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Since forming in December of 2010, Chimney Choir has released two EPs and embarked on four tours in the US.  Although steeped in American and World folk music, the trio is not afraid to experiment – embracing psychedelic synths, performance art, and found percussion (including a Samsonite suitcase, ladder, and a typewriter).  Chimney Choir is a true collaboration – members change instruments, blend their voices in harmony, and share lead vocal and songwriting.  The critically acclaimed (feather) EP was recorded in an architectural antique warehouse, which gives a hint at the unique character of their sound.  Their second EP, (turtle), was released only 3 months later.

The background of the band is as diverse as their sound:  David Rynhart toured in Europe with music/poetry troupe the Voice and the Verse, founded the traditional Irish quartet Bohda, and has been called “Denver’s best kept secret” (Colorado Music Buzz) after releasing 2 solo efforts in 2010.  Kevin Larkin records neo-Spaghetti Western folk under the name Pineross and toured for years with the Mississippi’s Mayhem String Band, sharing the stage with B.B. King, the Avett Brothers, and Grace Potter.  Their music has been featured on SIRIUS Outlaw Country and SPIN magazine called their live show “The Best Time You’ll Have All Month“.

A new live album and DVD, recorded in front of an audience in an old pipe organ chapel, will be released in the spring of 2012.  More information about the night, including a video tour of the space and their silent film comedy “A Day in the Life of an Independent Band“, can be found at http://kck.st/rtJvCU.

Huck Notari grew up in the white mountains of New Hampshire. Quite a beautiful place. He lived there for some time and then caught a Greyhound one day out to Oregon. Big changes. Was hanging out with musicians and playing some open mics around. He then wound up in New Orleans miming on Royal Street as Charlie Chaplin. Soon after, he joined a country blues and ragtime band called The Kitchen Syncopators that featured Gill Landry (now with Old Crow Medicine Show), Woody Pines (touring with his own band) and Felix Hatfield (of Oz st. Fossils and Cardboard Songsters).

Later, Huck Notari wound up in Portland and began writing songs on guitar and piano that were released on his first album, Highland, in 2007 and Very Long Dream in 2009. Notari has been playing around the Northwest and have toured a bit in Ireland. He is working on his third record currently and hopes to release it sometime this year.

“I work hard on crafting my songs and focus on subtleness and harmonies. I am usually joined by Karin Nystrom (also with What Hearts), who sings and plays snare drum and Joel Shimmin, who plays a variety of guitars.”
- Huck Notari

“Huck is one of the finest songwriters in America today – songs full of truth and peace – they do what songs ought to do.”
- Samantha Pardon, the Be Good Tanyas

“Beautiful country music, rootsy and authentic, with songs that tell stories of rural working class life.”

“Huck is one of the best songwriters I have come across in a long while and Highland will be getting steady rotation on my music player for years to come. For fans of Neil Young, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and in general, any grassroots, rugged, hometown, folk music.”
- Michael Lynch

“I have always been a fan of subtle, beautiful, guitar. I came across Huck Notari the other day and I have to admit that I am very impressed. What is in the water in Portland?”
- Paper Pistol, independent  music ramblings

“Huck Notari is from Portland, Oregon and is about the closest thing to a troubadour we think we’ve heard in a long time. Huck Notari’s songs are folk songs in the proper sense. Beautiful finger-picked melodies and lyrics that can effortlessly transport you somewhere else entirely. Huck Notari sounds timeless to us, like he could have recorded this album anytime in the past thirty years. Huck Notari has come out of nowhere and knocked us sideways with a wonderful, wonderful record.”
- The Mad Mackerel, music blog

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Kitchen tables, springs, loss, miners, mountains, culture clash, trailers, stray dogs, loggers, hope, forest fires—Rita Hosking‘s country-folk music is this and more, and always fierce and lovely. Her delivery is, to put it simply, intense. “From the first time I heard Rita sing, her voice gripped me and did not let go,” (Joe Craven.)

That voice, called a “soulful howl from the mountains” (California Bluegrass Association) is calling attention around the country—”What? California girls don’t sing like that!!?” But Rita, called “the real thing” by CA acoustic music fans, will tell you about her upbringing in rural Shasta County, and the old-time band of seasoned mountain characters that took her under their wings. “This California girl comes by her mountain-music sensibility with true authenticity, with original songs deeply rooted in her family’s frontier experience,” (Dan Ruby, FestivalPreview.com.) A descendant of Cornish miners who sang in the mines, Rita grew up with deep regard for folk music and the power of the voice.

