Line Up — FWAAMFest

Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable. A two-time GRAMMY Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner, and composer of opera, ballet, and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art. Giddens most recent album, Hope is a Thing with Feathers, released in September of 2026.
A founding member of the landmark Black string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, and the all-female banjo supergroup, Our Native Daughters, Giddens is as much a curator as a creator. She is the current Artistic Director of the Yo-Yo Ma-founded Silkroad Ensemble, hosts a TV show on PBS, My Music with Rhiannon Giddens, and has hosted two podcasts (Aria Code from New York City’s NPR affiliate station WQXR, which ran for three seasons, and American Railroad from Silkroad). Giddens has published two children's books and written and performed music for the soundtrack of Red Dead Redemption II, one of the best-selling video games of all time. She was a music consultant for 2025’s landmark film Sinners, and appeared as a recurring cast member on ABC's hit drama Nashville and as a music history expert on Ken Burns’ Country Music series on PBS. In 2025, she launched her own music festival in Durham, NC called Biscuits & Banjos, to celebrate Black culture outside the mainstream, and in 2026 she turned that initiative into a Foundation to house her mission-based work, the Biscuits and Banjos Foundation.
As Pitchfork once said, “few artists are so fearless and so ravenous in their exploration”—a journey that has led to NPR naming her one of its 25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century and to American Songwriter calling her “one of the most important musical minds currently walking the planet.”

Born in New York City to Haitian emigrants and activists, Haitian-American multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla finds inspiration from her past and present– her music vibrates with three centuries of history and influences from around the globe. McCalla possesses a stunning mastery of the cello, tenor banjo and guitar and, as a multilingual singer and songwriter, has risen to produce a distinctive sound that reflects the union of her roots and experience. In addition to her solo work, McCalla is a founding member of Our Native Daughters (with Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell) and alumna of Grammy award-winning Black string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Benjamin Hunter is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, creative & culture advocate, social entrepreneur, producer, and educator. He is the founder of Community Arts Create, co-founder of the Hillman City Collaboratory, co-founder of Black & Tan Hall, and currently serves as Artistic Director for NW Folklife and as Adjunct Professor at Cornish College of Music, Seattle University. He served on the Seattle Music Commission from 2017-2021, and co-chairs the Columbia Hillman Arts & Culture District. Benjamin was the recipient of the 2015 Governor’s Arts & Heritage Award and the 2016 City Arts Magazine Future’s List Award. In 2016, his roots duo, Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons, took 1st place in the International Blues Challenge. Benjamin is a 2019 Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Awardee, a 2020 Artist Trust Fellowship Awards recipient, and served as a 2020/2021 Artist-in-Resident at On The Boards.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Modern, pleasant, greasy, earthy, and fabulous - all words that have been used to describe singer-guitarist Ping Rose. Hailing from Memphis, he has deep foundations in the blues. With influences ranging from the likes of BB King, Jimi Hendrix, and George Benson all the way over to slingers like Eric Johnson, Chet Atkins, and Al Di Meola, plus elsewhere, he has an all encompassing style that brings everything home using blues as its vehicle. From the rockabilly of Sun Studios to the heavy soul of Stax and Hi Records over to the headbanging hip hop of Three 6 Mafia, Memphis music has been stuck to his bones for a long time. His sound has been described as a fresh take on what it is that we call blues, but the traditions behind the music are well spoken for. Assembling blues, country, southern soul, alternative rock, new wave, and hip hop sounds into a mortar, he uses the guitar as a pestle to grind it into a sound that’s both vintage as well as modern. He’s been called a “Blues rock powerhouse,” which isn’t incorrect, but true fans know that his genre-bending virtuosity and singer songwriter prowess are much deeper than just that.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Pacific Northwest Americana songwriter and performer Stephanie Anne Johnson’s (they/them) voice is like a prayer. It’s the kind of sound that makes you feel renewed, refreshed, and in love with the higher spirits of the planet. It’s a sound you can bask in, that can wash over you and regenerate the best of you all at once. And they have wowed judges on the immensely popular NBC TV series, The Voice, showcasing their gifts. Latest studio album 'Sing,baby!' was released on October 17th, 2025. Stephanie Anne Johnson has opened for acts that include political figure Bernie Sanders, and artists such as The Indigo Girls, Macy Gray, Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal, Robert Cray, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Steve Earle, Cedric Burnside, and Mason Jennings among many others.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Shanice Richards is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and Music Therapist whose work integrates performance, education, and therapeutic practice. Drawing upon her Caribbean heritage alongside influences in jazz, gospel, and soul, she brings a distinctive musical voice to traditional old-time fiddling with rhythmic vitality and cultural depth. Her approach to her fiddling reflects an ongoing exploration of how diasporic traditions inform and enrich contemporary musical expression.
