Listen to Spook Handy

The theme's of Spook's songs range from spiritual to songs about social responsibility, sometimes blatant, sometimes covert and are full of fictitious and real characters who have walked through his life.  Farmer Josh in his song, "Vote" - nominated by Just Plain Folks for best traditional song in 2002 - is a caricature of one of Spook's early gurus.  Sri Punkney in "The Guru Shuffle" is the invisible master of a secret spiritual cult that only existed in the inner worlds and to which Spook belonged for a short while.  

The settings of many Spook tunes come from the many part-time jobs he's had.  They set the backdrop for his popular Christmas song, "Santa's Night Off", as well as "Paper Route" and "The Happy Song".   The best description of Spook's musical style comes from fellow songwriter briz who says:  "The lyrical witt or John Prine, the humor of Arlo Guthrie, the sincerity of John Denver, the boldness of Bob Dylan and the courage of Pete Seeger meld into a cohesive unit that emerges full of hope and promise." 

Listen to Mary McCaslin

Mary McCaslin represents an unbroken link between traditional folksingers and today's "new folk" singer-songwriters. Her music ranges from ballads of the old west to her own songs of the new west and modern times. Regarded as a pioneer of open guitar tunings, and known for her distinctive vocal style, Mary's influences can be heard in many younger folk performers.  She is also known for her haunting renditions of pop standards and rock classics, such as "Ghost Riders In The Sky", "The Wayward Wind", the Beatles' "Things We Said Today", and the Supremes' "My World Is Empty". Her versions of the Beatles' "Blackbird" and the Who's "Pinball Wizard" are made more unique by her "clawhammer" banjo accompaniment. Mary's musical influences are as varied as her repertoire: The western ballads of Marty Robbins, the guitar playing of Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, the singing and banjo playing of Hedy West, and the vocal inflections of the Beatles and the BeeGees.  Her songs have been recorded by Tom Russell ("Prairie In The Sky"), Bill Staines ("Prairie In The Sky"), Chris Williamson ("Circle Of Friends"), David Bromberg ("Young Westley"), Kate Wolf ("The Ballad Of Weaverville"), Stan Rogers ("Down The Road") and others. The Grand Canyon Railroad has used her song "Last Cannonball" for its promotional television ad.

Listen to Jake Armerding

Listen to The Dukes

Our traditional annual steamy blues/dance with John and the crew down from Philadelphia... "They mix up a wide variety of music from Louis Jordan styled swing on up to soul, but their forte is Chicago blues. Veteran musicians all, this band knows rock n' roll, or getting lowdown with mean Chicago blues, The Dukes of Destiny are hard to beat for a good time... Ultimately, the ensemble work is what makes the Dukes of Destiny a good band - the consistent subtle interplay between all the musicians." - Peter Brown, East Coast Rocker

Listen to Red Molly

On a July evening in 2004, at their campsite at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Laurie MacAllister, Abbie Gardner and Carolann Solebello harmonized for the very first time. As they sang their campmates off to sleep, they knew they had stumbled into something extraordinary. Audiences seem to agree. Since that summer night, Red Molly has garnered a devoted regional fan base, and has begun laying the groundwork for national touring. These ladies have a lot of fun on stage, and it's contagious.

Red Molly consistently brings concert-goers to their feet with stunning three-part harmonies, crisp musicianship, and a warm, engaging stage presence.  The magic of Red Molly stems partly from the richness and diversity of each member's "pre-Molly" experiences. Laurie (vocals, guitar, banjo) left a career in psychology to pursue her love of singing. She worked for several years as a backup singer, and also released two solo albums, These Old Clothes (1999) and The Things I Choose To Do (2004). Abbie (vocals, Dobro, guitar) has a background in jazz, bluegrass, classical and a cappella music. She released two solo albums, My Craziest Dream (2004), a collection of swing standards featuring her father Herb Gardner on piano, and Honey on My Grave (2006), a collection of acoustic originals. In May 2008, she released a duo album, Bad Nights/Better Days, with Anthony da Costa. Carolann (vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin) spent several years as a professional theatre actor before releasing her solo album, Just Across the Water (2000). She went on to release two albums with power folk quartet CC Railroad, Smile Whatever (2001) and Black Horse Motel (2004). 