Rita’s songs have been lauded for story and sense of place, and her performances praised for capturing the audience. Honors include winner of Best Country Album (Vox Pop) in the 2010 Independent Music Awards, winner of the ’08 Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest at the Sisters Folk Festival, finalist in the ’09 Telluride Troubadour Contest, and others as well. “There’s a grit to her songs and sinewy toughness to her voice that weave their own spell,” (Q Magazine.)

Come Sunrise, a collection of 11 original songs and Rita’s third album, was released in June of 2009. Recorded in Austin, Texas with producer and guitarist Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen, Caroline Herring,) Come Sunrise launches Rita onto the international Americana scene with players such as Brotherton himself, Lloyd Maines, Warren Hood, Glenn Fukunaga, and many more. “Superb country-folk from a brilliant singer-songwriter,” (Americana UK.) In addition to her ’07 Silver Stream and ’05 Are You Ready? featuring members of her band “Cousin Jack,” Come Sunrise completes a collection of well received recordings.

Rita performs in variable configurations including solo, duo or trio, and often as a quartet called “Rita Hosking and Cousin Jack,” –Rita on guitar, Sean Feder on banjo, dobro, bass and guitar, Andy Lentz on fiddle, and Bill Dakin on bass and guitar.

Two fiddlers from widely respected bands (Brittany Haas of Crooked Still, and Lauren Rioux from Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings) are joining forces. As a duo, the women bring their extensive knowledge of Appalachian music and experience of being at the forefront of the contemporary string band scene, as well as the strength and depth of seasoned performers. Their music is steeped in groove, emotion-filled and harmonically progressive. The joy they share on stage as they weave and dance through duets on their instruments and vocals is palpable among audience.

“Enchanting, thoughtful and musically satiating”
-Portland Herald

Brittany Haas is a 5 string fiddle player from Northern California, currently residing in Nashville. A Princeton graduate, she is a member of the Boston-based alternative bluegrass band, Crooked Still. She has spent the past 11 years touring the world with various musicians and groups such as Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, Yonder Mountain String Band, Tony Trischka, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas, and The Waybacks.

She played fiddle on Steve Martin‘s Grammy Award-winning CD, The Crow, and performed in his band on “The David Letterman Show” and “Saturday Night Live”. Herdebut self-titled solo album was released in 2004, produced by Darol Anger and featuring Bruce Molsky, Mike Marshall, Alison Brown and others. She recently recorded a soon-to-be-released project with hardanger fiddler and composer Dan Trueman featuring their own original music. She also plays in an all-girl indie old-time band called The Fundies and an exciting new duo with fiddler Lauren Rioux.

Lauren Rioux fiddles from the heart with soul and joy. This, in combination with her warm tone, elegantly expressive phrasing and playful style, leads her to create music that artfully explores themes of both heartache and hope. With her debut album, All the Brighter, Lauren presents a beautiful collection of melodies that embrace and celebrate the richness of life. Rooted in the old-time tradition, and drawing inspiration from a wide swath of musicians, from Sam Cooke to Hillary Hahn, her music is at once timeless and fresh.

Lauren performs regularly with Darol Anger, Scott Law, and Mike Block in the band Republic of Strings, and Scott Nygaard and Joe Walsh in Crow Molly. She also tours with fellow fiddler and All the Brighter producer Brittany Haas of Crooked Still. She has shared the stage with Bruce Molsky, Tim O’Brien, Mike Marshall, Vasen, Laurie Lewis, Natalie Haas and others at such festivals as Wintergrass, Delfest,Rockygrass, and Celtic Connections.

“The He Said…She Said…Folk Tour”
Featuring Shook Twins & John Craigie
Eclectic Blend of Folk, Roots, Pop and Fun
Touring Throughout Pacific Northwest
www.shooktwins.com ~ www.johncraigiemusic.com

“A unique, personal music that lights up the stage with its joy and enthusiasm.” Mason Jennings

Portland OR — Identical twins Laurie Shook (vocals, banjo, percussion and beatboxing) and Katelyn Shook (vocals, guitar and mandolin), are two thirds of the quirky folk trio, Shook Twins. Rounding out the trio, often referred to as the  “third twin,” is Kyle Volkman on bass. The Shook Twins intertwine gorgeous “twin” harmonies with an eclectic and eccentric blend of folk, roots, pop and fun. Jeff Rosenberg of the Willamette Weekly says, “Their songs are witty and well-built, the performances poised, the production adventurous. Recently transplanted to Portland, Shook Twins are the most exciting local folk act I’ve heard in ages. Strike that word “local” and the sentiment still stands.”

