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Leela and Ellie Grace are a duo of American singer/songwriters. They are sisters, the daughters of Paul and Win Grace. They perform a mixture of original compositions by both sisters, traditional folk and old time songs, and covers of songs by other contemporary folk songwriters.
Leela and Ellie [1] were born in Columbia Missouri in 1977 and 1978 respectively. Growing up, they frequently traveled with their parents, traveling musicians Paul Fotsch (formerly Grace) and Win Grace. They grew up surrounded by the music of their parents and their parents' peers and colleagues, [2] [3] and started performing with their parents at an early age.
The Grace family [4] released three albums as a quartet: Carved Out of Time (1990), In Dreams I Hear Music (1993), and Dance Upon This Earth (1996).
"Carved Out of Time" was re-released on CD as "Fiddle, Folk and Foolishness" in 2006. This CD also includes "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room" (1987) and "A Place In the Choir" (1984).
Leela and Ellie started touring as a duo in 1997, and in 2003 released their eponymous first duo album. It contains one original song by Ellie and four by Leela, plus nine additional songs, a mixture of traditional songs and covers.
In 2008 they released their second album, Where the Waters Run, with five original songs by Leela, three by Ellie, one co-written, and two traditional songs. Folk disc jockey Steve Jerrett named Where the Waters Run as one of the 15 best new albums of 2008. [5]
Leela plays banjo and guitar. Ellie plays fiddle, mandolin, and guitar. Both also perform percussive dance, combining elements of clogging, tap dancing, step dancing, and other styles.
In addition to performing, [6] individually and together, both Leela [7] and Ellie [8] teach classes in percussive dance, harmony singing, banjo (Leela) and other topics. They also continue to write.
Leela currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Ellie currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music.
The state of Maine is located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Its musical traditions extend back thousands of years to the music of the first peoples of Maine, the Penobscot Passamaquoddy, Wabanaki and other related Indigenous cultures.
Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."
The Duhks are a Canadian folk fusion band, formed in 2002 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Featuring banjo, fiddle, guitar, percussion, and vocals, The Duhks blend folk music together with various Canadian and American traditional styles, including soul, gospel, old-time country string, and zydeco. The band also commonly plays traditional Irish dance music, integrating Latin-influenced percussion as well as often Celtic- and Cajun-influenced fiddle-playing.
Trout Fishing in America is an American musical duo from Houston, Texas. The members are Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet. Both musicians were previously members of the folk rock band Wheatfield, also known as St. Elmo's Fire. They took their name from the novel Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan. The duo has released 24 studio albums through their own label, Trout Music. Trout Fishing in America is known for varied musical styles, with albums alternating between folk rock and children's music, as well as the contrast between Grimwood's and Idlet's stage presence. In addition to their music, Trout Fishing in America holds songwriting workshops with children. Four of their albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards.
John Paul "J.P." Cormier, is a Canadian bluegrass/folk/Celtic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. To date he has won thirteen East Coast Music Awards and one Canadian Folk Music Award.
Kevin Burke is an Irish master fiddler considered one of the finest living Irish fiddlers. For nearly five decades he has been at the forefront of Irish traditional music and Celtic music, performing and recording with the groups The Bothy Band, Patrick Street, and the Celtic Fiddle Festival. He is a 2002 recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Talitha MacKenzie is a Scottish-American world music recording artist, and historical dance and music teacher and performer. Initially known as a vocalist in the original duo Mouth Music, she has maintained a solo career. Although most associated with Celtic and Gaelic music, she performs a wide range of early music and dance, as well as her own compositions.
Kate Mann is an American musician currently based in Taos, New Mexico. She is originally from the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico but moved west as a young adult to pursue a career in music, then moved back in 2011.
