SZLACHETKA (pronounced SLA-HET-KA) draws your gaze back to a simpler time when music was less about stylized production and more about its experiential nature.
His songwriting finds inspiration in the threads that connect us, weaving a tapestry of familiar moments that pay homage to the past while leaning into a future that promises both wonder and grace. Now based in Nashville, SZLACHETKA grew up in New England and began his career as the frontman for the acclaimed roots-rock band, The Northstar Session, with whom he recorded five albums and appeared in the second season of NBC’s “Parenthood”. After nearly a decade of touring he left the band and struck out on his own, releasing his first solo album in 2014, “Waits for a Storm to Find”. SZLACHETKA’s sophomore album (produced by Grammy winning producer David Bianco), “Heart of my Hometown” is set for release in early 2018.
The Lied To’s are Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler, two award-winning singer-songwriters that formed the group in 2013. Three albums and nine years later, the pair continues to share their music, and playing at festivals and venues including many shows at the legendary Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN, (One upcoming on 10/9/22), Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, Rockwood Music Hall in NYC, and more. Between them, they have been finalists at the Kerrville Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, and the International Songwriting Competition, among others, and have had songs on national television programs. Kwartler is also a respected music producer who owns and runs Hollow Body Recording Studios in Chelmsford, MA.
Dan & the Wildfire began in 2011 as an indie/folk trio. Since then, the Boston-based outfit has evolved into a “soulful rock n’ roll” quintet. Though their sound is ever-changing, the core of the band hinges upon carefully crafted lyrics, saturating vocal harmonies, and high-level musicianship.
In early 2018, the group began to record and release “The River’s Gonna Rise,”: a multivolume project that saw its first installment delivered to listeners this winter. With two studio albums in tow, Dan & the Wildfire’s most recent offering is proving to be their most impactful, personal, and genuine yet. When listening to The River’s Gonna Rise, expect an emotional and sonic roller coaster, complete with soaring solos, bluesy guitar riffs, and honest poetry.
Whether on a large stage, like Foxwoods Resort Casino’s Grand Pequot Theate or a smaller stage like Harvard Square’s famous Club Passim, Dan & the Wildfire brings the same passion and intensity to every performance. Armed with new music, the @DATWILDFIRE crew, as you’ll find them on social media, is ready to show you why they’re soon to be your new favorite band.
NERFA is the northeast regional afiliate of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a Kansas City, MO-based nonprofit organization that seeks to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community — traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional — through education, advocacy and performance. Our goal is to provide opportunities for our members to network regionally and advance the overall mission of Folk Alliance International to:
- Increase understanding of the rich variety, artistic value, cultural and historical significance, and continuing relevance of folk music among educators, media and the general public. (Education),
- Provide a bridge to and from folk music organizations and needed resources, and to help those organizations link with their constituencies. (Networking),
- Influence decision-makers and resource providers on the national, state, provincial, and local levels — ensuring the growth of folk music. (Advocacy),
- Support and encourage the development of new and existing grassroots folk music organizations. (Field Development),
- Strengthen the effectiveness of folk music organizations by providing professional development opportunities. (Professional Development).
To help accomplish these goals, NERFA holds an annual four-day conference where artists, agents, booking agents, venue and festival promoters, recording industry professionals, graphic artists, folk DJs, journalists, photographers, publicists and production professionals get together to exchange ideas, learn by attending workshops, panel discussions and seminars, participate in an exhibit hall, attend formal showcases of juried performing artists, and go to private and guerilla showcases hosted by performers, agents and promoters. NERFA has expanded its outreach by holding more local one-day conferences within its region, as well as NERFA Showcase concerts at venues around the region and NERFA Presents Young Folk showcases at various festivals in both the U.S. and Canada.
Steve Mayone is a songwriter/producer/musician living in Brooklyn, N.Y. He’s released 5 CD’s, his songs and instrumentals having been placed in independent films and TV shows. He an in demand session and live musician, playing and recording with Kate Taylor, Bow Thayer, Kris Delmhorst, Matt Keating, Treat Her Right, and Todd Thibaud.
Long Story Short: Started playing the guitar and writing songs in 1977. Recorded home albums on Cassette Tape (soon to be compiled for a collection on his Bandcamp page). Steve attended Berklee College of Music in the 80’s, and released two albums with the band Big Clock. In the early 90’s Steve moved to Minneapolis to work with his friend Michael Koppelman, forming the band Raintribe with him. Returning to Boston in the mid 1990′s, he joined forces with Dan Cantor and formed the band Hummer. In 2004 he released his first official solo CD Bedroom Rockstar to rave reviews; Miles of Music described it as “Americana, folk, classic and roots-rock, effortlessly flowing from one to the next and never at a loss for interest.” After touring England and Ireland, he released Unfortunate Son in 2005. Smother wrote of Unfortunate Son as “another notch on a belt of talented pop-rock ventures with slight Americana bends and juicy roots rock. Good stuff.” Stripping back to basics, he released Understories in 2006, an acoustic album, and in 2009 he released Long Play Record, “an impressive collection of songs” according to Americana UK. Beautiful Blood was released in 2013, produced and written by Steve and his long lost cousin Kristina Stykos.
