Phil Wiggins

Phil Wiggins spent many of his childhood summers in Titusville, Alabama and cites the time he spent there as one of the main reasons for his strong connection with blues. "I would walk my grandmother around the corner to the church on Thursday evenings and hear the elder women of the church singing prayers and praises. The context was religious, but the sound was deep blues."

During the early years of his development as a musician, Phil was constantly playing with and learning from some of the most notable acoustic blues musicians that made their homes in the Washington area. Later, he was mentored as well by many other musicians who frequented the D.C. area: Johnny Shines, Sam Chapman, Sunnyland Slim, Henry Townsend, Robert Lockwood, John Dee Holeman, Algia Mae Hinton, Howard Armstrong, Ted Bogan, Etta Baker, and others.

Phil and John Cephas formed the duo Cephas and Wiggins. This duo performed together for over 30 years, becoming America's premier blues duo. As ambassadors of the Piedmont blues, Cephas and Wiggins took their music all over America as well as all over the world. "John and I have performed on every continent except Antarctica." Some venues of note include Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, and the White House.”

John Cephas passed on March 4, 2009. Phil Wiggins is determined to carry on with his music, his harp playing, his singing, his songwriting, his teaching... "staying rooted in my past, thriving in the present, and constantly reaching toward the future".

http://philwiggins.com/bio.htm

Terry Robb

Robb is that rare talent, a musician’s musician and an enormously popular performer. Onstage, his fleet fingers, wry humor, and intense focus mesmerize audiences. The passionate artistry of a Terry Robb event – whether a solo acoustic performance or a high-energy show with his electric band – often leaves new and longtime fans with mouths agape.

Terry Robb began his career in Portland as a hot-shot guitar-slinger who could play any style of music and excel at them all. At an early age, inspired by his uncle, a professional swing guitarist, Robb immersed himself in all the blues, ragtime, folk, jazz, and country music he could lay his guitar-picking fingers on. In college, he studied music theory with the Czechoslovakian modern classical composer Tomas Svoboda.

In the early 1980s, he struck up a friendship with the legendary Fahey, who soon asked Robb to play on and produce several of his recordings, including the extraordinary Let Go, cited by Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone as one of the top three releases of 1983 – right alongside Prince’s Purple Rain and Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A.

The 1990s found Robb focusing on his own career and collaborating with fellow Oregonian Curtis Salgado on Hit It and Quit It. During this time Robb embarked on a series of national tours with stellar musicians including Buddy Guy and rocker Steve Miller, concluding the run with an appearance on the Conan O’Brien Show. In the studio, he contributed to a number of Grammy and Emmy award-winning projects, including producing a song for the Robert Redford blockbuster The Horse Whisperer, and later producing a W.C. Handy-nominated album for blues-woman Sheila Wilcoxson.

To date Robb has won the Cascade Blues Association’s prestigious “Muddy Award” a record thirty times as best acoustic guitarist, as well as awards for best traditional act and best record. These awards have led to his induction into the CBA’s Hall of Fame. In 2009 he was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.

http://www.terryrobb.com/

Lauren Sheehan

Lauren grew up in New England where she studied classical guitar as a child and became infected by the spirit of fiddle music at contra dances in western Massachusetts. She wrote her thesis on American folk music at Reed College before spending a number of years playing in small ensembles while founding, administering, and teaching in independent schools. During this time, she toured in New England, Ireland and the Pacific Northwest.

She retired from teaching in 2003 and dedicated herself to full-time performing and recording, Her third CD, Rose City Ramble, 2011, ranked #8 album of the year on Folk and Bluegrass dj radio charts and has been played around the world. Her second CD, Two Wings, was Americana Album of the Year finalist for the Independent Music Awards, 2006, and debuted at #1 on the Folk and Bluegrass DJ’s Radio chart, also winning accolades and airplay around the world. Lauren was nominated by the Portland Folklore Society and won Portland Music Award for outstanding achievement in folk music, Jan. 2012.

Lauren's passion for learning directly from other musicians has led her into the homes and front porches of the musical legends who passed on much of the material and stylistic qualities she presents today. Her endearing performances spring from time spent with such legendary performers as John Cephas, Ginny Hawker, Etta Baker, Carl Rutherford and Howard Armstrong.

http://www.laurensheehanmusic.com/