Jud Caswell is an award-winning songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has been performing in his native state of Maine and beyond for more than 25 years. In 2006 he made a splash on the national scene, winning the legendary Kerrville New Folk competition. He’s had his songs taught at Berklee, recorded by Judy Collins, and named “#4 Song of the Decade” by New York’s WFUV. His record “Live at the Seagull Shop” was the number 1 album on the Folk Alliance International radio charts in March of 2020. Jud is currently releasing a series of albums of music that he recorded during the early months of the pandemic.
Artist Category: Folk
Alex Cumming & Audrey Jaber
Alex Cumming (Bellwether, Red Case Band, The Teacups) and Audrey Jaber (Free Raisins, Wake Up Robin, Gaslight Tinkers) are a dynamic duo in the traditional folk music scene, known for their captivating performances and deep-rooted passion for folk traditions.
Together, Alex and Audrey create a unique and engaging traditional music experience. Their collaboration blends Alex’s traditional singing and rhythmic accordion playing with Audrey’s lively fiddling, resulting in performances that resonate deeply with audiences. Audrey played fiddle on Alex’s debut solo album, “Homecoming,” released in 2024 and the duo are working on their debut duo record in 2025.
Recent notable performances include Club Passim, Monadnock Folklore Society, Folklore Society of Greater Washington, Folk Music Society of New York, Historical Tea & Dance Society, Halsway Manor, Cecil Sharp House, Circle Left, BACDS Fall Frolic and as guest artists in The Christmas Revels at Sanders Theater. 2025 sees them embark on tours across California, Pacific North West, North East US and famed UK festivals Sidmouth Folk Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week and Whitby Folk Week.
Their partnership is celebrated for its ability to connect with audiences through passionate and authentic performances, making them a beloved duo in the traditional folk music community.
Carole Wise
Carole Wise is a Maine-based singer-songwriter known for her sweet and soulful folk-acoustic music, often described as honest and relatable. Her songs explore themes of love, loss, societal issues, and personal growth, always with a focus on finding the silver lining. She also incorporates her love for nature and her experiences navigating life's challenges into her songwriting. Carole was an award winner at the Rose Garden Songwriter Competition in 2022 and was a finalist for the ISSA Emerging Artist and Best Video awards in 2023.
Rees Shad
Rees met Guy for the first time at a recording session in Nashville, where Guy lent his vocal talents to a track on Shad’s debut album. Guy’s kindness led to many more people paying attention to the album than would have otherwise, and to pay it forward, Shad has been the organizer of this and other shows in the Northeast to benefit the Foundation. Over the course of a prolific 40+ year career, 32 releases and 17 solo albums, Shad has crafted music that is both poignant and profound. He is dedicated to crafting short story songs that cross genre lines to serve the spirit of each tale he weaves and engage his audiences in deep and meaningful ways. Shad’s latest release Porcelain Angel has spent the last few months near the top of the Folk charts being and has lauded for its “grace and elegance” (Americana UK), “all-knowing tonality” (Americana Highways), and for “pushing the boundaries of musical storytelling” (The Rogovoy Report).
Buddy Mondlock
Buddy Mondlock met Guy Clark on top of a hill at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1986. It was a moment that changed his life. Guy liked the song he heard and started passing around tapes of the young Chicago songwriter’s songs to people he knew in Nashville. When Guy Clark gives you a tape, you listen. Soon Buddy was headed south to a publishing deal and a manager. Since then his songs have been recorded by Nancy Griffith, Joan Baez, David Wilcox, Janis Ian, Peter, Paul & Mary, Garth Brooks and a host of other artists. In 2001 he co-wrote and recorded a trio album with Art Garfunkel and Maia Sharp called “Everything Waits To Be Noticed.” Guy Clark’s album “The Dark” is bookended with songs Clark and Mondlock wrote together – “Mud” and the title song, “The Dark,” which was their first co-write.
Adam Monaco
“Adam Monaco lives what he writes and writes what he lives, allowing him to deeply connect with those he plays for and alongside of.” – Trevor Gordon Hall
These words will ring true for anyone who has experienced folk/Americana artist Adam Monaco’s thoughtful songwriting and poignant presence firsthand. Adam’s music is lush, colorful, melodic, and takes deep root in the complex, beautiful stories that connect humanity. His lyrics resonate like a conversation with an old friend: personal, profound, engaged, and thought-provoking. His authentic performances showcase his ability to evoke the full range and complexity of human emotions; in one musical moment, he can bring audiences to tears, then lift them back up with witty banter and a relatable anecdote.
