Walt Koken began playing the banjo in 1959. He was a fiddling member of the popular Highwoods Stringband in the 70’s, and lived in the Ithaca, New York area for over 30 years. After making his living for a time as a carpenter and rural mail carrier, Walt returned to his love of old time music and began recording again in the 1990s, first making several solo banjo CDs and a CD with the Fat City String Band, and after moving to Chester County Pennsylvania in 2002, a CD of banjo/fiddle duets with Clare Milliner. In 2003 he formed the five-piece acoustic string band Orpheus Supertones and has produced three CDs with the band on the Mudthumper label, in addition to a new solo banjo CD, “Sittin’ in the Catbird Seat”. He continues to record, write music and memoirs, publish books of tablature and music transcriptions, and perform, as well as tend his immaculate and enormous garden.

Chris Kermiet (Denver, CO) – Chris Kermiet has been dancing since he could walk. His father was a square dance caller, and some of his earliest memories are of the dances in the old Grange Hall on Lookout Mountain (outside of Golden, CO). Having called now for over 35 years, Chris calls squares, contras, Appalachian big circle dances, English Country Dances, and celtic ceilidhs. He was recently celebrated as a “Living Legend of Dance in Colorado” by the Carson-Brierly Dance Library at the University of Denver.

Patricia Danscen (Denver, CO) – Patricia Danscen’s energetic calling and clear, concise teaching has delighted dancers of all ages and levels of experience for 20+ years.  She has called dances and taught workshops in Colorado and several other states.  In addition to calling, Patricia plays double bass and guitar and performed with a clogging troupe for 12 years.  She delights in seeing seas of smiling faces twirling and whirling on the dance floor as she shares her passion for dance and music.

David Cahn (Seattle, WA) – David is a versatile instrumentalist, playing in numerous bands over the past thirty years. He’s toured with Rodney Miller, and appears on two of his CDs which include several of David’s original tunes. He’s also recorded with Clyde Moody, Charlie Moore, Wade Mainer, Helen Carter, and Mark Simos, and is featured on the Rounder recording “Young Fogies II” with his old-time band “The Queen City Bulldogs” (1st place, Clifftop, 1994). He also plays with The Percolators and the Soda Rock Ramblers. He’s taught at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, The Festival of American Fiddle tunes, Pinewoods, Augusta, and many other camps and festivals around the country.

Molly Tenenbaum (Seattle, WA) – Molly has been playing old-time banjo since she was a teenager, inspired by the musicians passing through as she was growing up in Los Angeles, by her travels around the Southeastern U.S., by old field recordings, and by revival artists such as the New Lost City Ramblers. She has played for square dances and dance camps around the Pacific Northwest with The Queen City Bulldogs and Dram County, and performs in a singing duet with her brother, Dan Tenenbaum. She’s taught banjo at camps including the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and The Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. Her solo recordings are Instead of a Pony and Goose and Gander, and she’s featured on Mark Simos’s album Race the River Jordan. Currently, she teaches at Dusty Strings Music School in Seattle.