Independent to the bone with 7 CDs, and a Grammy nomination for a Contemporary Folk CD Grammy in 2006, Caroline Aiken has done numerous performances to benefit thousands of causes, and played thousands of shows in 40 years of touring at home and abroad. Writing, producing shows, festivals, theaters, and series, Caroline has also served 12 years as Entertainment Director for the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. She has recorded with and shared stages with The Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt and has been a guest performer at major venues with them such as San Antonio’s Majestic Theater, Denver’s Red Rocks, and Berkeley’s Greek Theater. Caroline has headlined at the Kerrville TX’s Music Festival (Main Stage since ’95); Seattle’s Bumbershoot (since ’96); Folk Life Festival (since ’76); NY’s Falcon Ridge; Northern California’s High Sierra Music Festival. www.carolineaiken.com
Kelli Ali began her musical career in her early twenties, as the lead singer of the 90’s electronica band Sneaker Pimps and has collaborated with icons of popular music throughout her career as a singer and song- writer. Her collaborators include Marilyn Manson, Bootsy Collins, Marc Almond, Bryan Ferry and Paul Oakenfold.
Now a solo artist, Kelli has released four albums. Her most recent folk inspired ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Rocking Horse’ albums have garnered respect and attention from UK national press, including four star reviews from both The Guardian and The Independent newspapers. www.kelliali.com
Shannon writes the film-music blog Boombox Serenade and has led music licensing workshops at South by Southwest, the LATV Fest, and the Future of Music Summit. She served as A&R Director at Magnatune Records and was a music consultant on Caroline Suhs 2008 documentary, Forerunners. Shannon has also been a contributing writer for several music magazines including Remix, Performer, and the London quarterly, Comes With A Smile. In 2008, she published How to License Music: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide. www.boomboxserenade.com
Co-founder and frontman for The Waybacks, Stevie toured steadily from 2001 through 2007. The band released 4 albums in that time, played major festivals like Merlefest, Grey Fox, Floydfest, Great Waters, Old Settlers, Bumbershoot and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, toured Australia and collaborated with Lloyd Maines, Michelle Shocked and Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead.Stevie’s gone solo now, and is busily booking festivals, venues and house concerts. He has completed and released his first solo CD, called “Ten-In-One,” produced by singer/songwriter and guitar guru Walter Strauss. www.steviecoyle.com
Bonnie Hayes is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer, as well as a recording artist and performer in her own right. After having a national college radio hit with her band the Wild Combo in 1983 with the song “Shelly’s Boyfriend,” she went on to write for artists as diverse as Bette Midler, Robert Cray, Adam Ant, Booker T and the MGs, David Crosby and Cher. In 1989, Bonnie Raitt recorded two of her songs, “Have a Heart” and “Love Letter,” on the comeback Grammy-winning CD Nick of Time. Hayes also toured as a keyboard player and backing vocalist for artists like Billy Idol and Belinda Carlisle. www.bonniehayes.com
Dan Healy, a record producer, recording engineer and live sound mixer / engineer is not only a “charter member” of the San Francisco Sound but has created recording and concert sound that is now part of the fiber of contemporary live sound. He has designed numerous pieces of sound equipment, invented applications and has been the inspiration of many techniques that are now everyday practice.
Dan, known as The Maestro to his friends and fans, began recording and shaping the San Francisco Sound in the mid 60’s, is a Grammy nominee and the producer and engineer of many gold and platinum records.
Notably, he is the inspiration and sculpture of the Grateful Dead’s live sound recognized not only by the audience but the entire industry as having set the benchmark and raised the bar for all concert sound. He has been instrumental in the creation of several generations of live sound systems among which is the legendary Wall of Sound.
Currently Dan is leading the frontier in digital recording and digital sound applications along with cultivating musical ideas both in studio and for live sound. He is the author of many papers and readily speaks to audiophiles, music lovers and students of sound and music.
Jenny is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a poetic and passionate songwriter, known for foot-stomping live shows and powerful, authentic voice. Kerr has toured Europe eight times and has become a regular favorite on the country/blues/roots circuit. She’s headlined festivals all over the world including Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria and Mexico. Tour highlights include a headline slot at Mirande—Europe’s largest country music festival—as well as a 2006 summer tour with legendary guitar player/producer Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakum) and performances with Peter Rowan and Barry “the Fish”Melton. She’s shared top billing with legends like Charlie McCoy and Americana greats Guy Clark and Jack Ingram. www.jennykerr.com
Sid Lewis has been performing music since his teens. He has shared the stage with Joe Craven, Tony Furtado, Radim Zenkl, Michel Hedges, and many other stars. He holds the 190-1992 California State Flatpicking Guitar Championship, and has taught or performed at Strawberry Music Festival, California Worldfest, Live Oak Music Festival, California World Music Festival, Grass Valley Celtic Festival, Oregon Country Fair and universities everywhere. www.jamming101.com
In 1965, Barry Melton co-founded the musical group Country Joe and the Fish, the Berkeley-based group known for its musical opposition to the Vietnam War. He made a memorable appearance at Woodstock in 1969. “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” defined a generation’s defiance against all things government-sanctioned. Until his recent retirement, he served as the Public Defender of Yolo County, California. He has continued to play music during the course of his legal career, including a long stint with Dinosaurs, a band of 60s veterans that has at various times included Peter Albin and David Getz ( Big Brother and the Holding Company), John Cipollina and Greg Elmore (Quicksilver Messenger Service), Papa John Creech (Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship), Spencer Dryden (Jefferson Airplane and New Riders of the Purple Sage), Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead lyricist), David LaFlamme (It’s a Beautiful Day), Jerry Miller (Moby Grape) and the incomparable Merle Saunders on keyboards. www.counterculture.net/thefish
Phillip “philbillie” Mildner is a certified electronics technician has been serving the Bay Area music community for over eighteen years as a guitarist, engineer and musical instrument technician. He found his way to San Francisco and has been a player, producer and guitar tech here ever since. Now the repair manager at the world-famous Haight Ashbury Music Center, Philbillie once spent several eventful years as a touring guitar tech (also known as “Roadie”) for Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir’s group “Ratdog”as well as such notables as Tracy Chapman, Bonnie Raitt, Primus, Graham Nash, and traded licks with the likes of Hot Tuna, Los Lobos, Bruce Hornsby’s band and The Black Crows in many a backstage and hotel room jam. www.philbillie.com