PAUL ANASTASIO
Paul Anastasio began studying the violin at age nine. Originally trained as a classical violinist, he soon began exploring the worlds of American popular and folk music, performing in a bluegrass band and competing in fiddle contests while still in his teens. He soon found himself distracted from fiddle hoedowns by the hot sounds of swing violin and western swing fiddling. In the mid-1970s Paul had the good fortune to meet the great jazz violinist Joe Venuti, who regularly invited Paul to perform with him on stage in a Seattle club. Paul was later honored to learn that he was the only student ever invited to study at Joe’s home in Seattle. After Joe’s death, Paul continued an intensive study of Venuti’s style, and today he is considered one of the foremost authorities on Venuti’s passionate, swinging approach to jazz violin. Around this time, Paul was invited to join the band of country music legend Merle Haggard, and later toured with top western swing and country music bands Asleep at the Wheel, Larry Gatlin and Loretta Lynn. After performing in all fifty states, traveling over a million miles on band buses and eating in truck stops for the better part of ten years, he decided that he had enjoyed as much as he could stand and returned to his native Pacific Northwest. After thirty years studying the role of the violin in American popular music, Paul is considered not only a fine performer but a respected popular music historian as well. He has had the opportunity to study informally with the best fiddlers on the music scene, including country and western swing legends Cliff Bruner, Joe Holley, Johnny Gimble and Buddy Spicher. For some time, Paul has been consumed with the intensive study of the remarkable music of southwestern Mexico’s Tierra Caliente. He has made over twenty trips to Mexico to study with the top folk violinists, and is currently arranging this unique repertoire for small string ensembles and presenting it on the concert stage. He is in great demand as an instructor at summer music camps throughout the U.S. and Canada, writes a regular column for Fiddler magazine and teaches privately as well. This is Paul’s second time on staff at Fiddle Week. www.swingcatenterprises.com

LIZ KNOWLES
Liz Knowles is one of the few classical violinists to become adept at playing in an authentic Irish fiddling style. Liz completed a music degree at SUNY-Stony Brook, then moved to New York City where she performed everywhere from underground clubs to Lincoln Center. Her career as a fiddler has included a solo spot on the soundtrack of Neil Jordan’s film, Michael Collins, a two-year run as the soloist with the international touring company of Riverdance, as a member of the String Sisters, recording as a guest soloist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and appearing as solo violinist in the Broadway show, The Pirate Queen. She has performed and/or recorded with Tim O’Brien, Don Henley, Rachel Barton Pine, Marcus Roberts, Paula Cole and some of her favorite musicians in Irish music including Liz Carroll, John Doyle, Dennis Cahill, and Kieran O’Hare. She is currently the new musical director (and fiddler) for the Irish music and dance show, Celtic Legends, which is touring worldwide. In addition to tours and various other gigs on the road, she spends her time performing, recording, writing and arranging at home in Chicago, Illinois. www.lizknowles.com/.

JOE CRAVEN
Joe Craven is a madman with anything that has strings attached; violin, mandolin, tin can, bedpan, cookie tin, tenor guitar, mouth bow, banjo, berimbau, balalaika, boot ‘n lace, plus a world of percussion instruments including animal bones, squeeze toys, cake pans, waste cans, umbrella stands, martini shakers and: Himself. An advocate of the folk arts, Joe’s educational mission is to empower individuals to take possession of their own music and tell their stories by “demystifying” art through self-expression as a daily ritual. Educator, former museum curator, visual artist, actor/storyteller, festival emcee and former fiddler for 17 years with mandolinist David Grisman, Joe has recorded and played with folks ranging from jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli to Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia to The Persuasions. www.joecraven.com

DAVID GREELY
David Greely’s Cajun heritage simmered on the back burner while he was growing up near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but after years of fiddling in other styles, he woke up to the music and language of his ancestors and was completely consumed. Apprenticed to legendary fiddle master Dewey Balfa, he received firsthand wisdom in Cajun music that has earned him acclaim as an eloquent Cajun French songwriter, fiddler, singer, and researcher of nearly forgotten tunes, ballads, and stories. He has also been active in campaigns to preserve the Cajun French language and archival Cajun recordings. In 2004, he received an “Artist Fellowship Award in Folklife” by the Louisiana Division of the Arts. David is a founding member of the world-renowned Cajun group, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, which has just received its third nomination for a Grammy award. His new solo release is called Sud du sud/South of the South. www.davidgreely.com

