guide) for use by teachers and parents and they continue to be sought after presenters on the subjects of the Underground Railroad, the Modern Civil Rights Movement and African American Music of Social Change.

Over the course of their career they have opened for and performed with a diverse array of artists including Jay Leno, Pete Seeger, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, Micheal Keaton, The Indigo Girls, Janis Ian, and many others.

Kim and Reggie have recorded 5 CDs on the Appleseed Recordings label, one CD for Folk Era; contributed tracks to each of Appleseed's Pete Seeger releases and are also featured (with other leading Folk and Acoustic artists) on a growing number of compilation and tribute CDs.

Kim has most recently earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary and, when not touring, Reggie coaches girls varsity basketball.

They reside in upstate New York!
Kim and Reggie Harris
http://www.kimandreggie.com

Ritt Henn plays bass, writes songs and lives in New York City.In 2005, he received both the prestigious Back Stage Bistro Award (for Outstanding Songwriter Instrumentalist) and a MAC Award (from the Manhattan Association of Clubs, for Best New York Debut-Male). He began playing the bass in the 5th grade when they were looking for a tall kid to play upright in the school orchestra. By high school, hip teachers were letting him write songs in lieu of taking tests. He began performing in coffeehouses; upon graduating from Bucknell University with a degree in music and psychology, he bought a white 3-piece suit and joined a lounge band.

While continuing to pay bills as a sideman—he's worked with Buddy Rich, Chuck Berry, Tom Jones, whistled for Michael Jackson, and appeared in the Off-Broadway musical "Shockheaded Peter"—Ritt actively pursues his solo career, playing with an ensemble or often just his bass. His sound reflects his record collection at home: jazz with a dose of blues and old school R&B thrown in the mix. His songs touch on life, love and the pursuit of happiness, laced with a wit that sometimes simmers, sometimes boils. [Ed. note: Sorry, Phil got a little carried away there.] When appropriate, his live shows incorporate elements of storytelling and humor; and yes, sometimes he's even been known to just shut up and play.

Ritt's opened for Christine Lavin and Soupy Sales, and performed on the mainstage of the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland between Freddie Hubbard and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. He's toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe and received radio airplay worldwide, including a live performance on Levende Lijven on Radio 1 in Belgium. He's been a winner in the Sierra Songwriters Festival, a finalist in the Independent Music Awards, and an honorable mention in the Napa Valley Songwriters Contest. His latest CD, Goin' Back, features cats who've played with everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Marvin Gaye to No Doubt.

In his spare time, Ritt's produced nearly 200 episodes of ManBassBoxTV (a.k.a. A Man, a Bass & a Box of Stuff), his own public access series which puts the "real" back into "reality TV." On the air in Los Angeles and New York since 1993, they're 28 minute made-for-TV movies that focus on independent musical artists, including, sometimes, Mr. Henn himself.

Ritt has conducted workshops in conjunction with his instructional book, Chart Writing Made Easy,and clinics touting the wonders of the almighty Azola BugBass, the electric upright that he proudly endorses. He's also an endorsee for B-Band, the folks who make his sonorous acoustic bass pick-up, and SWR, whose California Blonde amp has looked and sounded so sweet sitting there on the set of the TV show.

He's portrayed an alien bassoonist on Star Trek: The Next Generation, won a Drama-Logue award for his portrayal of an inbred bass-playing gas station attendant in the Hollywood production of Pump Boys & Dinettes, thrilled thousands as the loveable, golden-voiced murderer Officer Bell in the world premiere of The People vs. Mona at the Pasadena Playhouse, and held thousands more in thrall while singing of his dirty socks in Jim's Garage at the Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina (another world premiere, of course).

Yet it all pales in comparison to the thrill of laying down the bass line to "Stand By Me" with Ben E. King at a used auto parts convention in Las Vegas.

bio coming

She lives in the deep woods of Arkansas, plays guitar, piano, harmonica, banjo, and sings lyrics that paint their way through complicated melodies. The music is original, a fusion of sounds -- country-folk, funky-jazz and bluesy-ballads -- each one weaving different colored threads from 38 years of songwriting and performance.

Tom Kimmel jokes that he's the only Nashville songwriter to have written songs for Captain Kangaroo, Miami Vice and Touched By An Angel. But it's true! Tom's songs have appeared on albums by dozens of artists from Linda Ronstadt to Johnny Cash, in feature films (including Twins, Runaway Bride and Serendipity), and television shows (the aforementioned and many others, including As The World Turns, Dawson's Creek and Party of Five). A Kerrville New Folk Winner and folk world fixture, Tom is an outstanding performer, poet and recording artist in his own right and has released seven albums, including his latest, Light of Day.

for more info visit www.tomkimmel.com

Dale LaDuke was born in Grosse Pointe Michigan (suburb of Detroit). He began singing in church choirs when he was 8 years old and was principle solist and president of his high school choir, as well as trumpet player in the high school band.