Originally from Sandpoint Idaho, the twins have been making music together since childhood. Playful, warm and lighthearted, a Shook Twins show percolates with the twins infectious radiant energy. Pristine vocals layered on top of traditional stringed folk instruments, create lovely aural imagery of two women with one sound.

But don’t be fooled. The Shook Twins are not your average folk trio. They have a few tricks up their sleeves. Laurie may drop a beatbox in the middle of a song, while Katelyn plays the guitar, glockenspiel, mandolin, and sings into a telephone and bocks like a chicken. Laurie plays wah-wah Banjo and loops various melodies and beats to make it sound like more than just two identical twin sisters. Meanwhile Kyle lays down the groove adding resonant bass lines to the mix. It’s a refreshing romp filled with unexpected surprises.

This past year the Shook Twins have been touring behind their sophomore CD Window, released in April 2011, taking them throughout much of the Northwest. Along the way, The Shook Twins have shared the stage with artists including Ryan Adams, Mason Jennings, Laura Veirs, The Fruit Bats, Jonatha Brooke, Michelle Shocked, JJ Gray and MoFro, Crooked Still, Jason Webley, The BoDeans, Elephant Revival, The Head and The Heart and many more. Festival performances this past summer included the Oregon Country Fair, Sisters Folk Fest, Northwest String Summit, Idaho Down, Sawtooth Music Festival & Sandy Summer Acoustic Series.

San Francisco, CA — For the past seven years, John Craigie has taken his unique musical style across the western United States. He stays true to the essence of folk music, and the traditions of the seminal writers of our past century. With timeless melodies and insightful lyrics—interspersed with witty storytelling—his songs take many poetic turns before bringing you back home. His themes range from social commentary to personal empowerment, political satire, and modern love. He has traveled all of this planet, having played in all 50 states and beyond, bringing his music to the world. John Craigie writes, sings, and plays for the people.

Shannon Stephens began her musical career in 1994 as the voice of the band Marzuki, a folk-rock ensemble assembled by Sufjan Stevens.   After Marzuki disbanded, Shannon began to perform and record on her own. She recorded her self-titled debut LP in 1999, the same year she moved to Seattle and shared the stage with the likes of Denison Witmer, Rosie Thomas, Jason Harrod and Damien Jurado. But by the time the new album had come back from the manufacturer, she had realized that all this music stuff was a lot of work. The boxes went into her garage and collected dust for nine years while she got married, read copious amounts of books, had a daughter, and did lots of hippy stuff like growing potatoes, canning preserves, and making kombucha.

In 2008, one of her songs (“I’ll Be Glad”) was covered by Bonnie Prince Billy on his album Lie Down In The Light. Shannon pulled her head out in time to release her second album, The Breadwinner, in 2009, which Rachel Sanders at Exclaim! described as “…a spectacularly beautiful and fiercely compelling sophomore album” and Sufjan Stevens called “…a joyful, heartful collection of quiet, gorgeous songs”.  In 2010, Asthmatic Kitty Records re-released Shannon’s self-titled debut.  Shannon performs locally and nationally, solo or with her band, and will release a third album in spring 2012.

Jeff Fielder is an exceptional and accomplished guitarist and instrumentalist. Based in the Seattle area, Jeff has worked and recorded with artists from all over the musical spectrum. Most recently  Duff McKagen, Amy Ray, Rocky Votolato and Kasey Anderson. Also being a member of a number of bands including Sera Cahoone, Lindsay Fuller and extensive touring with Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Fielder keeps very busy. All the while, Jeff has kept a foot in a solo career. Releasing the solo record Last Disguise in 2007 and playing compelling shows, both solo acoustic and with various instrumentation.

The overall theme of the solo work is rooted in a very rich tradition of blues and roots music combined with thoughtful guitar playing and soulful vocals. Jeff hopes to focus a bit more on solo projects in the coming year, play more solo shows and put out a new record in 2012.

Tickets: $14 advance, $18 at the door.

Click here to purchase advance tickets.