KIMBERLEY FRASER
Kimberley Fraser was born on Cape Breton Island, and nurtured within its rich musical heritage. She first began to impress audiences at the age of three with her step-dancing talents, and soon thereafter took up both the fiddle and the piano. Though still in her 20s, Kimberley’s career is already a distinguished one. With two recordings to her credit, she has played with Cape Breton’s finest, including Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, Buddy MacMaster, Brenda Stubbert, Jerry Holland, Gordie Sampson and the late John Allan Cameron, and shared the stage with such notables as Alasdair Fraser, Lúnasa and Danú. Kimberley has already had an extensive touring career, ranging from a tour of Sweden with Cherish the Ladies, to the Celtic Connections festival in Scotland to performing for NATO troops in Afghanistan. Kimberley holds an honours degree in Celtic Studies and a minor in Jazz from St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and is currently studying at the Berklee College of Music. She has been a long-time instructor at Cape Breton’s renowned Gaelic College and Ceilidh Trail Music School and conducted workshops at the University of Wisconsin and the North Atlantic Fiddle Convention in Aberdeen, Scotland, Following the success of her award-winning recording, Falling on New Ground, Kimberley is currently working on her third album.

BARBARA LAMB
Growing up in the Pacific northwest, Barbara Lamb learned her fiddling chops by playing for square dances and Scandinavian dances. She started teaching American-style fiddling when she was fourteen, and her first student was an eleven-year-old Mark O’Connor. With Kenny Baker and Byron Berline as her bluegrass fiddling heroes, she began playing bluegrass when she was fifteen, and eventually, in 1994, she moved to Nashville, where she played with John Cowan, Scott Vestal, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka, Kathy Chiavola, Continental Divide and many more well-known bluegrass folks. She toured for twelve months as a fiddler with Asleep at the Wheel, and was a member of the genre-hopping swing band, Ranch Romance for seven years. She has recorded five solo CDs, including two for Sugar Hill Records, and works in Nashville as a freelance session player and producer. www.barbaralamb.com

DENNIS STROUGHMATT
Dennis Stroughmatt is a southern Illinois French-speaking creole and blues fiddler with deep roots in the traditions of the Mississippi River valley, including many years engaged in Louisiana fiddling traditions. Dennis was given his great-grandfather’s fiddle as a teenager, and in the twenty years since, has studied with southeastern Missouri French creole fiddle masters Roy Boyer and Charlie Pashia, swing/blues fiddle icon Wade Ray, Louisiana creole fiddlers Canray Fontenot and Black Allemand, and Louisiana Cajun swing stylist Hadley Castille. With a Masters degree in History from Southern Illinois University and a Quebecois Studies degree from The University of Quebec, Dennis approaches music from its roots and constantly explores the connections between swing, creole, blues, and old-time country fiddling. He has taught group fiddle workshops at numerous festivals, including The Great River Folk Festival and The Rhythm and Roots Festival, and taught group and private instruction at fiddle camps including The Wabash River Music Camp. He’s released solo recordings as well as recordings with his band, Creole Stomp on Swallow Records, Le Tracas de Morris with Creole accordionist Morris Ardoin, What You Come To Do with Creole accordionist Dexter Ardoin, and a new 2009 release with Grand Ole Opry Cajun accordionist Paul Gregoire. Dennis currently tours nationally and internationally with his groups, Creole Stomp and L’Esprit Creole.

BRAD LEFTWICH
Brad’s music is a direct link to the traditions of the southern Appalachian and Ozark mountains. He grew up hearing the old-time music of his father, grandfather, and great-uncle, and learned from many of the last great traditional musicians from the turn of the 20th century. A well-known fiddler, banjo player, and singer, Brad has been performing and teaching traditional music for some 30 years. Recordings of his music appear on the County, Copper Creek, Rounder, and Marimac labels, and he has published instructional materials with Homespun and Mel Bay. Brad has won the fiddle contest at the prestigious Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, West Virginia, and his fiddling has been acclaimed by critics in magazines as diverse as Billboard and Bluegrass Unlimited. He tours internationally and has performed at venues from Merlefest to the White House. These days Brad continues to appear with his wife and longtime musical partner Linda Higginbotham, often joined by friends, and also with Tom Sauber and Alice Gerrard in the trio Tom, Brad & Alice.