He went on to sing with the Michigan State Honors Choir and the Michigan State Fair Choir.

A songwriter from the beginning, Dale was determined to observe humanity at all levels, and to this end spent several years traveling around the country as an itinerant street peddler, finally settling in Los Angeles.

He was one of the founders of the popular Southern California country band "Five Wheel Drive" that was one of five finalists (and the only country band) in the first Yahoo Music Awards .The band was flown to the red carpet Yahoo awards show at Studio 54 in Manhattan that featured performances by David Bowie, Issac Hayes, Allanis Morriset and many others. The group recorded two demos for Warner Bros. Nashville, before finally disbanding. He then co-founded the folk group "Kaedmon" which went on to be a top pick of 2006 by both Music Connection magazine and KSUN radio.

He has recently begun to play solo shows around the country. His song "The Lone Ranger"has won or been nominated for several awards; most recently, for "Single of The Year" at the Los Angeles Music Awards.

Dale is also a sought after music teacher in LA, teaching several instruments, songwriting and music theory.

Contact information: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it www.myspace.com/daleladuke

Musician, composer, producer, Patrick Landeza is considered a leading exponent of the Hawaiian slack key style. Born and raised  in Berkeley to Hawaii-born parents, Patrick picked up guitar while in high school and learned from the styles best players. A protégé of the Hawaiian slack-key masters, Landeza has dedicated his life to sharing this art form with the world. Jim Harrington of the Oakland Tribune says "Trying to get a lesson from Patrick is like trying to get into Standford.."  "It's difficult to meet the demand, everyone wants to learn slack key on the mainland these days," Landeza says.

Landeza conducts monthly lessons in San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle, Santa Cruz and weekly lessons in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the founder of The Institute of Hawaiian Music and Culture and is responsible for planting the seeds for many Hawaiian music performers and concert tours. Landeza is the youngest recipient of the prestigious Aloha Spirit Award for his work with Slack Key Guitar and is extremely honored to be teaching this year at WinterSongs West!

ZOË LEWIS … Who Is She?
A worldbeat-vaudeville extravaganza!

ZOË LEWIS is a band in a body! She plays jazz, jump jive, latin grooves, swing, international folk, funk originals on anything from the piano to the spoons! Troubadour/vaudevillian/storyteller/singer-songwriter/piece of work!

WINNER of the Colorado Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Troubadour Award in 2003, NEW FOLK WINNER 2002 at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas and 2001 Falconridge Folk Festival AUDIENCE FAVORITE and now she's getting booked to play many of the main stages with virtuoso jazz recorder player ROXANNE LAYTON (from Mannheim Steamroller).

Her song SMALL IS TREMENDOUS received much commercial success and can be heard on ads for MINI PRINGLES and TJ MAAX. Another of her songs: SHEEP was part of a PUTUMAYO compilation and became #1 in the children's satellite radio charts. She's also written the soundtrack for a new documentary on the VAGINA MONOLGUES.

ZOË has performed with a whole host of incredible musicians including JULIE WOLF (Ani DiFranco, Bruce Cockburn), GAIL ANN DORSEY (David Bowie), PAUL PIERCY (Dixie Chicks), FREEBO (Bonnie Raitt) and has toured with JUDY COLLINS and NANCI GRIFFITH.

Originally from England, she now resides in Provincetown on Cape Cod, MA, where she performs every summer. Her music is upbeat, amusing and perfect for young and old alike. She's traveled all over the globe picking up worldbeat grooves and stories on the way; jumping box cars, riding on freight boats and has even played music with an elephant orchestra in Thailand. She's a mixture of swing, acoustic funk, latin jazz and folk. Her fast-paced lyrics poke fun at modern society and praise the rambling delights of childhood, secret worlds, and wandering love.

ZOË started studying music (piano) in England at the age of seven in her little village on the south coast of England, Rottingdean. She began performing professionally playing the Hammond organ, piano and synthesizer for London Latin jazz ten-piece band AVANTI in 1986. The band toured the UK and cut a record. She went solo in 1988, performed piano / vocal jazz standards from the '30s and '40s in London pubs and later worked in South America and in the Caribbean.

In 1990, she arrived in the United States and began performing originals on guitar, piano, harmonica, ukulele, penny whistle, accordion, and human trumpet and has since then toured extensively, performing at numerous folk clubs, coffee houses, colleges, music festivals and pride marches. She has taught workshops in schools and has written a musical for children entitled PESTS! Her workshop "Music in our Pockets" encourages people to redefine their meaning of music; there's music on the streets, on our bodies, in nature, even in our pockets if only we open up our ears. Loose change, a set of keys can be used to make wonderful noise. With the help of African calabash, Jamaican steel pans, gourds, coconuts, trash cans, thumb pianos, conch shells and musical saws she demonstrates the point!