Spires That in the Sunset Rise is an American psychedelic folk band from Decatur, Illinois. The four original members of the band grew up together in Decatur, Illinois, eventually moving to Chicago, Illinois where they began to experiment with creating songs. Drawing from experimental and multi-cultural music, they created an individual sound which they debuted on their first self-titled album Spires That in the Sunset Rise. The first album was created without Taralie's sister Tracy Peterson, but she soon joined the group before the making of their second album 'Four Winds the Walker.' A year later they created their third album 'This Is Fire' which today is considered one of their most accessible albums thus far. Since the release of their first album, they have contributed a different slant to the New Folk movement by incorporating avant garde influences resulting in a unique sound. Their music has drawn comparisons to The Raincoats, Current 93, Comus, and The Ex, and they have toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Sean-nós dance in America has its roots in Irish culture, but may be practiced differently from how it is danced in Ireland. When Irish people emigrated to America in great numbers during the early American Colonial period, or when escaping The Troubles in Ireland, they brought their dance culture with them. One of the many forms of Irish dance is sean-nós dance, which is an informal, spontaneous, solo form of dance. Sean-nós dance has both modified, and in turn been modified by, similar forms of traditional vernacular solo dance in America.
The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, Genuine Negro Jig, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in fRoots magazine's top 10 albums of 2010.
Paul and Win Grace, now known as Paul Fotsch and Win Grace, were a married duo of American folk musicians and old-time musicians. They released seven albums between 1984 and 2006 and toured extensively across North America. They performed with daughters Leela and Ellie Grace as The Grace Family. They also performed music of the Lewis and Clark voyage with 3 other musicians, including Bob Dyer, as the Discovery String Band.
Foghorn Stringband is an old-time string band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are considered one of the finest old-time string bands on the West Coast. They are noted for "intense dedication to the sources" of the old time tradition. Their music is billed as "a blend of high-spirited Appalachian dance music tying in sounds of traditional mountain fiddle tunes." Their interpretation of old time is played with the energy and edginess of punk rock, while at the same time showing a tremendous degree of technical finesse.
Rising Appalachia is an American Appalachian folk music group, led by multi-instrumentalist sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith. Their music is deeply rooted in the landscapes of Atlanta, New Orleans, and the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia. What distinguishes Rising Appalachia is their ability to blend a diverse range of instruments and styles. Their musical palette spans from banjos and fiddles to djembe, balafon, congas, tablas, kalimbas, beatbox, and even didgeridoo. This distinctive combination gives rise to a musical mosaic that seamlessly interweaves elements of world, folk, and soul music.
Pharis and Jason Romero are a Canadian folk music duo, most noted as four-time Juno Award winners for Traditional Roots Album of the Year. They won at the 2023 Juno Awards for their album "Tell 'Em You Were Gold", at the Juno Awards of 2021 for their album Bet On Love, the Juno Awards of 2016 for their album A Wanderer I'll Stay, and at the Juno Awards of 2018 for Sweet Old Religion.
Dominique Flemons is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. He is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. He has performed with Mike Seeger, Joe Thompson, Martin Simpson, Boo Hanks, Taj Mahal, Old Crow Medicine Show, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.
House and Land is a two-person experimental Appalachian old-time music band based in Asheville, North Carolina. The band members are guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Louise Henson and fiddler/banjoist Sally Anne Morgan. Both musicians contribute to vocals. They have two albums, the self-titled House and Land, released in June 2017, and Across the Field, released in June 2019. Their first album received a very positive 83 aggregate score on Metacritic and was named the 25th best album of 2017 by Magnet magazine, while their second received an 84 and was named Folk Album of the Month by The Guardian.
Carroll Best was an American bluegrass banjo player and music educator. He was briefly a member of The Morris Brothers in the mid 1950s. He was the winner of several regional banjo contests before being awarded the widely recognized Bascom Lamar Lunsford Award in 1990. He is credited for developing an influential melodic three-finger banjo style, which he taught as a member of the faculty at the Tennessee Banjo Institute. This style influenced the work of musicians Tony Trischka and Bela Fleck. His work was featured on radio broadcasts for NPR and The Grand Ole Opry, and on the television program Hee Haw. He released two albums while he was alive, and a third album of his work was released posthumously in 2001. He is listed as a historic artist by the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, and was given the North Carolina Heritage Award in 1994.
Oshima Brothers is an American folk-pop duo known for each playing multiple instruments and looping their own samples on stage to create a complex soundscape as if they were more than two. They share responsibilities based on natural proclivities, with Sean in charge of external communications and songwriting, and Jamie focusing on mixing and production. Almost every song is paired with a music video, which they produce on their own.