MATT GLASER
Matt Glaser is the Artistic Director of the American Roots Music Program at the Berklee College of Music, and was formerly chairman of the String Department at Berklee for 28 years. Matt is the first and only recipient of the Stephane Grappelli Memorial Award, “In recognition of his significant contribution to the teaching and playing of improvised string music in America”, presented by the American String Teachers Association with the National School Orchestra Association. He has performed widely in a variety of idioms ranging from jazz to bluegrass to early music. He has published four books on contemporary violin styles including Jazz Violin, co-authored with the late Stephane Grappelli. He has written for many newspapers and music magazines including the Village Voice, Strings, and Acoustic Musician. He has performed with Stephane Grappelli, David Grisman, Lee Konitz, Bob Dylan, J Geils, Leo Kottke, Joe Lovano, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Kenny Werner, Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck, the Waverly Consort, Fiddle Fever, and most recently with Wayfaring Strangers--a band that fuses jazz and folk music. The Boston Herald called him “possibly America’s most versatile violinist.” Matt served on the board of advisors of the Ken Burns’ Jazz documentary, and appears in the film as a talking head. Matt serves on the board of directors of Chamber Music America and the American String Teachers Association. He has performed at the White House, and at Carnegie Hall with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor as part of Stephane Grappelli’s 80th birthday concert. He has taught at the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp, University of Miami, American String Teacher Association conferences, International Association of Jazz Educator conferences, and many others.

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, performing as a guest soloist with the Cincinnati Pops and New York Pops orchestras, 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. 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

CASEY DRIESSEN
Casey grew up in southern Minnesota, with tater-tot hot dish and popsicles for physical nourishment, and bluegrass, western swing, and jazz to nourish his ears. Upon graduation from the Berklee College of Music, he moved to Music City USA, home of the Grand Old Opry, the Station Inn, George Jones, the Wooten brothers, and hot chicken – Nashville TN. With his trusty sidekick, “5-String Fiddle,” Casey has spent the last decade in studios, on stages, and crammed into various forms of transportation, traveling across the North American continent and over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, not only as a sideman for Béla Fleck, The Sparrow Quartet, Tim O’Brien, Darrell Scott, Steve Earle, and Frank Vignola, but also as a solo artist with his own band, a drums/bass/fiddle power trio called The Colorfools. In 2006, he released his debut recording, 3D, on Sugar Hill Records, which was later nominated for a Grammy. www.caseydriessen.com

APRIL VERCH
Born, raised and now living in Pembroke, Ontario, in the Ottawa Valley where her family has lived for generations, April grew up in an area with a rich, distinctive musical and stepdancing tradition shaped by the diverse roots of the immigrants drawn to the region’s lumber camps. April began taking stepdancing lessons at age three, but soon picked up the fiddle, as well. Her talents in both arenas quickly became evident, and by the time she finished high school, she had recorded her first two self-released albums, was touring full time, and was teaching at fiddle camps. It was April’s time spent studying music at Berklee College of Music in Boston that first lead her to blend together different forms of traditional music to form her own distinct sound. She then launched her professional career by winning the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddle Championship and the Canadian Open Fiddle Championship, the first and only woman to win both. Now April leads The April Verch Band” featuring world-class musicians Clay Ross on guitar and Cody Walters on upright & electric bass and banjo. Together they tour tirelessly across Canada, the United States, the U.K., Australia and Europe. They have established a reputation as consummate performers, winning over audiences not only with sheer virtuosity on their respective instruments, but also with charm, humor and boundless energy on stage. April has released seven recordings to date, and her 2001 Rounder Records release, Verchuosity, earned a JUNO nomination for “Best Roots/Traditional Album”. www.aprilverch.com

EDEN MACADAM-SOMER
Eden MacAdam-Somer is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians performing today. With roots in classical music, she has also grown to love traditional fiddling, jazz, and folk music from around the world. Now, from symphony halls to coffee houses, she beguiles her audiences with a style that is truly her own. Since 2004, Eden has spent most of her time touring with the folk band, Notorious, performing from Alaska to Hawaii, all over the continental US, and in the UK and India. In between tours, Eden maintains an active career as recording artist and composer, violinist with the Maestro Chamber Players, and student at the New England Conservatory of Music. She also loves working in her garden and hiking in the woods near her home with Larry Unger in Lincoln, MA. www.fiddlegarden.net