Radim Zenkl was born in Opava, Czech Republic. He grew up in the town of Ostrava (about 200 miles east of Prague), where his father teaches classical music at the University of Ostrava. Zenkl began his musical studies with piano and singing, then later on classical guitar. In addition to classical music, his early influences were folk music and Czech unique “tramp music”. He began playing the mandolin at thirteen. He also plays mandola, Irish bouzouki, ukulele, tin whistle, ethnic flutes, and didgeridoo.

The discovery of bluegrass music came by listening to records that were smuggled in via those that had escaped from this communist country. The sound of a bluegrass mandolin initiated the spark that launched a decision to play music as a career at the age of seventeen and subsequently led Zenkl beyond bluegrass to an eclectic array of styles. Zenkl’s choice of mandolin came as no great joy to his father, who claimed that the instrument had no “real” repertoire, fueling his desire to create one of his own. He started transcribing music from other instruments and later on began composing.

Radim’s style features progressive original and eastern European traditional music flavored with bluegrass, jazz, new age, flamenco, rock, classical and other. The US Mandolin Champion is at the cutting edge of the mandolin’s future, designing new instruments within the mandolin family and creating new playing techniques which sound like two instruments simultaneously. Besides collaborating with the top musicians of the acoustic music scene, Radim has built up an extensive repertoire for solo mandolin, mandola and Irish bouzouki. He has recorded eight solo CDs (released on Acoustic Disc, Shanachie and Ventana) and has appeared on more than sixty other recordings.

Zenkl went on to record two CDs for David Grisman‘s record label “Acoustic Disc”. Galactic Mandolin (1992) is comprised of 13 original solo works, each in a different tuning. Czech It Out (1994) features original and Czech and Slovak traditional tunes on solo mandolin, mandocello and mandolin banjo.

On several occasions in 1995 he substituted for Mike Marshall in the classical group Modern Mandolin Quartet.

In the same year, Zenkl signed a recording contract with Shanachie Records and recorded String & Wings, which was released in 1996. Included in this CD are improvised duets with 20 different artists such as Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, David Grisman, Tony Rice and Rob Wasserman among others, featuring 20 different acoustic string instruments. A new CD entitled Restless Joy was released in November 1999.

Today, Zenkl’s virtuosity and innovation have placed him at the forefront of the modern acoustic music scene.

“Radim has reinvented the mandolin in several different ways.”
- David Grisman

“Imaginative and great.”
- Jerry Garcia

“Excellent technique and lots of great ideas!”
- Bela Fleck

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Yellow Dog Records recording artist Mary Flower is renowned for a
uniquely personal vision of roots music that blends ragtime, acoustic blues,
and folk – technically dazzling yet grounded in the down-to-earth simplicity
of early 20th century American music.

With eight albums under her belt, Flower has earned rave reviews from
critics and audiences alike for her unassuming vocals, but it’s her
instrumental skill – a mastery of the difficult Piedmont blues guitar that
takes most players a lifetime to hone – for which Flower is most celebrated.

Her fingerpicking forms the basis of a heavily syncopated, ragtime-based
style wherein the thumb plucks a strong rhythmic base as the fingers etch
out the melody. Mary also excels at lap slide guitar, allowing her to infuse
songs with a supremely delicate, plaintive sound that’s hers alone while
recalling the blues giants of the past.

Flower performs and teaches internationally, and has released several
instructional DVDs, including a few for highly regarded Homespun Tapes.

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Rain City Tales & Tunes is a brand-new radio show which brings the Northwest’s best storytellers and musicians together onstage.  Taped in front of a live audience at Empty Sea, the show features acoustic music and tale-telling.  Each episode features a unique theme, and audience members are invited to volunteer for the storytelling spotlight.

Produced jointly by Empty Sea Studios and KBCS storyteller Auntmama (Mary Anne Moorman), Rain City will be available to public radio stations this fall.

June 22nd’s show theme is the other side of the coin. When you flip a story over, what surprises do you find?  What happens when you’re not sure which side is up, anymore?  For the answers to these questions and more, we’ll turn to storyteller Kathya Alexander, singer/songwriter Ali Marcus, and as always, Auntmama.  Scroll down to learn more about what’s in store!

