Hot Club of Cowtown - Austin, TX-based Hot Club of Cowtown was inspired by legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli's Hot Club of France, and the Western swing influence of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Adding traditional fiddle tunes and Tin Pan Alley standards to the mix, the group is among the youngest members ever to be inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame. The roots of HCoC go back to NYC in the mid-‘90s, when guitarist-vocalist Whit Smith and violinist-vocalist Elana James were members of Western Caravan, an 11-piece swing band. Since its 1998 debut, the group has become a favorite at festivals in this country and overseas, opening stadium shows for Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. In 2006 the band toured as musical ambassadors for the US State Department and became the first American band to tour Azerbaijan. A reviewer from London’s Guardian noted that the band has "spirit, originality and skill that would surely have impressed Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt back in the 1930s.” Hot Club’s current release, What Makes Bob Holler, was recorded in two days and finds the band recasting 14 Bob Wills’ tunes.

Horse Feathers - A chamber folk band from Portland, Oregon, Horse Feathers centers around singer-songwriter Justin Ringle and a rotating cast of supporting musicians adding strings, horns woodwinds and brass. Ringle grew up in Idaho, where he performed in several indie rock bands before moving to Portland, where he teamed up with Peter Broderick, a member of Norfolk & Western. Influenced by both the stark folk music of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska and the post-classical work of Scandinavian composer Max Richter, the duo released Words are Dead in 2006. The band signed with the Kill Rock Stars label the following year and released the stunning House with No Home which became one of the highest-selling debuts in the label’s history. Thistled Spring, released in 2010, marking the group's first release without Broderick. The band's fourth and current CD is titled Cynic’s New Year. 

Tim Easton - Before pursuing a solo career, Tim Easton was a member of Ohio bands Kosher Spears and the country-rocking Haynes Boys. Striking out on his own, he found a home at New West Records, and toured and mentored with the likes of Lucinda Williams and the Flatlanders. For his fifth release, Porcupine, Easton, recruited some former bandmates from Ohio and traveled to Nashville where he also tapped the considerable talents of noted guitarist Kenny Vaughn. Now living in Joshua Tree, Easton is also a visual artist who had a showing at this year’s SXSW conference.

The Whipsaws - Based in Anchorage, The Whipsaws formed in the mid-2000s and have cut a swathe that’s earned the hard-rocking quartet praise from seasoned vets like Lucinda Williams. In 2008, the Whipsaws headed south for three tours in the Lower 48 with the high point being appearances at SXSW. Its final SXSW gig was backing Tim Easton (who guested on 60 Watt Avenue) at the Continental Club with Lucinda Williams joining in. The group’s current release is self-titled and features hard-driving grooves, solid story lines and timeless tales.

Melissa Mitchell - A native of Kasilof, Alaska, singer-songwriter Melissa Mitchell has performed with artists including Jewel, Mason Jennings, the Indigo Girls and Greg Brown. Singing and writing poetry since the third grade, her art became her escape from a childhood that was lonely and tumultuous. In 2005, she became a volunteer for the Arts in Corrections Program at California’s Folsom Prison and on Thanksgiving eve of that year performed in a nationally broadcast concert with Michael Franti - the first live concert at the prison since the 1968 performance by Johnny Cash.