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John Floridis, Jennifer Sladenand Ed Stalling will be performing at Longstaff House to benefit Soft Landing Missoula.  John has done benefit shows  here before and we are pleased to lend a hand helping out this worthy cause.   We welcome and celebrate cultural diversity here in Missoula.

An introduction to Soft Landing:   Here at Soft Landing, we provide a long welcome for refugee and immigrant families who arrive in Missoula eager to build a new life and put down roots of their own. We strive to work with new neighbors to tap into all the resources and wonderful opportunities this community has to offer so that we all can thrive. At Soft Landing Missoula, we believe in the power of shared human experience, the celebration of milestones big and small, and the building of cultural bridges through common languages such as food, soccer and music. https://softlandingmissoula.org

These boys have serious credentials: Ricky Skaggs, Ghrisman, Country Gentlemen., Crooked Still, Grammys, national and world fiddle champions.  It is hard to simplify the bios.  Check for your self.

KEITH LITTLE – Born and raised in the Sierra Nevada “Gold Country” foothills, Keith Little is a Grammy and IBMA Award-winning musician who is internationally recognized for his work as a singer, instrumentalist, composer, producer, recording artist, band leader, teacher and coach. Introduced to traditional music at an early age,  Keith has been a key member of many national and international touring bands with his most notable tenures as a member of The Country Gentlemen (Washington D.C.) and Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (Nashville, TN). Formed in 2014 the Keith Little Band has been the focus of his performing work to date, garnering wide critical acclaim even amidst the CS-19 pandemic’s hampering effects. As a recording musician, Keith has participated in hundreds of projects, most notably with Dolly Parton on The Grass Is Blue and Little Sparrow, which both won Grammy and IBMA awards. In addition to his performing and recording work, Keith’s compositions have been recorded by Claire Lynch, Tim O’Brien, Country Gentlemen, Longview, Crystal Gayle, Vern Williams, and the Whites. http://www.keithlittle.com/

MATTHEW HARTZ  ExperienceLegendary Texas fiddle master Matthew Hartz is an Idaho native currently living in Boise, Idaho. He is a three-time Grand Masters Fiddle Champion (Nashville, TN) a two-time Grand National Fiddle Champion (Weiser, Idaho), and a two-time World Fiddle Champion (Crockett, Texas). https://www.matthewhartzmusic.com

TRISTAN CLARRIGE is a 5-time Grand Nationawhartzmusic.com/l Fiddle Champion who began music studies at the age of two. He has toured the world as the cellist with folk-grass sensation Crooked Still, chambergrass trio The Bee Eaters, and Darol Anger’s seminal group The Republic of Strings, and performed with Mike Marshall, Bruce Molsky, and Cape Breton fiddle star Natalie MacMaster. Raised in a tipi in the mountains of northern California, music was always an important part of Tristan’s life.  https://tristanclaridge.com/

The Montana Standard Band is back to LSH on Sunday, October 2nd.  Check them out at Montanastandardbluegrass.com.

Aberdeenshire folksinger, Iona Fyfe, has become one of Scotland’s finest singers, rooted deeply in the singing traditions of the North East of Scotland. In 2021, she became the first singer to win the coveted title of Musician of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards. Iona is a fierce advocate for the official recognition of the Scots Language, leading a successful campaign to pressure Spotify into recognising Scots and add it to its list of languages. Honoured at the Scots Language Awards with the title of Speaker of the Year in 2021, Iona performs both folk and pop songs in the Scots language, remaining true to her rooting in tradition. Iona has featured in several publications including The Sunday Post, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Times. She won the title of Scots Singer of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in 2018 and was described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer.”  (Global-Music.de)

  What began as an all-female festival collab quickly morphed into a serious passion project driven by sisterhood, harmony and humor……along with the shared desire to rage fiddle tunes and smash the patriarchy. 

 Big Richard is a neo-acoustic super group made up of four well established Colorado musicians: Bonnie Sims on mandolin (Bonnie & Taylor Sims/Everybody Loves An Outlaw/Bonnie & the Clydes), Joy Adams on cello (Nathaniel Rateliff/Darol Anger/Half Pelican), Emma Rose on bass + guitar (Sound of Honey/Daniel Rodriguez/Whippoorwill) and Eve Panning on fiddle (Lonesome Days). 