In 1992 she began to perform in a variety of different acts in Provincetown on Cape Cod for the summer season. She became a local favourite and won Provincetown Paper's "About Town Awards" for best piano player and best comedy duo. She's toured all over the Unites States, has performed in England, Germany, Australia and aboard OLIVIA cruises. As well as continuing her solo career she is receiving much acclaim for her quartet ZOË LEWIS and her RUBBER BAND with Seattle bassist KATE WOLF, Quebec City percussionist SYLVIE RICHARD and ROXANNE LAYTON, on recorder. Performing upbeat and edgy tunes on a variety of weird instruments, telling traveling tales that'll take you from England to New Orleans by way of Bangkok and Guatemala, they bend the notes and stretch your imagination!

One very late evening in 1998, down in the tiniest factory/apartment building in New York City's looming financial district, Mike and Ruthy first combined their talents over cheap beer and not much else. The results were magical.

For the past seven years they've traveled the world as members of the contemporary stringband, The Mammals. "Every decade has its state-of-the-art folk-rock band. This decade's is the Mammals, most often noted for featuring Pete Seeger's grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and fiddler Jay Ungar's daughter Ruth. But the band's secret threat is songwriter Michael Merenda, seemingly descended not just from one famous folkie, but the entire folk tradition itself. His songs range from sensitive, breathy ballads to audibly grinning political broadsides." - Jeff Rosenberg, Willamette Week

In 2007, they chose to spend some money on a nice new microphone (instead of a trip to Bermuda) and hit the home studio to record their first duo CD, "The Honeymoon Agenda." These days, Mike & Ruthy continue to stay a bit closer to their Hudson Valley home. With a repertoire of old-timey twang, topical folk, and just plain love songs, they weave between heartfelt vocal duets and lively fiddle & banjo tunes.

Here's some recent response to their music:

"Just wanted to tell you that I can't stop playing The Honeymoon Agenda! It's a haunting, infectious, beautiful record. You have continued to surprise me." - Johanna Hall, Woodstock, NY

"Wow... Amazing! Your voices are like honey, the lyrics are beautifully intuitive and the music made me feel enveloped. The love that you share transmits in a powerful way. What started off as a long drive turned into a beautiful experience. Thanks." Roxanne Trombly, Lenox, MA

Pat Milliken was a great artist and teacher. SummerSongs was lucky to have him with us for a number of years. He personified the energy and attitude that we want at camp and he was a great teacher as well as being a consummate artist. We all have wonderful memories of Pat and his being is a part of us and a part of everything musical we will hear in the future. He will always be with us in spirit at camp.

One of the very best guitarists and singer/songwriters in the country will be joining us for the week to be your guitar coach. Tena will help you listen to your songs and the chording and picking you use with new ears and teach you new techniques you can incorporate in to your music. She'll be around all day every day just waiting to work with you!

Renaissance Woman. Ask anyone who knows Tena Moyer to describe her and that’s what they’ll say. An accomplished guitarist, she has won multiple awards for her playing, and her fingerstyle instrumentals have been covered by guitar enthusiasts around the country. She has taught at many of the finest music camps, including Puget Sound Guitar Camp, California Coast Music Camp, Swannanoa Gathering (both the songwriting and guitar programs), Summersongs and WOMAMU (Women Making Music.) An award winning songwriter, she has twice been a finalist at The Napa Valley Folk Festival and has won three SAW awards in the jazz category. Her voice is strong and clear with an impressive three octave range, reminiscent of the great Broadway singers.

Imbued early in life with a love of music, art, drama, comedy and incisive writing, Dan Navarro has spent the past 30 years of his life working and playing as a singer, songwriter, recording and touring artist, voice actor and media activist. With his longtime partner Eric Lowen and other collaborators, he has composed songs for artists as diverse as Pat Benatar (1984's Top Five "We Belong"), The Bangles, Dionne Warwick, Dave Edmunds, The Triplets, the Temptations and Dutch superstar Marco Borsato. In the past year alone, "We Belong" has been the 2006 global advertising theme for Sheraton Hotels, in the films "Talladega Nights: The Story of Ricky Bobby" and "The Last Place On Earth", TV shows "So You Think You Can Dance" and "The Office" and a recording by new artist Lynn Carey Saylor, with guitar and vocals contributed by Queen's Brian May.

