Bela Fleck and
Abigail Washburn - This banjo duo pairs Bela Fleck - regarded as the world’s
premier proponent of the instrument - with adventurous traditionalist,
singer/banjoist Abigail Washburn. Fleck has virtually reinvented the image and
the sound of the banjo through a performing and recording career that has taken
him all over the musical and geographical maps. A 15-time Grammy winner, Fleck
broke down musical barriers with his ensemble Béla Fleck and the Flecktones and
has taken on a wide array of musical experiments, from writing a concerto for
the Nashville Symphony to exploring the banjo’s African roots to jazz duos with
Chick Corea. Meanwhile, Washburn’s music has ranged from her 2005, bi-lingual
solo release, “Song of the Traveling Daughter,” and the “chamber roots” sound
of the Sparrow Quartet (which often included Fleck) to the rhythms, sounds and
stories of “Afterquake,” her fundraiser CD for the Sichuan earthquake victims.
Long taken with Chinese culture, Washburn is fluent in Mandarin and has become
something of a cultural ambassador. In conjunction 2011's “City of Refuge,” she
completed a month-long tour of China’s Silk Road. The couple’s new, self-titled
release, “Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn,” is a front porch banjo and vocal
album of new music, Appalachian murder ballads, gospel, chamber and blues.
Kate Miller-Heidke
- Trained as an operatic vocalist, Australian Kate Miller-Heidke took a
last-minute detour into pop music. Her 2007 full-length debut, “Little Eve,”
landed near the top of the ARIA charts, was certified Platinum, and garnered
four ARIA nominations. The follow-up, 2008's “Curiouser,” received multiple
nominations at the 2009 ARIA awards and the first single, “Caught In The
Crowd,” made Miller-Heidke and her husband/guitarist/collaborato Keir Nuttal
the first Australians to win the Grand Prize in Nashville’s International
Songwriting Competition (out of 17,000 entries). In 2012, she issued
“Nightflight,” which debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes album charts, and then
supported the re-formed Ben Folds Five on more than 100 shows. The couple’s
electronic side project, “Fatty Gets A Stylist,” has garnered attention since
being used in a commercial for the New York Lottery. In 2012, Miller-Heidke
sang roles in the English National Opera’s productions of “The Death Of
Klinghoffer” and “Sunken Garden.” After three albums and seven years with Sony
Records, Miller-Heidke issued her new record, “O Vertigo!” on an indie label.
Janiva Magness
- Powerhouse singer Janiva Magness is no stranger to blues fans - in 2006 and
2007 she was voted “Best Contemporary Female Artist” in the Blues Music Awards,
and she’s appeared at blues festivals in the U.S., Switzerland and Belgium.
With a two-and-a-half octave range, she also starred in a production of “Ain't
Nothin' But the Blues,” which was staged at LA’s David Geffen Theater. Raised
in Detroit, Magness was inspired by the city’s mix of blues and soul, and
relocated to Southern California in the mid-‘80s. She has also endured personal
tragedies - the suicide of both her parents - that have informed her music and
changed her life. She is now a National Spokesperson for Casey Family Programs,
promoting National Foster Care Month. While signed to Chicago’s Alligator blues
label, she released three discs and, in addition to winning her fourth Blues
Music Award for “Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year,” she took honors
for “Song of the Year” and “B.B. King Entertainer of the Year.” Her new
release, “Original,” finds Magness pushing the boundaries of roots rock and
soul.
Storyman - Before changing their
name to Storyman, this Ireland-based duo released three acclaimed albums under
the moniker Guggenheim Grotto. Their work has earned a following thanks to
their unique electronic-infused brand of folk music that blending programmed
beats and acoustic instruments with evocative vocals and honest, observational
lyrics. But as they often do on Mountain Stage, band members Kevin May (piano,
lead vocals) and Mick Lynch (acoustic guitar, ukulele, stomp-board and vocals)
strip away the electronic elements for a performance that spotlights their
crisp, sibling-like harmony and memorable melodies. Storyman’s latest is called
This Time Round.
Gabriel Kahane - A composer and singer-songwriter, Kahane, like Kate
Miller-Heidke who appeared later on the same show, uses his extensive classical
training to create his own strand of American folk-pop music. A current
resident of New York, Gabriel Kahane has spent most of his life in California.
His latest release, The Ambassador, has been described as a portrait of Los
Angeles as viewed through the lens of ten street addresses. The ambitious
project has been hailed by Rolling Stone as “One of the year’s very best
albums.”