SLIGO RAGS are two-time winners of the Orange County Music Award for Best Folk Band. This dynamic ensemble presents Celtic Folk with a decidedly bluegrass attitude. Using fiddle, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and percussion, Sligo Rags is taking the local and not-so-local Celtic music scene by storm. Their debut studio recording, "The Night Before the Morning After", currently garnering international airplay, was called "the best I've heard from a stateside band" by Celtic Beat Magazine. Says the San Diego Troubadour, "This band can light up an atmosphere as dim as the Guinness stout you just ordered at the bar... Sligo Rags really knows their Celtic music." Don't be surprised if elements of country, rock, gypsy jazz and swing manage to sneak their way into the act as well. Bob Stane, the legendary founder of The Icehouse and The Coffee Gallery Backstage says of Sligo Rags, "this is a money back, no questions asked if you are not thrilled act. Bring friends. Dynamic, up tempo, multi-talented. A fusion that just crackles."

THE DUO-TONES are Gil Orr and Paul Johnson. These surf-instro masters have hit upon a winning idea: by leaving out the drums and bass, they spotlight their delightful dual-guitar interplay, which brings fresh appeal to their genre. Gil Orr has played with the Chantays ("Pipeline") since the mid-'60s. Paul Johnson was co-founder of the pioneer '60s surf band The Belairs ("Mr. Moto") and has been playing with The Surfaris ("Wipeout") since 1990. The Duo-tones perform all the tunes a classic surf band might play (and then some), but with just our two guitars (no drums, bass, etc.). Paul Johnson explains, "On Surf Music Unplugged we used acoustic guitars, then we switched to electrics for Plugged In and LIVE. In either case, the focus is on creative interplay between lead and rhythm guitars!" This is top-notch guitar playing at its finest. We've been trying to work these guys into our schedule for years and are excited to have them highlight our summer concert series.

ROSALIE SORRELS is a true legend of the American music scene. She is a singer-songwriter who resides in the mountains near Boise, Idaho. She began her public career as a singer and collector of traditional folk songs in the late 1950s. During the early 1960s she left her husband and began traveling and performing at music festivals and clubs throughout the United States. She and her five children traveled across the country as she worked to support her family and establish herself as a performer. Along the way she made many life-long friends among the folk and beat scene. Her career of social activism, storytelling, teaching, learning, songwriting, collecting folk songs, performing, and recording has spanned six decades. Rosalie's first major gig was at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966. She has recorded more than 20 albums including the 2005 Grammy nominated album "My Last Go 'Round" (Best Traditional Folk Album.) She has authored two books and wrote the introduction to her mother's book. In 1990 Sorrels was the recipient of the World Folk Music Association's Kate Wolf Award. In 1999 she received the National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Award for "exceptional commitment and exemplary contributions to the art of storytelling." In 2000 she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Idaho. In November 2007, she was awarded the "Best of the West" award by Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West). We are truly honored to be able to host this House Concert with Rosalie Sorrels and hope you will join us.

ELIZA JANE has talked and sung to you from your TV set in the voices of most of the female characters on Comedy Central's hit animated series, South Park, among countless other animated productions, including "Finding Nemo," "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer," (didn't know he was Jewish, huh?), and the voice of Elizabeth Swann in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" video games. Now listen to her real voice, blended harmoniously with her fiddle and 12-string guitar, in a refreshingly eclectic combination of self-written, socially pertinent foot-stompin' fiddle tunes and middle Eastern sounding love ballads she calls "Gypsy Grass." Fearless in her subject matter, but always retaining an upbeat sense of humor, Eliza Jane's lyrics do not mince words about the rift between the will of the American people and the antics of their misled government. "Gypsy Grass" best describes this socially pertinent mix of foot-stompin' fiddle tunes and heartfelt love ballads, led by Eliza Jane's operatically trained voice. Eliza Jane has an Emmylou Harris like soprano-alto range, floating over her syncopated picking patterns on the twelve string guitar, the bluegrass mandolin, and gypsy violin; think Alison Krauss meets Lisa Gerrard.

ELLIS PAUL is a critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, poet and troubadour originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine. He is the recipient of thirteen Boston Music Awards, second only to multi platinum act Aerosmith. Since launching from Boston, Ellis Paul has built a vast catalog of music which weds striking poetic imagery and philosophical introspection with hook-laden melodies. The Boston Globe heralds him as a "songwriter's songwriter" saying "no emerging songwriter in recent memory has been more highly touted and respected by songwriters." USA Today's national feature on Ellis was titled, "Best Bet for Stardom" which has come true after 15 years of non-stop touring. He has shared the stage with such notable artists as John Mayer, Bill Morrisey, Shawn Colvin, and John Gorka early on and quickly progressed to headlining concerts and festivals. Ellis' songs have appeared in the soundtracks for several movies including Me Myself & Irene with Jim Carey and Shallow Hal with Jack Black. Performing Songwriter Magazine adds, "Ellis Paul is a master storyteller. He combines the sensibilities of Bob Dylan and Bill Morrisey and delivers it with passion that sets him apart in the company of a new breed of songwriters." Ellis' good friend, producer and co-writer Flynn will be traveling with Ellis for his Southern California dates and will open the night for him.