Rooted in the principles of community music therapy, Shanice's practice centers on inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment through shared music-making. She is particularly committed to serving individuals and communities who experience limited access to creative resources or who have been impacted by social and economic marginalization. Guided by the belief that music functions as both a cultural and therapeutic force, she facilitates participatory experiences that foster self-expression, connection, and resilience.
Shanice has provided both individual and group music therapy sessions in Memory Care and with the Florida Alzheimer’s project, The Boys and Girls Club, Gadsden County Schools, and the Family Autism Support Team (FAST) in Valdosta, Georgia.These experiences have strengthened her commitment to culturally responsive and community-centered practice.
As a member of the collaborative string band The Little Mercies, she has presented with the Gulf Coast Sinfonia Youth Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Program and taught violin, guitar, and bass at Sandy’s Music Girls Camp for the last two years. These teaching and outreach roles reflect her belief that community-based music-making nurtures confidence, creativity, and belonging among participants of all ages.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

A troubadour of truth, Nashville resident Crys Matthews is among the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers. An award-winning, prolific lyricist and composer, Matthews blends Country, Americana, Folk, Blues, and Bluegrass into a bold, complex performance steeped in traditional melodies punctuated by honest, original lyrics. She is made for these times.
Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.” Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation adds, her gift is a "reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides." In her own words, Matthews says her mission is: "to amplify the voices of the unheard, to shed light on the unseen, and to be a steadfast reminder that hope and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice."
Mathews is a preacher's kid, a Black woman, a Butch lesbian, and a proud Southerner who sings social justice music right alongside 'traditional' Country and Americana music, Matthews is reclaiming not just of the space Black artists have been denied in Country and Americana music, not just of the space LGBTQ people have been denied in communities of faith, not just of the autonomy women have been denied over their own bodies, she is reclaiming the South that raised her.
Rooted in the principles of community music therapy, Shanice's practice centers on inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment through shared music-making. She is particularly committed to serving individuals and communities who experience limited access to creative resources or who have been impacted by social and economic marginalization. Guided by the belief that music functions as both a cultural and therapeutic force, she facilitates participatory experiences that foster self-expression, connection, and resilience.
Shanice has provided both individual and group music therapy sessions in Memory Care and with the Florida Alzheimer’s project, The Boys and Girls Club, Gadsden County Schools, and the Family Autism Support Team (FAST) in Valdosta, Georgia.These experiences have strengthened her commitment to culturally responsive and community-centered practice.
As a member of the collaborative string band The Little Mercies, she has presented with the Gulf Coast Sinfonia Youth Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Program and taught violin, guitar, and bass at Sandy’s Music Girls Camp for the last two years. These teaching and outreach roles reflect her belief that community-based music-making nurtures confidence, creativity, and belonging among participants of all ages.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Described as “...the unknown queen of Americana…” (Feedback) and “...a Black Lucinda Williams…” (Vanity Fair), Queen Esther is a generative performing artist that has written, produced and self-released a substantial body of music and continues to build an independent creative practice rooted in ownership, experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration. Drawing from Black Americana, jazz, blues, gospel, country, spirituals, theater, satire, and sacred testimony, Queen Esther builds counter-archives that center Black authorship, Southern Gothic memory, and the perpetually unfinished business of American democracy. Of her most recent album Blackbirding (2026) Americana Highways’ Bill Bentley says, “No other singer has found quite a sound that touches Queen Esther’s. Her way of imparting such darkness feels like it’s coming from something that no one else has been able to share. This is an achievement beyond just history. It also time travels into a place that can make the listener reel into a lost circle of hurt, and not know how they really got there.”
Queen Esther’s artistic practice is reclamation-driven, research-based, and formally expansive. A member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity Association, Dramatists Guild and the Recording Academy – with residencies that include WP Theater Pipeline PlayLAB, Joe's Pub Working Group and The Orchard Project – Queen Esther’s creative impetus shifts between music, theater, literature, lost American history, and embodied performance. Raised in Atlanta Georgia and rooted in the Gullah-Geechee culture of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, her work encompasses American history as living material—something carried in the body, the voice, the archive, the church, the field, the stage, and the song – and asks urgent questions about race, belonging, grief, violence, inheritance, faith and freedom.
