TRAVIS & TREVOR STUART - TIM MAY - GRETCHEN PREIST NANCY CONESCU - BRIAN CHRISTIANSON - MIKE DOOLIN - ROSE CONWAY FLANAGAN - EAMON O'LEARY - LINDA HICKMAN - BRIAN DeMARCUS - TERRI McCOY - SHONTI ELDER - JAY MARVIN - LIZ ODELL -SUZI FOWLEY PERRI - AMANDA KERR - and more...

---

	TRAVIS STUART - Clawhammer banjo, guitar TREVOR STUART - Oldtime fiddle, mandolin Brothers Travis and Trevor Stuart are among the best of Western North Carolina’s new generation of Oldtime music performers. Having grown up in the shadows of Cold Mountain, they learned to play some of the oldest and most beloved tunes of the region from masters like Byard Ray, the Smathers Family and Red Wilson. Trevor plays fiddle, mandolin and guitar and Travis plays banjo, bass and guitar. Together they are teaching the next generation of players how to keep the art of traditional music alive through the Junior Appalachian Music Program.
	GRETCHEN PRIEST Gretchen was born to a musical family in South Bend, IN. She attended music school at IUSB and IU Bloomington and played in a variety of classical string quartets, trios, the South Bend Symphony, Elkhart Symphony, and the Midwest Pops Orchestra. During this time she also performed with Lyle Lovett, Pearl Bailey, Manhattan Transfer, and Captain Kangaroo. After moving to Nashville in 1996, Gretchen played country fiddle for vocalist Joy Lynn White (Columbia Records). She then toured four years and recorded with the Celtic rock band, Ceili Rain (Nashville Music Awards nominee). Beginning in 2001, Gretchen toured and recorded with the Bluegrass band, Crucial Smith. She also played on Tim May’s CD Find My Way Back (FGM Records). In addition to touring and session work, Gretchen has been teaching fiddle in Nashville for 13 years. She was the manager of the Violin Shop School of Fiddling in Bellevue for three years and has opened her own music school in Pegram, Tennessee, named Fiddle & Pick, dedicated to the teaching of Traditional Music. Vist web site
	TIM MAY - Mandolin Guitar, banjo and mandolin player Tim May has been playing since age 11. In 1989, Tim founded Crucial Smith, a progressive acoustic bluegrass band based in Nashville, which produced three well-received albums and performed regularly at high-profile festivals including Telluride, The Walnut Valley Festival and Winterhawk. He has toured with Patty Loveless and the John Cowan Band, performed at the Grand Ole Opry in 2006/2007 and was the solo guitarist on I’ll Fly Away, nominated for the 2006 Country Instrumental of the Year Grammy Award. He performs regularly with his wife, fiddler Gretchen Priest and their band Plaidgrass and is respected nationwide as a teacher and clinician. He’s taught at the Nashville Guitar College, South Plains College and at Nashcamp, as well as traveled the country as a clinician for Breedlove Guitars. Tim May Music
	MIKE DOOLIN - Guitar Mike Doolin is a guitarist of some 30 years professional experience. He has performed with such Northwest mainstays as Mel Brown, Mitzi Zilka, Armonica, Larhonda Steel, Nancy Conescu, Margo Tufo, Robert Rude, Cruise Control, Body and Soul, The Flying Stickleys, and Soul Vaccination. His recording credits include Obo Addy's "Wonchi Bi", Timothy Bryson's "Playground" and The Flying Stickley's "Behind the Hangar". Mike is also an internationally respected guitar maker, having built instruments for recording artists Muriel Anderson, John Stowell, Justin King and Nancy Conescu.
	NANCY CONESCU - Irish backup guitar, voice Nancy Nancy Conescu is best known for her singing of traditional Irish and American ballads. Although known for her remarkable voice, she is also a fine guitarist. Nancy has performed with many of Irish music's most respected musicians, including fiddlers Martin Hayes, Kevin Glackin, Brian Conway, Gerry Harrington, piper Gerry O'Sullivan, flautist Conal O'Grada, and accordionist Charlie Piggott. Her latest release, The Fiddle, The Voice (2003) with Gerry Harrington, has brought her to the forefront among singers and musicians in Ireland.. Visit nancyconescu.com
	BRIAN CHRISTIANSON - Bluegrass fiddle, mandolin has been playing fiddle since age eight. In 1997 he was named Minnesotaís Top Country Instrumentalist and has won several fiddle contests across the state. Brian moved to Nashville six years ago and began working at The Violin Shop. His work as a luthier has earned him a special backseat pass to many great jams when they break out in the shop with a mirage of great fiddlers including Aubrey Haynie, Stuart Duncan, Buddy Spicher and Alison Krause. Constantly being around these great musicians, Brianís fiddling has taken flight incorporating many styles such as Bluegrass, swing, Irish, and old time. He is currently playing with Grand Ole Opry star Mike Snider and his string band; and also with PlaidGrass, a group of talented musicians that incorporates Irish and bluegrass styles into a hybrid sound.
