THE NIELDS are part of the VOICES UNITED

Newton, MA: performed at house concert

What does a folk-rock sister duo write about after twenty years in the music business; a career which produced fifteen CDs, three books, a DVD, a thriving children’s music educational empire, four children and two husbands (one apiece)? The full catastrophe of course. Taken from the line from Zorba the Greek: "I'm a man, so I married. Wife, children, house, everything. The full catastrophe," the Nields sisters have created a powerful, passionate, thoughtful, humorous work that explores the crazy ride that is this insane twenty-first century idea that in a post-feminist world it might somehow be possible for a woman to raise her children, maintain her relationship and career and contribution to her community while tending to her artistic soul at the same time.

If it is possible, the Nields come damn close with The Full Catastrophe, their sixteenth album in two full decades of work. Since the heyday of their legendary band The Nields they have strictly reduced their touring to make time to see their kids’ piano recitals, soccer games and school pageants while still maintaining a strong presence in the folk world, branching out to writing books and teaching workshops. But coming close — in fact, success itself, they insist — is beside the point. The point is to surrender to the mess. Lots of women could and should win gold medals for the Great Juggling Act, but what Nerissa and Katryna are more interested in is being present to the bare experience of life, to get out of the whirlwind created by Facebook, iPhones, to-do lists and day planners to notice what a miracle it is to watch life go by. As Nerissa writes in the second track on the CD, "I don’t need the good life; I just need life... If you’ll see me that way/with my feet covered in clay/I’ll meet you back at the fruit tree."

COSY SHERIDAN is one of the VOICES UNITED

Washington, DC: performed at house concert

Cosy Sheridan has been called “one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful singer-songwriters.”  She first caught the attention of national folk audiences in 1992 when she won both the Kerrville Folk Festival's NewFolk Award and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Contest, and then released her critically-acclaimed CD Quietly Led on Waterbug Records.  Almost 20 years later she is one of the most respected touring musicians on the folk circuit as well as a teacher at many adult music camps.

In 2011 when she released her tenth CD, The Horse King, The Chicago Examinerwrote: "You can't make it into double digits, and continue touring for twenty or so years, unless you know what you're doing and do it well. Rarely do you find a CD where every song is memorable. It happens, just not often. It happens here."

A guitar student of instrumental luminaries such as Guy Van Duser and Eric Schoenberg and a voice student at The Berklee School of Music, she brings a depth of experience to both the musical as well as the lyrical side of her craft.

Her concerts are wide-ranging explorations: modern renditions of mythology (meet Hades the Biker), children’s stories woven into tales of modern adulthood, blues and gospel guitar and love songs for adults.  Her alter ego, Chlamydia, often appears with songs such as Botox Tango or Multiply Pierced.  Rich Warren of The Midnight Special wrote:  “Cosy Sheridan possesses an eccentric muse, or perhaps it possesses her. That’s all for the good as (it) leads her into explorations to which other writers are oblivious.”

In 1994 she created a one-woman-show, The Pomegranate Seed:  An Exploration of Appetite, Body-Image and Myth in Modern Culture which she brings to college campuses. “Sheridan is frank, feisty, sublimely and devilishly funny. She fuses myth with modern culture; Persephone with Botox,” said The Cornell Folksong Society.           

For the past 18 years, she has taught classes in songwriting, performance and guitar at workshops and adult music camps across the country such as The Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and The Swannanoa Gathering. In 2008 she co-founded The Moab Folk Camp.

http://www.cosysheridan.com/

BOB MELLMAN is one of the VOICES UNITED

Bloomfield, NJ: performed at Temple Ner Tamid

Bob gives friendly performances of his own songs and the songs of others. He plays guitar and bass in a variety of musical genres, including western swing, klezmer, blues, fiddle tunes, and folk/rock. His band, The Reticents, performs exciting arrangements of Bob Dylan's songs. Bob played guitar for the soundtrack of "Witness to an Execution", a Peabody award-winning Sound Portraits Production, originally broadcast on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered".

http://www.myspace.com/bobmellman/

MARKLEY & BALMER is part of the VOICES UNITED

Wylie, TX performed at house concert

BRUCE BALMER was born a guitar player in Margaretville, NY, from a musical family. After music at Marlboro college, he played lead guitar for rock, jazz, and country bands, and composed for dance performance and film (including credits on a Bill Plympton animated film). He is a singer/songwriter recently of the NYC area. He and his thousand pound upright piano have now officially transplanted themselves to Texas. He pounds nails while singing.

