The Mammals are folksingers Ruth Ungar, Mike Merenda, and a cohort of compelling collaborators who form a touring quintet on the fiddle, banjo, guitar, organ, bass, and drums. Over the past 20 years they have quietly composed a canon of original songs (“some of the best songwriting of their generation.” -LA Times) that both reflect our culture and offer a vision of how the world might yet be.  “These days we sing about what we’re for over what we’re against,” says songwriter, Mike Merenda, and what they're for is "nothing short of sublime” according to Americana UK.

A rough and tumble decade in the 00's forged The Mammals identity as "subversive acoustic traditionalists” (Boston Globe) or a "party band with a conscience." Re-emerging in 2017 from a hibernation period during-which the band's founders explored new songwriting terrain, The Mammals “don’t suffer from multiple genre syndrome, they celebrate it as if gleefully aware that the sound barriers separating old-timey music, vintage pop and contemporary folk are as permeable as cotton” (Washington Post).  Their latest album, Nonet, "marshalls the defiant spirit needed to heal a damaged world" (No Depression).  In 2023 they released a series of singles recorded at their own Humble Abode Music, as well as issuing bonus material from 2020’s landmark Nonet album. 

Ruth is the daughter of legendary fiddler, Jay Ungar, composer of the storied “Ashokan Farewell.” You can catch The Mammals semi-annually at The Hoot, a folk festival they curate and produce at The Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, NY.

“Hailed by many as Americana trailblazers and exuding togetherness on stage, [The Mammals] are also gently-mannered activists with well-crafted songs that successfully ask potent questions and raise issues to probe how we can improve the planet. They deliver their material persuasively and in an eloquent manner with enjoyment of their music underpinning the approach overall. The music is the motivator throughout.”

"In the vanguard of today's vibrant folk revival" - PopMatters

“A national treasure.” - Anais Mitchell 

“One of New York State’s finest treasures.” - Americana UK 

"Some of the best folk-rock music you will ever hear.” - TapeOp 

“Some of the best songwriting of their generation.” - LA Times 

“These two will shatter any preconceived stereotypical notions of what it means to be a folk musician.” - Coastal Journal  

“Nonet marshals the defiant spirit needed to heal a damaged world”   - No Depression 

“The Mammals tell stories that are at once topical and timeless, bearing a message of hope 
and empowerment with a modern string-band sound.”   - Freshgrass Festival  

DREAM AWAY READING SERIES 6:30-7:30PM

Michael Dumanis is the author of two books of poems, Creature (Four Way Books, 2024) and My Soviet Union (University of Massachusetts Press), winner of the Juniper Prize for Poetry; and the co-editor of the anthology Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (Sarabande). Born in the Soviet Union, he emigrated to the United States when he was five. Recent work appears in American Poetry Review, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, The Common, Iowa Review, Poetry, and Waxwing. He lives in North Bennington, Vermont, and teaches at Bennington College, where he also serves as editor of Bennington Review.

Temim Fruchter is a queer nonbinary anti-Zionist Jewish writer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. She holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Maryland, and is the recipient of fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Vermont Studio Center, and a 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award. She is co-host of Pete’s Reading Series in Brooklyn. Her debut novel, CITY OF LAUGHTER, is out now on Grove Atlantic.

Rachel Lyon is the author of Self-Portrait with Boy, which was a finalist for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and Fruit of the Dead, which has been named a most anticipated book of 2024 by outlets including Elle, Oprah Daily, and People magazine, and is the NEPM Book Club Pick for July. A teacher of creative writing for various institutions, most recently Bennington College, Rachel's short work has appeared in One Story, The Rumpus, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, and elsewhere. A cofounder of Ditmas Lit and the Dream Away Reading Series, she lives with her husband and two small children in Western Massachusetts.

BILLY KEANE 8:00-10:00PM

A self-described wanderer, Berkshires-based indie-folk singer-songwriter Billy Keane has cultivated more than his share of lived-in experience. Australia-born and Connecticut-raised, he began singing in church, with an early draw towards any instrument he could get his hands on. “I’m a person who feels most authentic relative to other people when I’m communicating through music,” he says. Over the last two years as a solo artist, Keane has paved his way as one of the most exciting new acts in the indie-folk genre through extensive touring with his backing band The Waking Dream, bringing an open-format and psychedelic footprint on Keane’s catalog, supporting acts such as Molly Tuttle & The Golden Highway, The Gin Blossoms and Town Mountain, receiving regular play across Sirius XM’s The Spectrum and critical acclaim in American Songwriter, No Depression, Under The Radar and Relix Magazine.

Eking his way out of high school, Keane traveled, spending time in Brooklyn, Africa, Seattle, and working as a commercial deep sea diver in Louisiana. Years spent globetrotting honed his keen observations, a trait deeply infused in his music.

Keane is constantly sifting through the details, searching for a better understanding—of himself; of meaning, broadly; of the world at large. His sophomore album, Oh, These Days, is a collection he describes as the most authentic capture of the sound he hears resonating in his own heart: sonically, this translates to an amalgam of guitar, piano, synth, organ and harmonica weaving through his smooth, country-tinged vocals as he wanders through open-ended transition, reflection and contemplation. His superpower as a songwriter and storyteller is identifying the threads of connection between us all—whether the experience of simply observing the beauty of fresh flowers in a vase, finding a deeper understanding of unconditional love, or saying goodbye with admiration.