Her TED Talk about the true roots of country and bluegrass continues to make seismic waves.
Palmer has since independently released three albums, including Revival (2019), which was named one of Rolling Stone's “Top 25 Country-Soul Albums of All Time.” Her discography also includes the Back Porch Sessions EP (2015) and the children's album Best Day Ever.
She received a Grammy nomination as a part of 1 Tribe Collective for the album All One Tribe in 2021 and is the recipient of the Academy of Country Music Lift Every Voice award in 2025. She is now the host of the Apple Music Country show, Color Me Country Radio w/Rissi Palmer and administers the Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund to provide grants for artists of color pursuing careers in Country and Americana Music.
Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.” Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation adds, her gift is a "reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides." In her own words, Matthews says her mission is: "to amplify the voices of the unheard, to shed light on the unseen, and to be a steadfast reminder that hope and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice."
Mathews is a preacher's kid, a Black woman, a Butch lesbian, and a proud Southerner who sings social justice music right alongside 'traditional' Country and Americana music, Matthews is reclaiming not just of the space Black artists have been denied in Country and Americana music, not just of the space LGBTQ people have been denied in communities of faith, not just of the autonomy women have been denied over their own bodies, she is reclaiming the South that raised her.
Rooted in the principles of community music therapy, Shanice's practice centers on inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment through shared music-making. She is particularly committed to serving individuals and communities who experience limited access to creative resources or who have been impacted by social and economic marginalization. Guided by the belief that music functions as both a cultural and therapeutic force, she facilitates participatory experiences that foster self-expression, connection, and resilience.
Shanice has provided both individual and group music therapy sessions in Memory Care and with the Florida Alzheimer’s project, The Boys and Girls Club, Gadsden County Schools, and the Family Autism Support Team (FAST) in Valdosta, Georgia.These experiences have strengthened her commitment to culturally responsive and community-centered practice.
As a member of the collaborative string band The Little Mercies, she has presented with the Gulf Coast Sinfonia Youth Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Program and taught violin, guitar, and bass at Sandy’s Music Girls Camp for the last two years. These teaching and outreach roles reflect her belief that community-based music-making nurtures confidence, creativity, and belonging among participants of all ages.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

The Chicot Cheetah Stringband was formed by Music Teachers Aaron Farris and Sheree O'Rorke at Chicot Elementary School after winning the coveted Arnold Shultz Grant through the International Bluegrass Music Association. They are the first, and only, all-black stringband in the history of the state of Arkansas. This is the second iteration of the band; they have won awards and performed at many events and festivals around the state of Arkansas, and look forward to sharing their music with Fort Worth as well!

Rissi Palmer, who describes her musical style as "Southern Soul," has received widespread media attention in national publications including Ebony, Billboard, People, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal and more. She has performed on the CBS Morning Show, CNN, Oprah & Friends, at the White House, Lincoln Center, and the Grand Ole Opry. Rissi Palmer made history in 2007 with her breakthrough single "Country Girl" from her self-titled debut album, becoming the first Black female country artist to chart on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart in 19 years. Over 17 years later, Rissi’s debut album has earned its place in music history, with SPIN Magazine recognizing it as one of “Ten Essential Albums by Black Artists” in 2024.
Palmer has since independently released three albums, including Revival (2019), which was named one of Rolling Stone's “Top 25 Country-Soul Albums of All Time.” Her discography also includes the Back Porch Sessions EP (2015) and the children's album Best Day Ever.
She received a Grammy nomination as a part of 1 Tribe Collective for the album All One Tribe in 2021 and is the recipient of the Academy of Country Music Lift Every Voice award in 2025. She is now the host of the Apple Music Country show, Color Me Country Radio w/Rissi Palmer and administers the Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund to provide grants for artists of color pursuing careers in Country and Americana Music.
Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.” Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation adds, her gift is a "reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides." In her own words, Matthews says her mission is: "to amplify the voices of the unheard, to shed light on the unseen, and to be a steadfast reminder that hope and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice."
Mathews is a preacher's kid, a Black woman, a Butch lesbian, and a proud Southerner who sings social justice music right alongside 'traditional' Country and Americana music, Matthews is reclaiming not just of the space Black artists have been denied in Country and Americana music, not just of the space LGBTQ people have been denied in communities of faith, not just of the autonomy women have been denied over their own bodies, she is reclaiming the South that raised her.
