Mitch Barrett is one of Kentucky’s most sought-after and talented singer songwriter sons. His approach to lyrical storytelling is true ‘Americana’, rooted in authentic experience, not just a record label’s genre. Mitch’s music draws from his Appalachian heritage and the values it instilled: agrarian work ethic, simple living, the importance of family and celebrating the joys and the struggles of everyday life through music and song.

Mitch has won many of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country.  From the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, CO; the Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Competition which he has won twice; the Kerrville NewFolk Competition, in Kerrville, TX and in June of 2009 Mitch was awarded the title of "Telluride Troubadour" as part of the 36th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride Colorado with multi Grammy award winner Jim Lauderdale as one of these years’ judges.
 

Alan DarVeaux, who will appear with his band Slight Departure, grew up on Long Island Sound. His interest in acoustic music started in high school and led to a college group known as the "Newcomers". The dulcimer caught Alan's eyes and ears while visiting friends at Berea College in KY in 1967. He left Berea with all the information, books and records that could be found on the dulcimer. Since then Alan has eagerly sought as much history, lore and makers of the dulcimer as can be fit into his life.

"Jean Ritchie along with George and Gerry Armstrong became my listening interests. Jean has always been in the mist of my dulcimer enchantment. Howie Mitchell became one of my building gurus and I cherish the letters from him. I began travelling and sought Homer Ledford in KY. He has been my biggest influence in building dulcimers. As I traveled throughout the Appalachian mountains I met many builders and was received with warm encouragement everywhere."

With Peter on guitar, and Lou on the five-string banjo, they played in a variety of folk bands in high school. Influenced by the recorded rejects from the radio station where Peter's mom worked, the teenaged musicians gobbled up the likes of Woody Guthrie, The Weavers and Jimmy Driftwood. Lou and Peter Berryman have spread their music through 12 recordings and hundreds of performances on both coasts, the Midwest, Texas and Canada. They win new fans everywhere they go. And the old fans? They keep coming to hear the new songs and to watch the astonished reaction of the folks hearing this delightful duo for the first time. "For our entire lives we've wanted to make a living that didn't entail getting dressed up and taking the bus to work everyday," Lou added with a satisfied laugh, "and we've been working ever since we were teenagers at developing some sort of art." (Excerpts from Sing Out! magazine written by Matt Watroba.)
 

John Gage is an established folk singer/songwriter who has made a career of entertaining audiences with his resonant tenor voice and flat-picking guitar. His music is solid listening. It draws on the alchemy of ancient balladeers and poets, transporting listeners inwardly for reflection and intimacy with others in the room. John performs on arts and festival stages throughout Kentucky and the region, and in churches, libraries, schools, or anyplace where there might be a potential audience just wanting to sing along. John has extensive experience planning collaboratively with classroom teachers for arts education programs and participating in curriculum planning. In addition, he conducts interactive workshops and motivational speeches throughout the southeast region in an effort to help educators and parents understand how personal involvement with music and other performing arts contribute to improved academic learning and overall personal well being. In addition, John is a veteran stage emcee at major festivals across Kentucky, and is host and emcee of Kentucky Homefront, a radio show that preserves Kentucky’s cultural heritage through storytelling and traditional music. John is available for booking through the Kentucky Theater Project.
 

Dave Hawkins has spent more than 25 years performing his special brand of Americana/Folk music throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Dave has recorded and performed with some of the finest people in the music world today: Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Sam Bush, Aoife Clancy, Joanie Madden (Cherish the Ladies), Tom Roady, John Whelan and many others.

Musically he has been called a "male Nanci Griffith" and been compared to the likes of Harry Chapin, John Prine and Steve Goodman. These are extremely high compliments that Dave finds "humbling, indeed!" The freelance U.K. journalist John Whishaw described Dave as "...an Americana artist with his Irish roots showing."
 

The Kentucky Sassafras Boys will again grace the Amphitheater stage with their own unique brand of jazz-infused bluegrass music.  The group features teen musicians Jory Hutchens on fiddle and Turner Hutchens on mandolin, joined by Patrick Hutchens on guitar and Paige Riggs on bass.  High energy and exceptional musicianship are their trademarks

Intricate instrumentals on dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, finger style guitar and violin, as well as vocal harmonies are the "standards" for Kentucky Standard Band.

