BAND BIOS
Sister Sadie
This award-winning group originally formed after playing a sold out show in 2012 at the legendary Station Inn, located in Nashville, Tennessee. In the group’s 9 years as a band, they have gained many accolades. In 2019, they were nominated for a Grammy for their sophomore album “Sister Sadie II”. That same year, they made their debut on the Grand Ole Opry & have been regular guests on the world famous stage. Later that same year, they were the first all-female group to be awarded Vocal Group of The Year at IBMA. Following that up at IBMA in 2020, the ladies repeated that win & also added Entertainer of the Year. The band is also featured in the “American Currents: State of the Music” exhibition through March 2022 at the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, TN.
Sister Sadie is made up of world renowned musicians and singers Tina Adair on mandolin & vocals, Gena Britt on banjo & vocals, Hasee Ciaccio on acoustic bass, Deanie Richardson on fiddle & Jaelee Roberts on guitar & vocals.
TEXAS & TENNESSEE
Playing classic bluegrass music in a passionate style intended to honor the artists who helped define the genre, each band member has a deep love and respect for the music of Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys, J. D. Crowe & The New South, and the Bluegrass Album Band. T&T brings an enthusiasm for the music that’s quickly conveyed to the audience and features songs that nearly all long-time bluegrass fans will recognize (and maybe sing along with) and that casual bluegrass fans will want to hear again. John R. Bowman’s strong lead vocals are a highlight, and the brilliantly explosive breaks by Steve Huber and Ron Inscore are supported by driving bass from Alan Tompkins.
Alecia Nugent
A native of Hickory Grove, Louisiana, Nugent absorbed the country and bluegrass music of her father Jimmy Nugent’s group, the Southland Bluegrass Band, which he launched the same year she was born. Sitting around the piano, her parents also taught Nugent and her two older brothers how to sing Southern gospel songs and bluegrass harmony. As a kid, she was a natural on stage and got hooked on the applause; she stepped into the role of lead singer in her late teens.
An independently recorded album led to a contract with Rounder Records, yielding three albums between 2004 and 2009. Blessed with a strong, persuasive voice, she relocated to Nashville, earned multiple industry nominations, and appeared 71 times on the Grand Ole Opry, including once with her dad.
“I think growing up in bluegrass, you have a little more appreciation for instrumentation,” she says. “I’ve always heard it said that bluegrass is a musician’s music, you know? Growing up that way, I appreciate those guys and what they do. They’re putting their talents forward as much as I am.”
The Cleverlys
They are a one-of-a-kind comedy/music blend coming from the remote part of the Ozark Mountains, near Cane Spur, Arkansas. Digger Cleverly, along with his nephews Ricky Lloyd, Sock, DVD and Cub, make up The Cleverlys. They have traveled the globe, if the globe only consisted of the United States, performing at music venues and some of the nation’s largest festivals like Stagecoach, Telluride, CMA Music Fest and even the Grand Ole Opry.
The New York Times wrote, “If Earl Scruggs, Dolly Parton, and Spinal Tap spawned a litter of puppies, it would be the Cleverlys.” Don’t be fooled by this faux-family band – they are all accomplished musicians putting their unique bluegrass spin on cover songs from any genre. The Cleverlys’ set list includes genius arrangements of tunes like Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” a medley of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” and Flo Rida’s “Low” that recently went viral on Facebook, with over 11 million views from a local TV appearance.
Kruger Bros &
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Quartet
The Kruger Brothers occupy a unique position in the overlapping worlds of folk, acoustic, bluegrass, and Americana music. Jens Kruger (banjo, vocals), Uwe Kruger (guitar, lead vocals), and Joel Landsberg (bass, vocals) personify the spirit of exploration and innovation that forms the core of the American musical tradition. Originally from Switzerland, where the trio first formed, Jens Krüger and Uwe Krüger later moved to North Carolina. The brothers began playing North American folk music at an early age and were inspired by the music of Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, and Flatt & Scruggs.
