work in progress
2026 Artist bios
Alice Gerrard w/ Reed Stutz & Suzy Thompson
Justin Robinson (original Carolina Chocolate Drop) w/ Aaron Cooper
Joseph Decosimo & Stephanie Coleman
The Canote Brothers (Seattle)
Forty Drop Few (Portland)
The new cohort of the Black Banjo Fiddle Fellowship:
(Samaria Marley, Shanice Richards, Sam Wilkins, Genell Zuciya)
Callers Janine Smith & Evie Ladin
Alice Gerrard with
Reed Stutz & Suzy Thompson
In a career spanning six decades, Alice Gerrard has helped define and shape American traditional music. Her early groundbreaking recordings with Hazel Dickens set the tone for an unconventional musical career which has included numerous honors including Grammy nominations, an IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award, a Virginia Arts Commission Award, the NC Folklore Society’s Tommy Jarrell Award, and an Indy Award. In 2017 Alice was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. A recent documentary film about her life and music, You Gave Me a Song, has been shown at film festivals throughout the United States and internationally. Alice has been a mentor and inspiration to countless other women musicians, including Emmylou Harris, the Judds and Laurie Lewis.
She has recently published Custom Made Woman - A Life in Traditional Music, a book of photographs and stories of key musicians she encountered during her time as a player of traditional music, including Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens, Elizabeth Cotten, and Mike Seeger, providing a deeply personal way to understand and appreciate a quintessentially American genre that has a long history and thrives to this day.
https://www.alicegerrard.com/
Reed Stutz grew up in Portland, Oregon. Starting out as a pop-punk guitarist and songwriter, he shifted gears in 2017, digging into bluegrass and old time music and taking up the mandolin. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, he moved to Durham, North Carolina where he performs regularly with locals Alice Gerrard, Tatiana Hargreaves, Joseph DeCosimo and others; he’s also performed with Bruce Molsky and Allison de Groot and George Jackson and appears on recordings by Bella White and Joe Troop.
Suzy’s long involvement with old-time music began in the 1970s and includes performances and recordings with Any Old Time String Band, Blue Flame String Band, California Cajun Orchestra, Thompsonia, Bluegrass Intentions and other bands, as well as duets with husband Eric. She apprenticed with Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa in Louisiana under an NEA Folk Arts Fellowship. She has worked with many old-time and bluegrass greats including Alice Gerrard, Mac Benford, Rafe Stefanini, Kate Brislin & Jody Stecher and Bill Evans; with Cajun icons, including Ann Savoy, Michael Doucet, Steve Riley, Cedric Watson and Danny and Edward Poullard; and with blues and jug band heroes like Geoff Muldaur and Jim Kweskin, Maria Muldaur, Del Rey, Mary Flower, Meredith Axelrod and Craig Ventresco. She served as Artistic Director of Festival of American Fiddle Tunes from 2010-2016, and collaborated with Angela Wellman (Oakland Public Conservatory of Music) and Karen Celia to design and implement the Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship, an innovative apprenticeship and teacher training program.
Alice, Reed, and Suzy are playing the Friday night concert at the Freight.
Alice will do a book reading of her new book Saturday afternoon at the Berkeley Public Library.
Justin Robinson
Justin Robinson grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina. He played with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, thereby working to preserve traditional forms of music, to introduce new generations to musical legends like Joe Thompson, and to remind audiences that the fiddle was, historically, an African American instrument. In addition to preserving African American musical traditions, Robinson is known for his work as a culinary historian and ethnobotanist. He explores the ways that plants, foods, and knowledge of the African Diaspora shaped and influenced Southern culture at large. He is joined by the newest member of Joe Thompson’s musical lineage, Aaron Cooper.
Justin recently reunited with Rhiannon Giddens to record What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, an album of North Carolina fiddle and banjo music, with the duo playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes, many learned from their late mentor Joe Thompson or from recordings of Etta Baker. Giddens and Robinson recorded outdoors at Thompson’s and Baker’s North Carolina homes, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong House. They were accompanied by the sounds of nature, including two different broods of cicadas, which had not emerged simultaneously since 1803, creating a true once-in-a-lifetime soundscape.
https://www.instagram.com/countrygentlemancooks/
Justin & Aaron are playing the Friday night concert at the Freight and the Saturday night square dance at Ashkenaz. Justin will be doing a workshop for all instruments; time & details TBA.
