- Phyllis Gaskins, 2012 L. Allen Smith Performer A native of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Elkton, Virginia, Phyllis Gaskins has been immersed in the tradition of the Galax dulcimer for over thirty years, handed down to her from legendary Galax dulcimer player and builder Raymond Melton. She has won numerous dulcimer competitions, was recognized as a 2010-11 “Master Traditional Artist” by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, and her instructional book Galax Dulcimer is soon to be published. She will be accompanied by her husband Jim Gaskins, an expert fiddle and banjo player.
- Listen to Phyllis and her apprentice Blue O’Connell perform “Shady Grove” and “Cluck Old Hen” on their Galax dulcimers
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- Jack Helton and Jesse Wells Jack “Jackie” Helton comes from Magoffin County, Kentucky, where he learned old time mountain songs and tunes in his family tradition. Under the tutelage of his father and grandfather, he picked up the banjo at 13 and forty years later, he began playing the fiddle, all in addition to his high, lonesome singing. He has shared his music at Morehead State University and was the winner of the 2011 Ed Haley Fiddle Contest, Senior Division. Jesse Wells is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist who serves as an adjunct professor of traditional music at Morehead State University and education coordinator for Kentucky Center for Traditional Music. He performs frequently with many bands, including the Licking River Ramblers, the Clack Mountain String Band and plays for dances at Appalshop, Morehead State University and the Carcassone Community Center in Letcher Co.
- Listen to Jack sing and play “Dark Hollow” on the banjo
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- Wayne Henderson‘s top-notch finger-picking is a source of great pleasure and pride to his friends, family, and neighbors in Grayson County, Virginia; his guitar playing has also been enjoyed at Carnegie Hall, in three national tours of “Masters of the Steel-String Guitar”, and in seven nations in Asia. In addition to his reputation as a guitarist, Henderson is a luthier of great renown. He is a recipient of a 1995 National Heritage Award presented by the National Endowment for the Arts. Above and beyond his great talents as a musician and luthier, Wayne Henderson is known as a “friend to everyone” and shares his talents and knowledge unselfishly.
- Hear Wayne’s guitar picking and tour his luthier shop
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- Carl Johnson fell in love with the banjo as a child listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio with his family. A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Carl has recently begun traveling and sharing his powerful singing and unique banjo stylings with a wide variety of audiences, and he regularly performs as part of the Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State University.Carl will be accompanied by Jim Lloyd, one of the mountains’ best known rhythm and fingerstyle guitarists. An excellent storyteller and multi-instrumentalist, Lloyd is best known for his efforts to pass down mountain musical traditions and the many young students who have learned to play in his barbershop in Rural Retreat, Virginia.
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- The Kentucky Clodhoppers are an old-time style dance band from Clark and Estill Counties in east-central Kentucky. They play a repertoire of old tunes that were indigenous to the area in the days when square dances were the preferred form of popular entertainment for all ages. Billy Don Stamper’s and John Harrod’s mountain style fiddling, Earl Thomas, Jr.’s unique old-time banjo style, and Donnie Rogers’ songs and stories have made them a hit throughout the region. For their performance at this year’s Celebration, they will be joined by Tona Barkley and Jesse Wells.
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- Paula Nelson, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is a lifetime preserver of the traditional dances, language, visual art, songs and stories of the Cherokee people. For many years she was a featured performer in the popular outdoor drama UNTO THESE HILLS. Her performances combine these many disciplines and “present a profound and beautiful look into the complexities of the Principle People, past and present.”
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- Sweetback Sisters, Stephenson Memorial Concert All talented instrumentalists and vocal harmonizers, the Sweetback Sisters (a band of 2 women and 4 men) model their songs after vintage country music and western swing, infusing their throwback sound with youthful intensity and broad influences.
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- Randy Wilson A native of Eastern Kentucky, Randy Wilson is known as an accomplished songwriter, performer, storyteller and dance-caller with a knack for teaching the traditional songs, dances and stories of Appalachia. Randy frequently calls dances at Carcassonne in Letcher County, Kentucky, the state’s longest running community dance. He also serves as the Folk Arts Education Program Director for the Hindman Settlement School.
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- Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble For over a decade, the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble has thrilled audiences with their shining student talent and fun, lively performances. During their time at Berea College, student band members show off their picking and singing skills on stage in exchange for course credit, lifelong friendships and the opportunity to travel and share their music with audiences around the world. The band’s founder and director Al White teaches dozens of new students each year as the college’s Appalachian Instruments instructor and works hard to assure that each Bluegrass Ensemble performance is polished and professional. The group has performed many times in collaboration with Berea College Presidents, traveled throughout the Eastern United States and has toured internationally in Ireland and Japan.”
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- Marianne Worthington, Symposium SpeakerGoing Around This World: The Banjo Picking Girl as Icon and InspirationPoet, musicologist and educator Marianne Worthington will be presenting on her poetic journey and connection to the esteemed league of women who shaped country music, from her family tradition to the barndance radio and beyond. In addition to teaching at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Marianne is the co-founder and poetry editor of the online literary journal Still: The Journal and poetry editor for Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine and she was awarded a 2009 Berea College Sound Archives Fellowship.
- Read Marianne’s work on her blog
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