JUDY HYMAN
With roots in classical training, traditional American fiddle music, and modern rock, Judy Hyman is a founding member of the inventive, traditionally-rooted band, The Horse Flies, with whom she has toured extensively and recorded eight albums. With The Horse Flies, she has appeared on MTV, A Prairie Home Companion, All Things Considered, World Cafe and Mountain Stage and has been written about in Rolling Stone, Musician magazine, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. Judy has also toured and recorded with pop singer Natalie Merchant’s band, and appears on Merchant’s album, The House Carpenter’s Daughter, which represents the folk music from these tours. She has been the subject of a cover article in Fiddler magazine and has taught at numerous programs and camps including Mark O’Connor’s San Diego Strings Conference; Mark O’Connor’s Tennessee Fiddle Camp, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Augusta Heritage Center, Pinewoods, Ashokan Fiddle & Dance, The Swannanoa Gathering, and many more. Judy has scored a number of feature films and documentaries, and in 2006 she won an Emmy from The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category: Musical Composition/Arrangement: Special Achievement for her music for the documentary, The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson and Wine.

SUZY THOMPSON
Suzy Thompson has made a specialty of pre-war blues fiddle, and appears on Geoff Muldaur & the Texas Sheiks’ new CD as well as on recordings by Maria Muldaur, Del Rey, the Todalo Shakers, and her own recordings both solo and with her husband Eric. She’s also an expert Cajun fiddler who studied with Dewey Balfa under an NEA grant, made two award-winning CDs with the California Cajun Orchestra, and recorded with the Savoy Doucet Trio and D.L. Menard. Suzy has taught blues fiddle for many years at Centrum’s Country Blues Week and has also taught at Augusta (Cajun-Creole and Old Time Weeks), Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Lark in the Morning, and Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. www.bluegrassintentions.com/suzy.htm

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

BEN SOLLEE
Kentucky-born cellist Ben Sollee has performed around the world with a wide variety of musicians, including avant-garde bluesman Otis Taylor, and the genre-bending Abigail Washburn as a member of the Sparrow Quartet. Classically-trained, Ben has also been recognized for his unique playing style and songwriting on NPR’s All Things Considered. In 2008, Ben’s solo debut, Learning to Bend was voted one of the Top Ten records of the year by No Depression magazine. His new release, Dear Companion, is a collaborative effort with Daniel Martin Moore and Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) to raise awareness about the issue of mountaintop-removal coal mining in central Appalachia. www.bensollee.com

LARRY UNGER
Larry Unger has been a full-time musician since 1984 and has presented a diverse range of musical performances across the United States, Europe, India and Scandinavia. Called a “master guitarist” by Dirty Linen, Unger has played with many top contra dance bands and has accompanied such fiddlers as Judy Hyman, Matt Glaser, and Lissa Schneckenburger. Larry’s original waltzes and fiddle tunes have been played and recorded by musicians around the world and can also be heard in the Ken Burns documentary, The National Parks. Initially studying blues guitar with Etta Baker and John Jackson and later taking up the banjo and bass, Unger has become one of the most sought-after rhythm players in the country. He has a great breadth of understanding of traditional music to complement his considerable technical proficiency and enjoys telling stories about the origins of his music and the people who taught him. www.larryunger.net

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

SAM BARTLETT
Sam Bartlett noodled on his grandmother’s mandolin at an early age, but did not start learning the instrument until he saw one played at a contra dance when he was 16. He has studied mandolin with Tiny Moore and Peter Ostoushko, and pursued the instrument mostly as a dance musician for the past 30 years. He has appeared on recordings with Dirk Powell, David Greely, Wild Asparagus, Larry Unger, Notorious, Sonny Landreth, and Dave Matthews. His original music has been featured and profiled on NPR’s All Things Considered, Salon.com, and the Thistle & Shamrock. www.sambartlett.com

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

ADAM TANNER
Adam grew up in northern California, and was exposed to old-time and bluegrass music in his early teens. Proficient on fiddle, mandolin and guitar he spent countless hours slowing down records trying to pick out every detail of the traditional music he loved. Adam’s approach to playing the fiddle reflects the diversity of styles heard on the early 78rpm discs and field recordings from which he draws his greatest inspiration. Over the last six years, Adam has toured in both the US and Europe as a member of both The Crooked Jades string band and The Hunger Mountain Boys. In 2006, he taught both mandolin and fiddle during the Gathering’s Old-Time Music & Dance Week. He currently lives in Weaverville, NC, where he teaches fiddle, mandolin and guitar and performs with Mark Jackson as the The Twilite Broadcasters, a duo specializing in vintage country vocal harmonies and fiddle and mandolin tunes.

CODY WALTERS
Cody Walters grew up in rural northeastern Kansas, and started playing upright bass while attending college at the University of Kansas in 1999. The sound of the instrument grabbed hold of him and never let go. He has since played in various bands, performing different styles of music, from bluegrass to old-time, jazz to latin, folk and country and most spots in between. More recently he has begun to play clawhammer banjo to add a melody to the low end of his sound. He currently performs with the April Verch band.

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.