“I’ve always tried to walk my path authentically, but that path has led me to all kinds of interesting, foreign, strange places,” he says. “Along the way, I’ve certainly made mistakes, wrong turns, sometimes staying too long, sometimes leaving too soon. But somehow, throughout all of that, a thing lands on my shoulder over and over again, a thing with so much power and depth and breadth that everything else seems to not exactly fade away but to take its place in the proper order of things.”

“I think that thing is the present moment, mixed with a dose of gratitude and a pinch of wonder,” he continues. “That thing can take many forms, and sometimes that form is a bunch of fresh flowers, sitting right in front of me on the table, beautiful and humble and entropic and fleeting.”

Now settled in Massachusetts, Keane gained notoriety touring with The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow prior to his solo project. The five-person collective of songwriters garnered acclaim for their live shows melding Americana, rock and folk music and touring along both coasts, earning slots at acclaimed festivals and receiving critical praise from Rolling Stone and Paste among others. Over the years, Keane has performed at venues and festivals around the US, in many formats, from Nateva in Maine, FreshGrass at Mass MoCA to SXSW in Austin. He has shared stages with such notable names as James Taylor, Yo Yo Ma, The Gin Blossoms, Blues Traveler and many more. 

“Even within the heavy moments, the melancholic edge to some of my tunes, there is a foundation of joyful grace,” he says

Lisa Bastoni (Northampton, MA) is a 2022 & 2023 New England Music Award nominee (Roots), 2020 & 2019 Boston Music Award Nominee (Folk) and winner of 2019 New Folk at the esteemed Kerrville Folk Festival. In addition to her work in music, Lisa Bastoni is a visual artist and teacher, and mother to two young children. Lisa Bastoni has opened for/performed with Lori McKenna, Dar Williams, Regina Spektor, The Secret Sisters, Teddy Thompson, Rose Cousins, Mark Erelli, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, and many more. She performs regularly around New England, and occasionally beyond.

"Bright, attactive and wonderfully poetic..." (Americana-UK)

"Expressive, well-crafted songs..." (Glide Magazine)

"A beautiful melancholia...real and human." (Red Line Roots)

"Americana of the highest order, along the lines of Patty Griffin or Gretchen Peters" (Maverick UK)

“Lisa Bastoni is a genuine artist. Her articulate songs come from the soul, and resonate in the heart. She debuted her new album and a few other gorgeous songs last night with her producer, consummate musician Sean Staples. How We Want To Live is a deep and powerful album, and an affirmation of her triumph in the 2019 Kerrville New Folk Festival contest.
When I hear Lisa perform, I can’t help but draw a parallel between her songs and those of another New England treasure, Lori McKenna. Bastoni masters the same narrative beauty and poignancy in her compositions, and similarly balances demands of motherhood and career gracefully. The song, “Beautiful Girl,“ written for her daughter, is reflective of that — and Lisa Bastoni herself.”

About On The Water:

From salt water to sink water, from a cup of tea to the whole entire ocean, Lisa Bastoni’s latest album, On The Water, is a cycle of twelve vivid songs exploring observations of daily life and memories washed ashore.

Produced by Sean Staples, On The Water was recorded live over the course of three days at Zachariah Hickman’s Greedy Beast Studios in Watertown MA. The album features Sean Staples, Rich Hinman, James Rohr, and Chris Anzalone, with special guest vocalists Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst, and Rose Cousins. On The Water is Bastoni's first full-length release since 2019's How We Want to Live.

Randy Cormier is a solo singer/songwriter that tours the country playing clubs, honky tonks, resorts, cruise ships, bars, restaurants, theaters, RV Parks, living rooms, music venues, festivals and just about anywhere you'd go to a performance. With a song list of over 1000 songs, plus many of his own if needed, there is a great chance he will know a song-request. He will play for a quiet intimate dinner or get the crowd rocking along in a club! What ever event or facility you need Randy will adapt. He plays Country, Rock, Classic Rock, Easy Listening, Pop and all the standard favorites.

Galvanizer brings a blend of late 60's psychedelic rock, 70’s funk, and soul & 21st-century cosmic grease for your feet and mind to enjoy! 

THE BERKSHIRE BATERIA is a lively troupe of musicians who perform hot samba rhythms on traditional Brazilian percussive instruments.

Avi was born into a Jewish family in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. His father, historian Robert Michael, is the author of several books about the Holocaust. Jacob left home in his teen years to live in Boston. He spent the next several years developing skills as a songwriter and performer. While living in Boston, he was involved in the DIY music community The Whitehaus Family Record and released several amateur recordings with them. Jacob moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 2010 and began to focus on his professional career in music by playing small music festivals, and being featured in music blogs and samplers. Avi is a writer of the Diana DeMuth song "All the Liars" released in 2020

He unofficially released the song "Cannonball" in 2014 on social media.

In December 2015, he was brought to CMJ by the band Counting Crows who named him the best folk emerging superstar. He opened for Dr John in February 2016.

In March 2016, Avi was featured on A&R Report as an artist to watch.

Avi recorded his EP Surrender with Simone Felice (producer of the Billboard #1 Lumineers album Cleopatra) and members of the Felice Brothers.