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Kathya Alexander is a writer, actor, poet, playwright and dramatic arts teacher.   She was a 2007 Writer-in-Residence at Hedgebrook and won the 2002 Fringe First Award for Black to My Roots at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for Outstanding New Production in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Kathya’s writing has appeared in Colors Northwest Magazine and she is the author of Angel in the Outhouse, God the Mother: A Creation Story, and the God the Mother Calendar.  Kathya’s plays include David & Jonathan (a modern day re-telling of the biblical story) staged at The Seattle Rep in February, 2008; Dream’n (adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream-2007); HumaNature (choreopoem-2007); Homegoing (2006); A Taste of Prison (about the criminal justice system-2005), Three Strikes on Trial (about the WA state Three Strikes Law-2004); Nappy Roots: A Fairy Tale (about hair and African American girls’ self-esteem); and Little Rock Nine (children’s play about the integration of Central High.

Kathya’s goal as a writer is to investigate how living in America affects her life and how her life is influenced by her culture.  Most of the stories she’s written are fictionalized personal, social and political situations.  Growing up in the south as a child in the 60s, the Civil Rights movement greatly impacted her life and continues to influence her writing.  Her novel, Keep-A-Livin’, explores the familial and communal relationships of a Negro girl against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement.  The main character, Mandy, ponders how to be fully awake and authentic in a world that has rendered her vulnerable and invisible.  Like so many young people, she makes decisions that will, ultimately, have a negative impact on her life, but that get her noticed – in all the wrong ways.   The novel also explores the spirituality that was an integral part of Kathya’s childhood, especially the church and the spirit world that was an essential part of her early existence.

The Negro writers of her youth, particularly James Weldon Johnson and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, greatly influenced her with their use of iambic pentameter and rhyme.  In many ways, they were the rap artists of their generation.  The natural rhythms of their writing made their words sing from the page.   Her entire novel is written with the rhythms and rhymes typified by these early writers.  As resident playwright of Brownbox Theater, she also writes plays commissioned by the company.  Because of her status with Brownbox, she is usually working on several projects at the same time.  Her latest Brownbox creation was emotionalblackmale, a one-man play that had its debut at Seattle University in June.  David and Jonathan is a modern-day retelling of the biblical story of the great warrior king and the man he loved more than he loved his own soul.   David and Jonathan is her attempt at challenging the way the Black community perceives homosexuality, particularly homosexuality as it relates to the church.

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Ali Marcus hails from Anacortes, WA, bringing her guitar and suitcase of harmonicas all around America. Over the past seven years and seven albums, Ali has found many exciting musical adventures, such as singing with folk-legend Tom Paxton, hearing her music on NPR, and performing in CMJ. In the last year alone, she has opened for Dar Williams, performed at Seattle’s Triple Door, and had a topical song featured in the New York Times on Election Day. Her newest album, “The Great Migration,” received a 4-star review from Seattle Sound and rumor has it a new record is on the way towards the end of the year.

Catch Ali’s unique take on Americana music, filled with nostalgic 60′s folk influences, crystal-clear melodies bursting with stories to tell, and a Neil Young-meets-Nashville take on the harmonicas. Her performance will play out like a tour of the United States, from the dust bowl to the horse farms in Virginia and back out to the Pacific Ocean. With a voice like an old fashioned folksinger – loud, frank, vernacular  – Ali might just make you stop and think a little bit more about the world we live in and the world we would like it to become.

All of Ali’s music is available on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon and many other sites. Please visit www.alimarcus.com for more information.

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Named Auntmama by a nephew of choice, Mary Anne Moorman gathers audiences up in her blend of music, and storied southern lore. Her voice is a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains at dusk, rolling and misted sweet. These stories are conversations with memory as well as with the audience that’s enjoying them.

“I’d be a singer if I could sing, but I like music too much to mess it up,” she says. Her Appalachian roots are intertwined with the music she grew up with, many of her stories reflecting that harmonic heritage through influences from Gershwin, Cole Porter, Flatt & Scruggs, and Porter Wagoner.

The Stranger has written of Auntmama’s tales: “As a precious, southern belle, she’s conflicted and her extremes and voice boil out the sweetest words I think I’ve ever heard in my life. A real gem, she is. Glad I saw it, haven’t stopped hearing her lilting voice in my head.”

Moorman, a former machinist, management consultant and journalist, teaches storytelling at Washington State’s famous Wintergrass festival, Northwest Folklife Festival, Hugo House’s Write-O-Rama, as well as offering workshops throughout the country. She is the recipient of grants from Artist Trust, 4Cultural and the City of Seattle. Her three albums are available through her website, in local bookstores or through iTunes. She can be heard every Sunday morning on KBCS 91.3 FM.

Click here to purchase advance tickets.