CALUM MACKINNON
Calum hails from the island of Tiree in the Hebrides. He started learning fiddle at an early age from a neighbor Willie Kemp who had himself studied with James Scott Skinner. Calum came to the US in the 1960’s and is today nationally-known as a tradition-bearer of the art of Scottish fiddling. He retired early from his aeronautical career, as he puts it, “giving up Boeing for bowing” He was runner up in the 1988 U.S. National Scottish Fiddling Competition, has returned to judge the Nationals on five occasions and has coached and tutored several National Champions. The infectious energy and sensitivity of Calum’s playing has made him a highly sought-after performer and teacher. His schedule of concerts workshops and dances has taken him across the U.S., Canada, Scotland England and Japan. Calum plays extensively for Scottish Country Dancing and conducts workshops on playing for dancing. He performs with Muriel Johnstone, Scotland’s premier country dance pianist, in concert and as a dance music duo, and the two have released a CD entitled It’s About Time. Calum has taught at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Pinewoods, Ramblewood, The Mastery of Scottish Arts Winter School in Washington State, and four previous years at Swannanoa. At home in Edmonds, WA, he offers private lessons and is musical director for the Northwest Scottish Fiddlers. www.calummackinnon.com

MIKE BLOCK
Mike Block performs in many genres and groups, including his own band for which he also sings and writes. In addition to playing in Mark O’Connor’s Appalachia Waltz Trio, Mike is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, Kristjan Jarvi’s Absolute Ensemble, Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, as well as the Flux Quartet, the Sirius String Quartet, and the Hanneke Cassel Band. Mike has performed on NPR’s St. Paul Sunday Morning, and on TV on VH1, Regis and Kelly, Late Night with Conan O’Brian, and he performed with Yo-Yo Ma and Allison Krauss on the CBS Early Show. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Mike’s former cello teachers include Richard Aaron, Joel Krosnick, and Darrett Adkins. Mike also trained with Pamela Devenport to become a Suzuki teacher. In the summers, Mike regularly teaches and performs at Mark O’Connor’s String Camps in New York and Los Angeles, the Kansas City Cello Clinic. This is his second Swannanoa Gathering.

FLYNN COHEN
Called “a versatile string virtuoso” by Dirty Linen magazine, Flynn Cohen has worked as a guitar accompanist for many notable acts in traditional acoustic music including: John Whelan, Cathie Ryan, Aoife Clancy, Adrienne Young, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Halali, The Sevens, Matt Glaser, Mark Simos, and Matt Brown. He currently performs with his wife Liz Simmons in their band Annalivia. Flynn has music degrees from Dartington College of Arts in England and Mills College in California. He was formerly a visiting lecturer at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, founding their Irish traditional music program, and is now on the Music faculty of Keene State College in New Hampshire. Flynn has taught guitar for the Boston Bluegrass Union (Adult Education & Kids Academy), Grey Fox and Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festivals, and the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia. www.myspace.com/flynncohen

JAMIE LAVAL
Jamie’s music making was born out of his Scottish and Irish heritage and further influenced by his studies in classical music, jazz, and ethnic music from around the world. In 2002, Jamie won the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship and now concertizes throughout the U.S. and Scotland. He has been acclaimed as “one of North America’s finest practitioners of traditional Scottish music,” – San Jose Mercury News and “the next Alasdair Fraser,” – Scotland Press and Post. After his student years at the Victoria Conservatory of Music Jamie simultaneously pursued careers as a solo fiddler and a professional symphony violinist. He has been an active contra dance and ceilidh band fiddler in the Pacific Northwest and recently moved to Asheville. Jamie has performed for Her Majesty, The Queen; on NBC’s Today Show, numerous Highland Games, and well-known venues throughout the U.S. His critically acclaimed CD, Shades of Green, can regularly be heard on NPR. Last year, Jamie met mandolinist Ashley Broder, with whom he now tours full-time. Their inaugural album, Zephyr In The Confetti Factory was one of five nominees for Best Traditional Song in the 2007 IMA Independent Music Awards. www.jamielaval.com

CARL JONES
Carl Jones has been involved in the old-time music community ever since he first attended fiddlers’ conventions in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia back in the 70’s. As a student in the commercial music program at the University of North Alabama, he was able to hear many great songwriters in the famous Muscle Shoals Studios. He later toured with Norman and Nancy Blake and James Bryan as a member of the Rising Fawn String Ensemble, and now often plays at home and abroad as part of a duo with Beverly Smith. Known for a humorous and enthusiastic, light-hearted approach, Carl has taught at many music camps around the country including Swannanoa, Pinewoods, Ashoken and Mars Hill. His songs have been recorded by the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Rickie Simpkins, Little Windows, and a growing list of others. A self-described “confusion enhancement specialist,” he considers it a real honor and treat to be part of your camp experience. www.smithnjones.net

ROGER BELLOW
The sideman of choice for a number of well-known artists, Roger Bellow is a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, educator and performer from South Carolina whom Bluegrass Unlimited describes as “a member of the elite circle of superlative pickers.” He has taught at a variety of prestigious workshops, including the Augusta Heritage Center and the Greater Yellowstone Music Camp, and has recorded and performed with numerous artists including renowned fiddlers Kenny Baker, Dale Potter and Paul Anastasio. He has performed throughout the world, and in 1995, received the South Carolina Folk Heritage Award, that state’s highest honor for traditional artists. In 2008, Roger released Vamos Cantando, a Spanish instructional songbook and CD.

