10th Rocky Mountain Old-Time Music Festival
July 10-14, 2019
Performers
The Sunny Mountain Serenaders (VA & NC)
The Sunny Mountain Serenaders feature three of the most accomplished, steeped-in-the-tradition old-time musicians you’ll find anywhere. Mark Campbell, who was raised in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, has won many ribbons at Southern fiddle contests, including 1st Prize at Clifftop in 2001. He is an unrepentant booster of Virginia music and a long-time musical mentor to scores of folks in the Richmond area. When he’s not playing with the Serenaders, Mark enjoys playing with his wife and daughters, known collectively as The Campbell Family Band. Mark also is an accomplished landscape painter. Native Virginian Mac Traynham, who plays banjo and harmonica and sings lead with the Serenaders, may be best known for the soulful tight-harmony duets that he sings and plays with his wife, Jenny. He’s another guy who’s papered his walls with fiddlers convention prize ribbons. Mac lives in the country, near Floyd, VA, and is a full-time musician, banjo builder, cabinetmaker, and farmer. John Schwab is the guy who literally wrote the book on playing old-time backup guitar. He’s anchored the rhythm sections of several fine bands, including The Hoover Uprights, who took the blue ribbon in the traditional band contest at Clifftop in 2001 and again in 2003. John plays his old Gibson archtop guitar and sings harmony with the Serenaders. Learn more about the Serenaders by visiting their website.
The Canote Brothers (Seattle, WA)
That’s Greg on the left and Jere on the right photo credit- Tom Collicott
From the folks at Redwood Bluegrass Associates: Greg and Jere Canote are identical twins whose music is all about having a good time. They do, and you will too! It’s steeped in vintage Americana — forgotten fiddle tunes, swing classics, and quirky novelty songs — but with their own twists (and a few of their brilliant original takes on the world around us). They’re fabulous musicians, moving effortlessly among fiddle, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and various hybrids, and their genetically-matched voices recall brother duets from the Blue Sky Boys to the Everly’s. Learn more about the Canotes by visiting their website.
Big Possum Stringband (VA, WV, & OH)
What began as friends playing music together in the mountains of West Virginia has quickly developed into one of Appalachia’s hottest Old-Time Stringbands. Officially forming in the Winter of 2017, Big Possum Stringband was first comprised of Tessa Dillon, Henry Barnes and Evan Collins, with the addition of Seth Swingle in early Summer 2018. With all members being well-known award-winning individual musicians, the music that Big Possum makes as a group has everyone listening. While firmly rooted in old-time music, The Possum’s repertoire ranges from both driving, traditional fiddle tunes, to early bluegrass and country numbers that’ll have you up and dancing. Learn more about Big Possum Stringband by visiting their website.
T-Mart Rounders (WV & TN)
The T-MART ROUNDERS is an old-time trio that re-envisions and arranges traditional old-time tunes using percussive dance as if it was a drum set. The trio consists of claw-hammer banjo, fiddle, voice and feet. All three artists have spent significant time in West Virginia learning from master elder musicians and dancers with the goal of respecting the tradition while pushing the boundaries of what old-time music is. Jesse Milnes grew up in the world of West Virginia old-time music (his father is fiddler and folklorist Gerry Milnes). Although he is widely known as a fiddle player, Jesse’s first instrument was a guitar, and he has developed a personal style of finger-picking, drawing on influences from blues, to bluegrass and country. Jesse has won many local and regional fiddle contests, including the WV State Folk Festival in Glenville, WV, and the Ed Haley Fiddle Contest in Ashland, KY. Jesse also performs with his wife Emily Miller. Learn more about Jesses at emmyandjesse.com. Kevin Chesser is a musician and writer living in Elkins, WV. He performs regularly on banjo & guitar at square dances and community events around the state. In 2016, he took first place in old-time banjo at the WV Open Fiddle & Banjo championship, and has also won prizes for his playing at the Vandalia Gathering & the WV State Folk Festival. In 2016, he recorded an EP with Jesse Milnes & Becky Hill. It is set for release in 2017. Becky Hill is a percussive dancer. She apprenticed with both Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble and Rhythm in Shoes and has studied with an array of percussive dance luminaries such as Eileen Carson, Sharon Leahy, Sandy Silva, and Ira Bernstein. She’s won flatfoot competitions at several old-time music festivals, including the Appalachian String Band Festival, and teaches at traditional music camps and festivals throughout Appalachia and the Midwest. In 2014 & 2016 she was awarded a West Virginia Division of Culture and History Professional Development Grant to further her study of percussive dance.