The Gibson Brothers
Bluegrass royalty Leigh and Eric Gibson step into what some might at first see as uncharted territory on their country-soul breakout Mockingbird, the new album produced by Grammy Award winners Dan Auerbach and Fergie Ferguson. The celebrated bluegrass duo — named back-to-back Entertainers of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2012 and 2013 — played the Nashville game two decades ago, while in their early 20s, and were offered a major label deal. A mix of country, soul and seventies rock, the album further cements the sibling duo as musical trailblazers. As players and vocalists, they are superb, harmonizing as only siblings can; as songwriters they stand without peer, having long been a band awarded for their songs and songwriting.
THE TRAVELIN'McCOURYS
The McCoury brothers- Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) - were born into the bluegrass tradition. Talk about a source abundant and pure: their father, Del, is among the most influential and successful musicians in the history of the genre. Years on the road with Dad in the Del McCoury Band honed their knife-edge chops, and encouraged the duo to imagine how traditional bluegrass could cut innovative pathways into 21st century music. With fiddler Jason Carter, bassist Alan Bartram, and latest recruit Cody Kilby on guitar, they assembled a group that could take what they had in their DNA, take what traditions they learned and heard, and push the music forward.
Dan Tyminski Band
Throughout his 30+ year career, Dan Tyminski has left his mark in every corner of modern music. Tyminski’s voice famously accompanies George Clooney's performance of the Stanley Brother's Classic song, "I'm A Man of Constant Sorrow," in the film, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. His vocal collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii on the song “Hey, Brother” was a global smash, having been streamed over 1 billion times to date.
Dan has contributed guitar and/or harmony to projects by Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Kenny Chesney, LeAnn Rimes, Aaron Lewis and Rob Thomas, to name a few. In addition to his highly successful solo career, Dan Tyminski has played guitar and mandolin for Alison Krauss and Union Station since 1994. His unmatched instrumental skills and burnished, soulful tenor voice have been key components of the band.
Dan has been honored with 14 Grammy Awards from 18 nominations, was named Male Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association four times and was recognized as 2004’s Male Vocalist of the Year by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America. Dan will be on tour with his bluegrass band throughout the coming months and will be releasing a new bluegrass album in early 2020.
Ricky Skaggs &
Kentucky Thunder
Ricky struck his first chords on a mandolin over 50 years ago, and this 15-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. With 12 consecutive Grammy-nominated classics behind him, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label (Bluegrass Rules! in 1998, Ancient Tones in 1999, History of the Future in 2001, Soldier of the Cross, Live at the Charleston Music Hall, and Big Mon: The Songs of Bill Monroe in 2003, Brand New Strings in 2005, Instrumentals in 2007, Salt of the Earth with The Whites in 2008, Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 in 2009 and Ricky Skaggs Solo: Songs My Dad Loved along with Mosaic in 2010), the diverse and masterful tones made by the gifted Skaggs come from a life dedicated to playing music that is both fed by the soul and felt by the heart.
DEL McCOURY BAND
Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link. With sons Ronnie and Rob, the Del McCoury Band continues to represent in a larger, growing musical community a peerless torchbearer for the entire sweep and scope of bluegrass history...a history that he’s still shaping daily.
PURPLE HULLS
You could easily say these two musicians were born to make music together. Identical twins Katy Lou and Penny Lea Clark of The Purple Hulls were raised on a working family farm in the deep piney woods of East Texas, but that didn’t stop the Texans from finding their way to the hills of Tennessee, specifically, Music City, where they began touring with various country artists and writing songs for Nashville’s largest publishing company, Sony Tree. The Purple Hulls are no stranger to road life and are now blazing the trail as a dynamic sister duo, showcasing their unique sibling harmonies while ripping the strings off any instrument they can get their hands on! If you’re looking for authentic acoustic driven music delivered at its best, your search is over.
Grassroots Stage
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The Bodarks
Sounds Like: "Deep rootsy stuff like ragtime, jug band, and western swing, but mixed with punk” (Brandon Novarra, Lifestyle Frisco); "delightful harmonies that had the whole crowd singing along" (Sarah Badrahn, Blitz Weekly); "like Pokey LaFarge, Old Crow Medicine Show, and The Avett Brothers" (Chuck Taylor, KHYI 95.3FM Dallas)
Augusta Road
Augusta Road plays a mix of bluegrass and gospel music. Members include Mike & Julie Tucker of Longview, Lynn Gray of Grapeland, and Dennis Clute of Burleson. Featured guest for this event will be Ms. Rebecca Henricks of Blanco, TX
Harvest Moon
Countrygrass
Sheila Small, Brian Dearborn, Chad Nevils, & Fred Gebhardt. Good friends playing music together for just shy of 20 years. Introducing bluegrass to more folks with a barn dance flavor. We mix bluegrass with classic country, salt it with percussion, and call it Countrygrass. Most folks really take to it. Find us on Instagram & Facebook as HarvestMoonCountrygrass.
