Sally Rogers is one of the most recognized voices in the Folk world. She moves audiences to tears and laughter with her infectious energy and wicked sense of fun. Her songs, “Lovely Agnes”, “Circle of the Sun”, and “Love Will Guide Us” have come to be standards in the folk repertoire. And her crystal-clear voice paired with soul-stirring ballads, messages of hope and familiar folk classics are sure to please.

For just about as long as anyone currently involved in folk music can remember, Bill Staines is the archetypical contemporary folk singer. People have been singing his songs on stage, in recording studios, and around campfires for over 40 years.

He is responsible for such classics as “Roseville Fair”, “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir”, and “River”, all with choruses that beg to be sung with. Come and see a true living legend.

Christine Lavin is the Folk World’s long-reigning Queen of the Intelligently Absurd. The title of one of her earlier albums, “I Don’t Make This Stuff Up, I Just Make It Rhyme” says it all.

She has an eye for the ironic and the absurd in the news and everyday life, and puts it into song. And dresses it all up in skillful guitar work, electronic loops, and wonderful gimmicks like baton twirling. She’s irrepressible, and ya gotta love her.

The Blues Revue summed it up neatly. Toby Walker is “…a brilliant remarkable guitarist. A pinch of Piedmont, a dash of Delta, a solid Chicago undercurrent minus the amplification, but not the electricity.” At home with both wooden and steel guitars, Toby plays the classics as well as his own songs with an open style and a dash of humor. And as an extra point of pride for us, this internationally celebrated master of the acoustic guitar is a Morris county resident and a Folk Project member.

• An evening of songs for the audience to sing, led by four experienced songleaders.  More details to follow.

Folk Project members present songs of the season.

Robinson & Rohe is the duo of Brooklyn songwriters, Liam Robinson (banjo & accordion) and Jean Rohe (guitar, and Folk Project member since she was eight years old.) Liam’s production and arrangement talents were displayed as the music director of Anais Mitchell’s smash hit Broadway musical, Hadestown.

And Jean’s vocal and writing skills are well known to Folk Project regulars. They have just released their second duo recording, Wait and See in 2021, which features some of their favorite NYC musicians, and displays their insightful writing and impeccable harmonies

Conjuring up echoes of the Canadian group “Finest Kind”, Windborne is a harmony-driven quartet of 20-somethings who revel in the vocal traditions of the British Isles and early American folk song. To this they add vocal harmony traditions around the world from the Balkans to South Africa. They sing either acapella, or with spare accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, and percussion.

Folk Project members sing songs of love (of all persuasions)

Tom Chapin‘s music spans generations from the heady Greenwich Village days when he performed with his brothers Harry, and Steve, and dad Jim, through to today. He serves up a tasty mix of story songs, ballads, comedic and political songs, family music, sing-alongs, old-time folk classics and a favorite song or two of his late brother Harry’s. With an agile fingerstyle guitar, gentle humor, audience inclusiveness, and a concern for the Earth and its resources, Tom puts on a memorable show.

In 1957, teens Phil and Don Everly supercharged the vocal sound of Rock’n’Roll with “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie”, unleashing the sparkling vocal harmonies that would influence The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, The Hollies, The Eagles, Peter Paul & Mary, and the Bee Gees. The Everly Set brings this music back to life for all those who remember it fondly from their youth, as well as to new audiences.

Trout Fishing in America is the long-standing, and yet seemingly unlikely musical partnership of Keith Grimwood and Ezra Idlet. As individuals, they are about as different as one could imagine. But together, they blend seamlessly in a way that has captured audiences of all ages for over three decades.

A willingness to at once make fun of our most annoying daily habits, and then to touch our hearts with tender and passionate images of family life is what makes the connection between the Trouts and their audiences so compelling and poignant.

Beppe Gambetta, the Italian bluegrass flatpicking champion. Sounds like an ethnic joke, but Beppe is no joke. Early in life he was captured by the music of such greats as Doc Watson and Tony Rice, and soon got to the point where he was sharing festival stages as an equal with his heroes.

Equally adroit on mandolin, he can blaze through a hot bluegrass tune or croon a lovely Italian traditional ballad. And all with an elegant continental charm that is a joy to witness.

To say that Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman play the Celtic Harp and guitar is like saying Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe pick out tunes on the banjo and mandolin. These two are past masters of their craft, and their craft is virtuoso performance on their chosen instruments. “Awesome” is a word overused these days, but I was drop-dead awe-struck by their performance.

Their forte is the Irish and Scots repertoire, but they take detours into old-time American tunes and swing (!!) This is a must-see show even for people who are not into harp music. They are jaw-dropping mind-bending out-freaking-standing.

Watch this space

A Joe Jencks concert is an occasion for singing; a contagious rising up of voices, an act of joy and defiance. Joe’s animating purpose runs deep, tapping into the latent, nearly mystical beauty that a roomful of people can unleash by singing together. His songs touch on social justice and community building. He has been favorably compared to songwriters such as John McCutcheon, Holly Near, Fred Small, Tracy Chapman, and James Keelaghan.

Chosen as Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s “Most Wanted Band” of 2016, Low Lily plays acoustic music that is deeply rooted in tradition yet sounds refreshingly contemporary.

The players are Lissa Schneckenburger (Solas, Long Time Courting) on fiddle, Flynn Cohen (John Whelan Band) on mandolin and guitar, and Liz Simmons (backing Livingston Taylor & Tom Chapin) on guitar. All three sing as well in harmonies that have drawn raves from dozens of reviewers and thousands of fans.

You may have seen Carla Ulbrich back in March when she opened for Trout Fishing in America.  And that’s probably why you’re here now checking her out for her headline show.  Carla is a comical singer-songwriter and guitarist with a rapier wit and a keen observational eye for the absurdities of everyday living.

With a love of wordplay and some pretty fancy guitar chops, she creates songs on topics as diverse as wedgies, Waffle House, Klingons, and how rich she would be if she had the copyright on the ‘F’ Word. She is a longtime favorite on the Dr. Demento show, and puts on an utterly hilarious live show.

Dead to the Core is a collective of singer-songwriters and acoustic musicians, assembled by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, a music journalist and accomplished performer in his own right.  The band pays tribute to the Grateful Dead, illuminating the masterful song craft of one of America’s most original bands. Interspersed with the music are clips from Rodgers’ own interviews with Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, in which they reflect on the roots and evolution of the music.

This will be an experience unlike any other Grateful Dead tribute: a night of deeply personal performances that illuminate the masterful song craft and storytelling of one of America’s most original bands.