VANCE GILBERT
Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90’s when the buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-multicultural arts teacher and jazz singer who was knocking ’em dead at open mikes. The word spread to New York of this Philadelphia-area born and raised performer; Shawn Colvin invited Vance Gilbert to be a special guest on her Fat City tour, and Gilbert took audiences across the country by storm. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its review of a show from that tour. Gilbert’s first three albums for the Rounder/Philo label are all essential additions to the American singer-songwriter collection. With guests as varied as Tuck and Patti, Jonatha Brooke, Patty Larkin, Vinx, and Jane Siberry, all three albums found significant niches on NAC (New Adult Contemporary) and Non-Commercial A3 (Adult Album Alternative) radio. His songwriting/performance combo workshops are legendary at such venues as the Rocky Mountain Song School and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and after seven albums, a solid sixteen-year solo career, two years opening tours for George Carlin, and songwriting recognized by everyone from Martina McBride to Trout Fishing In America, his workshops are not to be missed. www.vancegilbert.com

DAVID WILCOX
David Wilcox graduated from Warren Wilson College in 1985, and has been on the faculty and Advisory Board of the Swannanoa Gathering since its inception. The Cleveland-born Wilcox was inspired to play guitar after watching a fellow college student playing in a stairwell. David’s lyrical insight is matched by a lilting baritone voice, virtuosic guitar chops, and creative open tunings, giving him a range and tenderness rare in folk music. Within two years he had released his first album, and by 1989, he had signed with A&M Records. His first release on the label, How Did You Find Me Here, sold over 100,000 copies the first year, largely by word of mouth. Now, fifteen albums and over 750,000 discs into a career marked by personal revelation and wildly loyal fans, David continues to find and deliver joy, inspiration, and invention. His recent album, Out Beyond Ideas, a joint project with his wife Nance Pettit, features musical settings of sacred poetry from Saint Francis to Sufi mystic Rumi. His album, Airstream, released in February of 2008, is a rich, yet simple voice and guitar collection of songs recorded in the Airstream trailer in which they were written during a two year trip with his family. Reflecting on twenty years of record-making and touring, Wilcox says, “Music still stretches out before me like the headlights of a car into the night. It’s way beyond where I am, but it shows where I’m going. I used to think that my goal was to catch up, but now I’m grateful that the music is always going to be way out in front to inspire me.” David has taught songwriting and guitar workshops at The Omega Institute, The Rocky Mountain Song school and many other settings over the years. This year, David will be co-teaching with his wife, songwriter and healer Nance Pettit. They have taught and written together for the past 15 years. Nance is no stranger to Warren Wilson College, but a former psychology faculty member and Director of the Counseling Center. Nance now practices acupuncture in Asheville. www.davidwilcox.com

PETER MULVEY
As a self-described “city kid” from Milwaukee, Peter Mulvey played, wrote, and sang in bands while studying theatre at Marquette University. After graduating, he traveled to Ireland, where he learned the trade of busker on the streets of Dublin. The Irish Times called him, “consistently the most original and dynamic of the U.S. singer-songwriters to tour these shores.” Returning to the U.S. a few years later, he settled in Boston, building an audience through street and subway performing, while also immersing himself in the thriving musical community. With ten recordings to his credit, Mulvey has also scored music for theatre and modern dance, and has had numerous songs featured in film and television including various WB programs and PBS documentaries. The Washington Post described, “the subtle power of his voice, a husky, hushed baritone... understated, at once sophisticated and intimate... as cover-worthy as Randy Newman, Elvis Costello and Dar Williams.” In addition to his recorded works’ critical acclaim, Mulvey is also a serious and highly regarded disciple of the road. Touring rigorously, year in and year out, has made him who and what he is. Traveling from Ireland to Anchorage and all points in between, whether playing solo, duo, or with a full-on rock band, live performance is what defines his work and is where he shines. Most recently, his touring career took an interesting turn, when Mulvey decided to embark on the “Look Ma, No Gasoline Tour” - a ten day, 300 mile concert tour of southern Wisconsin, to which he rode entirely on his bicycle. www.petermulvey.com