Recording and touring as Lowen & Navarro since 1990, Dan and Eric have released 10 albums on labels both major and indie, toured the country to over 1400 performances and been performed on many dozens of radio stations nationwide. In the early 90s, their albums "Walking on a Wire" and "Broken Moon" helped establish the nascent adult rock "Triple A" radio format, and their recent releases "All The Time In The World" and "Hogging The Covers" on their own Red Hen Records marque confirms their role as pioneers in the independent artist movement made viable by the Internet and other such New Media solutions.

Individually, Dan has flourished since 1988 as a session singer and voice actor in English and Spanish, including the recent #1 films "Happy Feet" and "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown", "Robots" and "Man On Fire"; television shows "Studio 60", "Family Guy", "American Dad", "Deal Or No Deal", "Roswell", "Felicity" and "American Family"; albums by Neil Young, Luis Miguel, Susanna Hoffs, Jose Feliciano, Julio Iglesias and Jon Anderson of Yes; and commercials for Toyota, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Coors, Folgers, Dodge, Nationwide Insurance, Shakey's Pizza, Ross Dress For Less and countless others.

Dan's tireless work in media activism and advocacy began in 1995 with his first lobbying visit to Capitol Hill on songwriter issues, and has led to his election to the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy (1999 – present), AFTRA's National and LA Local Boards (2000 – present), the Folk Alliance Board (2006 – present) and is an Advisory Trustee to the ALS Association of Greater Los Angeles (2006 – present). He has lobbied Congress on six separate occasions advocating intellectual property protections for songwriters, fighting illegal downloading, supporting music education and in 2002, health care issues, and while co-chairing AFTRA's Sound Recordings Contract negotiations with the then-five major labels, testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on webcast royalties for artists and songwriters. Since 2005 he has been a member of METal Men, a consortium of media, entertainment and technology thought leaders.

He is the single father of a 10-year-old son, Joseph, and is the proud owner of three Martin guitars.

bio coming

Like many musicians in the Sixties, Penny started her career as a folk singer in coffeehouses around Orange County, CA. She shared stages with many legendary artists such as Jackson Browne, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies, Jennifer Warnes, Mary McCaslin and others.

In 1964 & 65 she sang in a bluegrass band with John, Bill & Alice McEuen and then formed a duo with Kathy Smith called the Greasy Mountain Butterballs which toured Vietnam in the fall of 1966. Upon returning, she opened the show for numerous artists at the Troubadour and Ash Grove in Hollywood.

In the spring of 1967, Penny rode up to San Francisco on the back of a Harley motorcycle and decided to stay in the bay area for a while. She performed in concerts and clubs all over the bay area including: the Fillmore, the Avalon, the Matrix and opened for bands such as Big Brother and the Holding Co. (Janis Joplin), Steve Miller, Quicksilver Messenger Service, 13th Floor Elevator, Chocolate Watchband, Jefferson Airplane and others. During the "Summer of Love", Penny played at the Big Sur Folk Festival and recorded her first album, "Penny's Arcade", for Buddha Records. (It eventually sold over 50,000 copies)

After touring the U.S. promoting her album in the fall, she toured Europe in the winter of 1968, staying with George & Patty Harrison and recording at Apple Studios while in London. On her return to the U.S., she decided to devote her time exclusively to songwriting for a number of years and studied voice with noted vocal coach, Florence Riggs. In 1975, she began to perform around Los Angeles with her jazz band, the Black Imp, and opened the show for Little Feat in concert. She wrote and performed commercials for Toyota's campaign to plant a tree for every car bought, Carnation Dairies, and produced a public service announcement for the Navajo Nation called "Black Mesa" to protest the misuse of the land around the Four Corners power stations in Arizona.

In 1977, while working with Emitt Rhodes on a record for Elektra, Penny joined Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefers. She appeared in the movie FM with the band toured the U.S. and earned a Platinum Record for her singing on Son of a Son of a Sailor.

In the late 70's & 80's, Penny went back to school and earned degrees in Music & Psychology from Antioch University, and then went on to Harvard University to do research in music & psychology eventually earning a doctorate in Education there. During the same time, she recorded and toured with many performers including: Art Garfunkle (Fate for Breakfast) Suzi Quatro, Yvonne Elliman, Jennifer Warnes, Albert Brooks, The Credibility Gap, Steve Gillette and earned a Grammy nomination for her work on Arlo Guthrie's album The Power of Love. In 1990, Penny co-produced her second album, All Life is One.

In 1993, she released another record, an album of songs based on the 1000-year-old Buddhist stories, the Jataka Tales. The album is called Songs of the Jataka Tales. In 1997, Penny and Molly Mason collaborated on the song "The Unbroken Thread" which is included on the CD, the Catskill Collection.

