2025 lineup
dom flemons
As a resolute preservationist, storyteller, and instrumentalist, Dom Flemons has long set himself apart by finding forgotten folk songs and making them live again. His work has been recognized with a GRAMMY, two Emmy nominations, a USA Fellowship Award, and inclusion in an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.Raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Flemons comes from a family of civil rights leaders, Tuskegee Airmen, and preachers who were prominent figures in the Black community of Arizona. His father, a former basketball player and member of the Black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi, introduced him to classic country music. As a kid listening to local radio, Flemons then learned more about country legends like Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. In college, he took an online class on country music history and first heard the music of DeFord Bailey and Charley Pride. That discovery ignited a passion for finding other African American performers with country songs in their repertoire.
After graduating from Northern Arizona University (which presented him with an honorary doctorate in 2022), Flemons moved to North Carolina and co-founded the Carolina Chocolate Drops, a string band of young Black musicians who won a GRAMMY for their 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig. After leaving the group at the end of 2013, he established a solo career that led him to collaborate with hundreds of artists in the American roots music scene. Along with earning a GRAMMY nomination for Black Cowboys in the category of Best Folk Album, Flemons was included in the American Currents exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He also received two Emmy nominations through an appearance on Songcraft Presents (PBS). He was chosen to be a Spotlight Artist at the five-day Soundtrack of America event curated by Quincy Jones and director Steve McQueen in 2019. The following year, Flemons was selected for the United States Artists Fellowship Award for the Traditional Arts category, which was generously supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Also in 2020, he reissued Prospect Hill: The American Songster Omnibus, which explores 100 years of American roots music.
kyshona
Kyshona lends her voice and music to those who feel silenced, forgotten or alone. She began her career as a music therapist, writing her first songs with patients -- students and inmates under her care. She became compelled to write independently and find her own voice, an endeavor which led her to the Nashville creative community and songwriting culture. Since then, she balances her music career with her passion to heal in community through her organization Your Song.
Over the last few years, in addition to three new original singles and multiple music videos, she released a collection of recordings and videos in collaboration with Centennial Park Conservancy - recorded at Nashville’s Parthenon, in front of a monumental sized gold statue of Athena. A song she wrote with ZG Smith called “Nighttime Animal” was named to American Songwriter’s Top 25 Songs of 2022 and enjoyed spins on AAA radio. She wrote an article for No Depression magazine, and was invited to speak at several events including giving a keynote address for 2023 Fulbright Scholars. She is featured in a 2023 PBS television show called "Ear to the Common Ground," gathering fans around a dining table to discuss voting rights in America, and she will be featured in an upcoming video series featuring Americana artists performing in the prestigious Schermerhorn Symphony Center Theater in Nashville.
Kyshona’s latest project LEGACY focuses on family. Through stories, photos, film, ancestry and genealogy research, and travels in the power of place, Kyshona shares her story while inviting listeners and concert goers to join her in exploration of self, healing and growth. The album LEGACY released in April 2024, and Kyshona has been on an extensive US tour offering various types of experiences including concerts, speaking events, workshops, and virtual meetings.
Audiences will find a common thread of empowerment, overcoming adversity, and finding hope in her work. The show doesn’t end when the last song is sung. After her powerful performances, concertgoers often ask, "What can I do?"
Her response? "Listen."
Yasmin williams
Based in Alexandria, VA, Yasmin Williams is an acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and film composer. She has an unorthodox, modern style of guitar playing and utilizes various techniques including alternate tunings, percussive hits, and lap tapping in her music to great effect. Her “radiant sound and adventitious origins have made her a key figure in a diverse dawn for the solo guitar” (The New York Times).
She grew up in northern Virginia where various genres of music from smooth jazz to hip-hop were played in her household. She was introduced to the guitar after playing the video game Guitar Hero 2 and became interested in playing the guitar in 2009. She begged her parents to buy her a real electric guitar and once she received her first guitar and amplifier, she taught herself how to play the guitar by ear. After a few years of playing the electric guitar, she taught herself how to play the bass guitar, 12 string guitar, and classical guitar before eventually deciding to switch her focus to the acoustic guitar because of the instrument's versatility. While in high school, she released her first EP Serendipity in 2012, which she recorded and mixed herself.
She graduated from New York University with a BM in Music Theory and Composition in December 2017. Her first album, Unwind, was released on May 4, 2018. It charted highly on several Amazon and iTunes charts including top paid albums, including charting at #7 on Amazon’s top paid albums and #1 on iTunes‘s Folk chart, and charted at #15 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Her latest album, Urban Driftwood, was released on January 29, 2021 and has received critical acclaim from numerous major publications including The New York Times, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, NPR Music, The Fader, Wallstreet Journal, AllMusic, Paste Magazine, No Depression, and several other outlets. She was listed as one of the “25 New and Rising Artists Shaping the Future of Music in 2023” by Pitchfork. Most recently, Williams signed to Nonesuch Records and released a new single, titled Dawning, featuring Aoife O’Donovan on vocals, Kafari on rhythm bones, and Nic Gareiss on flat foot percussion.
