2024 Staff
We encourage attendees who are at all levels of musical experience to drive the weekend by suggesting or leading workshops and by gathering for impromptu music sessions and conversations. We also hire staff to share their expertise in specific traditional folk genres and the contexts of those song traditions, and to mingle and mentor.
Judy Cook
Judy grew up in a family that sang for fun. She sang in the Girl Scouts, at Oberlin College, and with the Folklore Society of Greater Washington. When organizers asked her to sing at their festivals and concert venues, she was delighted to share the music she loves. She has been actively touring since 1998 and is appreciated on both sides of the Atlantic for her singing and obvious love and understanding of the old songs – and some good new ones as well. Her first of eight CDs was released in 1998; the latest just this year. Her first book was published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2013.
The Vox Hunters (Armand Aromin and Benedict Gagliardi)
Hailing from the great state of Rhode Island, Armand Aromin and Benedict Gagliardi are seekers and singers of old songs, cultivators of local music, and chronic multi-instrumentalists. They are touted as strong tradition-bearers in their generation, and their genuine affinity for the music is evident in the emotion they draw from it. With a pair of oft-harmonizing voices tastefully garnished with fiddle, free-reeds, and tenor guitar, The Vox Hunters offer an all-natural connection to the living tradition of folk music.
Evie Ladin
Banjo player, singer, songwriter, percussive-dancer, choreographer and square-dance caller, Evie Ladin grew up steeped in traditional folk music/dance on the East Coast, and brings a contemporary vision to her compositions and choreography. Evie’s performances, recordings and teaching reconnect Appalachian music/dance with other African-Diaspora traditions, and have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Lincoln Center, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to Celtic Connections, Brazil to Bali.
Based in Oakland, CA, Evie tours solo, with Keith Terry and her Evie Ladin Band; and has produced 10 CDs and two instructional DVDs. In the percussive dance world, Evie directs the moving choir MoToR/dance, is Executive Director of the International Body Music Festival, does educational outreach with Crosspulse, and is an ace freestyle flatfooter. Her Body Music has gone viral in the choral piece Silvy, arranged by Moira Smiley. In the trad world, Evie teaches Old Time Harmony Singing and Clawhammer Banjo at the infamous Freight & Salvage, online at Peghead Nation and numerous camps and events. She is adept at getting people full-belly singing, harmonizing, and blending in experiential vocal workshops based in Appalachian traditions. Her own songs are clever and catchy, subtitling her band “neo-trad kinetic folk.” Evie also leads rowdy square dance parties, getting every body easily dancing. A highly entertaining performer, Evie enjoys facilitating arts learning in diverse communities. You don’t often hear words like ‘traditional,’ and ‘authentic’ paired with ‘innovative’ and ‘unique,’ but Evie Ladin has brought them together brilliantly, and the result is truly a high point in new music. – FOLKWORKS, Los Angeles
Based in Oakland, CA, Evie tours solo, with Keith Terry and her Evie Ladin Band; and has produced 10 CDs and two instructional DVDs. In the percussive dance world, Evie directs the moving choir MoToR/dance, is Executive Director of the International Body Music Festival, does educational outreach with Crosspulse, and is an ace freestyle flatfooter. Her Body Music has gone viral in the choral piece Silvy, arranged by Moira Smiley. In the trad world, Evie teaches Old Time Harmony Singing and Clawhammer Banjo at the infamous Freight & Salvage, online at Peghead Nation and numerous camps and events. She is adept at getting people full-belly singing, harmonizing, and blending in experiential vocal workshops based in Appalachian traditions. Her own songs are clever and catchy, subtitling her band “neo-trad kinetic folk.” Evie also leads rowdy square dance parties, getting every body easily dancing. A highly entertaining performer, Evie enjoys facilitating arts learning in diverse communities. You don’t often hear words like ‘traditional,’ and ‘authentic’ paired with ‘innovative’ and ‘unique,’ but Evie Ladin has brought them together brilliantly, and the result is truly a high point in new music. – FOLKWORKS, Los Angeles