David Bragger & Susan Platz (CA)
David Bragger and Susan Platz conjure the mysteries of the old, weird America through their hypnotic twin fiddling and banjo-fiddle duets. Archaic, trance-inducing bow rhythms and melodies become enveloped in a wash of drone and harmony when the duo summons the echoes of America’s early, forgotten folk music. David Bragger is a Los Angeles-based old-time musician, instructor and founder of The Old-Time Tiki Parlour. David was an itinerant street magician, collector of South Asian folk tales and filmmaker before heading down the old-time music path. After inheriting his great-uncle’s fiddle, his obsession for old-time began. After years of studying with his mentors Mel Durham and Tom Sauber and visiting old-time musicians including Dan Gellert, Charlie Acuff, Benton Flippen, Clyde Davenport and Joe Thompson, David has become a go-to-guru for learning old-time fiddle and banjo. He has students all over the world and is in great demand as a workshop teacher at traditional music festivals and camps. David is also the Old-Time String Band Ensemble director at the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology. In addition to teaching, he documents the greatest living old-time musicians for future generations through his critically-acclaimed label. Susan Platz originally from Illinois, became a permanent member of the old-time band, Sausage Grinder, after years of studying fiddle with David. Her bowing rhythms and harmonies fit hand in glove with David’s fiddle and banjo. She is also a tremendously powerful singer who is known to yodel on occasion. After experimenting with double fiddle arrangements for the last couple years, Susan and David recorded the very first American old-time double fiddle album and have been in high demand as workshop instructors ever since.
Dance Callers
Larry Edelman (Denver, CO)
Larry Edelman has been playing, calling, and teaching for traditional dances for more than 35 years. He plays fiddle, guitar and mandolin in several bands, including the Soda Rock Ramblers, the Percolators, and right here in Colorado, the Prairie Chickens. A renowned dance caller and teacher Larry has traveled widely throughout the United States and in Europe, delighting both novice and veteran dancers with his humor, enthusiasm, skillful teaching, knowledge of dance history, and colorful calling. Larry is an avid dance researcher and during the 1980’s while collecting traditional square dances in southwestern Pennsylvania, he was awarded a Fellowship in Folk Arts from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to study with elder caller Jerry Goodwin, and produced the movie “Dance to the Music and Listen to the Calls” that documented the apprenticeship. Larry also produced Yee Haw, a quirky and informative movie of how square dancing has been portrayed in historical, non-theatrical motion pictures. Larry has trained scores of square dance callers who have attended his acclaimed intensive square dance calling workshops.
Becky Hill (Nashville, TN)
Becky Hill is not only a percussive dancer, but also a square dance caller, choreographer, published writer, community organizer, musician, yoga teacher and budding folklorist. Together with noted folklorist Gerry Milnes, she produced an Augusta Recording documentary on West Virginia dance traditions entitled Reel ‘Em Boys, Reel ‘Em. In 2013, she was involved in Wheatland Music Organization’s Carry It On… Project where she was commissioned to choreograph two dance pieces under the mentorship of Sharon Leahy in honor of the festival’s 40th anniversary. Becky is the Coordinator of The Mountain Dance Trail for Augusta Heritage Center and has organized Dare to be Square West Virginia. Learn more about Becky by visiting her website.
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.
Pat Danscen (Denver, CO)
Pat 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.
Staff Musicians
Bridger Dunnagan (Denver, CO)
Bridger Dunnagan is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and educator based in Denver, Colorado. Originally from Bozeman, Montana, Bridger grew with a strong reverence & respect for the natural world, which is reflected in his music and way of life. Now, Bridger plays with a variety of musical acts, like Denver-based bluegrass band Turkeyfoot, acoustic duo Hazel Hue, as well as collaborations with various Front Range musicians. Bridger is an experienced performer, having shared the stage with The Lil Smokies, Elephant Revival, Danny Barnes, the Jeff Austin Band, Pert Near Sandstone, the Kitchen Dwellers, and many more. Bridger’s open-minded nature and ear for authenticity have led him to cultivate a deeply rooted passion and appreciation for traditional fiddle styles, most notably Old-Time and Bluegrass. His playing style and original music display a freedom between cunning musical fluency and a heartfelt sense of touch with American folk music. Learn more about Bridger at his website.
David Cahn (Seattle, WA)
David Cahn 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 Tenenbaum – 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.
Master of Ceremonies
Virginia Musser (Lawrence, KS)
Virginia Musser is an enthusiastic player and supporter of old-time music. She plays upright bass and raises two kids in her spare time, and loves using her emcee powers to bring together music communities. Virginia and her family have been to every Rocky Mountain Old-time Music Festival!