Pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated with traditional folk designs using a wax-resist method. The word pysanka comes from the verb pysaty, “to write” or “to inscribe,” as the designs are written (inscribed) with beeswax, not painted. The designs are written on the egg using melted beeswax and a stylus, the egg is dipped in colored dye, and the …
The Big Sky Lace Guild was started in the fall of 2014 and is the only lace guild currently in Montana. The last lace guild in Montana existed in the early 1900s. Although based in Butte, the Big Sky Lace Guild is open to lace-makers statewide. The Guild became a …
The Montana International Folk Dancers join together from communities around the state to share an appreciation of the music, dance, dress, and language of traditional world cultures. Since the 1960s, their activities have always included recreational dancing, but at times have expanded to exhibition dance and musical performance. Dancers come …
LuWaana Marjamaa Johnson and Norma Pylypuw | Butte, Montana The tradition of weaving rag rugs was brought to Butte in the early 1900s by the Finnish miner families who settled in the east Butte neighborhood called “Finn Town.” Large floor looms were easily constructed, and being very frugal, the …
The Celtic Quintet brings Gaelic musical cultures from both Ireland and Scotland together with strong Iberian and Nordic influences. They play in Bozeman and the surrounding Gallatin Valley delivering ‘live’ music and a jig or two! They strive to bring community and culture together. The Celtic Quintet was organically formed …
Blues/Soul | Los Angeles, CA A chance meeting in Memphis laid the groundwork for a unique musical partnership between soul-blues powerhouse Sugaray Rayford and producer/songwriter Eric Corne. Combining classic soul melodies with funky R & B grooves, raw blues power, and mashed up with modern sensibilities, the pair’s first collaboration, …
Chinese Traditional | San Francisco, CA Melody of China is a San Francisco-based Chinese chamber ensemble. Begun in 1993 by a group of enthusiastic musicians from Mainland China, Melody of China’s mission is two-fold: “to provide rich musical entertainment through the synergy of ancient Chinese tradition with youthful, diverse American …
Traditional Sephardic Ladino | Amsterdam, Netherlands Noam “Nani” Vazana is one of the only artists in the world who writes and composes new songs in the endangered Ladino language which is a remnant of the rich heritage and tradition of Sephardic Jews, expelled by Queen Isabella from Spain and Portugal …
Native American Drumming | Harlem, MT The Assiniboine Cree singers are a family-based drum group from both the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boys reservations in Montana, traditional homes of the Assiniboine and Cree tribes. Immigrants to Montana, the Assiniboine and Sioux were both gradually pushed westward onto the plains from …
Acoustic Blues | Greenville, GA and Richmond, VA Hailing from Greenville, Georgia, Jontavious Willis grew up singing Gospel music at the Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church with his grandfather. From an early age, he had the talent and passion for music and the ability to sharpen his skills fast. At the …
Appalachian Piano | Salisbury, NC Jeff Little is an award-winning musician from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. With few exceptions, the piano does not play a prominent part in Americana or Appalachian music and is rarely the lead instrument. But Jeff Little is an exception and a remarkable one. …
Quebecois | Montreal, Quebec Over the past 18 years, the Quebec group Genticorum has become a fixture on the international world, trad, folk and Celtic music circuit. The band’s six albums have been met with critical acclaim in Canada, the United States and Europe. Known for its energy and its …
Haitian Roots | Port Au Prince, Haiti Lakou Mizik is a multigenerational collective of Haitian musicians formed in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake. The group includes elder legends and rising young talents, united in a mission to honor the healing spirit of their collective culture and communicate a …
Rockabilly | Nashville, TN Chuck Mead is one of the founding members of the celebrated alt-country quintet BR5-49. Mead brings together vintage country, rockabilly, and no-frills rock & roll, creating a sound that generates a swing all its own. While he has also made a name for himself as a producer and …
Cape Breton Celtic | Montreal, Quebec Beòlach is one of Cape Breton’s most exciting and innovative traditional bands. Performing a lively mix of Cape Breton, Scottish and Irish tunes, the group features Mairi Rankin (fiddle, step-dance), Wendy MacIsaac (fiddle, piano, step-dance), Mac Morin (piano, accordion, step-dance), and Matt MacIsaac (pipes, …
Mali Balafon Djeli | New York, NY Balla Kouyaté was born into a musical family that goes back over 800 years to Balla Faséké, the first of an unbroken line of djelis in the Kouyaté clan. Djelis are the oral historians, musicians, and performers who keep alive and celebrate the …
Kathak Dance | Menlo Park, CA Farah Yasmeen Shaikh is an internationally acclaimed Kathak performer, choreographer and instructor, and Founder & Artistic Director of Noorani Dance. As a performer, Farah is known for her evocative storytelling, technical precision, delicacy, and grace, with two decades of training from the late Pandit …
Western Swing | Austin, TX In 1994 in New York City, Elana James placed an ad in the music section of the Village Voice looking to join a band, and Whit Smith answered it. Since then the music these two have made has always been a secret brew of energy, …
Hawaiian Hula | Carson, CA Hālau ‘O Lilinoe is one of the foremost halau (hula schools) in the mainland United States, dedicated to presenting hula kahiko (“ancient hula”), the traditional dance and chant of the Hawai’ian Islands. Beloved for its graceful and powerful performances, the school also celebrates hula as a means of preserving …
Tejano Conjunto Fiddle | San Antonio, TX When Texas Folklife and the Festival of Texas Fiddling honored Belen Escobedo with the 2017 Texas Master Fiddler Award, they praised her for “single-handedly keeping alive” the tradition of conjunto fiddle, “a rare and beautiful style of Mexican-American fiddling which has almost disappeared despite …
Gospel | Richmond, VA Gospel artist Cora Harvey Armstrong still lives in her tiny hometown of Newtown in King and Queen County, Virginia. Her father was a deacon at First Mount Olive Baptist Church where Armstrong served as minister of music for four decades. Her mother started the Harvey Family …
Gypsy Jazz and Swing | Montreal, Quebec For two decades, Christine Tassan, an outstanding guitarist, has been steering her ship with boundless enthusiasm and confidence. Blessed with an absolutely contagious dynamism, she is one of the rare female jazz and gypsy jazz guitar soloists; and she stands out for her …
Cajun | Lafayette, LA One of the brightest young talents to emerge in Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco (Louisiana French) music over the last decade, Cedric Watson is a four-time Grammy-nominated fiddler, singer, accordionist & songwriter with seemingly unlimited potential. Originally from San Felipe, TX (population 868), Cedric made his first …
Bomba y Plena | Miami, FL Plena Es has carved a space for Puerto Rican music in South Florida by emphasizing the island’s distinctive bomba y plena musical traditions, percussion-driven sounds that reflect the island’s African heritage. Founded by Pierre Ramos in 2004, the band—featuring percussion, trombones, piano, bass, and …
Bluegrass | Winchester, VA With a powerhouse voice and remarkable range, Linda Lay is, hands down, one of the best singers in grassroots bluegrass and country music. She leads an exceptional ensemble of award-winning musicians in Springfield Exit. The core trio of Linda, her husband David Lay, and multi-instrumentalist David …
