2015 Festival Artists

숨[suːm] was formed in 2007 by a pair of Korean musicians trained in traditional instruments. They had an ambitious goal: to start a new era of Korean folk music grounded in the experience of modern life. The band’s name, pronounced “soom,” means “breath.” They compose...

The grit of low-down country and urban blues with the bold brass of New Orleans; the hand-clapping fervor of gospel punctuated with fiery postmodern, jazz-infused horn arrangements; the haunting cries of work songs and pulsating drums that reach back to the real roots...

Karolina Cicha’s impassioned, compelling interpretations of the old songs of the Kresy (the Polish Eastern Borderlands) mix folk tradition, rock and pop, and performance art. Cicha sings in the languages of the Kresy—Polish, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Russian,...

* 2015 LOTUS DICKEY ARTIST * Focusing on songs collected by legendary folklorist and field recording pioneer Alan Lomax, this “collaboratory” led by Canadian banjo player Jayme Stone brings together some of North America’s most distinctive and creative roots musicians...

The "charismatic indie-soul diva" (Time Out New York) Martha Redbone is an Independent Music Award-winning musician of Cherokee, Choctaw, Shawnee, and African-American descent. Martha explores traditional and modern variations of folk, roots, blues, tribal, and soul...

Canadian violinist and composer Jaron Freeman-Fox straddles the shifting border between tradition and innovation. The name of his band — The Opposite of Everything — hints at what he likes to call the “general lunacy” and creative drive of his music. His musical roots...

Moroccan Aziz Sahmaoui's musical passions are rock, fusion, and gnawa —  the trance music of Northern Africa. With the aid of his talented squad of musicians, his “University of Gnawa,” he’ll make them your passions, too. Rousing choruses, an unstoppable beat, and a...

Chilean singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and musical activist Nano Stern brings audiences to their feet, makes them dance, laugh or cry -- with nothing but a guitar and his voice. The grandson of Jewish refugees, Stern has created a sound that incorporates...

This fine band brings the passion and precision of Irish music to Lotus. Founding members Paul Brock (button accordion and melodeon) and Manus McGuire (fiddle) now live in County Clare, and both are award-winning masters of Irish traditional music. The band also...

Delhi 2 Dublin set is possibly the only place you’ll see a fiddle player rocking out with a kilt-wearing Korean, flanked by two Bhangra percussionists and a vocalist who looks like he would be at home in a Bollywood music video. The group began in 2006 as a one-off...