Originally teaming up to perform a Doc Watson Tribute show for Signature Sounds, the trio was and remains a natural collaboration. Their approach to music and performance is humble, direct and expressive. If you can imagine hiking in a landscape of contemporary Americana and roots music, you could easily see these “ramblers” roaming between well-known and inspirational voices like Doc Watson, Nanci Griffith, Levon Helm, Muddy Waters or John Prine. Combining fiddle, guitars, mandolin, dobro, and bass, this streamlined trio brings multi-instrumental abilities to every song. The final ingredient, however, is the combination of soulful singing with great songs. On that front, the Deep River Ramblers will take you on a journey that will last long after the show is over.
Artist Category: Americana
Sarah Borges
One way or another, Sarah Borges connects with casual mastery. Whether it is with the comrades she has collaborated with over nearly 20 sparkling years of music making, or the vivid portraits of peoples lives, and occasionally her own, she has sketched in scores of emotionally resonant songs. But most of all, Borges has built a loyal following by connecting, through her own charismatic, down to earth spirit, with her audience, whether they are longtime fans from back when she broke through with her terrific Silver City debut in 2004, or newcomers just now joining the party with her brand new 2022 album, Together Alone, her eighth. Sarah is a fearless writer and performer, says producer Eric Roscoe Ambel, and she is a very good musician. As anyone familiar with her songs and performances knows, genuinely soulful music that connects with us, and connects us to each other, can simultaneously steal, and heal, hearts. This connection is what has kept Sarah touring and making music for many years, and what keeps us coming back to see her do it.
Naomi Sommers
Naomi Sommers is an Ithaca, NY-based singer-songwriter, guitar-, banjo-, mandolin- and flute-player. She performs solo, with her family (as the Sommers Rosenthal Family Band), and a number of other groups, and has recorded and performed professionally since childhood.
Over the years Naomi has sung and played flute, banjo, and guitar on more than 20 records released on her father Phil’s independent American Melody label, and has recorded three albums under her own name, as well as one with Lisa Bastoni as the slow-grass duo Gray Sky Girls.
While living Germany for nearly a decade, Naomi toured in the Netherlands and the UK. Gentle As the Sun was released by Continental Records in the Netherlands, and received stellar reviews & radio airplay in the UK and Europe.
Currently, Naomi teaches classes and workshops on singing and songwriting to elementary-aged students through the public schools in Ithaca and beyond. (She also now works for the Coalition for Healthy School Food as Ithaca Program Manager, bringing healthy, plant-based food, nutrition education, and cooking classes to students in the Ithaca City School District.)
Other recent music projects include a new Ithaca bluegrass band with veteran musicians Rick Manning, Dana Paul and Alice Saltonstall (tentatively called “The Afterlife, )duo shows with Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter Lisa Bastoni, and re-uniting with another long-time duo partner Dan Tressler for performances and a record in-progress.
The Heart Collectors
From acoustic harmony lead ballads to Bowie-esque sonic soundscapes, Australian four piece ‘Epic Folk’ group The Heart Collectors capture the essence of inspiration, honesty of love, and the nature of the cosmos in their music.
From humble beginnings in regional NSW, the last 7 years have seen the band regularly sought out by some of the biggest international music conferences and festivals in the world, including South by South-West, Folk Alliance International, NAMM, Canadian Music Week, and Global Music Match. They have wowed audiences, representing Australia with their tight vocal harmonies, intricately beautiful musicianship, and larger than life stage presence and performance.
Merging the inspiration of 60’s and 70’s inspired folk and roots music, their latest sound has grown to include delicately played piano, atmospheric electric guitar, melodic banjo, bowed mandolin, and haunting cello. These instruments combine to create intimate acoustic harmony driven songs, catchy folk/pop themes, upbeat “epic anthems” and the cosmic tonalities heard in their current work.
Described by John T Davis, author of ‘Austin City Limits: ’25 Years Of American Music’ as “…Fleetwood Mac with more of an organic, Celtic-inflected lilt of vocals and melody…. Kymrie’s voice is the stuff angel’s wings are made of…” .
Their much anticipated fifth studio album “The Space Between” is out now, following the success of their latest no. 5 charting EP release – “Timeless Space”.
Catch The Heart Collectors across the globe, as they grace stages in Australia, USA, Canada and The United Kingdom in 2024. Get ready to have your heart “collected”.
The Heart Collectors Are:
Kymrie Henge – Vocals, Percussion, Piano, Bodhran.
Reuben Loire – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Mobius Barnaby – Vocals, Cello, Stomp
Tristan DaFoe – Vocals, Mandolin, Banjo, Guitar
Joe Pug
A singer-songwriter known for his lyrical acumen and plaintive harmonica style, Joe Pug dropped out of college and moved to Chicago where he worked as a carpenter before breaking into the city’s music scene. Since 2008 he has released a string of critically-acclaimed albums and toured heavily in the U.S. and abroad. Paste Magazine wrote of his music: “Unless your surname is Dylan, Waits, Ritter or Prine, you could face-palm yourself to death trying to pen songs half as inspired.”
He has toured with Steve Earle, Levon Helm, The Killers, Justin Townes Earle, Sturgill Simpson, and many others. He has appeared at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and The Newport Folk Festival. His music has appeared on NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” and “Mountain Stage”. His music has been released by Lightning Rod Records, which features an alumni roster of Jason Isbell, Billy Joe Shaver, and James McMurtry.