LISA MARKLEY was born a three-and-a-half pound Capricorn with a set of lungs. She is a survivor of the University of North Texas where she played trombone in the lab bands, sang in the Jazz Singers, skipped out on music history classes, composed suitably atonal pieces for an assortment of instruments, and crashed the hard-drive on the Synclavier (many times). Upon graduation, she took a long hard look at what drove her musically and decided to put down her trombone and turn fullforce to singing and writing songs.

http://www.reverbnation.com/markleyandbalmer

JENN ADAMS is one of the VOICES UNITED

Missoula, MT: performed at the Crystal Theater

Twisting the corners of folk, blues and jazz into immediately personal songs, Jenn Adams is internationally recognized for her distinctive sound and well-crafted songwriting. Sparsely decorated, bluesy ballads a trademark but by no means a limitation. With an extensive backlog of experience and craft, her songs scale a diverse foundation that refuses to blend into the ordinary. Known for her warm and inclusive live performances, she is widely regarded as on of the most genuine artist on the acoustic circuit.

http://www.jennadams.com/home.html

REBIRTH BRASS BAND is part of the VOICES UNITED

New Orleans, LA: performed at Cafe Istanbul

Simply put, The Rebirth Brass Band is a New Orleans institution. Formed in 1983 by the now infamous Frazier brothers, the band has evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter to playing festivals and stages all over the world.  Rebirth is committed to upholding the tradition of brass bands while at the same time incorporating modern music into their show.  Their signature brand of heavy funk has not only won over several generations of music lovers, it has become the soundtrack to an entire city.  In the wake of the sometimes-stringent competition amongst brass bands, Rebirth is the undisputed leader of the pack, and they show no signs of slowing down.

http://www.rebirthbrassband.com/

HANK HARRIS is one of the VOICES UNITED

Sioux Falls, SD: performed at Monk's House of Ale Repute

When it comes to musical diversity, Hank Harris has cornered the market. In a market that has so many competing for the same thing, so few are successfully able to offer something new and different. This man accepts the challenge and overcomes the obstacles, side stepping the stereotypes that prevail in his chosen endeavor to construct a musical landscape of his very own. Many artists are content to sound like someone else instead of who they are, not Harris. You can hear who Hank is in his music. 

Hank plays in three different musical configurations about 150 nights a year. Anything from weddings and bars to opening up for Merle Haggard, Alice Cooper or The Temptations. Along with Bay Area producer Jimmy Goings and a small army of musicians, Hank has recorded three solo CDs and produced another (Christy Lee Anderson's "Awakening"), scored and recorded two documentaries for South Dakota Public Television, all while continuing to write music at an dizzying pace. He delves into all these disciplines with the attitude of a wide-eyed explorer in a different land. The Black Hills of South Dakota is home and this beautiful area is a constant source of inspiration on a musical and corporeal level. He makes a concerted effort to stay away from television, cell phones and other artificial gadgetry that would upset that connection he has with nature and the all-important musical process that it initiates. 

http://www.hankharris.com/

GUILTY IS THE BEAR is part of the VOICES UNITED

Lincoln, NE: performed at Bourbon Theater

Guilty is the Bear happened in college, progressed to the city, and now fills the Midwest scene of both Lincoln/Omaha & surrounding areas. Singer song writer Braun Pacheco founded the group off 5 songs and need for more. Melodic bass lines & rhythmic guitars feed life into a rock group with a taste for something smooth. GITB is set to take up touring with the release of their anticipated debut album spring of 2013. 

http://guiltyisthebear.bandcamp.com/

TSUMI is part of the VOICES UNITED

Lincoln, NE: performed at Bourbon Theater

The word Tsumi means many things. In Korean it means "diva". In Japanese "innocent sin". In Hebrew "tsumet lev" means "natural attention". The band Tsumi commands a great deal of attention!

Tsumi is fronted by the fiery and exciting Heather Sticka. She is joined by Luke Sticka, Brandon Filbert and Stan Sticka. Based in Lincoln Nebraska, the band consistently draws crowds at The Zoo Bar and Duffy's. They have also shared stages with many regional and national touring acts.

