2023 Jams and Sing Alongs

Bluegrass

Higher Ground Bluegrass has established itself as a premier Bluegrass band in New Mexico and is venturing into their 25th year as a musical ensemble. Founder “Duke” Weddington plays banjo, guitar and sings; Dave Devlin plays mandolin and resophonic guitar; Pat Mahoney sings and plays fiddle; bass player Laura Leach-Devlin and guitarist Ben Monroe also sing. The band’s repertoire features their own original material but also plays traditional and contemporary selections influenced by folk, Celtic, country, and rock ‘n roll. They work at developing dynamic arrangements of their original material and adding their own take to standard bluegrass numbers and lesser-known songs. Four vocalists enable the band to trade lead and harmony lines to offer a dynamic program.

The band has recorded nine independent albums, and opened for Peter Rowan, Tim O’Brien, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Jim Lauderdale, and The Infamous Stringdusters. The band served as host band for the Southwest Pickers Bluegrass and Traditional Music Festival from 2017 to 2021.

Cultural with Jazz & Folk Roots

From the city where the sun shines through the mist, Temecula, California, comes the jazzy folk duo Nathan & Jessie. Born of the individuals, Nathan Rivera and Jessie Andra Smith, this duo is a unique blend of jazzy folk and blues on resonator guitars and accordion, along with interesting interplay between male and female vocals. Their performances not only include unique all original music, but stories of their travels and interaction with the audience that make for an unforgettable experience. Love of sharing music has taken Nathan & Jessie all over the world, frequenting places like Mexico, Canada, France, New Orleans, and the Pacific North West. The upbeat tunes they write reflect the cultural, emotional, and inspirational images of their life experience and are rooted in the spirit of jazz, improvisation, storytelling, language, and humor.

Celtic

The Here and Now are Chris Buckley and Niamh Fahy on fiddle, Rob Forkner on bodhran, and Joseph Carmichael on guitar. Based in Texas, this fine young band of Celtic musicians is comprised of musicians who have played with many well-known groups, such as Riverdance, John Williams, John Williams, Solas and Needfire, and all have studied with legendary Irish musicians in both the U.S. and Ireland.

Chris Buckley studied viola at the University of Minnesota and Irish fiddle from greats Liz Carroll, Brendan Mulvhill and James Kelly. He competed in three All-Ireland world competitions. Niamh Fahy, from Tara, County Meath, took lessons from the infamous Antoin McGabhann. She toured with Riverdance, Project West and John Williams, and did session work while living in London. While living in Alaska, bodhran player Rob Forkner discovered Irish music from a loaner cassette tape of the great Johnny “Ringo”McDonagh which inspired him to fashion a drum from birch bark and salmon skin. Joseph Carmichael is a seriously inventive guitarist who has worked with list of bands in a variety of directions, from his contemporary trio, Flashpoint, to the legendary Solas, to singer/songwriter Ashley Davis in Lawrence, to the nationally touring Celtic-rock band Needfire.


Latin North & SW American, & World Folk

Lasotras aims to break down walls, build bridges, add music to the struggle and encourage solidarity. We are an Albuquerque-based musical group that has played together in different configurations for over 30 years. We perform U.S. and Latin American folk music with tight harmonies, spicy riffs, and upbeat rhythms on string, wind and percussion instruments. We often take favorites written by other composers and adapt our own words or make the songs bilingual. We also host peñas (cultural coffeehouses) in Albuquerque and play at political and social events. Lasotras are Enrique Cardiel (bass, accordion and vocals), Teresa Guevara Beltrán (cuatro, jarana, guitar, cajón, bombo, and vocals), Ricardo Magallanes Guillén (guitar, zampoñas/panpipes, bombo, maracas and vocals), Dair Obenshain (fiddle, guitar, bongós, bones, bass and vocals) and Ruth Warner Carrillo (cuatro, jarana, charango, guitar, bongós and vocals).

Uplifting folk for Tumultuous Times

Eileen & the In-Betweens is a celebrated social justice folk band based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Edible Magazine (late summer 2017 issue) featured front-woman Eileen O'Shaughnessy as one of New Mexico's top talented songwriters and in the words of Albuquerque Magazine: "[Eileen] sings with a warm and sunny confidence that makes you believe that however dark things may look, there is a path forward to the light." They have released four full-length albums of original music and have been invited to perform their uplifting and soulful music across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Their energetic performances feature diverse instrumentation and leave audiences inspired and enthralled. The band is made up of Albuquerque's finest musicians: Lazarus Letcher on viola, Colin Baillio on upright bass & pedal steel, Stef Graner on keys and vocals, and Jackie Chacón on drums. Eileen's songwriting draws on the age-old tradition of mobilizing music as a tool for social change in line with the "greats" such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, while her enchanting voice draws comparisons to Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Edie Brickell. Eileen draws sonic inspiration from her Irish-American & Celtic heritage, folk roots, Americana, pop, and world music.

