Musicians
World Stage
Orchester Praževica
Orchester Praževica plays high energy dance music drawing on the tradition of Eastern European Czardas and Gypsy Swing, but widely influenced by jazz and blues. Under the direction of Slovak-born and -raised guitarist and singer Tomáš Drgoň, this band delivers honest, authentic and entertaining mix of folklore, jazz and dance music.
Trio Trela
Trio Trela performs a collection of music and songs from around the world, with a special focus on the Mediterranean region.
Washington's Spelmanslag
Washington’s Spelmanslag is a group of musicians who love to play traditional Scandinavian music.
Lilt
Lilt is the Irish traditional music duo of Tina Eck on flute and tin whistle and Keith Carr on bouzouki and banjo. They play the traditional dance music of Ireland - jigs, reels, hornpipes, the occasional slow air or vocal number.
Klezcentricity
Klezcentricity creates wild and authentic modern Klezmer music featuring renowned clarinetist David Julian Gray and the brilliant accordionist Wendy Morrison.
Sudrabavots
Sudrabavots is an a capella Latvian folk ensemble whose influences include "all the above and the ancient harmonies of Latvia".
Djangolaya
Djangolaya is a group of musicians in the DC Metro Area celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt and gypsy jazz. We’re an acoustic group with a European flair. You’re likely to hear a wide range of music from swing to bossa nova to tango and more.
Grove Stage
Ebb & Nova
Ebb & Nova employs an alternative blend of indie and folk to weave emotional depth and panoramic styling in their lyrical songwriting and precise instrumentation. A vibrant combination of personality and professional musical performance commands Ebb & Nova's sets and drives them forward for each and every show.
Western Avenue String Band
Western Avenue String Band is not your father's bluegrass band. They arrange traditional bluegrass tunes with hard-driving melodies that will keep you on your toes.
Eryn Michel and Mike P. Ryan
With the tone of a worship singer who croons more about sin than salvation, Eryn Michel is a performing songwriter/singer who carries a torch for the 6/8 ballad. Eryn predominantly writes country songs for male or duet vocals, though she’ll follow a song wherever it wants to go, whether that is in Americana, folk, indie pop, or modern lullabies.
Mike P. Ryan's humble roots and keen eye for detail help him craft songs full of vivid images that that have been aptly described as “honest portraits of real people painted on a canvas of beautiful music.”
Paint Branch Creek
Paint Branch Creek is an acoustic musical collaboration conjuring visions of America - night shifts and mill towns, prairie lands and open road. Some reflect on where we've been, some question where we're going, and some just linger on old memories.
Susan Rowe and Graham Stone
Susan Rowe is a singer/songwriter influenced by such artists as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Hank Williams and George Gershwin. She has eclectic taste and it shines through in her music. Her songs are boosted by her well executed arsenal of potent guitar work and piano finesse with a variety of rhythm styles that seem inevitably perfect for each song.
Graham Stone Music brings together a unique combination of roots, folk and Americana-styled songs to forge a new path and a fresh take on old places, faces and ideas.
Tornado Rose
Tornado Rose is an Americana band playing a sexy, upbeat mix of acoustic ballads with an old time bluegrass feel. Crystalline vocals with power and clarity backed by the angelic autoharp, tasty upright bass and silky-smooth guitar.
Stream Ohrstrom
Karen Collins & The Backroads Band
One of the Washington area's top honky tonk bands, The Backroads Band plays classic country music like it was played back then. In no time at all, they'll have you out on the dance floor doing a boot scootin' two step or snuggling up close for a buckle polishing slow tune. Their sound is vintage country from the 1940s-1970s plus original roots songs written in that early country style.
Luke James Schaffer Band
Singer-songwriter Luke James Shaffer’s story is one of upbeat resolution through fickle times rife with ambivalence. Luke’s congenial easy-spirited musicality traverses alternative Americana, folk-pop, soul, and the intimate singer-songwriter genre.
Crossroads Stage
Stream Ohrstrom
Stream Ohrstrom has facilitated a thousand drum circles since 1988. Participants often comment on Stream’s skillful way of making everyone feel accepted and included, regardless of their previous experience, and on his easy and humorous way of communicating the basics of drumming and the empowering magic of rhythm.
Black Rhinoceros
Black Rhinoceros is Cello+Guitar (vocal x 2). Ahren and Erin weave together a tapestry of intricate melodies that brings to life their self deprecating nerd rock.
Robert AX Adams, Jr.