Formed in late 2021, the band gained immediate notoriety for their charismatic stage presence and their vocal/instrumental prowess.  After selling out all of their club shows Big Richard quickly started confirming festival appearances across America.  2022 is sure to be a big year!!

Kentucky Sky Bluegrass Band

 Randy Hackworth, Pocatello, ID, roots take him back to the hills of Eastern Kentucky. Although he has played in several bands and genres of music, his love and passion is for that Bluegrass sound. As a singer/songwriter and guitarist, it just seems to be the perfect fit.

Emily Frank, Idaho Falls, ID, was raised listening to nothing but bluegrass music, and it’s still the only music she listens to. She has played in several different bands. The current group is called “Kentucky Sky” where she contributes with acoustic bass and vocals, as well as writing songs. Emily says, “I love playing music with these guys and doing harmonies. Plus, I get to dress old style and wear hats.”

 Fred Frank, Idaho Falls, ID, has been in many Bluegrass bands over the years starting his Bluegrass career with the Stone Mountain Bluegrass Co. He has played banjo, mandolin, and guitar in different bands, but in Kentucky Sky he is on five string banjo and singing vocal harmonies. Fred says: “This in one of the most traditional groups I have been in, and I’m having a blast.”

 Chad Fadely, Kalispell, MT, is originally from Hot Springs, AR. Chad is the newest member of the band but has shared the stage with Fred and Emily many times over the years as a member of New South Fork. Chad has played in many bands from MT. and when not making his living playing mandolin, he’s selling guitars for Music Villa in Bozeman, MT.

 Both Randy and Emily also write a significant portion of the band’s songs in a traditional Bluegrass style. This makes for a refreshing, yet familiar sound the band offers.

Rupert Wates was born in London and studied at Oxford University. He has been a full time songwriter since the late 1990s, when he signed a publishing contract with Eaton Music Limited.  In London he worked with some of the best performers in the city.  Moving in 2001 to Paris, Wates formed his own quartet and began playing live regularly. In fall 2006 he came to the US. He is now based in New York City and Colorado.  Since coming to the US, he has won more than 50 songwriting and performing awards (www.rupertwatesmusic.com/awards).

His music is an eclectic mix of acoustic, melodic art/folk, with flavors of jazz, vaudeville and cabaret. He has released nine solo CDs. They have received outstanding reviews in the international online press and tracks from them have been played on radio all over the world. In addition, Wates’ songs have been covered by other artists in the UK, Canada and the US. Two full length tribute CDs to his material have been recorded: ‘Crazy Puzzle’ (2015) by Nashville-based performer Roxie Rogers, and ‘Wide Open Heart’ (July 2017) by Los Angeles vocalist Susan Kohler. Both these CDs were initiated and funded entirely by the artists themselves, and comprise exclusively songs taken from Rupert Wates’ back catalog.

Despite Wates’ British background, and underpinning the universality of his music’s appeal, Folk And Acoustic Music Exchange has called him “a prime figure in American music” (www.acousticmusic.com) and goes on: “This is one gifted sonofabitch… If you’re not hip to this guy yet you’re missing out.”

Audiences everywhere respond to Wates’ brand of melodic art/folk—haunting songs that ring true.

A traditional band with a truly worldwide reach, Téada has appeared as a frequent headliner at major music festivals throughout the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, Russia, Israel and Australia. Highlights include a 30,000-capacity stadium concert in Brittany, along with performances at Rainforest World Music Festival & Penang World Music Festival in Malaysia, Edmonton Folk Festival in Canada, Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe and World Music Festival Taiwan. In 2014 the band performed to 40,000 people during an extensive 7-week tour of Japan / Taiwan. 

Spring 2022 will bring the release of Téada’s sixth album on the Gael Linn label, featuring the brilliant vocals of Séamus Begley along with the band’s customary re-energising of rare tunes from the tradition.

Perhaps the premier trad Celtic band around coming to our living room!!  What a score.