Additionally, he is the creator and host of the popular podcast The Working Songwriter.
Della Mae
Della Mae is a GRAMMY-nominated, all-women string band made up of founder and fiddle player Kimber Ludiker, lead vocalist/guitarist Celia Woodsmith, guitarist Avril Smith, and bassist Vickie Vaughn.
Hailing from across North America, and reared in diverse musical styles, they are one of the most charismatic and engaging roots bands touring today. They have traveled to over 30 countries spreading peace and understanding through music.
Their mission as a band is to showcase top female musicians, and to improve opportunities for women and girls through advocacy, mentorship, programming, and performance.
In early 2020, Della Mae released Headlight – a studio album dedicated to celebrating powerful, trailblazing women. While the pandemic made it impossible to tour that album, the band continued to play together. They returned to touring in Summer 2021 with another new album Family Reunion. In early 2022, they released a video on demand concert called The Stonecroft Sessions. In July 2023, they released a new single “Can’t Let Go.”
Sam & Daphne
Daphne Ellen and Sam Stage are a duo of songwriters hailing from the rich musical fabrics of Philadelphia, PA and Boston, MA. Brought together by Darrell Scott as selected fellows at the 2023 Acoustic Music Project in Memphis, TN, they pull on the fresh sounds of modern folk to make something all their own, armed with a palette of colors ranging from intricate harmonies to flashy fretwork.
R.O. Shapiro
He’s a townie from the East End of Long Island; a lifelong performer with Shakespeare and rhythm tap dancing in his past and Americana music in his present; a one-time resident of Austin, TX, now combing the beaches of sunny San Diego; a Soul Singer and a Song Writer; a slow writer and a dog owner; a founding member of Odell Fox; a defensive driver, a highway regular, a ghost; a low-mood monster and a mediocre meditator; a food nut; a DylanPrineWelchBrowneYoungWaits wannabe, soon-to-be. Wait and see.
Rachael Davis
Rachael Davis is felt before she is seen or heard, like a pressure drop or a disturbance in the force. The room suddenly gets…jollier. Peals of uproarious laughter inevitably follow, from her and from those around her. Exclamations of “HOLY CRAP!” descend like little hailstorms of love and mirth. And when she stops telling stories about her beloved family or her crazy life long enough to sing a song, you feel the resonations of her deeply empathetic message deep in your subconscious: this is music for healing, for realizing darkness exists but never letting it run your business. For more than 30 years, starting back with her family band in the north woods of Michigan, for formative years in the Boston music scene, and continuing into the present as a beloved Nashville fixture, Rachael has been weaving orbs of commanding melody, ensnaring enraptured audiences around the nation, whether alone, or with any number of collaborators, including vocal nightingale trio the Sweet Water Warblers, and her husband Dominic John Davis, master of the bass (as opposed to bassmaster). Before you get the impression it’s all fun and games….listen closer. There is a serious dedication to craft in her near-operatic vocals, her guitar work, her banjo scholarship, and her commitment to the language and traditions of folk music, while pushing it to new fresh places.
Rachael Davis recordings are rare in this stage of life, having dedicated more time to both the art of performance and the art of raising her frankly delightful children, but a few have escaped: Minor League Deities (2000), Live In Bremen, Germany (2004), Antebellum Queens (2008), Bandbox Jubilee (2014), plus releases with Shout Sister Shout! (2008) and The Sweet Water Warblers (2020). And, great news, more recordings are coming very soon! A new compilation released in November of 2023 called A Few Good Ones is available now and contains two unreleased songs from about a decade ago that were recently unearthed, and brand new sessions are under way for a long-awaited upcoming release .
The world needs more Rachael Davis music, and Rachael Davis needs more of the world, to put down their sorrows and raise a communal voice in celebration of the hilarious beauty of life. You know how something embarrassing or awful happens, and we say, oh we’ll laugh about it later? Rachael knows life is short: laugh now.
Harmonious Wail
The members of Harmonious Wail are purveyors of Americana-infused Gypsy Jazz, who continue to take their listeners on a ride via the music of the Hot Club sounds of Parisian cafes, to the deepest blues of the Memphis Delta, to the heartfelt folk scenes across every-town-America. This harmonious clique are sublime entertainers, great educators, and lifters of spirits.
Harmonious Wail is a trio of multi-award winning musicians. Sims Delaney-Potthoff, a mandolin virtuoso, and vocalist, Maggie Delaney-Potthoff, vocalist extraordinaire, whose percussive instrument of choice is a cardboard box (but who can also rock almost any household object), and Pete Olig, a master bassist who dazzles and mesmerizes on both upright and electric 5-string bass.
These illustrious, yet humble artists vow that every performance is played from the heart and infused with a perfect balance of inspiration, emotion, wit and storytelling. The Wail celebrates 10 recordings in its 30+ years of existence and is currently kicking off its 4th decade releasing two new CDs simultaneously! One project showcases Harmonious Wail’s original compositions, and the other is a collection of Gypsy Jazz standards recorded in collaboration with some the world’s leading Gypsy Jazz All Stars.
As stewards of the Gypsy Jazz genre, they have established the Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest, held twice a year in Madison, Wisconsin. They also offer to take the fest on the road as a special concert package. They have mastered a plan on how to bring amazing Gypsy Jazz All Stars from around the world, and place them in front of concert audiences throughout the United States.