In May 2020 Avi released a new album, Preservation, via Bandcamp.

Jacob is an independent artist, formerly signed to Skate Mountain Records, and related to popular ghost-folk songwriter Allysen Callery.

Roots music - Fierce folk

What happens when you are raised on the music of Dolly Parton in Southeast Kansas and Minnesota, move to Australia and learn to play the guitar?

You get Lisa Michelle Anderson. 

Lisa's music has been described as "fresh linen and well-worn denim occasionally splashed with whiskey, beer, and hot sauce." Sam Otis Hill

Lisa has played and recorded with Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam & Sound Garden), Adam Levy (Turn Turn Turn), Johnny Irion (Arlo Guthrie, Robert DeLeo), Cindy Lawson, Paul Hiraga (Down Pilot), Lori Wray,

Mark Engebretson (The Silverteens) and Sky Smeed.

Lisa was voted best Singer-Songwriter by the Minnesota Music Academy. She has opened for Warren Zevon, The Jayhawks, Marty Willson-Piper, Marianne Faithfull, Peter Case, Lowen & Navarro and a host of other greats. 

Lisa honed her songwriting in the Minneapolis music scene playing at iconic clubs First Avenue/7th St. Entry, The Uptown, The 400 Club and the Fine Line Music Cafe.

In 2020 and 2022 Lisa released two EP's produced and recorded by Johnny Irion (Arlo Guthrie) along with her single Key to the Door that was released by Aldora Britain Records (Rothley, UK). Her new single Joy Callin' was released on March 10, 2023 to be followed by a new full length LP.

Lisa recently returned from playing Aster Cafe - Minneapolis, MN and Rockwood Music Hall - New York, NY.  Lisa lives in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and has performed at Club Helsinki, The Dream Away Lodge and  frequently plays at the Apple Tree - Lenox and The Lion's Den - Stockbridge. She'll be heading back to Minneapolis to play at Art-A-Whirl in May. More dates coming soon! 

Lisa performs as a solo artist and with her band that includes producer/guitarist Johnny Irion.

MOON RADIO is a brand new project from the collaborative mind of Julia Haltigan & Yusuke Yamamoto. Featuring Julia’s floating vocals and Yusuke’s dreamy electric vibraphone and moody vintage synths, their sound is something between Sterolab, Cal Tjader + Air with a twist of exotica. Adding nostalgia to futurism, their music transcends unnerving times and leaves the listener feeling euphoric.

A song and story man, a compulsive adventurer, a rural Pennsylvania

yokel with a restless curiosity and a passion for street performance,

Leo DiSanto has hauled his wanderlust wagon and his guitar case

everywhere from gypsy camps in Transylvania to monasteries in the

high Himalaya to the boulevards of New Orleans to the wild interior of

Alaska. He sees this more or less as his existential mission: to inspire

and be inspired. Known for his imaginative songwriting, powerful

singing voice, exciting live performances, and captivating storytelling,

Leo is the founding front man of the award-winning, original

Amerikindasorta string band, Vinegar Creek Constituency, and is

currently (and indefinitely) on tour as a solo performer .

Belle-Skinner is a dark nostalgic singer-songwriter based in New York. With a hauntingly beautiful, lilting soprano and innate sense of melody she crafts tales of songbirds, sirens and desert nomads - nuanced and layered stories which bridge the gap between past and present. Though her influences cover a broad range of genres - from French chansons and Russian folk to contemporary alt-pop and rock - her voice often draws comparisons to the likes of Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Jeff Buckley, Mary Hopkin, and early St. Vincent.

Opening for acts such as Mitski, Cautious Clay, Haley Reinhart, Ondara, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Sean Rowe, Saint Saviour (Groove Armada), and Bill Ryder-Jones (Arctic Monkeys), she has performed at venerated venues like The Linda Performing Arts Center, Proctor's Theatre, The Bluebird Cafe, Bowery Ballroom, Caffe Lena, and the Roundhouse Theatre in London.

She has been a finalist in numerous prestigious songwriting competitions including Telluride Troubadour Competition, Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Contest, The Great American Songwriting Contest - and most recently the 2022 and 2023 Grassy Hill New Folk Competition at Kerrville Folk Festival, as well as winner of the 2022 Tarrytown Music Hall Rock the Hall Competition.

She has released 7 records since 2015: Operator, We Shut Our Eyes, Violets, The Early Covers, There Grows A Tree In Paradise, Love Spell - including most recently a live Joni Mitchell tribute album (now streaming everywhere). Her songs have been featured on several Spotify editorial playlists, and have garnered over 1 million streams worldwide.

The Lucky 5 is a hard-swinging jazz band that blends 30’s and 40’s style swing with gypsy and Parisian flavors to create a unique blend of music that stands by itself. Combining originals and creative reworks of old standards, The Lucky 5 continues to be a favorite among music lovers young and old alike.

The band is comprised of highly seasoned touring musicians, having been part of The Hunger Mountain Boys, Lauren Ambrose & The Leisure Class, and traveled, performed and recorded with artists such as Neko Case, Iris Dement, Bobby Previte, Del McCoury, Jim Lauderdale, just to name a few.