Tsumi is a successful hybrid of blues-based and indie-rock music. The band's sound is a unique - like a perfect blend of Chrissie Hynde and Dave Matthews. Luke and Heather have been playing together since 2003 and their evolution of skill and lyric writing are readily apparent with each new song.

http://www.myspace.com/tsumimusic

CHRIS NEKVINDA is one of the VOICES UNITED

Athens, GA performed at house concert

 

http://www.myspace.com/chrisnekvinda

ERIC CHRISTOPHER & ANTHONY IHRIG are part of the VOICES UNITED

St. Paul, MN: performed at The Celtic Junction

Minneapolis musician Anthony Ihrig is a former rock and roll drummer turned bluegrass banjo player and performing songwriter who has spent the last ten years making a name for himself in the Upper Midwest’s booming acoustic music scene. With his debut solo album, Missing Ghosts, Anthony Ihrig brings stringband instruments and bluegrass chops to the world of modern folk and Americana music, combining smart and thoughtful lyrics with tight vocal harmonies and expert picking.

For the last twenty years, Eric Christopher has worked as a fiddler-for-hire in Minnesota and around the country, performing, recording and/or touring with dozens of bluegrass, Americana and alternative country acts, including bluegrass legends James King and Alan Munde as well as a range of local and national Americana artists including Bellwether, Tina Schlieske, Dana Thompson, Eliza Blue, and Vic Chesnutt.

Both Anthony and Eric are part of The High 48s bluegrass band. Since arriving on the Minnesota bluegrass scene in 2006, The High 48s bluegrass band has achieved national recognition, winning the prestigious RockyGrass Bluegrass Band Competition in Lyons, CO, (the first band from the Upper Midwest to win the honor), touring the national bluegrass festival circuit and earning the respect of bluegrass musicians and audiences North and South.

http://anthonyihrig.com/

http://ericchristopher.net/

DAN "DADDY SQUEEZE" NEWTON is part of the VOICES UNITED

St. Paul, MN: performed at The Celtic Junction

"Daddy Squeeze" has been playing offbeat accordion music since 1987, when he won the Nebraska State Accordion Contest at the Czech Festival in Wilber, Nebraska. He has used the squeeze box for playing all kinds of music not normally associated with free-reed instruments, as well as standard accordion material.

Daddy Squeeze also enjoys mixing up styles and genres that don't generally seem compatible. "Music out of context", or "Ethno-clectic Bop" is the result of his gender-bending experiments with Celtic, Tex-Mex, Creole, Blues, Jazz, Scandinavian, Polka and pop music.

http://www.daddysqueeze.com/index.html

JENNA LINDBO is one of the VOICES UNITED

Jackson, MS: performed at Julep

One part wise old woman and one part goofy little kid, singer-songwriter Jenna Lindbo is going to find a way to your heart. It’s only a matter of time. An Oregon native, Jenna travels the country, inspiring audiences from Asheville to Anchorage with her rootsy folk songs and infectious joy. Along the way she keeps meeting folks who love to hear her music, bathe in the effervescent energy of her shows, and get smacked upside the heart.

Boosted by the exposure of touring extensively with Catie Curtis (talk about catching a gigantic break!), Jenna’s solo career is taking off. The songs on her new album, Jasmine Parade, produced by Lorne Entress, as well as her first release Strings & Spokes (2010) bring joyful attention to the sweetness and sorrow of life worth living. Jasmine Parade features appearances by Catie Curtis, Kai Welch (Abigail Washburn), Edie Carey, and Peter Mulvey.

http://www.jennalindbo.com/

SUSAN WERNER is one of the VOICES UNITED

Evanston, IL: performed at Evanston SPACE

One of the more eclectic of contemporary country music’s artists,

Susan Werner conversely boasts outstanding honky tonk credentials - she was born and raised on a hog farm, though her surname derived from her father’s German background. By the age of 11 she had begun playing saxophone, later appearing in jazz and marching bands during high school. She took a degree in voice before moving to Philadelphia in 1987 to study for an MA. However, her original intention to pursue a professional career as an opera singer was abandoned after she attended a Nanci Griffith concert at the end of the decade. With new resolve, Werner began to perform as a solo act on the local coffee bar circuit, her set initially comprising cabaret standards. She soon began writing her own compositions, inspired increasingly by folk and country music, eventually making a breakthrough appearance at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 1992.

http://www.susanwerner.com/

VICKI RANDLE is one of the VOICES UNITED

Los Angeles, CA: performed at the El Rey Theatre

Vicki Randle - vocalist, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter is one of the most visible and hard working musicians in America. For 14 years Vicki Randle has been the lead singer and percussionist of the acclaimed Tonight Show Band led by Kevin Eubanks, playing the diverse and eclectic mix of styles that makes the band so unique. For most of her musical life (that started when she was 16) she has been a staple in the studio and on the road. There's a good bet you own a CD that she is credited on, have seen a video or concert she was featured in, watched a film, tv show or commercial that features her voice.

http://www.myspace.com/vickirandle