Tricia Spencer is a Kansas fiddler who grew up learning the tradition of old time music from her Grandparents. At an early age, she was perched up on some stage tapping her foot to the beat of fiddles, banjos, mandolins and guitars. While growing up, her free time was spent traveling to festivals and fiddling contests throughout the Midwest where she learned from the likes of Pete McMahan, Cyril Stinnet, Lymon Enloe, Dwight Lamb, Amos Chase, and Lucy Pierce. Tricia is multi-instrumentalist who has studied with some of the great masters and is highly sought after as a performer, dance fiddler, and instructor.
Howard Rains is a native Texas artist and a fourth generation fiddler (or “VY-lin,” as his grandfather would say) from a musical and artistic family whose two obsessions are painting and playing the archaic style of fiddling of his home state. Howard plays rare, old tunes learned from friends, family, mentors, and old recordings. As much known for his painting as his fiddling, Howard has painted many of the great old time musicians, both living and gone.
Together, Spencer & Rains have performed and taught nationally and internationally, preserving and building upon the traditions of their region. The husband and wife duo are known for their twin fiddle harmony, which is a product of the influence of midwestern Scandinavian fiddlers Tricia heard as a child. At the same time, Howard’s distinct repertoire reintroduces listeners to the pre-contest styles of Texas fiddling. That same sense of harmony is in their vocals, as well, which they pull from all manner of American folk music. Both multi-instrumentalists, they are steeped in tradition and are dedicated to the preservation, performance, and teaching of old time music.

https://spencerandrains.com/

Holliday Stories, Christmas Songs & Celtic tunes.

Elizabeth Ellis grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. Invariably hilarious and poignant, she is a repeat favorite at the National Storytelling Festival. Author of From Plot to Narrative, she is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Network. www.elizabethellis.com.

Bean Sidhe (pronounced: ban-shee) began as a means for members to explore the connections linking traditional music from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales with its contemporary American counterparts, especially in the bluegrass, country, and folk genres.
The band currently has four members: David Russell, guitar, banjo, Irish bouzouki, and mandolin; Amanda Burts plays recorder and accordion; Ralph Murphy, who is a classically trained baritone, sings, plays bodhran (Irish drum) and guitar; and rounding out the group is Karin Lyle, a professional musician from Waynesville, plays harp and violin.