The Lucky 5 brings verve, high energy, and an unpredictable impulse to the tradition of jazz from the 20's, 30's and 40's, grooving deeply, and keeping feet moving on the dance floor.

DREAM AWAY READING SERIES 6:30-7:30PM

Annie Liontas is the genderqueer author of the crip-queer memoir Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery, which was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and selected as SELF Magazine’s Book of the Month.  Their debut novel, Let Me Explain You, was selected as New York Times Editors Choice, and their work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Electric Literature, BOMB, Lithub, The Believer, McSweeney’s, Oprah Daily, and elsewhere.  At GWU, Annie helped secure a Mellon Foundation grant on Disability Justice to bring storytelling to communities in the criminal justice system. They co-host the literary podcast LitFriends and live in Philadelphia with their wife, dog, and Email the rabbit. 

Emma Copley Eisenberg is a queer writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her first book, The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia, was named a New York Times Notable Book and was nominated for an Edgar Award, a Lambda Literary Award, and an Anthony Award, among other honors. Her fiction has appeared in Granta, McSweeney’s, VQR, American Short Fiction, and other publications. Raised in New York City, she lives in Philadelphia, where she co-founded Blue Stoop, a community hub for the literary arts. 

Abigail Rose Clarke is an author, somatic educator, writer, and artist. She has an inordinate amount of love for octopuses, the moon, and her extensive collection of anatomy books. She is the creator of The Somatic Tarot and The Body Oracle decks, and the author of Returning Home to Our Bodies: Reimagining the Relationship Between Our Bodies and the World. She has developed what she calls The Embodied Life Method, which centers on the relationship between body and culture, and how we can use the inherent wisdom of our bodies to be in direct conversation with our creativity and our aliveness.

BOBBY SWEET W/PETE ADAM & LARA TUPPER 8:00-10:00PM

Singer-songwriter Bobby Sweet is an engaging storyteller and dynamic performer. The Berkshire native and sixth generation musician has received praise for his Country-Americana style and story songs about real life. Stylistically, Bobby’s music resides somewhere between John Prine, Jackson Browne, and a countryfied Bruce Springsteen, with a hint of Texas Swing. Between 2008 and 2016, Bobby toured the US and Canada as lead guitarist with Arlo Guthrie. His travels with Guthrie included performances at Carnegie Hall, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, among many other landmark venues. Bobby’s songs have aired on many hit television series, such as Nashville, Touched By An Angel, Walker Texas Ranger, CSI, and Judging Amy. He has released seven solo albums to date. He will be performing with his trio featuring pedal steel guitarist Pete Adams and vocalist Lara Tupper. Folk-Americana songwriter Jordan Weller will open the show. Jordan’s soulful vocals and songwriting have been gaining attention since he returned to the Berkshires from Galveston, TX.

Nanan is a musician, environmentalist, teacher and luthier. He is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist known worldwide for his song "Casa da Floresta", which went viral and reached the entire world as a standard for the Portuguese language and agroecology. He was an active member of the Playing for Change Brazil school. In 2018, he founded the global mantra project Kosmik Band, which performs in India and at festivals around the world. He is also part of the trio 'O Destino do Clã' with Luizga and Gustavito from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The 'Movimento' tour carries the strength of the troubadour, in guitar and voice, and has already toured several states in Brazil, also passing through Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Panama, Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Songs that link ancestry and the present day, seeking a healthy link between the past and the future of our global village, Earth; with the strength of diversity in Brazilian and global roots.

"Nanan is a songbird, a maker of songs that clear the mind and brighten the spirit. Grounded in the magical energy of healing songs, his repertoire is crossed by world music, but rooted in the Latin American tradition of the bard, the one who illuminates the paths of the village with his guitar and voice, tearing the air with firmness and softness. His songs stir something like an ancestral memory of the great community that we once were and that we can perhaps become again, embodied in rich, synthetic instrumentation that breathes and pulses along with the melodies, in a fluid and subtle way... Because of the humble clarity with which it assumes its role in the world, it is music to expand the heart and feed the dream of a brighter and more conscious future."

- Luizga

Since she was 12 years old, Samoa Wilson has been captivating audiences with a voice the New York Times calls “sweet, effortless, old-timey”. Raised in the riverbed of traditional North American folk music, she came up in the Boston scene, under the wing of jug band and folk legend Jim Kweskin. Her two duos, the Four O’Clock Flowers, and Fatboy Wilson & Old Viejo Bones, have become staples of the thriving New York City folk community. Additionally, her vintage jazz trio has been filling ears with material from the golden era of 20's and 30's musical treasure; a sound at once more bluesy and more contemporary than expected. Her choice of repertoire makes the difference: torchy and honeyed renditions of haunting little-known tunes, from a woman’s perspective. From the source of the traditional and classic material, she poses a modern complaint, salutes the transformation of women’s work and suffering into women’s triumph. 

“ ... a deep understanding of the early era of recorded pop ... a gorgeous, fun sound.” — The Boston Herald 

“ ... the essence of unaffected musical storytelling.” — Nat Hentoff

Jackson Whalan is a lyricist and producer from Western Massachusetts who creates music to uplift and inspire listeners around the world. When he performs live, thought-provoking songs, freestyle-rapping topics from the crowd, and live instrumentation make for an unforgettable experience. Career highlights include collaborating with KRS-One, opening for Talib Kweli, The Soul Rebels, and Dua Saleh, and touring nationally as direct support for Moon Hooch, all while consistently releasing music and connecting with listeners. He is releasing new music every 4-6 weeks, including his new tracks "This Hits Different" and his cover of Mac Miller's "Circles". His music is available on all music streaming platforms under Jackson Whalan.

