ARTISTS

Two men playing guitars in a forest during fall, with leaves on the ground, surrounded by tall trees.

Larry & Joe 

Larry & Joe fuse Venezuelan and Appalachian folk traditions into a genre-defying sound rooted in justice, exile, and joy. Larry Bellorín is a master of Música Llanera. Joe Troop is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass innovator from North Carolina. Together, they’ve performed at the Kennedy Center, LEAF, and the Library of Congress, sharing stages with Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, and Tim O’Brien. With harp, banjo, fiddle, and powerful storytelling, they transcend borders and genres—offering a soul-stirring performance that bridges cultures and uplifts communities through shared musical heritage. 

Four musicians performing on stage with a black background. One playing an upright bass, another on a snare drum, one singing and playing a guitar, and the last playing a banjo.

Dom Flemons & Schultz’s Dream 

Dom Flemons and Shultz’s Dream bring Black string band traditions to life with fire, finesse, and historical reverence. Dom Flemons—GRAMMY Award winner, co-founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and “The American Songster”—joins forces with the powerhouse ensemble Shultz’s Dream, named after the famed African American fiddler known as the Godfather of Bluegrass. Together, they breathe new life into early blues, ragtime, spirituals, and old-time music. With performances at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, MerleFest, and the National Folk Festival, their show is a powerful celebration of Black musical legacies and living traditions—equal parts concert, cultural awakening, and foot-stomping joy. 

The Jake Leg Stompers 

The Jake Leg Stompers evoke the rebellious spirit and colorful pageantry of American popular music before the Second World War, from the Memphis blues to Gullah ring shouts; when jazz began, vaudeville was urgent, and folk music was still dangerous.

From their home base in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Jake Leg Stompers have been serving up chicken-fried, pre-war, hokum-billy jug music since 2005. Acclaimed for their spirited, eclectic, and wildly unpredictable performances, the Stompers evoke the ethos and repertoire of early juke joints, speakeasies and 20th-century medicine shows, featuring period dress and vintage instruments. 

An elderly man wearing a white cap and patterned shirt sitting in a cluttered room filled with posters, photos, and musical instruments, holding and playing an electric guitar.

Terry Harmonica Bean  

Terry “Harmonica” Bean is a Mississippi bluesman carrying the torch of North Mississippi Hill Country and Delta blues traditions. Born in Pontotoc and raised in a musical family, Bean is a one-man band and master of the blues harp, known for his raw, soulful performances steeped in authenticity. A tireless performer and cultural preservationist, he’s graced stages at the Chicago Blues Festival, King Biscuit Blues Festival, and internationally across Europe and Asia. With deep roots and boundless energy, Bean embodies the living legacy of juke joint blues—keeping the spirit of the real deal alive with every stomp and wail. 

Three men appear to be playing musical instruments while sitting on a large drum, with a brown textured backdrop.

Ferd  

Ferd is a high-octane string band blurring the lines between old-time, rock 'n' roll, and cosmic mountain music. Fronted by Ferd Moyse—fiddler, songwriter, and longtime member of the Hackensaw Boys—the band delivers gritty, heartfelt performances steeped in southern storytelling and back-porch soul. With raw vocals, foot-stomping rhythms, and a punk-meets-honky-tonk spirit, Ferd ignites stages from dive bars to major festivals like Bristol Rhythm & Roots and AmericanaFest. Rooted in tradition but unafraid to push boundaries, they’re a hard-driving force keeping roots music wild, weird, and gloriously alive. 

A woman singing into a microphone while playing an acoustic guitar in a dimly lit bar or club.

CAROLINA MENDOZA

CARONLINA Mendoza is a singer and songwriter from Mountain View, Arkansas, mentored by generations of traditional folk music performers. Her nickname “Voice of the Mountain”, “Songbird of the Ozarks” was bestowed on her for her rich tones and flute-like whistles.

Carolina’s signature sound combines her traditional Mexican roots and a deep influence of country, Americana, bluegrass, Nordic folk, and old-time Ozark music

nichols & SLOAN

NICK Nichols first found an interest in the distilling world through coppersmithing and a natural fondness for whiskey. As a hobby distiller, he is interested in both the tradition and history of distilling as well as its growth and continuation in the modern Ozarks.

Matthew Sloan is a hobby distiller, focusing on keeping the tradition alive with an appreciation for the time when moonshine wasn’t just a way of life but a necessity for many.

creek rocks

“Wolf Hunter” is the debut CD by The Creek Rocks from Springfield, Missouri. The title is an amalgam of the names of the two folklorists whose collections provided the raw materials for the songs on the album — John Quincy Wolf of Batesville, Arkansas and Max Hunter of Springfield, Missouri. Cindy Woolf was raised in Batesville, along the southern foothills of the Ozarks Mountain region, and Mark Bilyeu hails from Springfield, located atop the Ozarks Plateau.

Essie Neal

essie Neal, who was inducted into the National Blues Hall of Fame in 2008, performs as “Essie the Blues Lady” in festivals, schools, and numerous venues across Arkansas. She grew up in a musical family and learned to play the guitar at twelve years of age. She formed an all-girl blues band and toured the state during the 1970s, and she has played throughout Arkansas and the surrounding states. Essie the Blues Lady now usually performs as a solo act.

steve green

STEVE Green grew up on a hill country farm in the Arkansas Ozark Mountains, with memories of old time American square dances alongside German Polkas and Schottisches in his grandfather’s front room. Southern mountain music, square dance calling, ballad singing, storytelling, and old time flatfoot dancing are a big part of his life. In 2015 he won first at the US National Buck Dance senior competition, as well as the open flatfoot dance competitions at Clifftop.

BRIAN MARTIN

Primarily performing as a solo artist since the early 2000’s, Brian Martin released his debut album “No Rider” in 2011, a self described bare bones collection of intimate folk songs. He is also a founding member of Sad Daddy, a critically and commercially heralded string band based in the Ozark region and gaining traction well beyond. Since their 2010 inception, the band has released three studio albums and a live album, their most recent, “Way Up In The Hills,” debuting in 2022.

OZARK HIGHBALLERS

The Ozark Highballers are a three to four piece string band from Fayetteville, Arkansas.  Since 2014 the Ozark Highballers have brought their music to square dances, farmers markets, festivals, workshops, as well as plain old street corners and front porches. Their music reflects the spirit and drive of the rural Ozark string bands of the 1920s and ’30s.

Carousel orchestra

The Carousel Orchestra plays music most often heard today on fairground carousel rides, but was at one time commonly played by string bands and small-town brass bands. It could be heard at beer gardens, barn dances, band shells and dance halls. 

Band leader Clarke Buehling plays the "classic style" banjo, winning first place at the Charlie Poole banjo contest in 2011, and for thirty years led The Skirtlifters string band. Buehling has collected thousands of banjo compositions and arrangements published between 1880 and 1920 which he uses to arrange the band's repertoire.