She currently lives and teaches in the Hudson Valley of New York and is building a small studio in her house. Her most recent ventures include working on a series of Harmony and Background Vocal arranging CD's and producing the conference for songwriters: SummerSongs: A Songwriters Summer Camp.

pennynichols.com

Although a major part of Harold Payne’s career has involved songwriting, with credits that extend from Rod Stewart & Patti LaBelle to long time collaborator Bobby Womack-- literally from Peter Paul & Mary to Snoop Dogg, he has maintained a performance schedule over several decades that averages 200 plus dates per year. He has played just about every imaginable venue… from amphitheaters, festivals & Houses of Blues to corporate events, churches & Tupperware parties. He’s played in such exotic places as India, Japan, Russia, Hawaii, Cuba, Ireland. Bali and Bora Bora; and along the way developed his own style of audience interaction, which usually includes his notorious song improvisations. His performances are soulful, heartfelt and humorous, and he plays both solo and with the group Gravity.

Vito Petroccitto Jr another veteran of many Summer/Wintersongs and a guitar legend in New York's Hudson Valley, brings twenty-five years of teaching experience and his unique blend of expertise and fun to camp.

For more info visit: www.iamvito.com

Vito Petroccitto has strong roots in music. Fathered by a musical legend in his own right, Vito's life has centered around music and entertaining since his beginning. Raised by a gigging dad, becoming a musician seemed a natural career choice; a road that he has proudly taken.
Currently, Vito still fronts the band Four Guys in Disguise on occasion,(which he co-founded in 1989) a collection of talented musicians who are recognized in the Hudson Valley region as areas finest.

Vito boasts performances with musicians such as:
Merl Saunders , Professor Louie and the Cromatix ,Tony Levin, Peter Levin, Jerry Marotta, Joe Brouchard, John Platania ,Tommy Byrnes, Pete Seeger, Buddy Cage, John Hall and Larry Hoppen, Freebo, Severin Browne, David Roth, Sloan Wainwright, Penny Nichols, Ritt Henn, and many others.

Together, Four Guys has also provided opening acts for Eddie Money, The Doobie Brothers, Orleans, The Rascals , The Chris Barrons Band ( Lead Vocalist/Spin Doctors ), Deep Banana Blackout among others.

Vitos versatility in entertainment expands to include radio and television experience. He has been writing and performing parodies in conjunction with FM 101.5 WPDH and on a solo basis for over fifteen years, cracking up listeners in the tri-state area with his unique style. Vito is a talented storyteller, incorporating musical genius to create a perfect blend of lyric and melody. A fine example would include The Yankee Song, a musical tribute co-written by Vito and members of the WPDH morning show in preview of the Yanks 1998 championship season. Mark Cooper and Mike Colvins clever lyrics in combination with Vitos musical vision, created a song that sparked pride in Yankee fans of all ages and struck a chord in the players as well. The Yankee Song could be heard in the Yanks clubhouse, radio stations from Albany to Long Island, and everywhere in between. Its notoriety peaked the interest of Al Trautwig, of MSG Network as well as WFAN and WPLJs Scott and Todd in New York City. The song is alive and well and is often requested by Vitos audience during his live performances everywhere.
The self proclaimed, greatest guitar player in the world has been making music for over 25 years. His comedic antics and mind-blowing solos have created a one of a kind act that keeps audiences begging for more. Known for his feel good approach to entertainment, he thrills lay people and professionals alike.

Vitos expansive musical career has included Four Guys CDs Featuring Johnny Philibuster, Live Tracks, I Am America and his latest solo efforts The Blare Horse Project featuring some of his finest parody work to date, and the Yankee Song single CD released in 2004. He has also contributed to a number of other projects, including WPDH and WPYXs parody compilations, and session work for a number of talented artists. Vito recently appeared on David Roth's "Think Twice" double CD. Vito is currently working on his first solo effort which is entitled En Vito Veritas, and a brand new CD project with the "Four Guys in Disguise" (2007 release).

Tom Prasada-Rao teaches songwriting, produces records, and plays live every weekend as a Solo Artist and with The Dreamsicles. TPR has won numerous awards - among them Kerrvilles' New Folk and 14 Wammies including Songwriter of the Year. His songs have been recorded by David Wilcox, Randy Travis, actor Ronny Cox, Christian artist Bob Bennett, and world music tabla master Broto Roy.

In addition to his solo CDs and The Dreamsicles, Tom has produced for Rachel Bissex, The Sherpas, Cary Cooper, Michael Bowers, and Annie Wenz. Most recently he produced Cary Coopers' "Yellow" which charted at #7 in Oct 05, and "Remembering Rachel" which raised over $50,000 for the children of the late Rachel Bissex and included Dar Williams, The Kennedys, Groovelily, Patty Larkin, and Catie Curtis.