"Wes Pearce's songwriting steeps southern-appalachian folk in a boiling pot of early doo-wop, with a sweet spoonful of heartfelt lyricism, and a pinch of indie-rock to taste."

Devin Champlin is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, luthier and artist from Northwestern Washington. As the frontman/songwriter for Sons Of Rainier (along with bandmates Dean Johnson, Sam Gelband, and Charlie Meyer) he has carved out a unique voice in the contemporary indy-folk americana world. Intimate lyrics filled with optimistic existentialism are unhurriedly sung with a woodgrain baritone over fingerpicked guitar, the occasional elbow fiddle or keyboard. He prefers not to lean too hard into any specific genre, although he's satisfied with the umbrella term "folk" as the idea of non-commercial music made by people for the people. He's spent the better part of two decades studying traditional American musical styles, specifically country blues guitar and old time fiddle tunes, learning from old source recordings, elders in the scene, and the festival/camp community. Along with that cultural musical nerdery he has a prolific output of original music. As an artist with a DIY aesthetic, he uses songcraft as a medium to create imagery- along those lines he also produces animations, videos, paintings, drawings, and prints in tandem with his musical output. Keeping the audience (and himself) on their toes, he rarely plays the same thing twice- sometimes it may seem as if the wheels are about to fall off, but the train stays on the tracks and it's a satisfying roll. His recordings, solo and with Sons Of Rainier have found their way into the permanent library of hobos, widows, fry cooks, and fancy pants alike. In addition to his 2 releases with Sons Of Rainier he has a handful of self-released full length solo albums out, including one all instrumental album recorded on an Amtrak train, and the most recently released Lonesome Splendor In The Circus Tent (2024).

Party of the Sun is a psychedelic folk band from New Hampshire, composed of Ethan McBrien, Rory Hurley, and Garrett Cameron. Writing and recording in various nature-bound locations, such as a small New England sheep farm, the band has released five EPs and two full-length albums over just a few years. 

With coverage including Atwood Magazine, Under The Radar, Glide, and For The Rabbits, Party of the Sun’s music has been described as heartfelt, warm, and meditative.

Party of the Sun has been featured in television shows such as Deputy on Fox and Charmed on The CW. They have shared the stage with acts including Haley Heynderickx, William Tyler, Habibi, Robert Randolph, Footings, and more.

Hour, an instrumental ensemble that demonstrates a compositional ethos grounded in rote arrangement and group improvisation while aiming for breathy timbral intricacy and carefully balanced melodicism. Formed in the flourishing underground of West Philadelphia in the latter half of the 2010s, Hour fluctuates in size and scope around composer and multi-instrumentalist Michael Cormier-O'Leary (Friendship, 2nd Grade, Dear Life Records) who provides a clear yet open-ended harmonic framework and an ambitious ear towards evoking atmosphere, both expansive and intimate.

Their forthcoming album Ease the Work shows us life on the boundary of composition and improvisation. It reaches for the sweeping gestures and inspired pacing of classic film scores, Frank Sinatra ballads, and Scott Walker’s pop orchestra. It also retains the arresting intimacy of the band’s early work. Strings swell and harmonize in counterpoint with electric guitar, clarinet, and piano, while drums, synth pads, and field recordings complete the aural world. 

Brian Kantor on the inspiration behind The Jerks:

“One thing that I’ve always really enjoyed is dance parties that are based around garage rock and mod music from the 60s. I think it’s an overlooked kind of great dance music. People tend to think of it as just rock and roll, but I think it lends itself really well to uninhibited dancing…Sam Lisabeth is on guitar – he also teaches at my music school, The Soundry. He and I have been searching for a way to play together. Quinn Murphy will be on bass. I met him through some friends associated with a recording studio in Ancram called Triangle House. Jim Krewson will be on rhythm guitar and vocals. He and I have played together a bunch through the years, doing a bunch of different things, and I’ve always been impressed. “

Glori Wilder is a soul, r&b, pop, singer songwriter from the woods of Connecticut. Growing up inspired by powerful female artists such as Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill and more, Glori has developed a unique soul sound and backbone within her powerful lyricism. During this show, Glori will start the night with an intimate solo set that will gradually build into a full band accompaniment to get the crowd energized and moving. 

Bandits on the Run is an indie-folk-pop-americana outfit consisting of three lead singers, a guitar, a cello, a suitcase drum, an accordion, and various toy instruments. Their genre-defying sound has been lauded by the likes of NPR, Rolling Stone, Earmilk, Paste, and Billboard. They hail from Brooklyn and are known for their vivacious performance style, unexpected theatrical antics, soaring harmonies, and ability to make music-magic happen everywhere from a lonesome subway platform to a crowded concert hall.

The music of Jenna Nicholls has been turning heads since she arrived on the door step of the Lower East Side of NYC.  Whether she’s crooning a jazz standard, belting out a New Orleans style dirge or plucking her 1920’s style original ballads on her Ukulele, she’s giving a vintage genre a new spin with her own lush nostalgic style and melodic sensibility.