Rev. Robert jones, Sr.
Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor and power of American Roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs. For more than twenty-five years Robert has entertained and educated audiences of all ages in schools, colleges, libraries, union halls, prisons, churches and civil rights organizations. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should celebrate, not just tolerate. Acclaimed photographer James Fraher writes about Robert: “Perhaps the world’s most highly educated blues musician, an ordained minister, a longtime DJ, and a living encyclopedia of blues history, the Reverend Robert Jones is comfortable among juke joint loud talkers, fancy-hatted church ladies, and PhDs alike." Rev. Robert Jones makes his home in Detroit while performing throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, he is accomplished at guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo and fiddle. He has recorded six albums of original and tradition songs. Robert is the former host of the award-winning radio programs “Blues from the Lowlands” and “Deep River” broadcast on Detroit Public Radio’s WDET-FM Detroit. And he has taught at music history courses at Wayne State University in Detroit. As an ordained minister and a Baptist pastor, he has an unwavering faith the cultural importance of sacred and traditional American roots music. In addition to his solo performances, he often collaborates musically with his wife, Sister Bernice Jones.
Demeanor
Justin “Demeanor” Harrington is an artist born in Greensboro, North Carolina. merging hip hop and unorthodox folk elements, Harrington bridges the gap between contemporary and traditional cultural music. Professionally trained as an actor, he weaves storytelling and character to engage and inspire all around him. ““Rap is folk music,” Harrington said. Protest is one link between the two worlds. The fight against political oppression and pervasive racism were central to the music of proto-rappers such as the Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron. Police brutality has been a subject of outrage for rappers going back to Public Enemy and extending up to the present” (John Adamian, Yes! Weekly).
kafari
'Kafari’ (he/him) is the alias of Cincinnati, OH born, Portland, ME based pianist, bones player, and beatmaker Ahmad Muhammad. Kafari’s music synthesizes his love of ambient piano music, spiritual jazz, and experimental hip-hop, with influences including Dorothy Ashby, J Dilla, Chopin, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who in 2014 sparked his obsession with the rhythm bones - a percussion instrument popularized in America through blackface minstrelsy which he often distributes and teaches to his audiences. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Kafari appeared weekly on Monday nights at The Jewel Box, where he hosted a residency performance featuring his piano/bass renditions of songs requested by the prior week's audience. In his 2021 album 'Blanket of Black' (on Oakland's Hot Record Societe), Kafari creates a warm, ethereal wall of sound grounded in warped acoustic piano recordings, melding disparate sounds from contemporary neo-soul to romantic classical, drum&bass electronica to boom-bap hip-hop, and uptempo experimental jazz to hypnotic ambient.
Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band
Sharde Thomas has led fife and drum bands since her grandfather, Otha Turner, was alive, leading his own band that she was a part of. In 2003, Sharde started her own band, Rising Stars Fife and Drum Band, to continue her grandfather’s legacy. In recent years, the band has grown into a worldwide brand and monumental blues history sensation. The mixture of old-school songs with fresh, funky beats is bound to keep the young and the old on their feet!
The Rising Stars have played at some of the best venues in the USA, including the Lincoln Center (NYC), The Ryman (Nashville), and countless festivals around the world, including France, Switzerland, and the UK. The Rising Stars just finished a tour in Africa and has gained the popularity of the new, youthful blues crowd. Feeding the world what they never knew they needed. Drums and Fife in the form of blues, R&B, Hip Hop and Dance.
The Rising Stars’ recent release, “Evolution of Fife and Drum Music,” is the winner of the Memphis Blues Society Self-Produced CD competition.
Dorian Marsh
Dorian Marsh is a Dallas-based musician whose sound intricately weaves within the vein of Americana, Folk, Blues, & Soul genres. “Meeting Place”, Marsh’s recent collaboration with instrumentalist Ian Ross Cohen honors the influential roots music before them, but with their own progressive twist. Marsh is paving his way through the Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin Texas areas - aiming to continue the roots music traditions from legends before him.
Tevis Hodge, Jr.
