Harvest Gathering bios, 2020

 I did shockingly little new writing this year, but here's a few.  I think that Accidentals was in place last year, but it wasn't in the blog entry.

Ben Traverse is a young man with a very wide hat who commands a wide array of instruments in his mission to bring the finest traditional folk music into the 21st century. After apprenticeships with the finest musicians in Michigan, Ben is ready to step out smiling. After two years with his electronic project, Hlborn, this will be Ben's Harvest debut with his folk sound. Come holler and stomp!

When Brian Koenigsknecht smiles while he's singing, you can see all the joy and sorrow that led up to that moment in his face: whether crooning or hollering, beating on that acoustic guitar like it owes him money, Brian's music wears his heart on its sleeve. It's a big sound in a small space, asking for your time and attention but not demanding it. Stories of then and now, love and loss, Marquette and Kalamazoo, you and me. The original Earthwork Songbird is back to share his melodies, and probably a few more wide smiles. Available: Sad Ballad Souvenirs (2004), Beautiful Distractions (2013), From The Shallows To The Deep (2017), Roswell (2018), and brand new album Healing Bridges, featuring a collaboration with Michael Beauchamp-Cohen of Red Tail Ring, entitled The Windmill.

Darcy Wilkin is a funny person who writes and sings sad songs. She is a serious and dedicated educator who usually rocks rainbow sherbet hair. There's a twinkle in her eye the whole show, to tell you, isn't this cool? She'll treat you the same whether you're an audience of 20 or 2,000. She has been a member of the roots-folk collective the Corn Fed Girls for over two decades, and has finally stepped into the solo spotlight with a stunning slab of Michigan country music, 2019's Bristol. In the age of laughing to keep from crying, or vice versa, Darcy Wilkin was made for these times.

Frank Youngman is an educator, musician, raconteur, and all around good egg who has been mentor and friend to an alarming number of excellent Michigan musicians. Once or twice a year, he assembles a bunch of them into a ragged band of merry melody makers: no egos, no rehearsal, big fun. This year it's just him and Seth in the barn, no rehearsal, no frills, among the peacocks.

Rachael Davis is a big personality with a huge voice. She might punch you in the shoulder within minutes of meeting you. She might fill a room with raucous, contagious laughter, both her own and yours. And she might bring you to your knees with her astonishing voice as it soars, whispers, pleads and demands your attention. Deep Michigan roots, Nashville's gain is our loss, but music travels everywhere. Albums available: Minor League Deities (2000), Live In Bremen, Germany (2004), Antebellum Queens (2008), Bandbox Jubilee (2014), plus releases with Shout Sister Shout! and The Sweet Water Warblers.

Ann Arbor's Sari Brown joined the Earthwork Music label in 2004 at the age of 17 with the release of her first album, 'For What is the Journey,' a collection of 11 unconventional spirituals. 'The Color Suite' followed in 2009. After several years living in Colombia, she is now serving as a pastor in the small towns of Harbor Beach and Port Hope, near the tip of the "thumb" on the coast of Lake Huron: two heartfelt, close-knit communities that inspire her to be a better person and a better artist. She'll dazzle you with sweet songs that will linger in your heart for the rest of the day.

Bill Chesney grew up with Seth Bernard in Lake City, and there must be something in the water up there, because Bill (with his ever-changing pickup band, Stepladders) can conjure a tune, spin it on its side like a Harlem Globetrotter, and whip it at your head so fast you won't know what hit you. This is friendly/slightly snotty rock n roll for people who remember Better Than Ezra fondly. Primarily occupied with running world class print shop Brownlee Press in Grand Rapids, a Stepladders performance is a rare treat. Two albums available: Stepladders (2016) and Another Chance (2020).

Steve Leaf is a restless musical soul with a guitar, a looping station, and a wicked sense of humor. Form Howell to Chicago to Grand Rapids, with the Ex Pats, Brandon Foote, Public Access, or solo, he brings you the goods, whether the goods be ambient soundscapes, tight pop songs, or 15 minute Neil Young covers. An Earthwork Harvest Gathering fixture for over a decade, his scarecrow grin will have to be seen long distance this year, but the future is large. Albums available: We Are Ghosts (2010), Queen's Language (2012), Three Circles & A Speaker (2014), Lightspeed (2015), Come Clean (2016), Go To The Pines (2017), and brand new single Turn Around. Also investigate Public Access and Leaf/Foote.

The Accidentals have exploded out of their native Traverse City, and their Interlochen training, to stride the world with their genre-busting sound and indomitable spirit. Three multi-instrumentalists with the power to do anything, but the pyrotechnic playing is always tempered to serve the song, the melody, the moment. One of the absolute busiest touring acts in America, with over 300 shows played last year, chances are good they have come to your town, or will soon. Savannah Buist and Katie Larson write music of honesty, insight and perception, without relying on love songs or cheap tricks. Michael Dause, the new guy (joined in 2014), is a percussionist of precision and agility, with his own solo career to boot. Guitar, bass, mandolin, viola, cello, violin, banjo, and a whole lotta drums may come into play. This is timeless music by young people, and the horizon is endless. Albums available: Tangled Red And Blue (2012), Bitter Sweet (2013), Parking Lot EP (2016), Odyssey (2017), The Accidentals Live (an album of all new songs) (2019).