The CANOTE TWINS
Greg and Jere Canote are identical twins who have been playing music together for most of their 70-plus years. And not just any old music, but simply amazing, genetically-matched singing and musicianship. They quickly bring to mind the rich tradition of singing brother duets, evoking such seminal duos as the Blue Sky Boys, the Delmore Brothers, and the Everly Brothers. And they take it up a notch, because they’re not merely brothers, but identical twins. And as one reviewer observed, “They’re really ‘twinny’ twins.” Their delightful repertoire spans Americana and includes early country music, quirky novelty songs, swing classics, and rare fiddle tunes, all uniquely interpreted through their positive world view. They’ve shared their music for more than half a century, teaching and performing at countless festivals and workshops, and on radio and television.
For an introduction to these happy fellows, watch The Canote Twins documentary film, now available for streaming from the website.
Greg & Jere Canote will be playing for the welcome square dance party Wednesday at Ashkenaz, the family concert Saturday morning at the library, and hosting the jam outside the Freight on Friday. Greg will be leading a fiddle workshop and Jere a ukelele workshop, time TBA.
Joseph Decosimo is a multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, banjo, guitar, droney things), singer, and leading interpreter and teacher of traditional music from Southern Appalachia, where he grew up and learned from the region’s last master musicians. Based in Durham, NC, Joseph is a powerful champion of traditional music—a responsive artist who makes his genre accessible and draws musicians from Durham’s rich traditional, experimental, and indie communities into his orbit to make music that NPR All Song Considered praises as “pushing the sonic boundaries of old-time music ... gorgeous.” A PhD, National Old-time Banjo Champion, and blue ribbon winning fiddler, Decosimo has toured the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe. He leads the prize-winning Old-time band the Bucking Mules. A highly respected teacher of traditional fiddle and banjo, he has taught at the finest workshops around the world.
Hailing from the Chicago area, Stephanie Coleman first learned to play at 8 from her father Don, an avid old-time fiddler himself. At 12, she began studying Midwestern fiddle music with fiddle master Lynn “Chirps” Smith. Chirps and other mentors like Rhys Jones, Steve Rosen, and Paul Tyler inspired Stephanie to explore not just the craft but also the rich history of traditional Appalachian and Midwestern fiddle music. By 13, she had released her debut album, I’m Little But I’m Tough!. Through her teens, Stephanie became an in-demand square dance musician for the Chicago Barn Dance Company and a regular fiddle contest winner.
As an undergrad at Duke University, Stephanie began visiting and documenting elder musicians around North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee culminating in a documentary about 88 year old Tennessee banjo and fiddle master Clyde Davenport.
She has performed or recorded with artists such as Uncle Earl, Nora Brown, Rhiannon Giddens, Aoife O’Donovan, Bela Fleck, and Watchhouse’s Andrew Marlin. Her fiddling has taken her to legendary stages such as the Kennedy Center, Roskilde Festival in Denmark, Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Philadelphia Folk Festival.
https://www.josephdecosimo.com/
https://www.stephaniecoleman.net/
Joseph and Stephanie will play at the Thursday night concert at La Peña and the Saturday night square dance at Ashkenaz. Both will lead fiddle workshops, and Joseph a banjo workshop; time TBA.
Forty Drop Few
The "Forty Drop Few" are a trio originally from the southwest that play popular music of the early 1900s. They perform in various styles from the era as a string band and are influenced by nothing other than the old 78 records that they love so well. Their main influences include New Orleans jazz, southwestern fiddle music, classic banjo rags, black string band music, hillbilly harmonies and unique vocals. The trio consists of Ethan Francis, Candra Edwards and Elliot Kennedy who all currently reside in Portland Oregon. The couple, also known as "Stone and Sue" have been playing music together for a decade and met Kennedy who joined them 5 years ago. The three are inseparable and spend all of their time picking apart old tunes, listening to 78s, throwing shows in Portland and traveling around the country together.
https://www.instagram.com/stoneandsue/
https://stoneandsue.bandcamp.com/album/it-wont-be-long-now
Forty Drop Few will play for the welcome square dance Wednesday at Ashkenaz, in the Friday night concert at the Freight, and will host the back room jam at Ashkenaz on Saturday night. Elliott will lead a fiddle workshop, Ethan a banjo workshop, and Candra a guitar workshop; time TBA.
