Cherryholmes is a bluegrass music group consisting of members of the Cherryholmes family, including father Jere Cherryholmes and wife Sandy Lee and their kids, Cia Leigh, BJ, Skip, and Molly Kate. They are the recipient of the IBMA 2005 Entertainers of the Year award.
Lee Roy Parnell is a Texas country hitmaker with an ornery streak of southern rock 'n blues. Michael Kelsey plays every inch of his guitar and makes it sing, soar, pop and ping--by strumming it, pounding it and pulling every part of it.
Tony Trischka is one of the world's most innovative banjo players. Crooked Still is a young alternative bluegrass group that combines old-time mountain soul with rock energy.
Multi-Grammy award-winning band of Bela Fleck, Victor Wooten, Future Man and Jeff Coffin.
Grammy-winning New Orleans musician and actor Chris Thomas King, who lost his Uptown New Orleans home and studio to Katrina did what any blues artist would do, he wrote a song about it asking the question “What Would Jesus Do?” He wrote and recorded the song which leads off his new inspired CD “Rise” only days after the levees broke, but Chris Thomas King is no stranger to the blues.
Chris Thile has accomplished more than most at just 25 years old- 2 million albums sold with Grammy-winning Nickel Creek, six solo albums (the first at the age of 12), a side career as an in-demand studio musician, and collaborations with Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck and others. He returns to WoodSongs in support of his brilliant new album, called "How to Grow A Woman". Joining Chris will be some of the finest musicians in the bluegrass world: Gabe Witcher, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge and Greg Garrison.
Beoga is the Irish word for ‘lively’. The group is a five-piece traditional band based in County Antrim, Ireland. Their unique sound features the twin dueling accordions of Seán Óg Graham and Damian McKee, along with four time All-Ireland bodhrán champion Eamon Murray, pianist Liam Bradley, and one of Ireland’s premier young singers, Niamh Dunne. Their latest CD, mischief, was released on Compass Records last year. Nick Ogawa is a cellist and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. His new album, Introduction, travels through blues, folk, and pop styles on the way to his distinctive contemporary sound. We loved his haunting rendition of the traditional Appalachian ballad “Shady Grove.”
Sonya Kitchell is an American jazz singer-songwriter from Northampton, MA. Her songs are a true showcase for Kitchell's worldly voice, which, with its intimate tone and feathery falsetto, has earned her attention not only from critics, but also from one of the most respected figures in jazz: Herbie Hancock. The contemporary avante-rock trio band The Slip will be Sonya’s backing band for the show. Doug MacLeod is one of the last remaining bluesmen who learned from the old masters, lived the music, survived the life and carries forward that valuable tradition. Over 24 years, 12 studio albums, several live records and two DVDs, MacLeod has consistently earned raves. His songs have been covered by Albert King, Albert Collins, Coco Montoya, Joe Louis Walker and Eva Cassidy, and featured in many TV movies and the hit TV shows like In the Heat of the Night. Doug’s latest CD is The Utrecht Sessions.
Jen Chapin returns to the WoodSongs stage with a brand new double disc release titled Light of Mine. This Brooklyn, NY native is a singer, songwriter, activist and daughter of the late folksinger Harry Chapin. Her songs are urban folk stories. She has been featured on “Late Nite with Conan O’Brien,” appeared on stage with Bruce Springsteen, and opened up for Bruce Hornsby and the Neville Brothers. Natasha Borzilova was born in Russia and moved to Nashville as the lead singer and acoustic guitarist of the band Bering Strait, a group of classically trained musicians playing bluegrass music. Bering Strait had two CD releases on Universal South Records, receiving critical acclaim, a Grammy nomination for country instrumental of the year in 2002 and a performance on WoodSongs (Show #254 in our archives). She just released her debut solo CD Cheap Escape.
Cherryholmes return to bluegrass as the reigning “First family of Bluegrass.” They have stormed to the top of the music world since winning the 2005 IBMA Award for Entertainer of the Year. As little as 10 years ago, the band itself didn’t exist, and half of its youthful members hadn’t even picked up instruments yet. With four GRAMMY nominations to date, the fourth album, “Cherryholmes IV Common Threads” on Skaggs Family Records, brings this talented family back to the WoodSongs stage. Kenny White is an explosive piano player, a soulful singer-songwriting and a Grammy nominated producer. He worked with artists like Gladys Knight, Linda Ronstadt, Dwight Yoakam, Ricky Skaggs, Kim Carnes Felix Cavaliere, Dobie Gray and Aaron Neville among many others. His relationships with Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin led to his producing Colvin’s Grammy-nominated, “I Don’t Know Why” and to his involvement in Cohn’s eponymous platinum debut record. Kenny signed to Judy Collins Wildflower Records and has just released“Comfort in the Static,” his long-awaited newest release.
THE INDIGO GIRLS are the Grammy-winning folk-rock duo from Georgia. Emily Saliers and Amy Ray began performing together in high school, transferred their honest, urgent performing style onto the stages of countless small clubs, then saw their public profile take off with the 1989 release of their self-titled breakthrough (an album that included the first hit, 'Closer To Fine,' and went on to win Best Contemporary Folk Recording at the 1990 Grammys). The duo’s constant touring, as well as staunch dedication to a number of social and environmental causes, has earned them a fervidly devoted following over the years. On their fourteenth studio album, ‘Beauty Queen Sister’, the duo deliver a beautifully crafted batch of songs that revel in spirited simplicity. The Indigo Girls will be performing on WoodSongs with their full touring band The Shadowboxers.