CHRISTINE LAVIN
Christine learned how to play guitar by watching lessons on PBS when she was 12 years old, and since then has recorded 20 solo albums including her latest, Cold Pizza For Breakfast on Yellow Tail Records, and has also produced nine compilation CDs showcasing the work of dozens of songwriters whose work she loves. She has written freelance for various publications including The Washington Post, The St. Petersburg Times, Performing Songwriter, and Delta’s Sky Magazine). Her song “Amoeba Hop” has been turned into a science/music book by illustrator Betsy Franco Feeney, received the stamp of approval from The International Society of Protistologists, and a “Best Book Award” from the American Association for The Advancement of Science. A new book, The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet, written by Neil deGrasse Tyson, head of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC, includes the complete lyrics to Christine’s song, “Planet X,” which details Pluto’s history and planetary status debate in rhyme – and Christine got a “D” in Astronomy in college! She performs concerts all over the US, Canada, and points beyond, and hosts knitting circles backstage prior to each show. Her songs have been performed by artists as diverse as Broadway stars Betty Buckley, Sutton Foster, and David Burnham; cabaret divas Andrea Marcovicci. Barbara Brussell, and Colleen McHugh; and the college a cappella groups, Dartmouth Decibelles, and The Accidentals, winners of the National Harmony Sweepstakes championship. She has led songwriting and performng workshops at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, the Augusta Heritage Center in WV, and has just written her first book, Cold Pizza For Breakfast: A Mem-wha??, published by Tell Me Press of New Haven, CT.
www.christinelavin.com

VANCE GILBERT
Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90’s when the buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-multicultural arts teacher and jazz singer who was knocking ’em dead at open mikes. The word spread to New York of this Philadelphia-area born and raised performer; Shawn Colvin invited Vance Gilbert to be a special guest on her Fat City tour, and Gilbert took audiences across the country by storm. “With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener” wrote the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in its review of a show from that tour. Gilbert’s first three albums for the Rounder/Philo label are all essential additions to the American singer-songwriter collection. With guests as varied as Tuck and Patti, Jonatha Brooke, Patty Larkin, Vinx, and Jane Siberry, all three albums found significant niches on NAC (New Adult Contemporary) and Non-Commercial A3 (Adult Album Alternative) radio. His songwriting/performance combo workshops are legendary at such venues as the Rocky Mountain Song School and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and after seven albums, a solid sixteen-year solo career, two years opening tours for George Carlin, and songwriting recognized by artists from Martina McBride to Trout Fishing In America, his workshops are not to be missed. This is Vance’s second Gathering. www.vancegilbert.com

PETER MULVEY
As a self-described “city kid” from Milwaukee, Peter Mulvey played, wrote, and sang in bands while studying theatre at Marquette University. After graduating, he traveled to Ireland, where he learned the trade of busker on the streets of Dublin. The Irish Times called him, “consistently the most original and dynamic of the U.S. singer-songwriters to tour these shores.” Returning to the U.S. a few years later, he settled in Boston, building an audience through street and subway performing, while also immersing himself in the thriving musical community. With ten recordings to his credit, Mulvey has also scored music for theatre and modern dance, and has had numerous songs featured in film and television including various WB programs and PBS documentaries. The Washington Post described, “the subtle power of his voice, a husky, hushed baritone... understated, at once sophisticated and intimate... as cover-worthy as Randy Newman, Elvis Costello and Dar Williams.” In addition to his recorded works’ critical acclaim, Mulvey is also a serious and highly regarded disciple of the road. Touring rigorously, year in and year out, has made him who and what he is. Traveling from Ireland to Anchorage and all points in between, whether playing solo, duo, or with a full-on rock band, live performance is what defines his work and is where he shines. Most recently, his touring career took an interesting turn, when Mulvey decided to embark on the “Look Ma, No Gasoline Tour” - a ten day, 300 mile concert tour of southern Wisconsin, which he rode entirely on his bicycle. www.petermulvey.com

CATIE CURTIS
Catie Curtis has been a fan favorite on the acoustic music scene for a number of years now. In a fifteen-year career that includes such highlights as a Top Ten CD by WUMB radio (Sweet Life, 2008), a Boston Music Award for the Song of the Year in 2002, and the 2006 International Songwriting Competition Grand Prize (“People Look Around,”), Catie has created a dedicated following and proven that she’s the real deal: a musician with the kind of raw talent and artistic maturity that makes her a force to be reckoned with. Her well-deserved reputation as one of our very best singer/songwriters has followed her through nine critically-acclaimed recordings. Her tenth and newest project, Hello Stranger, on Compass Records has been selected as one of the Top Ten Folk Albums of 2009 by the Boston Globe, and captures some of the magic of her live performances, putting a fresh spin on some of Curtis’s best-loved songs as well as several handpicked classics with the help of some of Nashville’s best musicians, including Alison Brown on banjo, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Gary Marinelli on acoustic guitars, mandolin and resophonic guitar, Kenny Malone on drums and percussion and Todd Phillips on bass. After a too-long hiatus, we are delighted to welcome her back to Contemporary Folk Week. www.catiecurtis.com