Rooted in the principles of community music therapy, Shanice's practice centers on inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment through shared music-making. She is particularly committed to serving individuals and communities who experience limited access to creative resources or who have been impacted by social and economic marginalization. Guided by the belief that music functions as both a cultural and therapeutic force, she facilitates participatory experiences that foster self-expression, connection, and resilience.
Shanice has provided both individual and group music therapy sessions in Memory Care and with the Florida Alzheimer’s project, The Boys and Girls Club, Gadsden County Schools, and the Family Autism Support Team (FAST) in Valdosta, Georgia.These experiences have strengthened her commitment to culturally responsive and community-centered practice.
As a member of the collaborative string band The Little Mercies, she has presented with the Gulf Coast Sinfonia Youth Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Program and taught violin, guitar, and bass at Sandy’s Music Girls Camp for the last two years. These teaching and outreach roles reflect her belief that community-based music-making nurtures confidence, creativity, and belonging among participants of all ages.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Certainly, plenty of things have happened in Cedric Burnside’s life since he went on the road at age 13, drumming for his grandfather, the pioneering bluesman R.L. Burnside. His two albums before I Be Trying – 2015’s Descendants of Hill Country and 2018’s Benton County Relic – were both nominated for Grammys. He has also appeared in several films, including Tempted and Big Bad Love (both released in 2001) and the 2006 hit Black Snake Moan, and he played the title character in 2021’s Texas Red.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Kamica King is a Dallas-based singer-songwriter whose rich, soulful sound is rooted in folk, soul, and her Afro-Caribbean heritage. With a voice and guitar-playing marked by depth and warmth, she connects with listeners through intentional lyrics, rich storytelling, a touch of humor, and songs that hold space for the joys, challenges and truths of life. Her performances invite audiences into moments of reflection, connection, and uplift. Kamica has been featured by Levitt Pavilion, the John F. Kennedy Center, TEDx, Kerrville Folk Festival, and NPR Tiny Desk Concert creator Bob Boilen. She has toured in Africa, the Caribbean, and South America; served as a U.S. Cultural Ambassador for the Arts; and is a Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster Artist. As a socially engaged artist with a background as a board-certified music therapist, Kamica extends her musical practice beyond the stage through King Creative Arts Expressions, via community-based initiatives that support arts access, engagement, wellbeing, and inclusion. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Music to Life, and the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. In 2026, she was named a Patron Magazine Arts Influencer, recognizing individuals shaping North Texas’ arts and culture landscape.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Dusky Waters is the nom de plume of contemporary Americana songwriter and musician Jenn Jeffers, an artist whose work bridges the rich musical traditions of the South with a modern, genre-defying sound. As the Executive Director and Co-Founder of BlackAmericana Fest, a New Orleans-based music festival celebrating Black artists in Americana, Folk, and Country music, she is at the forefront of fostering a more inclusive roots music landscape.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Isaiah Sibi is many things, among them he’s both a second generation American and a sixth generation Texan. Born to a Serahule Gambian mother and a father with deep roots in Texas and Louisiana, some of the first sounds he heard were from a kora being played to him by a Gambian griot as well as his dad’s fiddle. Isaiah is also a multi-instrumentalist, he’s a third generation guitar picker and fifth generation fiddler. Isaiah learned his music "knee-to-knee" from his dad, Howard Rains and step-mom, Kansas old-time fiddler Tricia Spencer, as well as from other great fiddlers and guitar players from across the country.
He has won the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships on fiddle and flat-pick guitar, as well as the band contest with his family band, The Lost keys. He’s also placed second with his family band at the prestigious Appalachian String Band Festival band contest (colloquially known as Clifftop). Isaiah has been attending and playing at music festivals, house parties, and square dances since he was knee high to a grasshopper. Music is Isaiah’s passion and playing his fiddle or his guitar for dancers is the fulfillment of that passion.
Isaiah works both as a professional musician and as a luthier in the repairs and restoration department at the world-renowned guitar store Mass Street Music in Lawrence, KS where he makes his home.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Nicky Diamonds is an Afro-Indigenous Country-Roots/Blues Musician from San Antone, TX currently stationed in Nashville, TN. Pulling inspiration from old hymn books and family history, he's recounting the stories of his ancestors through his unique songwriting style. By keeping the roots of country and blues alive he puts a captivating twist to the tales and tunes of our people.
Nicky spends most of his time touring the country with his 95 year old Dobro and occasionally with his band 'The Deepcuts'. His new delta blues album, recorded at Willie Nelson's studio in Spicewood, Texas, is set to release in Spring 2025. If you're lucky enough you'll catch Nicky at a Honky Tonk or Juke Joint close to home. His live show is a sight to see and you'll leave with a groove stuck in your bones.