Two-time Muddy Award recipient (Traditional Blues Act Award '23 & The Terry Robb Acoustic Guitar Award '23) Tevis Hodge Jr., AKA "Jr. T", has been captivating audiences with his unique approach to black musical traditions. Born in Virginia and inspired by his southern black heritage, Tevis began playing blues at the age of 12 years old - first starting guitar at the age of six with the help of his mother who played "folkey" guitar throughout his childhood. With a deep love for Black American music, Tevis is compelled to bring the traditions of his heritage to life. Tevis dedicates his artistry to honoring ancestors, including his father who passed away in 1999.
Well-versed in multiple blues styles such as Piedmont, Delta, Texas, Hill Country, and even contemporary "electric" blues; Tevis also dips into traditional jazz, jug band, folk and old timey novelty tunes. Jr.T's repertoire is eclectic and his performance oozes with originality. Adding his unique flare to the songs he covers, Tevis seamlessly presents his originals that can mingle with the classics and stay true to the source.
At the age of 13, Tevis started to gravitate to performing at school events, open mics, and busking on the street. With a considerable amount of experience for his age, Tevis has enjoyed a career opening for notable acts such as; Robert Cray, Living Colour, Coco Montoya and Too Slim. Tevis has also performed with Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary,) vaudeville legend Baby Gramps, Christone Kingfish, "The Real" Lady A, Ruthie Foster, Lloyd Jones, Norman Sylvester, LaRhonda Steele, Mary Flower, Ben Rice, and Ural Thomas to name a few. Tevis placed as a solo semi-finalist in the 2014 International Blues Challenge and has charmed audiences at festivals, fairs, markets, clubs, vineyards and venues alike.
Mehuman
Rooted in The Gospel Blues, Mehuman (May-mon) reinforces her provocative, folky lyrics with the voice of conviction. From a curated range of melodies, with thematic imprints of the most luscious torch songs, to the rawest down home banger, Mehuman guides the listener through a refreshing and deeply personal perspective on life, love, and loss. Mehuman successfully melds multiple genres into relevant Afro-Americana Country Soul with distinct vocals and life experienced sound. Versatile and soaring, Mehuman’s musical warmth envelops every audience with one authentic emotional fueled message, “Always love, always hope.” True to the meaning of her given name, Mehuman (pron. “May -mon”), “The Faithful One”,performs from her soul with a fearless transparency. Centered in the faith of her pastoral parents and multi-cultural ancestors, Mehuman is honored to have shared stages with Ani DiFranco, Ruthie Foster, Luka Bloom, G-Love, Jimmy Gnecco, Rufus Wainwright, Joy Clark, Kyshona Armstrong, and more. Grateful to call both Nashville, TN and Portland, ME “Home”, Mehuman continues to build community as an musician, songwriter and conservationist on a small TN farm. Mehuman is The Founder of GourdFest, and The Gourd - Celebrating at the Intersection of Arts & Agriculture which (fiscally sponsored by the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville) A prolific SESAC artist and former Arista Records talent, Mehuman continues to embrace her current independence with authenticity and grace. Watch for a two full record’s worth of new singles from Mehuman, and her first Christmas album in 2025.
Dr. Dena Jennings
Dena Jennings, D.O. is a luthier, musician, writer, Virginia Master Naturalist, and an Internal Medicine physician with certification in Ayurvedic practice. In addition to over 30 years of medical practice, she completed a 4-year apprenticeship with a sculptor and luthier in Ontario, Canada where she learned to design and built the gourd instruments of cultures around the world. In 2013 Dr. Jennings married her best friend Donald Jennings and moved to their organic herb farm and meditation center in Nasons, VA which they lovingly call the Farmashramonastery. There, she practices medicine and counseling, hosts contemplative retreats, hikes, and meditation, harvests herbs for the on-site apothecary and raises chickens. She also performs across the country demonstrating her gourd instruments as they are used in her Appalachian and Bengali heritage.
Dr. Jennings conducts conflict transformation workshops including one for artistic ambassadors through the US State Department in Washington, DC. She has developed accredited curricula of meditation for racial justice, for compassionate listening, and for cultural sensitivity in artistic performance. In 2019, she was appointed by the governor to the Virginia Commission for the Arts where she currently serves as the chairperson for a second year.
Since 1996, Dr. Jennings has been the Executive Director and founder of Imani Works Corporation, a human rights advocacy group that holds consultative status with the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs. Through Imani Works, she provides physical and mental evaluations for asylum seekers, conducts an annual music festival to celebrate Black Appalachian culture, and advocates for justice in communities around the world that are in crisis.