Award-winning songwriter Namoli Brennet has been touring the country with her own brand of moody and inspiring folk since 2002. Touching on often poignant themes, her music and lyrics ultimately paint a vivid and redemptive portrait. She’s a breathtaking and moving performer, and her sweet, road-weary voice is as quick to deliver her wit and humor as it is a turn of phrase. A 4-time Outmusic award nominee, Namoli has also won the Tucson Folk Festival Songwriting Award and was a finalist in the ISC songwriting competition. Her recent release ‘Black Crow’ garnered critical acclaim and was named one of KXCI FM’s top albums of 2010. Her music has been featured in the Emmy-award winning film “Out in the Silence”, which details the struggle of a gay teen growing up in rural Pennsylvania. She’s currently in the studio working on her 9th CD, scheduled for release in October 2011 on Flaming Dame Records.

Eric Himan is an award-winning nationally touring soulful/folk/rock artist based in the Tulsa area. Eric’s music has recently been featured on Sirius/XM’s Coffeehouse radio station with his song, “Save The Afternoon” (from his latest release, SUPPOSED UNKNOWN and version of the Simply Red classic, “Holding Back the Years*”. Since moving to the area, Eric has appeared on Tulsa radio (104.5 The Edge, KMOD), television (KJRH’s New Year’s Eve, KTUL’s Good Day Tulsa, CW’s Explore Tulsa), and in print media (Tulsa World, Urban Tulsa Weekly, Oklahoma Magazine). He has won top honors, Artist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year at Urban Tulsa Weekly’s Absolute Best of Tulsa Music Awards, Best of the Best in Oklahoma Magazine for 3 years, while nationally winning the Singer/Songwriter Awards and licensing his original songs to MTV, Vh1, Oxygen, and E! He has appeared in The Advocate, newspapers nationwide, and gained a working endorsement with Fender Guitars.

This show is presented by Ingersoll Gender Center.  Namoli, Eric, and Empty Sea Studios will donate 10% of ticket proceeds to benefit Queer Youth Space.

Click here to purchase advance tickets.

Kora kana is a new band playing ancient string music from West Africa, borrowing heavily from griot traditions, rural blues, and mountain music.

Band leader Tyler Richart initially traveled to West Africa to study percussion music with the master djembe player, Famoudou Konate, in 2002. After several weeks of intense study and practice, and then being asked by his teacher to find a more quiet hobby to appease the neighbors, Tyler took up lessons on the 21 string West African harp, the kora.

After learning the basic parts to a couple of songs from his first teacher, Sidiki Yayo, Tyler returned to the states and prepared for his next voyage, a six month trip the the heartland of the kora, The Gambia. Tyler then spent six months during the winter of 2002-2003 studying kora and singing in Brikama, The Gambia, with the family of kora master, Malamini Jobarteh.

A couple of years after his return to the US, Tyler spied a banjo hanging on the wall of a friend, and realized the banjo was a less civilized relative of the kora.  Weeks later, his mother called to tell him that she had found one of these primitive drum-guitars at a garage sale, and was buying it for him. Tyler took up a feverish study of the instrument before recognizing it’s inherent limitations and moving on to the guitar and mandolin. In addition, Tyler started to try to sing like the self proclaimed King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin, and therefore won over many friends in the bluegrass and mountain music community. One of those friends, Cort Armstrong, had been steeped in the mountain blues styles of the Piedmont region, and was greatly influenced by the Reverend Gary Davis.

Tyler and Cort became fast friends and started playing and singing together. One late night on the porch, after a fair amount of imbibing, Tyler put away his mandolin and brought out his kora, and an old friend of Cort’s, Sean Divine, got out his harmonica. Cort tuned up his resophonic guitar, and the seeds of kora kana were planted. Over the next two years, Tyler would occasionally bring out the kora and show Cort and Sean a traditional song or two. In January of 2011, the final piece of band was added. Kia Armstrong added the upright bass and a badly needed touch of class to the band of haggard musicians. The group started working on arrangements, utilizing the vocal talents of the three men (who are all fantastic singers in their own right), and blending together the sublime vocal harmonies that kora kana has come to be known for.

Kora kana is a real treat for their audiences, blending Americana sensibilities and ancient Manding string music. Tyler sings with a strong emotive voice, tells amusing anecdotes about his travels, and a presents a healthy heaping of the cultural context and meanings of the songs of West Africa. Seeing this band play is a one of a kind experience.