Meghan Cary
Meghan delivers award-winning original songs with powerful vocals and unshakable stage presence. Hailed a “storytelling troubadour” by Billboard Magazine, Cary inspires connection and community with music that’s earned comparisons to Melissa Etheridge and Brandi Carlile. Her anthem “Sing Louder” and 2025 single “Raise Your Voice” rally audiences to hope and action. A favorite at festivals like Falcon Ridge and Philadelphia Folk Fest, she’s shared stages with Joan Osborne, Chris Smither, and more. Whether performing, teaching, or speaking, Cary empowers others to embrace their stories with humor and heart. “If you can get to a Meghan Cary show—run, don’t walk.”
Arthur Terembula
Arthur Terembula is a passionate student of the country blues and ragtime guitar. A time traveler that transports you into the sounds of juke joints and city streets in the 1920’s and 1930’s. He reimagines songs from those times, rewriting and interpreting the sounds of Charley Patton, Skip James, Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Son House, and other various country blues figures. You can find Arthur with his ear close to a speaker and guitar in hand, humming and whittling away at the fretboard.
Tamar Korn & Kyle Morgan
Tamar Korn and Kyle Morgan sing a style of close harmony as tight-knit as it is freewheeling. Their repertoire draws on country classics like The Carter Family and Patsy Cline, more modern folk from Leonard Cohen and The Staple Singers, and the original songs of Kyle himself. As expressed by Tamar, “we share an idiomatic palate of country harmonies and such, but we’re always open to musical surprises which arise out of presence, resonance and the connection to our audience.” Their debut LP, Darkening Green, will be out on Jalopy Records on August 15th.
“When Tamar Korn and Kyle Morgan blend their gorgeous voices, something very special, even magical, happens.” – Wide Open Country–
Jenna Moynihan & Màiri Chaimbeul
Jenna, from Lakewood, NY, and Màiri, from the Isle of Skye, combine to make contemporary music rooted in the melodies of Scotland and Appalachia. The pair met in 2012 whilst studying at Berklee College of Music and are a product of the thriving and rich Boston music community, and have since toured in US, Scotland, and France. Jenna and Màiri have both been heavily steeped in tradition, but their music breathes new life into old tunes and merges their wide-ranging influences into a sound that is at once grounded and adventurous. To hear Jenna & Màiri is to bear witness to conversation, connection, and expression between two of the most exciting voices in traditional music today. Their debut album, One Two was released in April 2017, and has been a widely-celebrated first release for the duo.
Jenna Moynihan is widely regarded as one of the best of the best in the new generation of acoustic musicians. Versatile and inventive, her fiddling style draws strongly from the Scottish tradition, but is not bound by it. Folk Radio UK said of her playing, “…from the first time you hear Moynihan, it is clear that her playing is resonating straight from the depths of her soul.” Jenna graduated Berklee College of Music with honors and was a recipient of both the Fletcher Bright Award & The American Roots Award – given annually to an outstanding student in the String Department. She’s performed around the world in The U.K., Sweden, Norway, France, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Finland & Canada. And has performed and collaborated with Darol Anger & The Furies, The Milk Carton Kids, Hamish Napier, Old Blind Dogs, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards, Apiary, Phil Cunningham, A Celtic Sojourn, and as a soloist at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops. In 2015 Jenna released her debut solo album, Woven.
Màiri Chaimbeul is a Boston-based harp player and composer. Described by Folk Radio UK as “astonishing”, she is known for her versatile sound, which combines a deep-rooted sense of Gaelic tradition with a distinctive improvising voice and honed classical technique. Mairi has toured throughout the UK, Europe and North America; was twice-nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and finalist in the BBC Young Traditional & Jazz Musician of the Year; and graduated from Berklee College of Music with highest honours and the prestigious American Roots Award. Màiri can currently be heard regularly with new prog-trad group Aerialists, the Jacob Matheus Group, and also appears with legendary violinist Darol Anger & The Furies. Recent highlights include performances & teaching at the III Encuentro Internacional Maestros del Arpa in Bogota, Colombia, and a feature in Series 2 of Julie Fowlis and Muireann NicAmhlaoibh’s BBC Alba/TG4 television show, Port.
