General news from the Montana Folk Festival.
Bluegrass | Charlestown, IN The tension between tradition and innovation is at the core of bluegrass music, and the fiddle playing of Michael Cleveland exemplifies this musical tug of war. As a boy, Cleveland heard a local fiddler play “Orange Blossom Special,” which sparked a lifelong obsession with the tune …
Blues | New York, NY Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. The multi-GRAMMY nominee is beloved and honored worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory songs, as well as for her winning, engaging personality. The …
Cumbia | San Jacinto, Colombia Yeison Landero was born in San Jacinto (Bolívar); that is to say, in the very heart of the mountains of María of our Colombian Caribbean. He carries in his soul a cumbiambero heart inherited from his grandfather Andrés Landero: a musician recognized as the king …
Puerto Rican Cuatro | Caguas, Puerto Rico Native to Caguas, PR, Fabiola began playing the cuatro, Puerto Rico’s national instrument, at six. She got her early music training at the Antonio Paoli School of Music in Caguas and her Bachelor’s in Music from Berklee College of Music, where in 2018, she …
Arabic | New York, NY Zahra Alzubaidi is a New York-based singer who performs a variety of Arabic music styles, with a particular focus on Iraqi music. She has taken the stage at prestigious music venues across the United States, including Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Joe’s …
Gospel | Memphis, TN Elizabeth King is a sacred soul and gospel singer from Memphis, Tennessee. Possessed of a powerful, quaking contralto, she has led church services and performed weekly on gospel radio since the 1960s. King sang from the time she could talk. At age nine, she took seriously …
Haitian Creole | Port au Prince, Haiti Paul Beaubrun is a Haitian singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer. Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, son of the Grammy nominated band Boukman Eksperyans and the grandson of legendary Haitian comedian Languichatte.Paul has gained recognition locally and internationally for his unique art; at the …
We’re working on a new and exciting list of performers for the 2025 Montana Folk Festival—stay tuned.
Ripple is a newly recognized education and research center within the Montana University System. Located at Montana Technological University, Ripple is integral to the campus and the surrounding community. Ripple is expanding the mission and vision of the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program to other watersheds in Montana, currently working …
Paint a mini canvas to add to a larger canvas mosaic! All ages and artistic abilities are welcome to help honor our community and the creative spirit in this collaborative masterpiece!
Our mission is to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat and our hunting heritage. We provide funding for Permanent Land Protection and Land Conservation, Habitat Stewardship and Enhancement, Research for wildlife management, and Hunting Heritage Projects. Our Vision is to be the best membership-based conservation organization and …
Montana Wetlands and Waterfowl is the only Montana-based conservation and education organization focusing on waterfowl and their habitats. To do this, we work with area schools, other organizations, and agencies to hold educational events, presentations, and workshops. We have on-the-ground projects like our hen house program where we build duck nesting structures …
The Science Mine began in the 1990’s as a gleam or a dream in the eyes of a few individuals in Butte, Montana, where children could interactively play with and experience the wonders and sometimes counter-intuitive nature of the world around them. At the risk of omitting some of these …
Dalit Guscio of the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program and the Montana Osprey Program has been working with osprey in the Clark Fork for over ten years. She will walk through the process of banding osprey, our current understanding of food-chain effects from metals, and discuss the awesome evolutionary adaptations …
Joan Martin, owner of Martin’s Masks. Joan started Martin’s Masks in 2017 after the company she was working for as a laboratory technician closed its doors. She has always been an artistic person, if you asked the 5-year-old Joan what she wanted to be when she grew up, the answer …
Diane embarked on her journey into engraving in 1986, around the same time her husband, Bob, delved into crafting bits and spurs. Together, they started Sweetwater Silver. In those early days, skilled hand engravers were scarce, and when Diane finally located a potential mentor, the individual was unwilling to impart …
Glenn Brackett, a renowned fly-rod maker and devoted fisherman, traces his passion for angling back to his formative years spent fishing with his father and grandfather. He would often visit the Winston Rod Company during his youth, first around eight years old with his grandfather. As his father’s woodworking business …
Interested in smithing from the time he was a teen, Glenn Goldthwait began his dream of a rural, self-sustaining life in 1977. It was then that he built three hand-hewn cabins and found that the traditional ironwork needed for hinges and latches was not available. He purchased an anvil, a …
Marc Brogger, a fifth-generation Western horseman, has built over 900 saddles since the start of his career in 1981. He is well respected in the Western community for his intricate leather work and flower stamping, bringing his skills to creating ornately hand-tooled saddles which bridge art and utility. On the …
The first loom Maude sat down to was threaded to an overshot draft. As a beginner, she let her foot travel across the treadles and watched amazed as the sheds opened and closed – the yarn from the shuttle floating over and under – and a marvelous wavy fabric growing …
Over the course of his 45-year career in crafting Western and working boots and shoes, Mike Ryan has meticulously crafted over 5,000 pairs of custom boots for clients spanning from Montana to the broader Western region. Growing up outside Brusett, Montana, Mike developed an interest in boot and shoemaking, inspired …
Olivia “Rose” Williamson, owner and operator of Lady Pompadour Beadwork and Design, has garnered widespread recognition within the Apsáalooke community and across the Northern Plains. Renowned for her expertise in traditional beadwork, Rose is affectionately referred to by friend Carrie Moran McCleary as a “certified bead florist,” further stating that …
Terry Hill, a fourth-generation Montanan, spent 29 years as a game warden for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks before retiring in 2007. Come 2009, Terry discovered his love for segmented woodturning through a course taught by Rich Charlson, a previous MCAM honoree, who he studied under for …
Tom Dean, a completely self-taught artist, discovered his passion for woodwork at the age of 45, beginning his experimentation in 2005. Guided by what he refers to as his God-given talent, Tom transitioned to full-time artist status in 2008 and began producing his artwork under the name of Milo Creek …
Presenter: Interviews on Stage – Sunday Born and raised on her family’s Montana ranch where the Great Plains rise up to meet the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Edrienne (Cindy) Kittredge has lived and worked across the US before finding her way home. Kittredge studied at the College of William and Mary, …