Robert AX Adams, Jr. is a Berklee-educated singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is a 2018 Six-String Theory Global Music Competition finalist in the Rhythm/Accompaniment category. His passion for music started early, with the discovery of his father’s Motown and Jackson 5 records at the age of 3.
Cletus Kennelly
Cletus Kennelly's eclectic music incorporates contemporary urban folk with elements of melodic pop and alternative rock. He accompanies his clear, passionate vocals with both the power and the delicacy of his 6 and 12-string guitars. His songs create vivid character portraits as they explore the gamut of human emotions, while using phonetic phrasing and word-play to accompany his rhythmic and percussive style of guitar playing.
Jimmy Stewart and Mark Sylvester
Jimmy Stewart is an acoustic finger-style guitar player whose pieces sweep from broad, atmospheric tonal landscapes to intricate, arpeggiated runs, viscerally conjuring the natural scenery that inspires so much of his music.
Mark Sylvester composes and performs instrumental guitar music. His many influences include folk and world music, J.S. Bach, cool jazz, prog rock, American primitive, and contemporary guitar music. Mark is also performing at this year's Festival as part of Trio Trela.
Marevin
Marevin is a duo project from singer-songwriters Marissa Zechinato and Kevin Stanley, featuring tight harmonies over guitar and keyboard.
Cynthia Marie and Sway Trio
A seasoned pianist with a love for improvisation, Cynthia Marie is passionate to create. From jazz & blues to folk, pop, and original works, her eclectic songs dance with ease and emotion. In Sway Trio, she collaborates with Michael Goldberg on guitar and Adam Patrick on percussion.
Drifting Spirits
Drifting Spirits uses native flutes, cello, and worldly percussion to imperceptibly blur the lines between improvisation and composition by drifting between the two.
Field Stage
Hayley Fahey Band
Hayley Fahey is a singer-songwriter who captivates audiences with her sparkling range and originality. What sets her apart, in addition to her writing and her voice, are her live stage performances. She takes the audience on a journey, with her soulful vocals, pop-driven hooks, blues grit, and her vivacious energy and enthusiasm.
Albino Rhino
Albino Rhino has become known for their raw energy, high-quality musicianship, and unforgettable funk. The band plays rock-infused funk music, with elements of jazz and an affinity for improvisational music that takes their audiences on an evolving rollercoaster.
Ashleigh Chevalier
Ashleigh Chevalier fuses her own brand of roots rock and funky jam blues with genre bending powerhouse vocals and a fiery, unforgettable stage performance. Supported by an all-star band, Chevalier never ceases to amaze and captivate audiences.
Sonic Spell
Sonic Spell combines the emotion of jazz and blues with the ferocity of funk and rock. Sultry, emotionally charged lyrics meet steadfast grooves. Tastefully placed guitar licks compliment ethereal flute lines, while the bass bounces and the saxophone wails.
Conor & The Wild Hunt
Conor & The Wild Hunt is a progressive Americana trio intent on inspiring positive change in a troubled world. With artful and driving instrumentation, impassioned duets, blooming three part harmonies, and a compelling stage presence, Conor & The Wild Hunt animates soulful original songs with modern takes on Americana traditions.
1 Identity
1 Identity was formed to create music that could help and inspire people in today's society. This engaging indie rock and R&B band will bring it on!
Jukehouse Bombers
The Jukehouse Bombers are an explosive five piece band dedicated to keeping the blues alive. Their original songwriting reflects influences of classic blues, soul, and southern rock served up with a contemporary flavor.
Abbott Stage
D.C. Labor Chorus
The DC Labor Chorus is a musical ensemble from the Washington, D.C., area. Some participants are professional musicians, but most are union members and activists who just love to sing! The DC Labor Chorus performs at concerts, rallies, demonstrations, and picket lines.
Mara Yaffee
Mara Yaffee is a singer who explores the space between simple song and high art, particularly that of the Baroque period and earlier. Storytelling is a key component in her interpretations.
The Devil's Tailors
The Devil's Tailors is a high energy Scottish Celtic band, heavy on pipes and fiddle, with a repertoire of tunes and songs spanning four centuries. The band takes its name from one of the most famous reels in the fiddler's repertoire, "The De'il Amang the Tailors" (known as "The Devil's Dream" among Irish and American fiddlers).
Lulu's Fate
Lulu’s Fate performs a variety of traditional American music as well as original and “new traditional” songs and tunes. They combine virtuosic instrumentals with tight three-part harmonies to create new interpretations of traditional Appalachian music. They also mix in a variety of country blues, Dixieland, sea chanteys, southern string band tunes, and covers ranging from Hank Williams to Tom Waits.