Recently, Jenna has toured with Ingrid Michaelson, shared the stage with Oscar Winner Glen Hansard, Amanda Palmer, Lucius, Joan as Policewoman, Gerry Leonard (Spooky Ghost/David Bowie).  She’s performed in venues all over the world including the Beacon Theater NYC, and Carnegie Hall.

Reliant Tom is a Brooklyn-based indie alt pop band formed by songwriter & dancer Claire Cuny, in co-partnership with producer & sound artist Monte Weber. Together the pair lead a group of artists to create a unique live show experience, blending original music and movement.  

BRINGING THE DARK SIDE OUT OF ROOTS ROCK'N'ROLL

Edwards and McMullen almost accidentally formed The Makers (named for Maker’s Markbourbon) back in 2011, when the singer was scrambling to assembles last-minute band for a festival at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn, where she was sound engineer and McMullen was a regular performer.“We played a couple of shows, just casually, and then Greg and I started to write together,”Edwards recalled. “It was just a perfect match, and our first song I think is still one of our best.”

Lizzie & The Makers’ debut album,Fire from the Heart of Man, appeared in 2015, followed by the Meanwhile ...EPthree years later. A 2017 concert collection,Live at Rockwood Music Hall, conveyed The Makers’ famously visceral stage show.ButDear Onda Wahl, recorded atMissionSound Recording Williamsburg, both captures and compliments the band like nothing before.

The Makers are rounded-out by seasoned sidemen with prodigious résumés: bassist Brett Bass(Gregg Allman, Bernie Worrell); drummer Steve Williams (Sadé, Digable Planets); and keyboard player Rob Clores (Black Crowes, John Popper Band)

Western Massachusetts based quartet Rees Shad & The Conversations harken back to a swinging and melodic era of American music. The group intersperses sets of original material with interesting jazzy interpretations of the modern American songbook. The band sits as comfortably in intimate coffee house spotlights as when they energize large audiences in theaters.

 The band consists of singer/songwriter/guitarist, Rees Shad joined by long time drummer Bobby Kay, and bassist Jeff Link to explore musical territory that is at once original and familiar. The band has been wowing audiences with their unique and swinging form of Americana music. 

A songwriter’s songwriter, known for his lyric craft, distinctive voice and soulful songs steeped in classic rhythm & blues, pop, jazz, folk and country, Milton first gained notoriety in his hometown New York City when his song “In The City” became a hit on New York’s WFUV radio. His live performances, which include material from every one of his albums, are praised for their wit, humor, and captivating charm.

Milton has toured extensively throughout the states since 2005, as a headliner and appearing as support for his hero and mentor Chris Smither, in addition to shows and tours with Joan Osborne, Steave Earle, Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore,  Sonny Landreth, Colin Hay, Kat Edmonson, Josh Ritter and many more.

In late 2019, Milton premiered his 5th and finest album Studio City with a sold out show at City Vineyard NYC.  The album, a veritable tour de force of songwriting and studio craft, features 12 ultra-catchy, concise tunes ranging in style from Sinatra-esque full orchestra swing, to Sgt. Pepper-like whimsical comedy to vintage country and New Orleans rhythm and blues.  In concert, Milton and his ultra-sharp band of NYC veteran session players deliver the songs seamlessly with Milton’s own graceful live arrangements.

Samuel Boat is the moniker of Hudson Valley based multi-instrumentalist Sam Lisabeth-- long time member of art rock/synth pop band Guerilla Toss. His band plays songs old and new from the "soda pop rock" songbook, melding musical tones with words in an effort to find the right balance between the tranquil and the haunted.

Kate Prascher is a singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for her evocative songwriting. She was thrilled to be named an IBMA Songwriting Showcase finalist in 2021. Inspired by her Tennessee roots and influenced by master song crafters like Hazel Dickens and Gillian Welch, singles The Fox and the River and City of Ghosts showcase Kate's versatility as both writer and performer. Her songs are outspoken and sometimes tender, by turns playful and heart-piercing.

Ink 19 described Kate’s "delicate and expressive singing" and “intangible vintage feel". Christine King writes,

“Kate Prascher is a jewel waiting to be discovered".

Kate's past work includes her 2019 solo EP Bright Like This, 2016's Almanac recorded with The Tumble and a self-titled EP released by The Wildwood Sisters. She has performed with numerous artists as a singer, mandolinist and duet partner.

Kate Prascher’s new album, 'Shake the Dust' is a recognition of our everyday darkness. It wades through the undercurrents of memory drawing half-portraits of characters both real and imagined while shining a light on the complex web of our relationships. 

Shake the Dust is expected in summer 2024 and features Bobby Hawk (Taylor Swift), Bennett Sullivan (Bright Star), Nate Sabat (Mile Twelve) and Jason Borisoff (Cricket Tell the Weather). Expect new songs from a voice that has been described as having an “intangible vintage feel.”  

Footings is an American rock band formed in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 2012. Footings is a vehicle for the songs of Eric Gagne, often in performance with Elisabeth Fuchsia on viola; the band also featured members of Pile, Bunny's a Swine, Dweller on the Threshold, and Rick Rude.

