Maxfield Anderson is an American roots multi-instrumentalist, teacher, writer and music director, currently living in Somerville, MA. As an artist, Maxfield aims to bring new light to honored traditions and to share the joy of making music with others.
Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Maxfield’s home was filled with an array of musical styles. After years of playing violin, his attention was taken hold by bluegrass and western swing fiddle, quickly leading him to discover the mandolin. He moved to Boston to study mandolin and American roots music at Berklee College of Music. Additionally, Max is a proficient guitar player, and after a year of isolation, finally broke down and added clawhammer banjo to the repertoire.
Teaching music has always been a big part of Max’s artistry. He believes that traditional music is an excellent vessel for understanding an instrument and finding your own voice as a musician. Teaching at Club Passim since 2020, Max has taught group courses in Beginner & Intermediate Mandolin, Bluegrass Ensemble (co-taught with Trevin Nelson), and Intro to Tune Writing. He also offers private instruction on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, music theory, and tune writing out of his home studio.
In addition to performing and teaching, Maxfield recently wrote and music directed the ‘Homegrown Stringband’ roots trio at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, OH. The trio performed authentic bluegrass, folk, and old time string band music throughout the summer season of 2022.
Maxfield graduated from Berklee College of Music with a BFA in Music Performance. He is an active gigging musician in the Boston music scene, and has toured throughout the Northeast playing listening rooms, ball rooms, bar rooms, back rooms, front porches and festival stages.
BB Bowness
Born in the small town of Marton, New Zealand, Catherine “BB” Bowness spent her early years working and living in her family’s Fish-and-Chip shop. Although an unlikely origin for a bluegrass banjo player, New Zealand would offer BB her first introduction to the instrument, sparking a lifelong love and fascination. A world away from the heart of bluegrass, BB spent much of her childhood teaching herself the instrument, and through dedication and tenacity became New Zealand School of Music’s first banjo student. Inspired by her New Zealand predecessors, The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, BB was always drawn to the five-piece full band, and after heading to America in 2012 she co-founded her current group, Mile Twelve.
Immersing herself in the traditions of bluegrass and having studied jazz performance at university, BB’s banjo playing is an exciting synthesis of new and old ideas. “She demonstrates a command of the instrument, and plays with great rhythmic clarity both in the traditional and progressive realms. J.D. Crowe co-mingles with the future,” says Tony Trischka. Her euphoric energy and love of the genre are readily apparent in any of her live performances.
Currently, BB lives in Cambridge, MA. Mile Twelve has won numerous IBMA awards, including 2020 New Artists of the Year and 2017 Momentum Band of the Year. BB won the 2015 Freshgrass Banjo contest and was a winner of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize in 2020.
The Ruta Beggars
The Ruta Beggars infuse traditional bluegrass and early swing to create a timeless act filled with intricate yet smooth vocal harmonies, fiery instrumentals and plenty of fun. They have been praised for their creative yet tasteful arrangements and charming performances. The Ruta Beggars can be heard on Steve Martin’s Unreal Bluegrass, Brian O’Donavan’s A Celtic Sojourn and the stages of Joe Val, Grey Fox, and Ossipee Bluegrass Festivals, among others. Following the release of their debut EP self-titled “The Ruta Beggars,” they were the winners of the 2019 Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass band competition.
Micah Nicol (guitar), Sofia Chiarandini (fiddle), Ariel Wyner (mandolin), Trevin Nelson (banjo), and Noah Harrington (bass) met at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the American Roots Music Program.
Sofia Chiarandini
Sofía Chiarandini has been playing violin since age five, and at age fourteen decided to dive into the world of bluegrass. She has played at major bluegrass festivals with various bands around the US and Canada. For the past three years, Sofía has been studying at Berklee College of Music, where she was awarded the Fletcher Bright award her freshman year, and co-founded her bluegrass band The Ruta Beggars. Sofía will be joined by some special guests for this musical celebration to play some hot bluegrass, swing, and more!
Simon Chrisman
Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings an unusual style to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique… his inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world. He tours with the Jeremy Kittel Band and the Bee Eaters, and has performed with Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky, Mike Marshall, Laurie Lewis and Seamus Egan.
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley
Based on a mutual love of bluegrass, country, blues, western swing, and other string band music of all kinds, the partnership of dobro player Rob Ickes (who also plays superlative lap steel guitar in the duo on occasion) and acoustic/electric guitarist Trey Hensley continues to delight and astound audiences of traditional American music around the globe.
Since the duo decided to join forces and make their collaboration the focus of their touring and recording careers in 2015, after cutting their first album on Compass, Before The Sun Goes Down (nominated for a Grammy), they have continued to bring their music to venues near and far. They’ve performed in places as close to home as Nashville’s world famous Station Inn—a frequent and favorite showcase– and as far away as Denmark’s Tonder Festival as well as an impressive number of the most prestigious US music festivals, including Rockygrass, ROMP, Wintergrass, Bluegrass Underground, and the Freshgrass Festival, just to name a few. They have toured the European continent four times, as well as England, Ireland, and Australia.
Their second album on Compass, Country Blues, released in 2016, testified to the growing diversity and expansion of their collaborative talents and repertoire. The duo were key players on “Original,” the recent highly lauded Compass album by bluegrass giant Bobby Osborne; their participation garnered a Recorded Event Of The Year Award for Bobby’s version of “Got To Get A Message To You” on that album at this year’s IBMA Awards; they also were on the 2016 Recorded Event winner, ”Fireball,” featuring Special Consensus, in 2016. Upcoming news includes Rob and Trey sharing a number of concert bills, beginning in the fall of 2017 with the great and influential mandolin master David Grisman and Australia’s fleet finger picking guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, both enthusiastic admirers of the duo.
