JAMES LEVA
James Leva has been active in the old-time music scene since the 1970s, and he has learned traditional music first-hand through visits with many of the masters of the older generation, in particular fiddler Tommy Jarrell and ballad singer Doug Wallin, but also Fred Cockerham, Paul Sutphin, Burl and Sherman Hammons, Melvin Wine, and Art Stamper. Over the years he has won acclaim for his fiddling, singing, and songwriting. He has won scores of fiddle contests throughout the Southern Appalachian region, and he has performed at major festivals throughout North America and Europe. James has recorded with Irish guitarist John Doyle, Cajun musicians Sam Broussard and David Greely, old-time master Bruce Molsky, bluegrass bassist Mark Schatz, and guitarist David Grier. His Rounder recordings with Carol Elizabeth Jones, featuring all original material, have been widely praised in the national press. Sing Out! magazine calls him “one of the over-looked treasures of traditional music.” www.jamesleva.com

JESSE WELLS
Jesse Wells grew up in Red Bush, Kentucky, and started attending fiddler’s conventions and festivals at an early age. His music has been greatly influenced by his father Jaime Wells, an old-time fiddler. Adept on fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin, Jesse has performed with the Clack Mountain String Band, as well as Kentucky Wild Horse, the Dirk Powell Band, and Midnight Call with Don Rigsby. He lives in Morehead, KY, where he works as an archivist and professor of traditional music at Morehead State University’s Kentucky Center for Traditional Music and hosts a weekly radio program, Pickin’ Parlor, featuring traditional music from Kentucky. Jesse has taught workshops at the Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Appalshop, and the Old Town School of Folk Music. www.myspace.com/kentuckyfiddle

ALICE GERRARD
Singer/songwriter/musician Alice Gerrard has performed on more than twenty recordings. She has produced or written liner notes for a dozen more, and she has co-produced and appeared in two documentary films about Appalachian music. Her numerous honors include a Virginia Arts Commission Award, the North Carolina Folklore Society’s Tommy Jarrell Award, and an Indie Award. In 1987, Alice founded the Old-Time Music Group, a non-profit organization which oversees publication of the Old-Time Herald magazine. Known for her groundbreaking collaboration with Appalachian singer Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and 70s, this duo produced four classic LPs and was a major influence and inspiration for scores of young women singers. Her solo CDs, Calling Me Home and Pieces of My Heart received critical acclaim, and she recently released a CD, Road to Agate Hill, in connection with Lee Smith’s book, On Agate Hill. She tours and performs solo, with the Herald Angels, and with Tom Sauber and Brad Leftwich as Tom, Brad & Alice. www.alicegerrard.com

SUSIE GOEHRING
Susie Goehring has been playing old-time fiddle and guitar and singing Appalachian ballads and Carter Family songs since the late 1970s, when she first joined forces with long-time musical partners Jeff and Rick Goehring. This musical trio formed the core of various incarnations of the Red Mules, an old-time string band that actively performed at festivals, music and dance camps, square dances, and social gatherings throughout the 1980s and 90s. Susie, who is recognized as a strong old-time style back-up guitar player and singer, can be heard on the recent CD, Starch & Iron with fiddler Rayna Gellert.

RON PEN
Ron is a performer and scholar of the music of the Appalachian region. A founding member of the Appalachian Association of Sacred Harp Singers, with whom he performed on NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion, Ron is also Professor of American Music and Director of the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music at the University of Kentucky. He started fiddling nearly thirty years ago in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and currently plays with Lettuce Turnip the Beet. Ron has participated in various folk workshops across the region including the Hindman Settlement School’s Folk Week, Augusta, Berea’s Christmas Dance School, and many times at Swannanoa.

DON PEDI
A spectacular mountain dulcimer player who can match the fiddle note-for-note on tunes, Don’s playing is a welcome addition at dances, concerts, and jam sessions, and he has won numerous awards for his innovative playing. Don has performed at many festivals across the country, including the 2003 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC, and he played music and appeared in the film, Songcatcher. www.donpedi.com

SHAY GARRIOCK
Old-time fiddler and Virginia native Shay Garriock learned many of his tunes from old-timers in the Blue Ridge of southwest Virginia and adjacent North Carolina. Since 1985, he has performed with banjo player Mac Traynham, keeping alive the traditional musical heritage of this region. Shay and Mac are local favorites at the Floyd (VA) Country Store, and they recently released an album of their music, Turkey on the Mountain, featuring old-time banjo and fiddle duets from the southwest Virginia Blue Ridge. Shay has won numerous awards for his fiddling, including first place Senior Old-Time Fiddle at the Appalachian Stringband festival at Clifftop, WV. He has taught fiddle for fifteen years and has also taught and performed at the Augusta Heritage Center, Minnesota’s MOTBA festival, the Hoppin’ John Fiddler’s Convention, and Sweetbriar College. He currently lives in Pittsboro, NC where he operates an online music store, SG Fiddles. www.sgfiddles.com