When Terri Hendrix walked away from her opera scholarship in college, it was only because she found the classical music path too narrow for her free spirit. But there was just no shaking her love of music. Armed with the Mississippi-John-Hurt-style guitar chops she learned from her mentor, Marion Williamson, Hendrix began hauling her own P.A. in the back of her beat-up pick-up to gigs throughout the Texas Hill Country. From her native San Antonio to the live music hotbed of Austin and every small town honky-tonk and coffee shop in Texas, it wasn't long before the fans started adding up. By the time she got around to recording her debut album, 1996's Two Dollar Shoes, Hendrix did what most artists still did at the time, and shopped around for a record label. She was turned down by three, none of which are still in business. She released the record independently, and never looked back. Now, nine self-released albums later, Hendrix is still thriving - and grateful she made the fateful decision more than a dozen years ago to not only follow her own path through her music career, but to ultimately "own her own universe." In the wake of her breakthrough 1998 sophomore album, Wilory Farm, and 2000's Places in Between - both of which were met with widespread Triple-A, Americana and public radio support - Hendrix's grassroots fanbase spread like wildflowers across America and all the way to Europe. The appeal is easy to understand. Hendrix is one of the most strikingly original singer-songwriters working today, as befits an artist who cites the varied likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terry, John Prine, and even the British techno-country-blues ensemble Alabama 3 among her biggest influences. For the last decade, Hendrix has toured constantly, packing listening rooms and theaters from coast to coast and also playing before thousands at such premiere events as the Newport Folk Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Texas State Fair at the Cotton Bowl, the Austin City Limits Music Festival and the Kerrville Folk Festival. Terri also co-wrote the Grammy winning country instrumental ("Lil' Jack Slade") on the Dixie Chicks' multi-platinum 2003 album, Home.

Steve Gillette is best known as a songwriter, with songs recorded by artists from Ian & Sylvia to Garth Brooks, from Jiminy Cricket to John Denver. His song "Darcy Farrow" alone has been recorded by more than one hundred artists since 1966. Quite literally, he wrote the book on songwriting: Songwriting and the Creative Process (Sing Out Press) is a standard text in songwriting classes across the country. Steve sings in a rich baritone and is a virtuoso on guitar, using a unique fingerpicking style with a flat-pick and two fingers. Other musicians who have recorded Steve's songs The Dirt Band, Waylon Jennings, Laurel Canyon Ramblers, Anne Murray, Oak Ridge Boys, Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt, Bobby Vinton, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Jennifer Warnes to name just a few. Cindy Mangsen, who married Gillette in 1989, is also a songwriter, but her focus has been on songkeeping. Cindy is a master interpreter of traditional ballads, rich in myth and legend. She plays guitar, concertina, and banjo, and is renowned for her compelling voice, described by one critic as a voice that can warm a New England winter. Steve and Cindy have been featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Mountain Stage, and have delighted audiences across North America and Europe with their music, warmth, and humor.

Brace yourself for the return of The Buccaneers - the hardiest, most harmonious band of pirates ever to hoist their flag on Calgary's shores! All right, before you scramble for your atlas and history books, you're correct Calgary has no sea access, and Alberta isn't exactly the breeding ground for the world's most notorious pirates. But The Buccaneers aren't letting those trifling facts halt their pursuit of nautical and melodious distinction. Their disarming chemistry, strong vocal harmonies, contemporary arrangements and passionate, high energy performances are captivating audiences from sea to shining sea with their unique brand of Aggressive Canadian Folk Music. The band consists of Rodger Leeder (vocals, mandolin, bass guitar, guitar), Seán Sabraw (vocals, guitar, bass guitar, bodhran, mandolin), and Jim Samuelson (vocals, saxophone, penny whistles, tambourine, bones). "Aggressive Canadian Folk Music?" you may ask: try envisioning a blend of traditional music drive with contemporary attitude (plus the sporadic plundering of Klezmer licks, Latin rhythms, and the occasional 80's pop song!), resulting in a diversely-influenced music. Vocals dominate the sound, with tight three-part harmony arrangements in every tune and each band member trading the lead voice from song to song. These multi-talented multi-instrumentalists switch 'axes' as often as they swap vocals, and trade the songwriting and arranging duties for each piece a pretty democratic bunch of outlaws, indeed! We are proud to be able to call The Buccaneers our friends. We love their music and their performances. However, it's their love of music and their enthusiasm for what they do that sets them apart from the average vocal trio.