Listen to Richard Shindell

An expatriate New Yorker now living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Richard Shindell is a meticulous craftsman of song whose six studio albums and one live recording have been revered by critics and fans alike. Innovative, original and occasionally spiritual, Shindell's songs weave tales that interchangeably champion the downtrodden, exalt the disaffected or wax empathetic to those lost to society's fringes.

From his first record, Sparrow's Point (1992) to the newest album South of Delia (2007), Shindell has demonstrated a penchant for songwriting at once passionate and profound. His songs are often slowly and painstakingly crafted until honed to perfection. Conversely, he is also capable of writing tunes that are simply clever and amusing.  

Shindell's songwriting is truly eclectic, ranging from lighthearted ballads and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion. He has a unique ability to morph into the soul of the many and varied personalities he casts as narrators in certain songs--songs that are veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies, sometimes including cryptic, revelations through the eyes of a woman.  "Shindell is a master builder of songs, yet always leading listeners toward the emotional essence of the moment or character he is evoking. As with all master craftsmen, knowing what to leave out is as important to him as what he puts in. Shindell has uncanny sense of the theater of a song, building his ballads sparely and subtly, set to sweeping graceful melodies." by SCOTT ALARICK, The Boston Globe

Listen to Eliza Gilkyson

The daughter of successful songwriter Terry Gilkyson, Eliza is a third generation musician who grew up in Los Angeles knowing that her life would revolve around music. "I got into it for all the wrong reasons, more as a survival tool than anything else, but it proved to serve me more than I dared to imagine." As a teenager, she recorded demos for her father, an accomplished songwriter whose songs have been covered by artists as diverse as Dean Martin, Johnny Cash ("Memories Are Made of This") and the White Stripes ("Look Me Over Closely"), and whose credits include such standards as "Greenfields," "Marianne" and "The Bare Necessities " (from the Disney film Jungle Book).  

At the end of the sixties, she moved to New Mexico with likeminded souls, eventually raising a family, all the while developing a loyal fan base in the Southwest and Texas. After starting her own record label, Realiza Records, she put out Misfits in 1999, a collection of outtakes that received favorable press as a sound that connected the worlds of folk and modern storytelling.

In 2000, Eliza released her first album on the Red House Records label, the critically acclaimed Hard Times in Babylon. In 2004 Eliza released Land of Milk and Honey, an album that was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Contemporary Folk Album. The CD is decidedly socio/political in nature, from the Iraq War awareness plea, "Hiway 9," to the call for peace in Woody Guthrie's previously unrecorded and timely peace anthem, "Peace Call," a track featuring vocals by friends and fellow artists Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Iris DeMent.

 August of 2005, brought Gilkyson's, Paradise Hotel, featuring songs that artfully reveal the roots of her progressive patriotism, comment on the direction our world is headed and peal back the thin layers obscuring the heart of what matters in these complex times. Eliza newest albums, Your Town Tonight (2007) and Beautiful World (2008) demonstate that her songwriting has a Dylanesque quality as her tunes burst with edgy lyrics and poetic imagination. Eliza has recently appeared on NPR's All Things Considered, Austin City Limits and on tour with Patty Griffin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. In February of 2003, Gilkyson was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. The induction places Gilkyson alongside an exclusive list of Austin Music Hall of Fame greats, including Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Nanci Griffith, Billy Joe Shaver, Butch Hancock, Joe Ely and others.

Our esteemed Artistic Director,  Mr. Todd Tyson, has been hard at work seeking the perfect final act of our 2008-2009 season and he has assured us that we will soon know who it will be.  What we can say is that the concert will be in May of 2009 and like all Turtledove concerts, it will be one you do not want to miss.