KATE CAMPBELL
Since her recording debut in 1995 with the heart-rending Songs From The Levee, and the nine albums that followed, singer/songwriter Kate Campbell has put together a body of work matched by few artists in terms of consistency, honest self-examination and intimate artfulness. Her endearing, clear-water vocal delivery, eloquent gift for storytelling and easy command of a full-range of American music styles, have attracted the likes of Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Maura O’Connell, Buddy Miller and the heart of the Muscle Shoals classic soul and R&B hit-making machine as both admirers and collaborators. Campbell has wowed audiences at the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival (England), Merlefest, Philadelphia Folk Festival, and Port Fairy Folk Festival (Australia), been featured on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Mountain Stage, and had her story included in the debut issue of The Oxford American’s Southern Music series. As the daughter of a Baptist preacher from Sledge, Mississippi, Kate’s formative years were spent in the very core of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, and the indelible experiences of those years have shaped her heart, character and convictions ever since. www.katecampbell.com

CLIFF EBERHARDT
Red House recording artist Cliff Eberhardt knew by age seven that he was going to be a singer and songwriter. As a child Cliff taught himself to play guitar, piano, bass and drums. In his teens Eberhardt was fortunate enough to live close to the Main Point (one of the best folk clubs on the East Coast). He cut his teeth listening to the likes of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bonnie Raitt, and Mississippi John Hurt - receiving an early and impressive tutorial in acoustic music. At the same time, he was also listening to great pop songwriters like Cole Porter, the Gershwins, and Rodgers and Hart, which explains his penchant for great melodies and clever lyrical twists. A driving force of the Greenwich Village New Folk movement and well-known among his peers, Cliff’s songs have been covered by the likes of Richie Havens, Buffy Ste. Marie, Erasure, Lucy Kaplansky and the folk superstar band “Cry, Cry, Cry” (Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky). His new CD, The High Above and The Down Below, was on USA Today’s list of the five best albums of the year. “Eberhardt sings with passion and with wit... what makes his brand so rare is the self-assurance and poise he brings to his nearly flawless show.” – The New York Post. www.cliffeberhardt.com

BROOKS WILLIAMS
Brooks Williams is an electrifying guitarist and singer/songwriter and one of the most entertaining, engaging and versatile performers on the circuit today. A Statesboro, GA native now living in western Massachusetts, Williams has been called “one of America’s musical treasures” by Dirty Linen magazine. With awe-inspiring fingerpicking, mind-blowing originals, and bluesy resonator slide guitar, Williams was named one of the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists by digitaldreamdoor.com. From major festival stages like Newport, Philly and Winnipeg, to intimate listening rooms, Brooks Williams is a 20-year veteran of the road. He tours throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and in 2008, will perform in Istanbul, Turkey. Brooks Williams has recorded 16 CDs on labels such as Green Linnet, Signature Sounds, and Solid Air, including his 2008 tour-de-force The Time I Spend With You. Williams has appeared on WXPN’s World Café, BBC-Belfast, and has been hailed by such publications as Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, and Blues Review. Throughout his career, Brooks has found time to maintain a professional teaching schedule. Brooks teaches roots guitar at Western New England College, and is in great demand on the summer guitar camp circuit. Given his popular and unique approach to guitar teaching, in 2008 Williams is scheduled to film his two-part “Adventuresome Guitar” workshop on Woodhall Music DVDs. Brooks will perform emcee and other duties during the week in his role as the Contemporary Folk Week Host. www.brookswilliams.com

ANAIS MITCHELL
Listening to Anais Mitchell perform her meticulously-written songs, fervently sung in a distinctive, almost childlike voice, you’d think it was her life mission to rouse the hearts and minds of listeners with an acoustic guitar, but Mitchell wasn’t always committed to the idea - she used to tell people she planned to become a journalist. Mitchell started writing songs at age 17, and eventually started performing them live during her school days, which took her on several trips to the Middle East, and also through Europe and Latin America, studying languages and world politics. This troubadour-like experience informs her music, and she has become adept at fusing her passion for literature and journalism into her lyrics and song. With a clutch of quiet, ambitious songs in her arsenal, Mitchell recorded her now out-of-print debut, The Song They Sang When Rome Fell, in a single afternoon in Austin, Texas. It was in Texas that Anais discovered the Kerrville Folk Festival, which honored her with their prestigious New Folk Award in 2003. Soon thereafter, with the help of Chicago-based Waterbug Records, Anais released her second album, Hymns For The Exiled. This stirring collection of guitar and voice cemented Mitchell’s status as a folksinger to watch, and the record eventually reached the ears of Ani DiFranco, who signed her to her Righteous Babe record label. Mitchell’s most recent album on Righteous Babe, The Brightness, was released in 2007, and her current writing project is Hadestown, a full-length “folk opera” based on the myth of Orpheus & Eurydice. www.anaismitchell.com