Tom teaches every summer at the University of Virginias' Young Writers' Workshops, and at song camps nationwide including SummerSongs. At Young Writers he takes young high school poets and fiction writers and turns them into songwriters complete with a CD of their own song when they leave. He specializes in teaching novice songwriters, as well as advanced guitar classes and song editing techniques.

John Redgate was born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Inspired by his grandfather's easy keyboard style, he began playing piano at age seven. As a Fine Arts major at Georgetown University in Washington,D.C., Redgate's group Lazy River opened shows for Doc Watson and Emmylou Harris and recorded an album for Playboy Records in Los Angeles. In 1978 he landed on Broadway as Paul McCartney in the hit musical Beatlemania, later touring the U.S. and Japan in spin off productions of the landmark show.

Florence Riggs teaches a vocal technique which is predicated on singing as an extention of your speaking level- speech level connected singing. It's applicable to all styles of singing, and helps to remove the mystique about the middle voice mix and navigating through the passaggios/bridges of registration.

Florence has a B.A. in Voice from Caldwell College, N.J., and a Master's Degree in Voice and Opera from the Manhattan School of Music, NYC. Vocal technique teacher for 40 years. Vocal Toning workshops for 20 years. Performer for over 45 years. Co-founder of five music improvisation groups..."Song Waves 1", "Song Waves 2", "Voce Arcana", "Musement", and "Gaia Mama". As a member of the Independent Composers Association helped to pioneer the concept of a non-jazz, free-form, improvisational, spontaneous mode of vocal music called "Toning". She has taught many singers and non-singers to consciously hear and sing overtones as a mode of chanting.

A partial list of artists who have studied with her include: Herbie Hancock, Patrice Rushen, Syreeta Wright, Carnie and Wendy Wilson (Wilson Phillips ), Katey Sagal (Married With Children, Eight Simple Rules), Barry Bostwick (Spin City), Dixie Carter (Designing Women, Family Law), Sam Harris (Star Search), Paulo Costanzo (Joey), Keith David, Jim Sloyan, Peter Reckell (Days of Our Lives), Dale Kristien (Phantom of the Opera), Wally Kurth (General Hospital), McKenzie Westmore (Passions), Talia Sodi, Martin Short, Michael McKean (Spinal Tap), Jeff Goldblum, Helen Slater, Triniti, Michael Pinder (Moody Blues), The Rooney Band (Robert Carmine, Ned Brower, Taylor Locke, Louis Stephens), John Saxon, Peter Mark Richman, Millicent Martin, Alan Rich, Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blues), Yumi Matsutoya, Cindy Yamamoto, Miho Nakayama, The Rock 'n Roll Soldiers..... Also including singer/song writers Penny Nichols, Severin Browne, Kristina Olsen, Linda Schack, Tena Moyer....

Voice studio is located in Sherman Oaks. CA. - 818- 990- 1221

Mae Robertson has released three family recordings – All Through The Night, The Sun Upon The Lake Is Low and Sweet Dreams of Home – that have won numerous awards, including the American Library Association's "Notable Recordings." Of her first "grown up" recording, Stone by Stone, Billboard said, "Her dusky alto vocal range is a true treat, and she has an understated yet memorable way with a lyric that renders anything she performs worth investigating." Mae has taught workshops in Independent Marketing at the Swannanoa Gathering's Contemporary Folk Week and at the National and Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conferences.

maerobertson.com

David has taught at every Wintersongs and Summersongs since we began in 1999.  He's a singer, songwriter, recording artist, and masterfully inclusive instructor who has earned top honors at premier songwriter competitions at places like Kerrville and Falcon Ridge, and taken his music, experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries over the last two decades. David’s songs have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Kennedy Center, Peter, Paul, & Mary concerts, NASA’s Goddard Space Center (David's "Rocket Science" went up on the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" on May 11th, 2009!), and ten CDs on the Wind River and Stockfisch (Germany) labels. Featured on many of Christine Lavin’s Rounder Records compilations, the former artist-in-residence at New York’s Omega Institute has also been a songwriting judge at Kerrville, Napa Valley (CA), Tumbleweed (WA), Eventide Arts (MA), Avalon (WV), and the South Florida Folk Festival. He’s also taught singing, songwriting, and performance at the Augusta Heritage workshops (WV), Puget Sound Guitar Workshop (WA), Common Ground on the Hill (MD), Rowe Center (MA), Pendle Hill (PA), Lamb’s Retreat (MI), Wisconsin Stringalongs, the National Wellness Institute (WI), and for many other songwriting groups and associations around the country. David is thrilled and honored to return to us with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories, sense of the hilarious, and powerful singing and subject matter.  www.davidrothmusic.com