Rooted in the principles of community music therapy, Shanice's practice centers on inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment through shared music-making. She is particularly committed to serving individuals and communities who experience limited access to creative resources or who have been impacted by social and economic marginalization. Guided by the belief that music functions as both a cultural and therapeutic force, she facilitates participatory experiences that foster self-expression, connection, and resilience.
Shanice has provided both individual and group music therapy sessions in Memory Care and with the Florida Alzheimer’s project, The Boys and Girls Club, Gadsden County Schools, and the Family Autism Support Team (FAST) in Valdosta, Georgia.These experiences have strengthened her commitment to culturally responsive and community-centered practice.
As a member of the collaborative string band The Little Mercies, she has presented with the Gulf Coast Sinfonia Youth Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Program and taught violin, guitar, and bass at Sandy’s Music Girls Camp for the last two years. These teaching and outreach roles reflect her belief that community-based music-making nurtures confidence, creativity, and belonging among participants of all ages.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”

Celebrated recording artist and NAACP Image Award-winning author Shawn Amos, best known as joyful bluesman The Reverend Shawn Amos, is an astute storyteller of multiple mediums. He first honed these skills—and a restless entrepreneurial spirit— as a child of 1970s Hollywood, helping his father Wally “Famous” Amos launch a now-iconic cookie brand on then-gritty Sunset Boulevard.
Following a stint at NYU film school, Rev wrote scripts for A & M films by day, recording and performing original music focusing on race and identity by night. As a record company executive, he conceived and produced multiple releases for both Rhino Entertainment and Shout! Factory, including Grammy-nominated box set Rhapsodies in Black: Music & Words From the Harlem Renaissance and Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones. The legendary Jones subsequently enlisted Shawn to oversee his Listen Up Foundation.
His ninth studio album, The Reverend Shawn Amos Dance Party, an album of originals and 1960s dance classics, was release October 2026. He is executive producer of the animated series, Cookies & Milk (based upon his debut book), in development at Disney, and recent host of the family variety series, Famously You (premiering spring, 2026). The Rev’s third middle-grade novel, Franklin and the Fabulous 5ive is slated for May 2027 publication from Little, Brown and Company. Blackbox, the jazz and blues series he curates for Santa Monica performing arts center BroadStage, is entering its eighth season.

The Rhapsody Project’s Songsters program serves Seattle youth ages 10 – 25 who want to play music in social and performance settings. Historically, “songsters” were musicians whose repertoire allowed them to play whichever styles of music fit a given gig. Students learn songs in styles ranging from blues to minouche jazz, spirituals to waltzes.
While rehearsing and playing paid gigs is a big part of the equation, this program is also in service of The Rhapsody Project’s mission to build community and celebrate heritage through music. There are monthly community-building sessions that all Songsters attend as well.

Daniel E. Atkinson earned his PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington, where his research focused on Afro-American vernacular expression. He is the author of The Rediscovery of George Nash Walker: The Price of Black Stardom in Jim Crow America, a biography of the co-founder of the Williams and Walker, the first Black theatre company to succeed on Broadway. He currently works for August Wilson Legacy LLC.
Queen Esther’s artistic practice is reclamation-driven, research-based, and formally expansive. A member of SAG-AFTRA, Actors’ Equity Association, Dramatists Guild and the Recording Academy – with residencies that include WP Theater Pipeline PlayLAB, Joe's Pub Working Group and The Orchard Project – Queen Esther’s creative impetus shifts between music, theater, literature, lost American history, and embodied performance. Raised in Atlanta Georgia and rooted in the Gullah-Geechee culture of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, her work encompasses American history as living material—something carried in the body, the voice, the archive, the church, the field, the stage, and the song – and asks urgent questions about race, belonging, grief, violence, inheritance, faith and freedom.
Her TED Talk about the true roots of country and bluegrass continues to make seismic waves.
Palmer has since independently released three albums, including Revival (2019), which was named one of Rolling Stone's “Top 25 Country-Soul Albums of All Time.” Her discography also includes the Back Porch Sessions EP (2015) and the children's album Best Day Ever.
She received a Grammy nomination as a part of 1 Tribe Collective for the album All One Tribe in 2021 and is the recipient of the Academy of Country Music Lift Every Voice award in 2025. She is now the host of the Apple Music Country show, Color Me Country Radio w/Rissi Palmer and administers the Color Me Country Artist Grant Fund to provide grants for artists of color pursuing careers in Country and Americana Music.