JULIA WEATHERFORD
Fiddle Week Coordinator Julia Weatherford has been a full time artist/musician for more than 25 years. She played cello for 13 seasons with the Asheville Symphony, while moonlighting as a square dance fiddler. Julia has toured internationally as a dance musician, and performs regionally with Akira Satake, the string band, Far Horizons, a contra dance band, Fly by Night, and a classical trio, Trillium. Among her performance and teaching venues are the LEAF festival, the Black Mountain Festival, Berea Country Dance School, Pinewoods, Folkmoot International, and the Biltmore Estate. Julia teaches both cello and fiddle and has worked extensively as a cellist on recordings by various artists. In 2004, she released her debut CD, The View from Here, which was voted a top Celtic release by the listeners of public radio’s WNCW. She was the Artistic Director of the legendary Black Mountain Festival for many years, and as a textile artist, Julia is a long-time member of the Southern Highlands Crafts Guild. Her fabric work is available locally at the Folk Arts Center and the Arts and Heritage Gallery in the Grove Arcade. Julia has been the Swannanoa Gathering Logistics Assistant since 2005. www.juliaweatherford.com

NATALYA WEINSTEIN
Natalya is an accomplished teacher and performer in a variety of fiddle styles, including bluegrass, old-time and country. She began her musical career in Massachusetts as a classical violinist before gravitating towards American roots music and relocating to Asheville, NC. She is currently a lead teacher with the Junior Appalachian Musician Program, is a sought-after private teacher and studio musician, and is a member of two regionally touring bands, Polecat Creek and Lo-Fi Breakdown. www.natalyaweinstein.com

ANDREA HOAG
Andrea Hoag was the first non-Swede to graduate from the Folk Violin Pedagogy program at Malungs Folkhögskola, in 1984. She has studied intensively with elder fiddler masters Pekkos Gustaf and Nils Agenmark, among others. Her CD, Hambo in the Snow, with Loretta Kelley and Charlie Pilzer, won a Grammy nomination. Andrea is a versatile fiddler known also for her mastery of American and Celtic styles, and is a veteran of many music and dance camps around the U.S. and in Sweden. She has several recordings available, and also performs with Maggie Sansone, Sue Richards, Jody Marshall and Emerald Glen, and the bands, Cabaret Sauvignon and Serpentine. www.andreahoag.com

JEFF HERSK
In his five years in Asheville, Jeff has quickly become a fixture on the local music scene, playing and touring with jazz, swing, old-time, contradance, klezmer and bluegrass bands, and most notably with Grammy Award-winners David Holt, and Grand Ole Opry fiddler Bobby Hicks. Jeff recently recorded on the Ordinary Seasons project from Greensboro-based folk group, Polecat Creek, and also added his bass tones to This Piece of Ground, the latest CD from Asheville bluegrass group, LoFi Breakdown.

DENISA RULLMOSS
Denisa (known as “The Queen” to kids everywhere) will once again bring her exuberant, creative energies to the Gathering. She is a multi-talented and innovative organizer who has managed to retain a child’s viewpoint on the world while remaining a fully-functioning adult! Denisa is a part time Nanny, homeschooling mother, and Director for the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) Kid’s Village. Shaving cream, parachutes, bubbles and squirt guns are the tools of her trade, as she provides wild & wacky games and activities for families and kids everywhere. Her past accomplishments include co-founding the newspaper Mothertongue: A Progressive Parenting Source; Panther Paws, a public school newspaper for and by kids (funded by a grant from the Asheville City Schools Foundation), Kindred Kids, the Mothertongue paper for kids, and the newsletter HOME (Homeschooling Opens Minds Everyday). As a kid’s crafts & games specialist Denisa is excited to bring her silly songs, cool crafts and good times to the Gathering for the 15th year, as she teaches and coordinates the Children’s Program during Traditional Song/Fiddle, Celtic and Old-Time Weeks.