International Bluegrass

The Adobe Brothers are Jacoby Adobe (Jimmy Abraham) - vocals, guitar, harmonica: Pierogi Adobe (Terry Bluhm) - vocal, bass; Moby Adobe (Wayne Shrubsall) - vocals, banjo, guitar; Toby Adobe (Bruce Thomson) - vocals, fiddle

The Adobe Brothers is a band comprised of identical quadruplets born to different mothers a long time ago who came together to play music as a band in 1979. Their initial musical preference consisted of Old Timey fiddle music, Bluegrass, and folk music of North America, but has subsequently expanded to include Western Swing, Celtic, blues, Klezmer and whatever else might be fun to play. The Brothers refer to their music as “International Bluegrass” and proclaim themselves the progenitors of this genre.

Their fundamental musical philosophy is “if it’s fun and sounds good, we’ll play it.” Their song/tune list has over 200 titles in it and during a concert they’ll often draw from hundreds of other pieces that they forgot to add to the list.

Old-Time & Celtic to Bluegrass

Baltimore-based acoustic roots quartet Charm City Junction creates a fresh soundscape that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats wondering where they'll go next. They are four of the most talented young musicians in the country: Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Brad Kolodner on clawhammer banjo, Sean McComiskey on button accordion and Alex Lacquement on upright bass, and are unafraid to take roots music to new places and with the energy to take the audience with them. The ensemble always keeps an eye on tradition as the common threads of Irish, bluegrass and old-time music take flight. Their second album, “Duckpin,” in 2018 charted high among bluegrass albums for the creative mix of instrumental texture and top-notch playing.

Snorty Horse plays traditional, old-time, and contemporary folk music especially from the Ozark mountains. Mike plays fiddle for Snorty Horse and has led the band Shortleaf for many years. Tenley, trained in musical theater, joined Mike’s band in Kansas City, adding keyboard, guitar, lead singing and composing.

Dirk Powell plays fiddle, banjo and guitar; Cedric Watson plays fiddle and accordion. Both sing.

Dirk Powell has expanded on the deeply rooted sounds of his Appalachian heritage to become one of the preeminent traditional American musicians of his generation. In addition to acclaimed releases on Rounder Records, he’s recorded and performed with artists such as Loretta Lynn, Sting, Levon Helm, Jewel, T-Bone Burnett, Ralph Stanley, Linda Ronstadt and currently with Joan Baez. As a founding member of Balfa Toujours and long time Louisiana resident Dirk is equally at home playing Cajun music.

Spearheading the emerging generation of Creole musicians, Cedric Watson is a fiddler, vocalist, accordionist and songwriter of enormous talent and potential. Injecting a healthy dose of his own personality and ingenuity, Cedric has been exciting an ever-broadening audience with his unique take on traditional Creole music, and with his new compositions that expand the genre while still respecting its roots. Moving with ease between fiddle and accordion, and adding his strong blues-inflected vocals, Cedric’s creative style and obvious joy in playing make him an engaging and exciting performer.

The Virginia Creepers play old-time music. Formed in New Mexico 30 years ago, the band is drawn to weird, old, crooked tunes from exotic places like West Virginia and Kentucky, lively dance tunes that they play for squares and contras, and songs about hard times, trains, and whiskey, all ranging in age from the Civil War era and earlier to newer pieces in the old-time style. The Creepers are: Rick Olcott on guitar, Laurie Phillips on mandola, Jane Phillips on fiddle, Marc Robert on bass and banjo, and Michel Robert on fiddle. All of them sing now and then. Based in Albuquerque, they play around NM and beyond for dances, parties, and festivals, and as soothing background music for the quiet and studious patrons of saloons and taverns. The Creepers hosted a weekly old-time jam at Tractor Brewing in Nob Hill for over 7 years, until the pandemic shutdowns. They have continued the tradition with virtual jam-along sessions on Facebook Live, racking up over 50 of them by the beginning of 2022.