Bronwyn Keith-Hynes with special guest Luke Bulla

Grammy-winning fiddle virtuoso Bronwyn Keith-Hynes is stepping into the spotlight. After several years of wowing audiences as the fiddler for Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, the 2x IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year is striking out on her own – fronting a band for the first time and bringing her voice to the forefront. Known for her fiery fiddle playing and pure, rootsy singing, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes’ debut vocal album ‘I Built A World’ earned her a Grammy nomination this past February, and American Songwriter calls her “a world-class fiddler with a golden voice.”

Now, as her own entry in bluegrass history expands from celebrated instrumentalist to bandleader and front woman, Bronwyn isn’t just crafting a career in the image of genre greats like Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas; she’s bringing them along for the ride. Both Bush and Douglas are featured as players on I Built a World, and they’re not the only of Bronwyn’s musically-inclined pals and heroes to make an appearance on this star studded album.

Keith-Hynes’ music blends high octane bluegrass sensibilities with the soul of country and American Roots music. Backed by a powerhouse group of Nashville musicians hand picked from her tight-knit community, Keith-Hynes represents the next generation of top tier bluegrass musicians, who will be appreciated for generations to come. With a career that has already spanned collaborations with some of the biggest names in acoustic music, Bronwyn is now forging her own path—bringing her undeniable talent to audiences in a whole new way.

Event Sponsored by MLK & Company, co-sponsored by Persimmon Consulting

Tom Rush accompanied by Brendan Cleary

Tom Rush is a gifted musician and performer, whose shows offer a musical celebration…a journey into the tradition and spectrum of what music has been, can be, and will become. His distinctive guitar style, wry humour and warm, expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with the rib-aching laughter of terrific story-telling, the sweet melancholy of ballads and the passion of gritty blues. 

Rush’s impact on the American music scene has been profound. He helped shape the folk revival in the ’60s and the renaissance of the ’80s and ’90s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists. Rush displayed then, as he does today, an uncanny knack for finding wonderful songs, and writing his own – many of which have become classics re-interpreted by new generations.

Today, Tom Rush lives in Massachusetts when he’s not touring. His voice has grown even richer and more melodic, and his music, like a fine wine, has matured and ripened in the blending of traditional and modern influences. He’s written a number of new songs. He’s doing what he loves, and what audiences love him for: writing and playing …passionately, tenderly…knitting together the musical traditions and talents of our times.

Event Sponsored by Polly’s Pancake Parlor, co-sponsored by Forest Society North at The Rocks

It’s no secret that great art comes from the margins. From those who are either pushed to create from inner forces, or who create to show they deserve to be recognized. Los Angeles-based street singer, guitarist, and roots music revolutionary Sunny War has always been an outsider, always felt the drive to define her place in the world through music and songwriting. Her restless spirit, a byproduct of growing up semi-nomadic with a single mother, led her to Venice Beach, California, where she’s been grinding the pavement for some years now, making a name for her prodigious guitar work and incisive songwriting, which touches on everything from police violence to alcoholism to love found and lost.

Event Co-sponsored by Passumpsic Bank

Join balafon virtuoso Balla Kouyaté for a unique quartet performance on The Colonial stage!

As soon as Balla Kouyaté was old enough to sit up, his father placed a mallett in his hand. If their 800-year-old lineage of balafon players were a baobab tree, Balla would be its newest branch. The Kouyaté family are griots from the village of Niagassola on the Mali-Guinea border. In West African culture, griots are more than just eminent musicians — they are storytellers, soothsayers and peacemakers. They transmit their oral history like a long game of telephone across generations.

Kouyaté has been featured on over 45 albums, including Silkroad’s Sing Me Home, Yo-Yo Ma’s Songs of Joy and Peace, Angelique Kidjo’s Oyo, and Vusi Mahlasela’s Say Africa. His music has been recorded for the Library of Congress and heard in venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, and The Kennedy Center as well as festivals throughout US and Europe. As an educator, he has offered masterclasses in universities and schools across the country including Harvard University, MIT, Berklee College of Music and CalArts. Kouyaté was chosen as a NEA National Heritage Fellow in 2019.

Event sponsored by Elise Drake

If you haven’t been fortunate enough to meet Vanessa Collier and witness one of her head-turning, fiery, and passionate performances, her set will blow your mind. As a master musician and multi-instrumentalist, Vanessa weaves funk, soul, rock, and blues into every powerful performance. With soulful vocals, searing saxophone, and witty songwriting, Vanessa is blazing a trail, racking up an arsenal of honors, and has already singled herself out as an artist of distinction.

It’s not simply the accolades she has accumulated so far, although they’ve been many, including two Blues Music Awards for Horn Player of the Year, seven BMA nominations, a Blues Blast Award nomination, the Jammingest Pro Award bestowed by the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, First Place for lyrics in the International Songwriting Competition, and Best of 2014 Blues Breaker on Dan Aykroyd’s BluesMobile. It’s the fact that she has accumulated all these honors even while her career is still in its infancy.

Having first picked up the saxophone at the age of 9, Collier embarked on her road to recognition at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, earning dual degrees in Performance and Music Production & Engineering. While still completing her degree, Collier landed a position touring with Joe Louis Walker for a year and a half before Joe encouraged her to strike out on her own. And strike out she did.

She’s toured nationally and internationally, released four critically acclaimed albums including the highly anticipated fourth album, Heart on the Line, in May 2020. In 2017, Vanessa was also a featured artist in three major tours across Europe as part of Ruf Records’ 2017 Blues Caravan.

As for Collier, she says she’s happy performing on stages across the world, hoping that she can make a difference with fans and followers along the way. “I am driven to do this because I find it a total form of expression and connection,” she explains. “I love connecting with an audience and feeling their energy and I hope to inspire people to follow their dreams and passions, to find what brings them joy, and then to pursue it doggedly.”

Event Sponsored by Carrie & Jim Hamblin.