"David and his music will touch you to the very depths of your soul. He’ll make you laugh and cry, inspire you to rise and fly..."
Jack Canfield, co-author, Chicken Soup for the Soul

www.davidrothmusic.com

Cosy Sheridan has been called one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful singer/songwriters.  She and her wryly insightful songs have been showcased everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Dr. Demento Show.  One of the pre-eminent songwriters on the folk scene to document the lives of modern women, she places the fast-paced culture of 21st century America into a  mythic context with insightful, energetic and at times comic effect. The Cornell Folksong  Society wrote, “she fuses Persephone with Botox; she is frank, feisty and sublimely, devilishly funny.”
 She first appeared on the national songwriter scene in 1992 when she won both the Kerrville, Newfolk and Telluride Troubadour award and released her critically acclaimed cd, "Quietly Led.  Since then she has released 6 more cds and written a one woman-show, “The Pomegranate Seed”.

In her live CD on Waterbug Records, Live At CedarHouse, listeners can sample a taste of Sheridan’s live performances and see why  The Boston Globe called her "a wonderfully lively, enormously amiable entertainer, with a keen and wicked eye for the excesses of our fast-food, tv-happy and noisome culture."
Sheridan remains the unapologetic voice of our conscience. - Album Network.

A buddhist monk in a twelve-step program trapped in the body of a singer-songwriter. - Albuquerque Tribune.

A wonderfully lively, very funny and enormously amiable entertainer, with a keen and wicked eye for the excesses of our fast-food, tv-happy and noisome culture - Boston Globe

When she's accepting her Grammy, we can all say we knew her when. - The Folk Music Quarterly.

Cosy has garnered top honors from the country's most prestigious songwriting contests - The Kerrville Folk Festival.

cosysheridan.com

Joel Tepp is a familiar face as a multi-instrument accompanist at Northwest concerts, in California, Kerrville and beyond. He has regularly added his slide guitar, harmonica and clarinet stylings to the music of Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, Danny O'Keefe, Iain Matthews, Spencer Davis, Caroline Aiken and many others. In addition to these artists, his recording credits include Jerry Garcia, Crazy Horse, John David Souther, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, several major films, television shows and much more. In his early years, he learned from the masters, not through recordings but by accompanying them on tour and gaining his musical knowledge face to face, one on one. His teachers and departed friends include Johnny Shines, Bukka White, Earl Hooker, John Lee Hooker, Sippi Wallace, Magic Sam and Shakey Jake.

As a “Born-Again Druid Folk Priestess”, Rebecca Troon has been in love with trees for many lifetimes. She grew up in Oregon with three older sisters in a musical family, started writing songs at 17, and began performing at 27.

She is “truly grateful for the inspiration, communication and joy” she finds in writing and performing. She loves seeing people laughing and sometimes crying as they identify with her lyrics. Her purpose is to be a source of love, music and healing.

She is currently working on her 2nd CD.

Rebecca, a.k.a."Troonie", has been called “A little Witch” by Wendy Waldman, “A Monster” by Kenny Edwards, and likened to “an Artesian Well on the beach in Georgia, where all the little birds know they can come and drink when the tide is low”, by Caroline Aiken. She treasures these words from these three people she adores as artists and as friends, and recommends to the reader that they stop reading this immediately, and go check out these three master’s inspiring music!

Favorite compliments from audience members:

The woman who came up with tears in her eyes and said, “Remember that song, ‘Killing Me Softly’ that Roberta Flack sang? That’s how I felt hearing your songs tonight!”

The drunk who walked out, saying, “I can’t stand this, it feels like I’m in church!”

A San Francisco native, Teresa Tudury started writing songs at age 12 and was performing in local nightclus by the time she was 15. She has played on and off in the Bay Area for years, and was a former cast member for "Beach Blanket Babylon" and was an actress at the Magic Theater. For almost two decades, she has been in Los Angeles where in addition to music gigs, she wrote comedy and worked as a character actress on stage and screen.

With a deep, sultry voice that magnetizes audiences, and a scathing comedic wit to match, Teresa Tudury is a consummate performer who pours out her original songs with power, verve, passion, and a disarming humor. Her vocal stylings are perfectly complemented by her bluesy guitar playing, and with that combination Teresa quickly gathers a dedicated following of fans wherever she plays.

Throughout her career, Teresa has recorded with such greats as Rickie Lee Jones, Lyle Lovett, Taj Mahal, Leo Kottke and Bonnie Bramlett. Now residing in Sonoma County, Teresa continues to perform and write new material, and has recently re-released her 1991 self-titled solo album on the Serpentine Music label. With plans for a CD of new material in the works and a steady stream of concerts coming up, Teresa Tudury is a gifted artist in her prime, and we are fortunate to have her around.