Brandon godman
Hailing from Kentucky, Brandon began playing fiddle at the age of 10 in local square dance halls. He developed his skills by playing in various bluegrass, country, and western swing bands around the region, and competing in fiddle contests throughout the midwest. His first bluegrass road gig was with Melvin Goins and Windy Mountain at the age of 17. Since then he has performed with various bluegrass and country acts including Karl Shiflett, David Peterson, Dale Ann Bradley, Doyle Lawson, The Band Perry and Jon Pardi. He has been fortunate to grace the stages of The Ryman Auditorium, The Grand Ole’ Opry, Carnegie Hall, The Ellen Show, The Tonight Show, The View and others.
Since moving to the Bay Area, he has been much in demand, playing with Laurie Lewis and other local bluegrass bands, as well performing and teaching across the country. His love for the craft has led him to be a scholar of classic bluegrass fiddle and is matched by the great verve and intensity of his playing. In San Francisco, he has served as a board member on the California Bluegrass Association and plays a supportive part of the Bluegrass Pride performances. Through his work in organizing and playing at Bluegrass Pride performances, Godman raises a platform for the bluegrass world embrace all of its players.
https://bluegrasstoday.com/california-report-master-fiddler-brandon-godman/
Thursday 9/17 at La Peña..
Thurs. 9/17 at La Peña
Sat. 9/19 at the Berkeley Public Library (Main Branch): Black Old Time Musicians Discussion Panel moderated by Darcy Ford-James
The BOTMC is pleased to welcome the second cohort of the Black Banjo & Fiddle Fellowship, Samaria Marley, Shanice Richards, Sam Wilkins, Genell Zuciya, who are being mentored by Darcy Ford-James and Joseph Z. Johnson (from the inaugural cohort), as well as Hubby Jenkins., The BBFF project is a. The BBFF project, a collaboration of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music with the Berkeley Old Time Music Convention) aims to repatriate old-time music in African American communities and illuminate the Black experience in creating old-time music. BBFF is a two-year paid fellowship program that trains Black musicians in old-time music and its rich history. To repair the historical and cultural ruptures that erased the Black origins of banjo and fiddle music and to ensure that the tradition is sustained in Black communities, the BBFF is also a teacher-training program, ensuring that the music can be passed down from generation to generation.
Janine smith
The Janine Smith experience is what you get when you cross a howdy-ma’am-BBQ-and-beans Honky Tonk with Zoom dancing and sprinkle on some twinkly lights for sass. She loves calling FUN dances, squares, circles, longways sets, heck maybe a couple of Singing Squares, too. Her teaching is clear and to-the-point, though she has been known to goof around a bit. She’s one of the “Hot Square Babes,” a quintet of female callers who threw a monthly Square Dance Party in the DC area from 2004-2018, a founding member of the DC Square Dance Collective (2011), and an organizer of the DC/Baltimore area annual Dare to Be Square Weekend.
Evie ladin
Evie Ladin wears many hats: banjo player, singer, songwriter, step-dancer, square dance caller. She grew up square dancing and clogging, but it was through hippie folk festivals and the Green Grass Cloggers, rather than super organized club dancing. She was inspired to try calling in order to give the musicians an outlet for fast, crooked tunes. Evie enjoys a certain amount of controlled chaos in the room, as she guides a group smoothly through dances without spending too much time teaching or focusing on “correctness”. As a performer, she tours internationally with the Evie Ladin Band and Keith Terry from her home base in Oakland.
Sat. 9/19 square dance at Ashkenaz
skillet licorice
Skillet Licorice is the latest project from San Francisco musicians Matt Knoth and Elise Engelberg. Essentially a musical consortium, Matt & Elise form the core of a lineup featuring many of California's most talented old-time musicians. At The Berkeley Old Time Music Convention Square Dance, Skillet Licorice will be performing with Allegra Thompson, Erik Pearson and Rowan McCallister. But whether they’re playing dance tunes, slinky blues, sparkling banjo breaks or dreamy waltzes,Skillet Licorice displays an impressive command of styles and techniques that comes from deep study and loving dedication to America’s folk traditions.
Manning Mud Stompers
Daisy Caire, Natalie Caton, Nikolai Davis, Helen Feeney, Jesse Fichman, Iola Gravois, Clio Levy-Tongate, Jasper Manning, Jayna Manning, Bodie Oakley, and Noah Steele -- the Manning Mud Stompers -- are all students (or former students) at Berkeley’s Manning Music. This big group of exceptional young musicians will play for the BOTMC's family dance!
Sat. 9/19 leading kids jam
Sun. 9/20 Family dance at Ashkenaz