Anne MacFie is known to acoustic music fans of the Appalachian area as the creator of such quirky songs as "Andy Pruitt's Honda, "Have a Nice Day" and "The Crack Between the Cupboard and the Stove,"  songwriter/balladeer Anne MacFie has enjoyed a folk singer's career that has spanned three decades. She also has an interesting sideline: She edits the BLUEGRASS BULLETIN, a six page monthly newsletter serving the UFO community of Kentucky & southern Indiana/Ohio.

Stephen Seifert's teaching and playing has made him a favorite with dulcimer players all over the country since 1991. In that time, he's been a featured performer at hundreds of dulcimer festivals and other music events including Kentucky Music Week in Bardstown, KY, Mountain Dulcimer Week in Cullowhee, NC, the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV, the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR, Stringalong near Milwaukee, WI, the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS and The tono American Music Festival, in Tono, Japan.

Stephen has been a dulcimer soloist with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, now know as Orchestra Nashville, since 1996 and is featured on their Warner Classical recording of Connie Ellisor and David Schnaufer's Blackberry Winter, a concerto for mountain dulcimer and string orchestra. The piece continues to be in regular rotation on many classical stations around the U.S. (The recording album is titled "Conversations in Silence" and can be sampled and purchased on iTunes.) Stephen most recently performed this piece with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra.

Stephen was Adjunct Instructor of Mountain Dulcimer with David Schnaufer at Vanderbilt's Blair School of Music from 1997 to 2001. He also taught, performed, and recorded with Mr. Schnaufer as a duo throughout the country. Stephen has authored ten books, four CDs, and 16 instructional videos.
 

Rick Thum taught himself to play guitar and drums at age twelve and played the trumpet in his high school band. Throughout high school and college (B. S. Industrial Administration) Rick played in rock bands, eventually playing regularly on the upper deck of the Admiral in St. Louis. While raising his family Rick directed his church choir. Rick's interest in traditional music was sparked when he bought a hammered dulcimer on a whim and found himself in a three-piece folk band. In 1991 Rick became co-owner of a large midwestern acoustic instrument shop. In 1994 he sold his interest in the shop to devote more time to being a traveling musician. He placed first at the 1994 Southwest Regional Dulcimer Contest and third in the 1995 National Championship at Winfield, Kansas. Rick was voted Best Performer and Favorite Teacher for several years running at the prestigious Evart Dulcimer Funfest.
 

Traveler’s Dream captivates audiences with its vibrant blend of traditional music from Ireland, England, Quebec, and America. With rich and expressive voices and a wide array of traditional and modern instruments, Michael Lewis and Denise Wilson create a full and textured sound that is rare for a duo.  The band’s broad appeal owes much to the creative mixing of traditional and contemporary musical styles, the unexpected combinations of melodies and instruments from different cultural traditions, and the popularity of the band’s original songs and tunes which nestle seamlessly alongside their traditional material.  Though every concert is different, Traveler’s Dream draws from a repertoire that includes Irish jigs and reels, French-Canadian traditional songs, colonial fife tunes, sea chanteys, old-time dance tunes, and folk songs rooted in early America and the British Isles.
 

When it comes to old-time music in the Kentuckiana area the band carrying the torch these days is Louisville’s own, Whistlin’ Rufus. Formed in the spring of 2006, this group of young musicians has been tearing on to the music scene with their blend of old-time roots music. The band’s members, Clint Craven and Caleb Olin supply the fiddle and banjo sounds that give this formidable group their driving force. Rounding out the lineup and adding a steady rhythm section for Whistlin’ Rufus are John Dwyer, and Angela Cook. However, not to be pigeon-holed into a single sound, Whistlin’ Rufus also enjoys members that are multi-talented musicians, allowing them to add mandolin, banjo uke, fretless banjo, twin fiddles, and more to their repertoire, and covering everything from duets to trios to full four-piece arrangements. And their youth does nothing to hinder their ability to play a great variety of music. They cover the gamut of American roots music, playing songs from the 1800’s and earlier all the way through music of today and adding some of their own compositions as well. The past year has been a busy one as they burst onto the local music scene including television appearances, radio appearances, and festivals.