We are very pleased and fortunate to have singer/songwriter Sloan Wainwright join us again this year. In 15 years of performing, Sloan Wainwright has mesmerized audiences throughout the Northeast and Midwest, garnering enthusiastic and rave reviews.

Sloan's music is rapidly reaching a large audience, diverse in all manner of lifestyle and musical taste, yet all finding elements that speak directly to them. Her songs fearlessly delve into topics of love, loss and self discovery, tearing down and rebuilding old beliefs and finding strength from within.

sloanwainwright.com

Wendy Waldman is a critically acclaimed recording artist, as well as a writer of multi-platinum songs for other singers in musical genres ranging from country to pop, film, jazz, children's music and R&B. She is also a teacher, and one of the first woman record producers to have a major impact in the music industry. Wendy Waldman's career in the music business started with her band, Bryndle, in the late 1960s in Los Angeles. Bryndle was made up of Wendy Waldman and her friends Karla Bonoff, Kenny Edwards, and Andrew Gold.

Wendy Waldman went from Bryndle to a career as a solo artist and respected songwriter and producer. She has made eight critically acclaimed solo albums and toured extensively as well. In 1996, a "best of" collection was released on Warner Brothers. More than 70 other artists have recorded her songs in fields as diverse as pop, R&B, jazz, country, Latin and cowboy music. Among her biggest records are "Save The Best For Last" and "The Sweetest Days" by Vanessa Williams; "Fishin' In The Dark" and "Home Again In My Heart" by the Dirt Band; "Baby What About You" by Crystal Gayle; "I Owe You One" by Aaron Neville; and "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson.

Her songs have also been recorded by Maria Muldaur, Kim Carnes, Randy Travis, Randy Meisner, Edgar Winter, Jesse Colin Young, Percy Sledge, Juice Newton, Linda Ronstadt, Judy Collins, Melissa Manchester, Rita Coolidge and Bette Midler to name just a few. Waldman became the first woman to produce country music extensively and was responsible for Susy Bogguss' award-winning debut album, as well as albums for the Forester Sisters, Jonathan Edwards, Matraca Berg and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Among other things, she also currently tours doing clinics for Taylor Guitars.

wendywaldman.com

On the boards since age 5, Amy earned a B.S.E. in Performing Arts, followed by a "Masters in Experience" on stage from Omaha to Osaka, Boston to Bay City. Billboard named her an "Act to Watch, taking up the road Carole King, Janis Ian and Joni Mitchell have trod," for her mesmerizing celebrations of voice, vision, grace and grit. She makes brave new territory feel as familiar as your own backyard and takes you on a journey you never want to end. Along with performing and recording, Amy is a songwriting, vocal performance and voice recovery coach, and Adjunct Faculty in songwriting at University of Miami.

Pat took a convoluted path to folk music, winding his way through rock, heavy metal, and jazz. He started with guitar, shifted to bass, moved to saxophone, and then quit music entirely before a return in 1993, a time when he also began composing songs. By 2001, he left a teaching career to pursue music full time and does so in the broadest way possible. An adept improviser and accompanist, he is sought after as a collaborator, sideman and session musician, with numerous recording credits to date. His monthly e-mail column, "A Few Choice Words," is read by thousands of subscribers. He is a music educator of note, teaching workshops on writing, interpreting, and rearranging songs, on slide guitar and other guitar techniques, and various topics of music history.

His performances--part fireside chat, part meditation on matters earthly and transcendent--feature his originals. In addition to his own tunes, he is quick to offer up a newly-discovered lyric from another performer, or a fresh arrangement of a traditional song, delighting in introducing his audience to innovative material. With flowing red hair and zen-like calm, Pat embraces his audience with the sincerity of his music and the clarity of his voice, inviting them in.

Pat views his life and his music as a journey, populated with an ever-shifting landscape of people, places and emotions. It is a journey he is eager to share with others, knowing that it is the experiences along the way, not the arrival, that initiate the most profound changes.

Pat's fifth CD, Heaven Is So High...And I'm So Far Down, was released in July '06, and has receivved nationwide airplay on folk and specialty radio programs. The disc features standout originals like "I Will Walk With You," the a cappella "Raise My Voice and Sing," and the title track. The CD also includes distinctive versions of Bob Dylan's "Oxford Town," Dave Carter's "When I Go," and a swampy, rousing version of "You Got To Move," featuring Abbie Gardner of Red Molly. His previous CD, Waiting for the Water, also received wide radio play, reaching #4 on the FolkDJ charts in February 2005, and remaining on the charts for months afterward.

www.patwictor.com