2021 Festival Artists

Saraswathi

Saraswathi

Saraswathi brings with her a legacy of firsts. She is the first Indian woman and Veena artiste to win a Chicago Music Award in its thirty-five-year history, the first Veena artiste to perform as an orchestra member of Disney’s Jungle Book production, and the first...

Yacouba Sissoko and SIYA

Yacouba Sissoko and SIYA

Yacouba Sissoko was born in Kita, Mali, to a well-known djely family. Djelys for centuries they have been the traditional musicians and keepers of the factual history and fables of past rulers, nobles, social groups and families. The kora was the traditional...

Martha Redbone Roots Project

Martha Redbone Roots Project

Martha Redbone is a Native & African-American vocalist/songwriter/composer/educator. She is known for her unique gumbo of folk, blues, and gospel from her childhood in Harlan County, Kentucky infused with the eclectic grit of pre-gentrified Brooklyn....

Bohola

Bohola

Irish music accordion virtuoso Jimmy Keane and the remarkable bouzar player and vocalist Pat Broaders, comprise Bohola, Irish music's newest "supergroup" as penned by The Irish Herald. Bohola play a driving, muscular, and yet very emotive style of Irish music with...

Rayna Gellert and Kieran Kane

Rayna Gellert and Kieran Kane

Kieran Kane’s seminal work in The O'Kanes and Kane Welch Kaplin, as well as co-founding the independent label Dead Reckoning Records, laid the foundation for the contemporary world of Americana music. A successful solo artist, collaborator, and songwriter (with songs...

Pamyua

Pamyua

Pamyua showcases Inuit culture through music and dance performance. The show is a platform to share indigenous knowledge and history. Their style derives from traditional melodies reinterpreted with contemporary vocalization and instrumentation.  Often described as...

Nation Beat

Nation Beat

Forró. Funk. Brass. Pounded by calloused hands; blasted by tight grooves. It calls across time and continents - with a response from hips and feet. It’s the force that blew through Louis Armstrong in the twenties. It’s the power that gets Brazilians swinging in the...

Blato Zlato

Blato Zlato

Blato Zlato is a New Orleans-based Balkan band that puts a contemporary Louisiana twist on traditional folk music from Eastern Europe. The band performs dark, improvisational arrangements with particular focus on Bulgarian folk songs, three-part vocal harmonies, and...