Friend of Longstaff and Fiddle Camp, Miles Zurawell will be sitting in on dobro.
Zachary Lucky (born January 4, 1989) is a Canadian songwriter, folk and Country artist based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is the grandson of Canadian country music legend Smilin Johnny Lucky.
Prior to starting his solo career in 2009, Lucky was a member of pop bands Tuxedo Mask and We Were Lovers.[1] Lucky has made a name for himself as one of the hardest working singer songwriters to come out of Saskatchewan in recent years[2] – often booking long, and potentially gruelling tours.[3].
To date Lucky has nine releases: three EPs and six full length albums Come and Gone,[4] Saskatchewan,[5] The Ballad of Losing You[6] and Everywhere a Man Can Be.[7]
Izaak Opaz
Like many of his favorite songwriters (John Hartford, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy), Izaak Opatz is an ungulate in life’s winter pasture, chewing on and metabolizing disappointment, heartbreak, and the other tough stuff into enjoyable musical carbohydrates. A compulsive metaphorager (and inveterate wordplayboy), Opatz breaks it all down with enzymes of wry humor, thoughtful simile and close observation – a therapeutic process of narrativizing his own life that, almost as a byproduct, turns out savory nuggets of literate, confessional pop.
Izaak has been to Longstaff House before and we are pleased that he has returned and brought his friend Devin Champlin with him.
Devin Champlin
“Why does Devin Champlin so badly want to be emptied? To ditch his brain and keep his head?
The man who can kickflip an over-easy without breaking the yolk. The guy who puts a fiddle in his elbow and a guitar on his chin. The dude that can catch and release a whale from a park bench. The one that stares off places. Emptied? Yes, emptied. But only to be fulfilled anew. You see, that’s the Champlin way. Willing, and wanting, to change. To turn your outsides to your insides and be filled with something else. Marbles. Smoke. And someone like that never gets bored. Someone like that remains filled with a wonder most of us lost with our baby teeth. Someone like that…is the Champ.” – Chris Acker, from the liner notes, How To Change From Blue To Green
REVIEW FROM FOLKWORKS :
Mary Pat Cooney – FolkWorks: “Mr. Bourbon’s guitar fingering and arrangements are varied and eloquent. Claude has the gift of brilliant sequencing, and the result is a hypnotic voyage along a river of songs and instrumentals. He wisely began with a two separate songs to establish his connection with us. What followed was a series of pieces strung together like a cleverly woven magic carpet. I felt like I was floating along, all thought swept aside. I was flowing with him from sad to sweet to ironic and on to another dimension. Some songs are in English, some in French, and within each there is rhythmic dance among the words. He plays with consonant sounds, and his tone is sometimes like that of a lover whispering in your ear. Other times, that tone goes deep and strong to relay important history or solidarity with those who have had similar experiences. Instrumentals provide continued rhythmic and melodic steps on the journey. Each strum or pluck is explicit, yet free flowing. Claude Bourbon aptly describes himself as a musical artist. He uses a vast array of music tools to paint a landscape we have all visited either in person or in our dreams.”
Larry & Joe were destined to make music together.
Larry Bellorín hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is from North Carolina and is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. Larry worked construction to make ends meet. Joe’s acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants. Then Larry met Joe.
Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both men are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. The program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.
Two days after seeing an amazing video of Richard with Tommo Emanuel, he wrote and asked for a show. This will be killer!
Smith was born in Beckenham, England. He picked up the guitar when he was five years old after watching his father playing an Atkins and Travis version of “Down South Blues”. He begged his father, a longtime Atkins admirer, to introduce him to the fingerpicking style. Smith soon became a child prodigy on the guitar. As a kid he could play the entire discographies of Django Reinhardt and Chet Atkins. At the age of 11 he shared the stage with his idol when Atkins invited Smith to play with him at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.[1][2] He was also influenced by guitarist Big Jim Sullivan and briefly studied jazz guitar with Shane Hill at Warlingham School, Surrey.[citation needed]
He formed the Richard Smith Guitar Trio with his brothers Rob and Sam before marrying American cellist Julie Adams and moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1999.[3] He founded the Hot Club of Nashville, a jam band with a varying lineup that included John Jorgenson, Pat Bergeson, Bryan Sutton, and Stuart Duncan, combining gypsy jazz and western swing. Smith performs as a solo act and a duo with his wife. His repertoire includes country, bluegrass, blues, ragtime, folk, jazz, pop, and classical music.[4]
Grammy-nominated, described as “an absolute master” (No Depression), Molsky transports audiences to another time and place, with his authentic and personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known for his work on the fiddle, Bruce’s banjo, guitar and his distinctive, powerful vocals also resonate with listeners. His combination of technical virtuosity and relaxed conversational wit makes a concert hall feel like an intimate front porch gathering.
Bruce’s take on tradition has landed him in collaborations with some of the world’s most highly respected players from roots to rock. He is a special guest on legend rocker Mark Knopfler’s recent CD, “Tracker.” His 1865 Songs of Hope & Home with Anonymous 4, was on Billboard’s top 10 for weeks. Along with Andy Irvine & Donal Lunny, Bruce is a founding member of the supergroup Mozaik, with three recordings. You can see Bruce on the BBC TV “Transatlantic Sessions” with Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, and on “David Holt’s State of Music” on PBS. He stays active touring and recording with longtime collaborators Darol Anger, Tony Trischka and Mountain Drifters’ Allison de Groot.
February 2022 marked the long-anticipated release of Bruce’s solo guitar CD: “Everywhere You Go,” a coming-together of new interpretations and arrangements of a wide swath of styles.
Bruce holds the title of “Visiting Scholar in the American Roots Music Program” at Berklee College of Music, where he is the go-to guy for the next generation of roots musicians.
“Performing and teaching traditional music are the biggest things in my world. For me, being a musician isn’t a standalone thing; it informs everything I do in my life. It’s always been about being creative and being a part of something much bigger than myself, a link in the musical chain and part of the community of people who play it and love it.” —