Sarah Kilborne is a performance artist, author, and activist. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and more. She’s written books for both children and adults (fiction and non-fiction) and has performed as both a singer and dancer with a variety of people. In 2013 she produced and co-starred in a music video for marriage equality, Yes Sir That’s My Baby, which lead to the creation of The Lavender Blues. In addition to performing, Sarah is currently writing a book about the women featured in the show. She is also founder of the equal rights campaign Kiss for Equality and has written about LGBT issues for Slate, The Huffington Post, The Advocate and more.
Axel Belohoubek (Accompanist) is a professional pianist, multi-keyboardist, composer, and vocalist with more than 35 years in the music industry. Known for his style diversity, meticulous sound design, and exceptional chops, he has worked on projects from tour preproduction for David Bowie and Madonna to original scoring for advertising, corporate industrials, television series, documentaries, and independent film. Originally a classically trained pianist, he also performs with jazz, rock, R&B, EDM, Latin, Irish, and other bands, produces artists in his own recording studio (additionally playing guitar, bass, percussion and more), and teaches privately.
A cocktail of americana that’s behind the times by about 100 years. Formed when four good lookin’ musicians met at a bluegrass jam and wondered what would happen if they threw in some oldtime religion and minor swing. Inspired by a time where blues, jazz, and jugbands were young, the west had just been won, and the country was still gettin’ down to Appalachian murder ballads, yodeling cowboys, hoedowns, sea shanties and medicine shows.
Gin Daisy is:
Jasmine Moran – Guitar, Flute, Bodhrán, Vocals
Bryant Tow – Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals
Mark Stoughton – Mandolin, Guitar, Vocals
Dan Gianotti – Banjo, Tenor Guitar, Tenor Banjo, Vocals
Dave Piper – Bass, Vocals
Louise Mosrie grew up in McEwen, TN on a cattle farm – riding horses and writing poetry. She began writing songs after college while working in TV/radio in Knoxville. She moved back to the Nashville area in 2004 and began co-writing with country, bluegrass, and folk artists and writers. Louise had a major creative breakthrough in 2007 when she had a fortuitous co-writing session with famed Americana producer and writer, Ray Kennedy (Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams). They wrote the song for a documentary film by IU professor, Ron Osgood, called “My Vietnam, Your Iraq” which was broadcast on PBS stations nationwide.
Louise has won top awards in songwriting at Kerrville Folk Festival, Wildflower! Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Her first album debuted at #1 on the Folk DJ chart in January 2010 and #11 for the year. She played at The Bluebird Café in Nashville, Club Passim in Boston and The Birchmere in Washington DC. On her latest album, Lay It Down, she collaborated with folk-rock songwriter/producer, Cliff Eberhardt, who envisioned minimalist arrangements and restrained production.
“Louise Mosrie may well be the brightest young folk-oriented artist to emerge from Nashville in many a year.”– Rich Warren, WFMT-FM, The Midnight Special, Chicago
Dietrich Strause is an American indie-folk songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in London. His fifth studio album You And I Must Be Out Of My Mind was released on Jeffrey Foucault’s Blueblade Records. Strause has spent over a decade weaving timeless melodies with heartbreaking narratives using his “virtuosic command of imagery” and “his knack for vivid, almost literary lyricism” (WBUR,Boston NPR). His songs have been described by Americana UK as “captivating and evocative” with his latest collection no exception. Each one is an exploration and discovery of loss, hope, desire, anddisillusionment through images of love-worn soldiers, scrambled weathervanes, listless sailors, and drifting satellites lost in an open heart.
Dietrich is a veteran of the indie Americana scene in the US, as well as having performed extensively throughout the UK and EU, Americana Fest, Green River Festival, and as support for an eclectic range of folk and pop artists such as Anais Mitchell, Sarah Jarosz, Darlingside and Lake Street Dive. In his time in New England, Strause has applied himself beyond songwriting as a session musician with artistssuch as Rose Cousins, Darlingside, Kris Delmhorst, and Session Americana. He works as an illustrator, carpenter, and as an apprentice luthier at Outlier Workshop. Strause spent his childhood in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He is the son of a Lutheran preacher and public school teacher and first gained glimpses of the world outside classical music and academics while playing trumpet with soul and R&B band in bars and biker clubs. More info at www.dietrichstrause.com.
Their sound is striking and undeniably captivating. Often leaning towards the darker, moody elements of Appalachian folk, and bluegrass traditions, their songs are laden with near perfect sibling harmonies or unison singing, compelling writing, and imaginative arrangements. They tour as an acoustic duo: David on cello and guitar, and Adam on the 5-string fiddle. With individual storied music careers under their belts, the brothers have finally teamed up to bring their experiences together.
Adam Moss
Brooklyn based fiddler and songster Adam Moss’ musical career can most easily be characterized by the variance of his influence. Adam loves and plays in the Klezmer, Bluegrass, Old-time and swing traditions which lends itself to a very unique and innovative style in performance setting. He is actively touring with Boston’s Session Americana, Brooklyn’s The Defibulators, Ana Egge, and has formerly toured with Anais Mitchell’s “Hadestown,” and Texas’ 3 Redneck Tenors.
David Moss
Originally from Peoria, IL, David Moss began his musical journey playing cello and singing in various formats from a very young age. After receiving a degree in cello performance from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), he moved to Austin, TX in 2007 where he immediately formed with the trio The Blue Hit. There, David attended the Kerrville Folk Festival, and before long was playing guitar and writing songs. By the summer 2011 he was a finalist in the prestigious New Folk competition and went on to become a winner.
