2013: Jeremy Kittel
U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and brilliant jazz violinist Jeremy Kittel holds a Masters in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music. He was a touring member of the Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet, and has appeared at the Kennedy Center, and on A Prairie Home Companion.
"Jeremy is an excellent musician." -Chick Corea
www.JeremyKittel.com
Jeremy Kittel with Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile and Kyle Sanna | Disconnect:
2013: Mike Compton
Grammy and IBMA award-winning mandolinist, singer, and recording artist Mike Compton has earned "a worldwide reputation as one of the modern masters of bluegrass mandolin...one of the most recognizable and respected mandolin voices anywhere" (Mandolin Magazine). He toured with John Hartford, Nashville Bluegrass Band, and was featured in the soundtracks for, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Cold Mountain". Wearing his signature pressed blue overalls and rocking and weaving with fluid body motion, Compton stuns not by tricks, but through his singing, his ability to engage a crowd, and through decades of honing his technique into the unique, one-of-a-kind Compton signature mandolin sound.
Mike Compton | Hallie's Hornpipe:2012: Ty Burhoe
A disciple of the great Indian tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain since 1990, Ty Burhoe is wholly dedicated to music as a career and as a spiritual path. He is internationally recognized for his uplifting presence in Indian classical settings, and for his unique collaborations, weaving tabla with other world traditions. Ty is instrumental in bringing together the many faces of the arts. Founder of Tala Records, he teaches "Sound and Spirit" workshops focused on the spiritual nature of sound, as well as tabla intensives throughout the world.
www.TyBurhoe.com
2012: Abigail Washburn
Singing, songwriting, Nashville-based clawhammer banjoist Abigail Washburn is "a daring, definite talent" (Wall Street Journal) who's every bit as interested in the present and the future as she is in the past, and every bit as attuned to the global as she is to the local. From chinese folk songs to old-time sensation Uncle Earl to her own Sparrow Quartet (which featured 10-time Grammy winning banjoist Bela Fleck), Abigail pairs venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, and the results feel both strangely familiar and unlike anything anybody's ever heard before- -The New York Times
www.AbigailWashburn.com
2012: Tim O'Brien
A winner of multiple Grammy and IBMA Awards, Tim O'Brien is recognized as one of the most influential performers and songwriters in acoustic and bluegrass music. Since he first gained renown as a founding member of one of bluegrass' premiere bands, Hot Rize, Tim has gone on to release nearly a dozen highly acclaimed albums, collaborating with numerous artists such as Del McCoury, Earl Scruggs, Edgar Meyer, Darrell Scott, Maura O'Connell, Paul Brady, Seamus Egan, Kathy Mattea and Steve Earle.
www.TimOBrien.net
Mollie O'Brien and Rich Moore (2012)
Grammy winning vocalist Mollie O'Brien approaches blues, Bluegrass, Jazz, R&B, gospel, southern mountain traditional, you name it- with an ease that makes you think she was steeped in the style since the first time a note left her throat. Mollie's many recordings are a tribute to the variety of her taste and the versatility of her performance, including several releases with her brother Tim, and collaborations with Garrison Keillor and Robin & Linda Williams as the Hopeful Gospel Quartet. She performs alongside her husband and brilliant guitarist Rich Moore.