Blending elements of slowcore ala Songs: Ohia, experimental post-rock ala Godspeed You! Black Emperor and chamber folk ala Great Lake Swimmers, Footings offers up their own unique tapestry of darkness and hope. The band has been featured on Paste Magazine’s Daytrotter Sessions and has shared the stage with the likes of Mount Eerie, J Mascis, Diane Cluck, Waxahatchee, Califone, Steve Gunn, Mirah, Dredd Foole, and many more.

To fully appreciate Footings is to get to know founder Eric Gagne, a long-time champion of the local arts and experimental folk scene in New England. After years of playing in the progressive hardcore staple Death to Tyrants and freak-folk duo Redwing Blackbird, Gagne turned his focus towards providing a platform for others. In 2007 Gagne formed The Thing In The Spring, an annual music and arts festival with an aesthetic-tilt toward all things experimental and avant-garde. Curating bands and musicians from around the country to play in the quaint town of Peterborough has provided exposure and inspiration to an ever-growing local arts community. In many ways, the yearly event is a physical manifestation of the Footings ethos - providing a sturdy base for creatives on which to build and prosper. 

Singer-songwriter Bobby Sweet is an engaging storyteller and dynamic performer. The Berkshire native and sixth generation musician has received praise for his Country-Americana style and story songs about real life. Stylistically, Bobby’s music resides somewhere between John Prine, Jackson Browne, and a countryfied Bruce Springsteen, with a hint of Texas Swing. Between 2008 and 2016, Bobby toured the US and Canada as lead guitarist with Arlo Guthrie. His travels with Guthrie included performances at Carnegie Hall, the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, among many other landmark venues. Bobby’s songs have aired on many hit television series, such as Nashville, Touched By An Angel, Walker Texas Ranger, CSI, and Judging Amy. He has released seven solo albums to date. He will be performing with his trio featuring pedal steel guitarist Pete Adams and vocalist Lara Tupper. Folk-Americana songwriter Jordan Weller will open the show. Jordan’s soulful vocals and songwriting have been gaining attention since he returned to the Berkshires from Galveston, TX.

"The Patience Of Trees is remarkable. It is much like Blood On The Tracks or Plastic Ono Band in its honesty and raw emotions. Connolly has come up with his masterpiece."

-  AARON BADGELY, THE SPILL MAGAZINE 9/10

"There are not enough words for love in English; Niall Connolly has found a way around our pretty language’s greatest deficit. With the songs of The Patience of Trees, Connolly has written a collection that explores all the sides of what it means to feel deeply: about a lover, about a child, about old friends, and so often, about life itself. "

- MATT RUPPERT, THESE SUBTLE SOUNDS

"Niall Connolly’s The Patience of Trees welcomes us into a world where hope and kindness are the bravest of things"

-CASEE MARIE, IMPERFECT FIFTH

A master storyteller, Niall Connolly is the kind of guy you want to find yourself sitting next to at a pub, a wedding, or even a funeral. On The Patience of Trees, Connolly's 9th album, his songs are slow-simmered, rich with family histories, and woven with a golden thread of dark Irish humor. “I’ve got a willingness to see the fun alongside the suffering,” he says. “But I’ve always got one eye on the party.” 

 Connolly, who splits his time between New York City and the Catskills, writes lyrical folk in the tradition of his fellow Irishman and occasional collaborator Glen Hansard, Leonard Cohen, and Wilco.

 In the big, breathtaking build of his new album’s opening track, “It’s a Beautiful Life,” Connolly uses a simple refrain to convey the magnificence and misery of being alive. “When I sing, ‘It’s a beautiful life, most of the time,’ I mean it,” he says. “I mean both parts.”

 Though he’s known as one of the busiest live musicians around—“I used to play 150 to 200 gigs per year for years and years,” he says—Connolly was forced to pause when the world shut down in 2020. As he gradually gathered songs for The Patience of Trees, he skipped stones with his young daughter and tried to summon serenity and forbearance from the forest that surrounded his Catskill Mountain home: “I was reading about how trees can communicate with each other and send out distress signals to warn and support each other within the forest. That felt like a metaphor for what everyone had to do during the pandemic.”

 Connolly has been a fixture of the NYC songwriting scene since he put down roots in the city in 2007. For 17 years, he has been presiding over Big City Folk, a songwriter’s collective that pops up in pubs and cultural centers several times per month. Performers have included Lucius, Anais Mitchell, and Lana Del Ray (before she was Lana Del Ray, on a Leonard Cohen night in the song club’s early days). As Connolly explains it, he’s just importing a tradition from Ireland: “It was very common at the end of a party at home to have a singsong, share the guitar, and share some songs. I missed that when I moved here.”

 The Patience of Trees is Niall Connolly's 9th album. Guests include Javier Más (of Leonard Cohen’s band), Mick Flannery and Anna Tivel. The album was produced in New York by Len Monachello, with some notable assists from Brandon Wide, E.W. Harris, Chris Foley and M.J. McCarthy. Mastered by Ruairi O' Flaherty (Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift). Connolly will be touring internationally throughout 2024.

