Artists

  • Betse Ellis, a white woman with medium length, light colored hair and glasses, wears a black shirt under a flowered jacket. Clarke Wyatt, a white man with a brown mustache and beard, wears a tweed cap and a brown shirt.

    Betse & Clarke

    Betse and Clarke’s music is familiar... and totally different; a fiddle and banjo duo with a sense of adventure. Old-time music and song celebrated alongside inventive new compositions: a passion for the depth of tradition and a look to new creative paths.

  • Aaron Jonah Lewis, a white person with short, dark hair and a dark mustache and beard, looks to the right while playing a banjo. Aaron is wearing a straw cowboy hat, a black jacket, and pink and purple shirt.

    Aaron Jonah Lewis

    Aaron Jonah Lewis is an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, performer and educator. Aaron is passionate about sharing early fingerstyle banjo music (AKA: “classic banjo”). They point out that classic banjo was the most popular form of music a hundred years ago, and today it’s almost entirely forgotten. Aaron has performed at major festivals from the US to the UK and from Italy to Finland and continues to tour extensively.

    Photo by: Nick Sinclair

  • The Corn Potato String Band: Fiddler Aaron Jonah Lewis, a white person with a big beard. Guitarist Lindsay McCaw, a white woman with dark hair in pigtails. Banjo player Ben Belcher, a white man wearing an olive fedora.

    The Corn Potato String Band

    The Corn Potato String Band has delighted audiences with their driving fiddle tunes and harmonious singing across the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and India. Band members Aaron Jonah Lewis, Lindsay McCaw and Ben Belcher are all multi-instrumentalists dedicated to continuing the music and dance traditions of the Central and Southern US. In addition to being champion fiddlers, they play banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin and deftly handle many different antiquated styles including ballads, “hoedowns,” country “rags” and southern gospel, specializing in twin fiddling and double banjo tunes.

  • Drew Nelson is singing into a mic and playing his guitar. His eyes are closed and his mouth is open. Drew, a white man, is wearing glasses and a plaid shirt. He has short, dark hair, and a salt-and-pepper beard.

    Drew Nelson

    Drew Nelson, a Michigan-born Navy veteran, is a storytelling songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A fly fisherman and world traveler, he writes as a witness to the lives and journeys of those he has met along the way, mixing Americana and roots-rock with traditional folk styles.

    Drew is available as a solo artist, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Mark Schrock or guitarist Michael Robertson, as part of a trio that also includes Mark Schrock and harmonica legend Peter “Madcat” Ruth, or with his band, HWY-2 (composed of Mark Schrock, guitarist Michael Robertson, and drummer Brian Morrill).
    Photo by: Peggy Brisbane

  • Monte Pride is holding a guitar, and sitting in front of an Airstream trailer that reflects his image. Monte is wearing a striped shirt, jeans, and boots. He is a white man with long, blonde hair, and blonde facial hair.

    Monte Pride

    Monte Pride is a Michigan-born and based singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist whose music recalls the delicate vocals of Simon & Garfunkel, with guitar-work reminiscent of The Tallest Man On Earth and early Joni Mitchell. Paired with electric, ambient soundscapes, he blends haunting melodies with vivid lyricism to create lush, experimental folk songs.

  • The five band members are standing together in the woods, smiling towards the camera.

    The Schrock Bros Band

    The Schrock Bros Band (https://www.Facebook.com/Schrockbros) is a Michigan-based Americana/roots/blues ensemble that features the soulful lead vocals and family harmony of brothers Andrew and Jasen, with ‘Papa’ Mark Schrock. They are joined by Michigan musical legends Peter Madcat Ruth on harmonica, and Michael Shimmin on drums, performing original music peppered with a collection of nuggets from the Americana archives.

  • Rollie Tussing, a white man with brown hair and facial hair, is pictured against a green background. Rollie is wearing glasses, a tan shirt and striped vest. He is playing a guitar and looking to his right.

    Rollie Tussing

    Award-winning finger-style guitarist Rollie Tussing performs timeless classic and country blues, dewy-eyed tunes of the 20s, as well as Godforsaken songs of the nineteenth century. His own compositions are influenced by those same lonesome, haunted, and abandoned melodies that we all forgot to remember.

  • Darcy Wilkin is a white woman with multicolored hair and glasses with dark frames. She is wearing a black dress with white polka dots. Darcy is pictured playing a guitar.

    Darcy Wilkin

    Darcy Wilkin is a singer-songwriter from Kalamazoo, Michigan. A longtime member of Americana band The Corn Fed Girls, she released her debut solo album, Bristol, produced by Joe Newberry and engineered by Martin Klemm, in January of 2020. Plans to tour were, of course, scuttled soon after. She’s looking forward to getting out in the world in a safe way as soon as possible.

    Photo credit: Dan Lauterbur