JACK WILLIAMS
Jack Williams began his musical journey at age four, playing his mother’s Arthur Godfrey ukulele, quickly learning to play the piano and trumpet, and absorbing the big band, jazz, pop, and classical music on his parents’ 78 rpm records, as well as the raw folk and blues music from his surroundings in 1940s South Carolina. He discovered the guitar in 1958 and learned it quickly, forming his first band within a week. His current music is strongly influenced by a long early career in jazz, classical, folk, rock and roll, blues, and R&B. A professional touring artist for more than 50 years, Jack is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/storyteller whose songs display a clear sense of place, many of them grounded in- or inspired by- his deep southern roots. Since finding his place within the folk music community some 20 years ago, his memorable performances have been applauded at festivals from Newport, Kerrville, Philadelphia, and Boston to music halls, arts centers, coffeehouses and house concerts across 48 states and 8 countries. He often teaches at retreats, workshops, festivals, and at a semi-annual music retreat in his new home-area of the Arkansas Ozarks. He currently has eight albums and a DVD on Wind River Records. With a joyous recklessness and energy, Jack Williams performs music from a poet’s heart and a virtuoso’s hands. www.jackwilliamsmusic.com

DAVID ROTH
New Contemporary Folk Week Coordinator David Roth, is a veteran of many Gatherings and a singer, songwriter, recording artist, and masterfully inclusive instructor who has earned top honors at premier songwriter competitions at the Kerrville Festival (TX) and Falcon Ridge (NY), and taken his music, experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries over the last two decades. David’s songs have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Kennedy Center, Peter, Paul, & Mary concerts, NASA’s Goddard Space Center (his song, “Rocket Science” went up on the space shuttle Atlantis on May 11th, 2009!), and ten CDs on the Wind River and Stockfisch (Germany) labels. Featured on many of Christine Lavin’s Rounder Records compilations, the former artist-in-residence at New York’s Omega Institute has also been a songwriting judge at Kerrville, Napa Valley, Tumbleweed, Eventide Arts, and the South Florida Folk Festival. He’s taught singing, songwriting, and performance at the Augusta Heritage workshops, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Common Ground on the Hill, Rowe Center, Pendle Hill, Lamb’s Retreat, Wisconsin Stringalongs, the National Wellness Institute, and for many other songwriting groups and associations around the country. David is thrilled and honored to return to Swannanoa with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories, and powerful singing and subject matter. www.davidrothmusic.com

ABBIE GARDNER
Best known as one-third of the female Americana trio, Red Molly, Abbie has listened to the sweet sound of high lonesome harmonies since her first bluegrass festival at three years old. Her father, Herb Gardner, is a swing jazz and stride pianist and Dixieland trombonist who introduced Abbie to one of her favorite vocalists, Billie Holiday, and continues to be a big influence on the musician she is and strives to be. Abbie studied classical flute growing up, but she found her main instrument in the dobro and traveled to Colorado to study with Rob Ickes and Sally Van Meter. Always keen on following the melodic vocal part and trying to find the one really perfect note, instead of a dozen okay ones, Abbie is quickly compiling an extensive discography of recording credits, including two full-length albums and one EP with Red Molly, the last of which reached the Top 20 on the Radio & Records Americana Chart, and Bad Nights/Better Days, a duo record of original material with Anthony da Costa. That album was featured on WFUV’s top 2008 album lists and has been described as “a work of staggering emotional power.” by Acoustic Live! Abbie’s first full-length jazz recording, My Craziest Dream, earned her an entry in the 2009 Hal Leonard book, The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. As a songwriter, Abbie was the 2008 Lennon Award Winner (folk) for “The Mind of a Soldier,” the 2008 American Songwriter Magazine Grand Prize Lyric Winner for “I’d Rather Be,” and her song “Honey on My Grave” was published in the pages of Sing Out! magazine. Abbie continues to tour and write songs for Red Molly, who will release their third full-length CD in 2010. She also makes time for duo shows with Anthony da Costa, as well as her side project “The Slide Sessions”, where she and a guest dobro or slide player trade songs and solos for a night. www.abbiegardner.com