Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it largely developed out of old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
Klezmer is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these would have been played at weddings and other social functions. The musical genre incorporated elements of many other musical genres including Ottoman music, Baroque music, German and Slavic folk dances, and religious Jewish music. As the music arrived in the United States, it lost some of its traditional ritual elements and adopted elements of American big band and popular music. Among the European-born klezmers who popularized the genre in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s were Dave Tarras and Naftule Brandwein; they were followed by American-born musicians such as Max Epstein, Sid Beckerman and Ray Musiker.
Stanley Dural Jr., better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group was formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Sont Partis Band, but they often performed as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classical, rock and various world music genres. He is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck has won 15 Grammy Awards and been nominated 33 times.
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-biniou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous subgenres.
Cornwall is a Celtic nation with a long musical history. Strengthened by a series of 20th century revivals, traditional folk music has a popular following. It is accompanied by traditions of pipers, brass and silver bands, male voice choirs, classical, electronic and popular music.
A Fest Noz is a Breton traditional festival, with dancing in groups and live musicians playing acoustic instruments.
Tummel is a Swedish/Danish klezmer band formed in 1997. Tummel plays music that combines traditional klezmer sounds with influences from jazz and the folk music of Sweden and the former Yugoslavia.
The Hot Club of Cowtown is an American Western swing trio that formed in 1997.
Lost Bayou Ramblers is a Cajun music band from Broussard, Arnaudville and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Lori Goldston is an American cellist and composer. Accomplished in a wide variety of styles, including classical, world music, rock and free improvisation, she came to prominence as the touring cellist for Nirvana from 1993–1994 and appears on their live album MTV Unplugged in New York. She was a member of Earth, the Black Cat Orchestra, and Spectratone International, and also performs solo.
Mames Babegenush is a Danish Klezmer band formed in 2004 in Copenhagen.
Mames Babegenush is the East meeting the North. Strong Scandinavian roots merging with the vibrant dance music of Eastern Europe. From the great ambience of Nordic pine trees to lively weddings in Romania the music of Mames Babegenush gives a sense of both melancholy and ecstatic joy. In the beginning doing quite traditional klezmer music—with inspiration from artists such as Naftule Brandwein, Abe Schwartz and Dave Tarras—but has increasingly developed their own sound.
Gerald Ross is a musician specializing in American Roots Music – Swing, Early Jazz, Western Swing, Hawaiian, Ragtime and Blues. Playing the guitar, lap steel guitar and ukulele he has performed throughout the USA and Europe and has recorded seven solo CDs. Ross currently tours as a solo act performing and teaching ukulele and steel guitar at festivals and music camps.
Maury Rosenberg is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist from Long Beach, New York. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts. Rosenberg is most well known as the frontman of Hypnotic Clambake.
Mayonnaise is the name of Hypnotic Clambake's fifth full-length studio album. It was released in 2005 on Blue Button Records. The album showcases the musical talents of the band's lineup at the time. It also employs catchy, pop-format songs to explore a range of humorous topics. Typical of Hypnotic Clambake, the record wanders through a wide variety of musical genres, "from Middle Eastern spice to chill calypso style." Bandleader Maury Rosenberg collaborated heavily with guitarist/bassist Chris Reynolds on the record. Reynolds wrote several of the songs, including "500 Robots" and "Woe Is Me."
The Outrageous Universe Revival Festival is an annual summer camping festival which has been hosted by musical group Hypnotic Clambake since 1996. The three-day event features a wide array of musical and other performing artists, including several often-recurring acts, such as Pacific Northwest-based Singer-songwriter Baby Gramps. Creator of the event and Hypnotic Clambake frontman, Maury Rosenberg has touted the OUR Fest's "intimate" nature and explained that the natural beauty of the venue is a major factor contributing to the success of the weekend. The OUR Fest is held at the Kevin Cole Farm in the town of Panama, New York.
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS), formed by writer Rina Durante in 1975, is a traditional music ensemble from Salento, Italy. The seven piece band and dancer perform a contemporary style of Southern Italy's traditional Pizzica music and dance.
Paul Amorese is an American drummer and percussionist from Rochester, New York. He has performed and toured with a variety of musical groups, including Bacci, the WMDs, The Commuters, Jack Dishel and Only Son, Visible from Space, Bryan Scary, Hypnotic Clambake, Boutros Boutros, and goodbyemotel. He also works as a session drummer and is currently based out of Brooklyn, NY.