Washington Revels Maritime Voices
Washington Revels Maritime Voices celebrates the sea and the inland waterways of America— the men who worked the great sailing ships, the women who sustained the shore-side communities, and the men and women who lived and worked on the canals, lakes and rivers. Sea chanteys—work songs created by ordinary seamen to accompany various specific tasks—are an important record of life on board ships. Other songs provide a glimpse into the life of both sailors and the landlubbers with whom they came in contact.
Lisa Null, Connie McKenna, Kevin Elam, Bea Lehman, Don Stallone, and Melissa Weaver Dunning
Lisa Null has been unearthing and singing traditional folksongs all her life. When Lisa sings, she creates a community where boundaries of time and culture disappear, if only for a moment, through the magic of choruses, refrains, and deep listening.
Connie McKenna is an award-winning Irish-American vocalist. She studied Irish Gaelic at University College of Galway in Ireland, and is the former lead singer/guitarist for the Irish band Ceoltoiri.
Kevin Elam is a multi-instrumentalist and singer of Irish traditional music. Kevin is a member of several bands and musical projects, including the Suspicious Cheese Lords, an all-male a capella group that performs medieval and Renaissance-era repertoire.
Bea Lehman performed traditional folk ballads and Appalachian songs at last year's Festival.
Don Stallone is well-known in the DC area for his work with such popular groups as Clam Chowder, Connemara, and Ironweed. He started singing chanteys and sea music (and just about anything else in about 7 languages that allowed harmony) in 1978 as a founding member and chanteyman for Clam Chowder.
Melissa Weaver Dunning is a singer of traditional ballads and songs, specializing in the music of England, Ireland and Scotland. Melissa's powerful and clear singing brings the old story songs to life and weaves vibrant pictures of life in another age.
Blue Panamuse
Blue Panamuse brings a lot of sass, a pinch of sorrow, and plenty of hot musicianship to blues and swing tunes that span the decades from the 1920s to today. Blue Panamuse draws its repertoire from classic blueswomen like Memphis Minnie, Sippie Wallace, Ida Cox, and Lil Green and swing-era greats such as Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Ella Fitzgerald, Irving Berlin, and Louis Armstrong--adding in a few tunes of more modern vintage, including original songs.
Grassy Nook Stage
The Next Generation
The Next Generation perform pop covers and original compositions with innovative arrangements and harmonies. Welcome them back from last year's Festival!
Maya Nicole
Singer-songwriter Maya Nicole primarily plays indie folk and acoustic covers. Her music includes instruments such as guitar, harmonica, baritone ukulele, and mandolin.
Knock on Wood Tappers
Knock On Wood Tap Studio (KOW) exists to train dancers of all ages and abilities in rhythm tap, an art form that allows the body to become a percussive instrument; to foster pride in cultural heritage among children, youth, and adults in the communities we serve; and to preserve and promote the uniquely American art of tap dance, ensuring that this art not only survives, but thrives. One of only three tap-only studios in the entire country!
Alex Alavi
Alex Alavi likes comics and animation, especially if they're funny. He plays a guitar too. He's currently working on being able to play and draw at the same time. He hasn't quite got it yet, but he's optimistic. He graduated from SVA with a BFA in Cartooning all the way back in Spring 2018
Grupo Rompe Cajon
Grupo Rompe Cajón is a youth group specializing in Afro-Peruvian music. The group's mission is to bring the rich folkloric traditions of Peru's coast to the DC community. The members age 7 to 12, and play a variety of Peruvian percussion instruments, including the cajón (box drum), the cajita (small box), quijada de burro (donkey jawbone), conga, bongo, and cowbell.
Lindsey Hirshfeld
Lindsey Hirshfeld is a Virginia-based singer-songwriter who offers up an array of compelling Americana songs that are melodic, organic and captivating. Her Americana style has been inspired by classic folk melodies and current Americana artists such as Brandi Carlile and the Lumineers, and is ever-evolving as she explores her emotional depths to create her own unique style.
Tabi Terusiak
Tabi Terusiak is a singer/songwriter who has caught the attention of many local venues, where her passionate lyrics, confident guitar playing, and spot-on vocals have won the crowds over. Lovers of Stevie Nicks, Sara Bareilles, and Nick Urb will hear their influences in her soulful music.
Hannah Jaye and the Hideaways
Hannah Jaye and the Hideaways' story-driven music combines soulful vocals, meaningful lyrics, and captivating instrumentals. With roots in bluegrass, country, blues, rock, and pop, they inspire a variety of audiences to dance and appreciate the little things in life.