Contra dance is a folk dance made up of long lines of couples. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in the 17th century. Sometimes described as New England folk dance or Appalachian folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world, but are most common in the United States, Canada, and other Anglophone countries.
The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. It consisted of four Canadians and one American: Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm. The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B, influencing subsequent musicians such as the Eagles, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, the Flaming Lips, and Wilco.
Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys was an American musical group, originally formed in New York and later based in Mendocino, California, most active in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"Ashokan Farewell" is a piece of music composed by the American folk musician Jay Ungar in 1982. For many years it served as a goodnight or farewell waltz at the annual Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps run by Ungar and his wife Molly Mason, who gave the tune its name, at the Ashokan Field Campus of SUNY New Paltz in Upstate New York.
Mya Adriene Byrne is an American singer-songwriter falling mostly in the Americana vein, a combination of folk, blues and country music. Based in New York for 13 years, Byrne currently resides in San Francisco and performs solo or with various bands on both coasts. In 2014, Byrne publicly announced her transgender status and transition and has continued to work as a musician and performer.
Serena Lauren Ryder is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad "Weak in the Knees" in 2007 and has released eight studio albums.
Jay Ungar is an American folk musician and composer.
The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley area of New York, in the United States.
Tao Rodríguez-Seeger is an American contemporary folk musician. A founder of The Mammals, he is the grandson of folk musician Pete Seeger. He plays banjo, guitar, harmonica and sings in English and Spanish.
Michael J. Merenda Jr. is a singer-songwriter with the American folk band, the Mammals. He plays guitar, banjo, ukulele and percussion. He also has a solo career and performs with the Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band.
Aoife O'Donovan is an Irish-American singer and Grammy award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still and she also co-founded the Grammy Award-winning female folk trio I'm with Her. She has released three critically acclaimed studio albums: Fossils (2013), In the Magic Hour (2016), and Man in a Neon Coat: Live from Cambridge (2016), as well as multiple noteworthy EPs, including Blue Light (2010), Peachstone (2012), In the Magic Hour: Solo Sessions (2019), and Bull Frog's Croon (2020). She also spent a decade contributing to the radio variety shows Live from Here and A Prairie Home Companion. Her first professional engagement was singing lead for the folk group The Wayfaring Strangers.
Kristin Andreassen is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, dancer, old time musician and educator. Currently based in Nashville, Tennessee, she started her music career as a professional clogger with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble and in the early 2000s joined the folk bands Uncle Earl and Sometymes Why as a vocalist, dancer, songwriter, guitarist. She is known for using body percussion and dance in live performances.
Arthur Roy "Artie" Traum was an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. Traum's work appeared on more than 35 albums. He produced and recorded with The Band, Arlen Roth, Warren Bernhardt, Pat Alger, Tony Levin, John Sebastian, Richie Havens, Maria Muldaur, Eric Andersen, Paul Butterfield, Paul Siebel, Rory Block, James Taylor, Pete Seeger, David Grisman, Livingston Taylor, Michael Franks and Happy Traum, among others. Traum's songs were featured on PBS, BBC, ESPN, CBS, and The Weather Channel. He toured in Japan, Europe and the U.S.
Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voice, he is also a member of the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, The Shouting Matches, and Gayngs. He was previously a member of the now-defunct band DeYarmond Edison. Vernon has received widespread acclaim for his work, predominantly with Bon Iver.
Molly Mason is an American musician and composer and performs as a duo Jay & Molly with her husband Jay Ungar. Jay's composition, Ashokan Farewell, became the title theme of Ken Burns' The Civil War on PBS. The soundtrack won a Grammy and Ashokan Farewell was nominated for an Emmy.
Evolver is an album by The Mammals, released in 2002.
Sometymes Why is an American Folk Noir group, formed in 2005 by Kristin Andreassen, Aoife O'Donovan, and Ruth Ungar. Its members all live in New York City, though the band tours frequently, at festivals such as Bonnaroo. The band has released two records. Their last CD, Your Heart is a Glorious Machine, was released in 2009 on Signature Sounds. Allmusic called their sound a "heady blend of Americana, old-timey/alternative country and alternative folk."
Amy Helm is an American singer-songwriter and daughter of The Band drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own touring band.
Heather Maloney is an American singer-songwriter. In 2009, she self-released her debut album, Cozy Razor's Edge, followed by Time & Pocket Change in 2011. In 2012, Maloney signed with Northampton-based label Signature Sounds Recordings where she released Heather Maloney (2013), Woodstock (2014), Making Me Break (2015) and Just Enough Sun (2018). The full length album Soil in the Sky was released in 2019.
Kenneth Maiuri(1971) is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Florence, Massachusetts. Since early 2016, he has been the keyboardist for The B-52's. He has played in numerous other bands, such as Pedro the Lion and The Mammals. He has been part of the live band for performances of numerous "Picture-Stories" created by Ben Katchor and Mark Mulcahy, including The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, The Friends of Dr. Rushower, A Checkroom Romance and Up from the Stacks. Maiuri also co-composed the music to Jason Mazzotta's 2015 short film The Century of Love, Part I. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Fresh Air, and Mountain Stage.