Of Matthews, ASCAP VP & Creative Director Eric Philbrook says, “By wrapping honest emotions around her socially conscious messages and dynamically delivering them with a warm heart and a strong voice, she lifts our spirits just when we need it most in these troubled times.” Justin Hiltner of Bluegrass Situation adds, her gift is a "reminder of what beauty can occur when we bridge those divides." In her own words, Matthews says her mission is: "to amplify the voices of the unheard, to shed light on the unseen, and to be a steadfast reminder that hope and love are the truest pathways to equity and justice."
Mathews is a preacher's kid, a Black woman, a Butch lesbian, and a proud Southerner who sings social justice music right alongside 'traditional' Country and Americana music, Matthews is reclaiming not just of the space Black artists have been denied in Country and Americana music, not just of the space LGBTQ people have been denied in communities of faith, not just of the autonomy women have been denied over their own bodies, she is reclaiming the South that raised her.
Rooted in the principles of community music therapy, Shanice's practice centers on inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment through shared music-making. She is particularly committed to serving individuals and communities who experience limited access to creative resources or who have been impacted by social and economic marginalization. Guided by the belief that music functions as both a cultural and therapeutic force, she facilitates participatory experiences that foster self-expression, connection, and resilience.
Shanice has provided both individual and group music therapy sessions in Memory Care and with the Florida Alzheimer’s project, The Boys and Girls Club, Gadsden County Schools, and the Family Autism Support Team (FAST) in Valdosta, Georgia.These experiences have strengthened her commitment to culturally responsive and community-centered practice.
As a member of the collaborative string band The Little Mercies, she has presented with the Gulf Coast Sinfonia Youth Orchestra Education & Community Engagement Program and taught violin, guitar, and bass at Sandy’s Music Girls Camp for the last two years. These teaching and outreach roles reflect her belief that community-based music-making nurtures confidence, creativity, and belonging among participants of all ages.
Dusky Waters is an expression of Jeffers’ affinity for the magic of twilight hours and the ever-present Mississippi River, which has shaped her journey from her childhood on the banks of its tributary in Little Rock, Arkansas, to her early twenties in the Delta of northern Louisiana, to her current home in New Orleans. Her music mirrors this passage, fusing the gospel, folk, and soul traditions of the region with contemporary pop melodies and arrangements.
Her evocative songwriting and compelling live performances have earned critical acclaim, with audiences and press lauding her ability to craft songs that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Her music has been described as “beautifully crafted” and “sublime,” elevating her songwriting craft and “clarion call vocals.” Known for high-energy performances that consistently turn crowds into “a sea of movement,” Dusky Waters brings an electrifying presence to the stage. With soulful lyricism, intricate banjo and guitar licks, and a sound that ebbs and flows like the Mississippi itself, Dusky Waters reimagines Americana through a fresh, dynamic lens. Her music is a manifestation of the magic and mourning of the bayou state and an uplifting testament to the power of self-actualization—honoring tradition while forging a new path that reflects the ever-evolving spirit of the South.
McCalla’s fifth studio recording, Sun Without the Heat (2024, ANTI-), is playful and full of joy while holding the pain and tension of transformation. Throughout Sun Without the Heat’s ten tracks, McCalla achieves a balance of heaviness and light with melodies and rhythms derived from various forms of Afro-diasporic music including Afrobeat, Ethiopian modalities, Brazilian Tropicalismo, and American folk and blues. McCalla's former release, Breaking the Thermometer, was named one of the Best Albums of 2022 by The Guardian, Variety and NPR Music, and her song “Dodinin” made Barack Obama’s short list of 2022 favorites.
McCalla is also currently the Artist in Residence at the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, the Founding Artistic Director of the Shockoe Institute, and a former Artist in Residence at the University of Richmond.
Burnside is a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts and was recently recognized with the 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Art Award for Excellence in Music. He has performed and recorded with such diverse musicians as Jimmy Buffett, Bobby Rush, and Widespread Panic.
Burnside has never strayed far from the distinctive blues style introduced to the world by his “Big Daddy” R.L. and such other greats as Junior Kimbrough, Jessie Mae Hemphill, and Otha Turner. “I’ve been traveling my whole life, and the song ‘Hill Country Love’ gave me a chance to let people know that I love what I do and give a sense of how we do it in Mississippi – like, the house party is a tradition here, Big Daddy threw a lot of them. So that’s what I was thinking about as I was writing that song – where I come from and also where I’m going, and how my journey has been to get to where I’m at now.”