Clone Mountain Boys
The Clone Mountain Boys. Hear the group the government and the main stream media don’t want you to know about! Are they the result of a secret government experiment gone awry?
Billy Law
Billy Law's Indie Folk act is the kind of music you listen to while sipping whiskey in a dark room to. Imagine Nathaniel Rateliff and Tallest Man on Earth met up at a dive bar in Texas to listen to Manchester Orchestra. That’s the scene Billy’s music conjures. His debut album "Alone Somewhere" is out now on State Fair Records.
Riley Gilbreath & Friends
Riley Gilbreath has only been playing music for 5 years, but in that short time, he has developed into a talented musician. Riley won the 2019 Texas State Banjo Championship at age 15 and has won many other music competitions in a short time. Riley developed his band in early 2021 with young talent in mind. On mandolin, he has multi-instrumentalist and 2021 Flat Pick Guitar Champion Sam Smith from Garland, TX. From Weatherford, TX multi-award winning musician, Leah Sawyer from her family band “Simple Gifts” will be on fiddle and vocals. Cole Gore also from Weatherford, TX will be on guitar and vocals. Cole has played Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar and Vocals for his family band “Second Time Around” for most of his life. Talented Flat picker, John-Samuel May of “The May Brothers” from Waco, TX will be playing Upright Bass.
Pocket Change
Bluegrass Band
Pocket Change Bluegrass band is a small town band, whose roots run deep in the bluegrass and gospel sounds. With 12 time state champion banjo picker and an upright bassist who has a bit of rhythm, a little lady with a long time love of bluegrass music playing her guitar and a mandolin player with can’t pass a piano without playing it. Our sound will have your toes tapping and spirits lifting.
Our musical mark in the world may be small, but our talents are given with gratitude and joy in our hearts, and we hope to share our gifts with others.
Algertia Hill
Named after the mound of Texas Hill Country they were raised on, Algerita Hill is a band of four siblings—Seth, Lisa, Mark, and Paul Bechler—who grew up making music together. They each enjoy blending their vocals and playing multiple instruments, and while their foundation is bluegrass, they also love delving into other styles as well. Their faith plays a big part of their life and music, and they find joy in playing together and sharing it with others
Acoustic Sound Hounds
Three family members, a friend, and a singing dog got together and created the “Acoustic Sound Hounds.” Twelve years and two albums later (without the dog), they are continuing to wow audiences with their original music and interpretations of bluegrass, country, and gospel music, with two of their original songs charting on Internet radio. The band is led by Pam Gray’s articulate vocals and style on mandolin. Pam’s husband, Jeff Gray adds his original style to guitar and vocals. Phil Boyd, Pam’s father, offers vocals and experience on the upright bass, and family friend Craig Dennie adds his own banjo style and vocals to the mix. The Acoustic Sound Hounds can be heard on Spotify, Amazon Music and iTunes, in addition to other digital media.
E-Flat Porch Band
is named for the porch in McKinney, Texas where the members first practiced - it resonates to the key of E-Flat. Duane Brown and Rudy Littrell are the Blues duo, entertaining with their unique blend of acoustic “porch music,” including traditional and original Blues, along with some rag tunes and some jazz. As “angst-free” acoustic musicians, they take their music seriously without taking themselves too seriously. Trinity Presbyterian Church is one of their favorite places to play.
This “Porch Music” is played on acoustic instruments and pays homage to our varied Texas musical roots. It is influenced by Country Blues, Texas folk music, Jazz and swing standards, and Depression Era country songwriters. Guitar playing styles include finger picking and slide guitar. Other instruments include the acoustic bass, harmonica, cymbal, and a drum-like instrument of their own design made out of a wooden soda pop box. This is a small band with a big sound. They have been playing together for over 20 years, and have four CDs, Porch Music, Pork Chop Night, No Unauthorized Play, and E-Flat Porch Band: Twenty Years