Simon Chrisman & Wes Corbett
Wes and Simon started down the musical road at around the same time, on the same small island, but only met by chance and with the accidental help of Bill Frissell and a local noodle shack. Fast friends from the start, they’ve made music together every chance they’ve had along the way, making two records with chamber grass outfit the Bee Eaters, and stealing chances to get in a tune or two when passing through each other’s city of residence while on tour with other bands. Now, sixteen years after meeting, they’re releasing their first duo recording.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Wesley Corbett has been playing the banjo since he was 16, after a split from the classical piano. He has performed with many of the most influential acoustic musicians of our time, including Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull, Bruce Molsky, Robert Earl Keen, Tony Trischka, Molly Tuttle, and Laurie Lewis (among many others), as well as touring internationally with the Indie-Popgrass band Joy Kills Sorrow. From 2011-2015 Wes was the professor of banjo at Berklee school of music in Boston MA. He now lives in Nashville TN and plays in the Molly Tuttle Band.
Hammer dulcimer virtuoso Simon Chrisman brings an unusual style to an instrument that has previously been thought to have limited range and technique… his inventive virtuosic touch and sophisticated rhythmic sensibilities are redefining the instrument and earning the attention of musicians from all over the world. He tours with the Jeremy Kittel Band and the Bee Eaters, and has performed with Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky, Mike Marshall, Laurie Lewis and Seamus Egan.
Bobby Britt
Grammy nominated artist Bobby Britt was born and raised in Chapel Hill NC, and started playing fiddle at age five. In high school, Bobby became fascinated with all styles of music, from Miles Davis, to Wu-Tang to the Grateful Dead. At 18, he moved to Colorado to join Rounder Recording Artists and internationally acclaimed bluegrass band Open Road. Later, he joined Asheville based Town Mountain, and has been touring with them ever since.
He also tours with members of Della Mae, Joe K. Walsh, and David Grisman Quintet veteran Grant Gordy. He was also winner of the IBMA Momentum Performer of the Year. While Bobby’s role for most of his musical life has been about supporting the musical vision of artists that he loves, he recently completed his first solo album with Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Mandolin Orange, as well as Josh Oliver and Allison de Groot. This marks an exciting new era of composing, performing and recording exclusively as Bobby Britt.
Missy Raines
GRAMMY nominated Missy Raines was named 2021 International Bluegrass Music Association Bass Player of the Year, for the 10th time, more than any other bass player in the history of the organization. She is a bass players’ bass player, a singer, songwriter, teacher, sideman, and bandleader. In addition to the Bass Player awards, she’s received multiple awards from the IBMA for Recorded Event of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2019, Missy was featured in The Country Music Hall of Fame as part of their American Currents exhibit. In January of 2020, Missy Raines & Allegheny debuted on the Grand Ole Opry.
With her latest album, Highlander, bluegrass/Americana icon Missy Raines takes inventory of where she stands at this current juncture in her storied career — this melodic ode to her native West Virginia, which simultaneously serves as an ideal prism of time and space Raines peers through into the unknowns of tomorrow.
Throughout her storied career, Raines has garnered some of the biggest accolades in the music industry, including 14 International Bluegrass Music Association honors, with 10 being awarded for “Bass Player of the Year.” Raines’ 2018 release Royal Traveller was also nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Bluegrass Album” in 2020.
Highlander brings together some of the finest musicians in Nashville and beyond, including country star and fellow West Virginian Kathy Mattea; fiddle virtuosos Michael Cleveland, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Darol Anger and Shad Cobb; renowned bluegrass vocalists Danny Paisley, Dudley Connell and Laurie Lewis; with dobro wizard Rob Ickes and banjo great Alison Brown also making guest appearances.
With modern-day bluegrass currently experiencing another high-water mark as names like Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull proudly carry the torch of tradition and evolution, Raines finds solidarity in the ongoing growth and progress of the “high, lonesome sound” — this fine line between respect and rebellion that Raines has seamlessly balanced since the beginning.
Bella White
While traditional bluegrass is usually associated with the American South, the genre has surely found a safe and loving Canadian home in the form of Calgary-born singer/songwriter Bella White. Armed with a piercing voice, edged with teardrops, White’s debut album Just Like Leaving, rings out as a coming of age anthem. The twenty year-old singer/songwriter and instrumentalist shys away from modern and fussy arrangements, and instead brings a traditional style of music into the contemporary moment by personalizing it to her own experiences. “I want people my age to hear my music, and think, actually Bluegrass is kind of cool”, she says. Throughout Just Like Leaving, White finds her strength in leaving home for the first time, with songs of heartbreak and loneliness that demonstrate both an old soul and a young heart.
Produced by fiddle player Patrick M’Gonigle (The Lonely Heartstring Band), Just Like Leaving, was recorded and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Dave Sinko at Gilford Sound Studios in Vermont. White’s frequent collaborators Reed Stutz (Mandolin, harmony vocals), Julian Pinnelli (Fiddle, harmony vocals), and Alan Mackie (Bass) create a weaving, textured landscape from which White’s no-nonsense voice takes off. White sights The Stanley Brother’s as one of her biggest vocal influences, and her love of harmony singing is on full display throughout the album. On Just Like Leaving, White has shown herself to be a star student of the bluegrass genre, with something new to bring to the table. Her ability to translate modern experience to an old sound is seamless and compelling, and permeates the boundaries of a regional genre with authentic singing and songwriting.