Avi was born into a Jewish family in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. His father, historian Robert Michael, is the author of several books about the Holocaust. Jacob left home in his teen years to live in Boston. He spent the next several years developing skills as a songwriter and performer.[citation needed] While living in Boston, he was involved in the DIY music community The Whitehaus Family Record and released several amateur recordings with them. Jacob moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 2010 and began to focus on his professional career in music by playing small music festivals, and being featured in music blogs and samplers. Avi is a writer of the Diana DeMuth song "All the Liars" released in 2020

He unofficially released the song "Cannonball" in 2014 on social media.

In December 2015, he was brought to CMJ[1] by the band Counting Crows who named him the best folk emerging superstar. He opened for Dr John[2] in February 2016.

In March 2016, Avi was featured on A&R Report as an artist to watch.[3]

Avi recorded his EP Surrender with Simone Felice (producer of the Billboard #1 Lumineers album Cleopatra) and members of the Felice Brothers.

In May 2020 Avi released a new album, Preservation, via Bandcamp.

Jacob is an independent artist, formerly signed to Skate Mountain Records, and related to popular ghost-folk songwriter Allysen Callery.

StompBoxTrio blends 20th-century American blues, rock, and soul with 21st-century mojo. Evelyn Harris - vocals & percussion, John Cabán - dobro, stompbox & vocals, and Paul Kochanski - upright & electric bass, foot percussion & vocals.

Jude Roberts writes and performs evocative folk songs with authenticity and grace.  His music is a melodically rich tapestry of woven language.  Jude's song, "Suzanne", written for Holocaust Survivor Tommy Wald, was featured in the 2022 PBS documentary "We Remember: Songs of Survivors"; as was an earlier composition entitled "I Don't Need To Tell You".

A 2018 Falcon Ridge Folk festival Emerging Artist, Jude writes songs influenced by English, Irish and Appalachian folk music, with touches of baroque and Romantic-era classical pieces and European folk/pop.  A unique amalgam of style and talent, Roberts draws the listener inward and invites them to dive deep.

Jude is working on a new full-length record, entitled "Sun Signs", set for release in fall 2024. To learn more about this project, visit:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sun-signs-the-new-record-by-jude-roberts#/

Having traveled extensively throughout Europe for performance and pleasure, Jude launched a project leading music-focused retreats to Greece in October 2019. These tours will resume in 2025.

“He fingerpicks with the delicacy, assurance and color of Nick Drake; sings with the bell-like clarity and gentle high end of a lost Finn brother; and writes Anglo- and pop-inflected folksongs with the offhand grace and deceptive sophistication of early James Taylor, Richard Thompson or Sir Paul himself.” -John Burdick, HV1 Art and Music,

With over 3.1k monthly listeners, cellist and vocalist Jordan Hamilton is a mix of mastery and maverick musicality; hip-hop influenced, rhythmically layered, melodically robust. Avant garde, folk-soul music, a key to navigate space, time, and change, gracefully, for those who use it. Guitarist and vocalist Seth Bernard , with over 1.9k monthly listeners, came to an understanding early that music, poetry and art, along with activism, farming and earth science, all intertwine into one great work of folk, jazz, blues, and rock n' roll! Seth’s music is as likely to show up through a Casio SK-1 or a Gretsch electric as much as a fiddle or high harmony. 

This co-bill brings an eclectic range of influences into an authentic style that is rooted in tradition and forward thinking. Dedicated to youth empowerment, social justice, and environmental action, Seth and Jordan have been a part of ongoing efforts to create positive change. No two shows are the same but every show is rooted in friendship and a mutual lifelong love of music. 

Synthesist Eric Hnatow and vocalist Haley Morgan make music as Home Body, harnessing light, sound, and movement to present a throbbing synth spectacle oozing with raw energy and emotional grit. Hailing from western Massachusetts, the duo plays with form and improvisation, enchanting audiences with their infectious spirit and danceable, moody electro-pop. Live, they punctuate their sound with manual light manipulation, reaching beyond their performance to create a high-vibration spectacle that is physically and emotionally moving. 

The Lucky 5 is a hard-swinging jazz band that blends 30’s and 40’s style swing with gypsy and Parisian flavors to create a unique blend of music that stands by itself. Combining originals and creative reworks of old standards, The Lucky 5 continues to be a favorite among music lovers young and old alike.

The band is comprised of highly seasoned touring musicians, having been part of The Hunger Mountain Boys, Lauren Ambrose & The Leisure Class, and traveled, performed and recorded with artists such as Neko Case, Iris Dement, Bobby Previte, Del McCoury, Jim Lauderdale, just to name a few.

The Lucky 5 brings verve, high energy, and an unpredictable impulse to the tradition of jazz from the 20's, 30's and 40's, grooving deeply, and keeping feet moving on the dance floor.

Lucas Neil and Olivia Charlotte are Undercover Cameo. The duo has appeared as opening acts for Josh Rouse, The Carleans, Kat Wright, Ryan Montbleau, Will Evans, Nick Bosse, and The Wolff Sisters and has gained entry into The Rhode Island Folk Festival, Hartbeat Music Festival, Next-Up Music Festival, Mystic Folkways Festival, and more.

Little Wings is Kyle Field's band since 1998... Exploring themes of loneliness and togetherness with oneself and others, the music tries to capture through poetry the feelings of being a human being and match words with their appropriate tone and color. To be alive