	ROSE CONWAY FLANAGAN - Irish fiddle Rose Conway Flanagan is an traditional Irish fiddle teacher from Rockland County in New York who originally began music lessons as a child with Martin Mulvilhill while was growing up in the Bronx.  She further developed her Sligo style of playing with the help of Martin Wynne and her older brother Brian. She was an original member of the all women Irish Group "Cherish the Ladies". She currently has a large fiddle school in her hometown of Pearl River where she is hard at work preparing the next generation of great fiddle players which include several All Ireland winners and medalists. In her spare time she has been a regular instructor at the Catskills Irish Arts Weeks, runs various seisuns, and plays with her group the Green Gates Ceili band in the tri-state area.
	EAMON O'LEARY - Irish tenor banjo, guitar While growing up in Dublin, Eamon O'Leary developed an interest in Irish music through his friendship with Emer, Breda and John Mayock, a noted family of trraditional musicians from Co. Mayo. His first instrument was the guitar, which he started playing while in his teens. When he moved to New York City in 1991, he met guitarist John Doyle, fiddle player Patrick Ourceau and other New York based musicians, and has since become a fixture in the city's thriving Irish music scene.
	LINDA HICKMAN - Irish whistle, flute Flute player, singer and tinwhistle player Linda is well known to Irish music fans in America for her performances with the popular group Celtic Thunder, performing three times at the White House. She performed at Maison de la Musique in Paris in a concert featuring Irish music from New York City and is a regular instructor at Catskill Irish Music Week. In addition to her rigorous performing schedule, Linda also brings music therapy programs to nursing homes throughout the New York area. More on Linda
	BRIAN DeMARCUS - Clawhammer banjo, guitar, bass has been involved in calling, playing traditional music, dancing and research for the past 30 years. From roots in the rich traditional heritage of North Carolina, he has shared his joy of music and dance at many dance camps, festivals, workshops and fiddlers' conventions around the world. He was an original Green Grass Clogger, dancing with them for 10 years. He has won many flatfooting, clogging, calling, banjo and band awards.
	TERRI McCOY - Irish Whistle I Terri grew up listening to and singing Irish traditional music. Her singing interests broadened over the years to include Broadway show tunes and jazz. She has performed with professional musical theater companies in Houston and Nashville, and spent 3 seasons with Alaska Cabin Nite Dinner Theatre in Denali. She plays the bodhran and whistle and has performed around Anchorage and the state with several Irish groups.
	SHONTI ELDER - Children's Activities is a fiddler / teacher / performer well-known in Alaska for her sweet tuneful fiddling and bad jokes.  She's won many Alaskan fiddle contests, has two recordings of original songs, and plays on many other Alaskan albums.  Since 1978, she's had an acoustic music program on KSKA Public Radio, FM 91.1; Currently "Traveling Music" is on alternate Sundays from 12:05 - 2 PM. For many years, she's taught a variety of instruments and styles at the Alaska City Folk Arts Camp and Birchwood String Camp. ShontiElder.com
	LIZ ODELL - Children's Activities Liz is excited and eager to be working in our children's program this year. She began working in her mother's classroom when she was 9 years old. She has been a coach for Northern Lights Swim Club for six years, preparing youngsters ages 7 - 11 to swim competitively. In addition to coaching, Liz is attending UAA. She is due to receive her degree in December of 2008, after which she will pursue a Masters in Elementary Education. In her spare time, Liz enjoys swimming, camping, running, reading and spending time with her husband Shawn and her two sons, Tyler and Jackson.
	JAY MARVIN - Bluegrass banjo, guitar has been actively involved in Alaska's bluegrass scene for years as one of the state's best bluegrass banjo and guitar players. He is well-known and respected for his tasteful backups and solos.
	SUZI FOWLEY PERRI - Bodhran has been an accomplished percussionist for many years. She was the drummer for her 1970's band Suzi and the Dreamboats, past bass, tenor, and snare drum player for the Anchorage Scottish Pipe Band, and has been playing bodhran for over 20 years. Suzi is an active promoter of Irish festivals and concerts in the Anchorage area. She regularly hosts Irish music sessions, where she also plays buttonbox Irish accordion, at her Scottish/Irish import shop in downtown Anchorage. Suzi's Woollies
	AMANDA KERR - Basic fiddle technique Amanda is a fiddler and a fiddle teacher. She has won the 2004 National Oldtime Fiddle Contest’s Junior (under 18) division as well as the Alaska State Fair Contest in 2000, 2001, 2002, & 2003. On September 4th, 2004 she performed at the Anchorage Performing Art’sCenter’s Atwood Concert Hall with Natalie McMaster. Amanda plays in the popular Anchorage-band called the Emeralds. amandakerr.com
	ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS will be on hand to assist with classes and provide some one-on-one guidance.