Maya brown-Boateng
Maya Brown-Boateng, a native of Tiffin, Ohio, is a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh. Maya was a Fulbright fellow (2021-2022) and an Andrew W. Mellon fellow in the Musical Instruments Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2023-2024). Her primary research interests include banjo histories, Black transnationalism, critical materiality, gender and sexuality, and blackface minstrelsy in global popular culture. Her article, “Jim Along Josey’: Play-Parties and the Survival of a Blackface Minstrel Song,” investigates how blackface minstrel tunes maintain a presence within children’s music repertoire. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Mount Union, where she majored in music with a concentration in Africana Studies. She received her master’s degree in ethnomusicology from Kent State University, where she developed an interest in the ways Black musicians use the banjo as a rhetorical tool to recover Black histories and to discuss the pervasiveness of racism in American life. Building upon this thesis, Maya’s dissertation considers the banjo through a Black transnational lens, observes the banjo as a decorative art and form of technology, and reflects upon the banjo as a symbol for Black reclamation. More broadly, this work explores how race and gender are perpetuated through banjo performances in the United States and Jamaica. As a classic banjo player, Maya received the All Frets Foundation Grant from the All Frets Foundation in 2019. She has received awards from various music societies, including the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Historical Ethnomusicology Section Student Paper Prize (2019), the Society for American Music’s Eileen Southern Fellowship (2023), and the American Musicological Society’s Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Fellowship (2024-2025). She served as co-chair to the Gertrude Robinson Black Ethnomusicology Network (2018-2020) and currently sits on the Society for Ethnomusicology Council as a student representative. Maya is passionate about teaching Black music history and celebrating Black joy through banjo performance.
Isaiah Sibi is many things, among them he’s both a second generation American and a sixth generation Texan. Born to a Serahule Gambian mother and a father with deep roots in Texas and Louisiana, some of the first sounds he heard were from a kora being played to him by a Gambian griot as well as his dad’s fiddle. Isaiah is also a multi-instrumentalist, he’s a third generation guitar picker and fifth generation fiddler. Isaiah learned his music "knee-to-knee" from his dad, Howard Rains and step-mom, Kansas old-time fiddler Tricia Spencer, as well as from other great fiddlers and guitar players from across the country.
He has won the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships on fiddle and flat-pick guitar, as well as the band contest with his family band, The Lost keys. He’s also placed second with his family band at the prestigious Appalachian String Band Festival band contest (colloquially known as Clifftop). Isaiah has been attending and playing at music festivals, house parties, and square dances since he was knee high to a grasshopper. Music is Isaiah’s passion and playing his fiddle or his guitar for dancers is the fulfillment of that passion.
Isaiah works both as a professional musician and as a luthier in the repairs and restoration department at the world-renowned guitar store Mass Street Music in Lawrence, KS where he makes his home.
Isaiah sibi
Rissi Palmer
With the breakthrough 2007 single, "Country Girl," from her self-titled debut country album, Rissi Palmer made history as the first Black female country artist to ascend the Billboard Hot Country Singles Charts since Dona Mason in 1987. Palmer swiftly captured attention, ranking among iTunes' Top 5 Best-Selling Country Artists with her digital EP the same year. Undeterred by the hurdles faced as a Black woman in mainstream country music, Palmer has forged her own path, independently releasing three albums. Among these works are the children's album, Best Day Ever, the soulful Back Porch Sessions EP (2015), and the critically acclaimed Revival (2019), lauded by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 25 Country-Soul Albums of all time.
Throughout her career, Palmer has always championed underrepresented artists. As the host of Color Me Country Radio with Rissi Palmer on Apple Music, she challenges listeners to reconsider their perceptions and stereotypes surrounding people of color in the country music landscape. She has also established the nonprofit Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund to help support emerging artists of color. In 2023, Palmer was one of nine artists featured in PBS's American Masters: In The Making series, spotlighting her influence on American culture. The documentary RISSI PALMER: STILL HERE provided an intimate glimpse into her life on tour, her creative process, and balancing professional endeavors with family life.
Today, Palmer stands as a prominent figure in both Country and Americana music. Her performances have graced illustrious venues such as The White House, The Grand Ole Opry, Lincoln Center, and the Apollo Theater. She has made national TV appearances on ABC News Live, CBS Mornings, CNN, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and PBS NewsHour, while garnering recognition from prestigious publications including Associated Press, Essence, New York Times, Parade, PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, UPROXX, Washington Post, and more. Notably, Palmer holds the distinction of being one of only eight Black artists to have singles charted in any genre, highlighting her enduring impact on the music industry. Palmer continues to tour across the US and overseas and serves as a correspondent for CMT Hot 20 Countdown. She also holds the esteemed position of Governor at the Recording Academy Nashville.
PAST LINEUPS
2021 Lineup (Virtual)
Phil Wiggins • Piedmont bluz • Brian Farrow • Seemore Love • Briar feat. Joe Seamons • Justin Golden • Jake Blount Junious Brickhouse