Hannah Kaminer & The Wistfuls

Hannah Kaminer is an artist and singer-songwriter writing songs about love, loss, and home. Raised in small towns in Western North Carolina, she fuses echoes of Appalachian and country traditions with wistful, Americana-style songwriting. She has released three studio albums: Acre by Acre (2015), Heavy Magnolias (2018) which was co-produced with GRAMMY-winning engineer Julian Dreyer, and Heavy on the Vine (2024) which she produced with her band, The Wistfuls.

Her latest album, Heavy on the Vine, was released in January 2024, and has garnered play and a Studio B session at WNCW as well as reviews and mentions by the NYTimes, Americana-UK, The Bluegrass Situation, and AltCountry(NL). Currently, Kaminer and her band are promoting the new album in the Southeast U.S. and beyond. Hannah and the band were named one of the “Best Things We Saw at AVLFest 2024” by Rolling Stone.

Kaminer has opened for nationally recognized acts, including The Steep Canyon Rangers, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters, Daniel Shearin (of River Whyless), Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief) and more. Kaminer's songs have been recognized with two North Carolina Regional Artist Project Grants, in the finals of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (at MerleFest), and in Asheville's Brown Bag Songwriting Competition. She has also been recognized for her work to produce Music for Quarantine in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hannah & The Wistfuls have been playing as a band since 2023, but a few of this band's members (Jackson Dulaney and Jackson Grimm) are multi-year collaborators with Hannah on her albums and live band events. Hannah & The Wistfuls created and collaborated on Heavy on the Vine, releasing the album in January 2024 (see reviews and press here) and opening for bands such as The Steep Canyon Rangers, Scott McMicken & The Ever-Expanding, and Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters.

Learn more at https://hannahkaminer.com/

Simba Baumgartner & Adrien Marco

Simba Baumgartner’s grandfather was Lousson Baumgartner, Reinhardt’s first born son, who was himself considered a master guitar player although he never recorded.  Simba began playing guitar at age 4 in the purest tradition of his family living the traditional life of a Gypsy in Central France as he learned his great grandfather’s secrets. At age 11, Baumgartner played the “Bal de la Rose” in Monte Carlo for Monaco’s Royal family alongside The Gypsy Kings and Gypsy guitar master, Bireli Lagrene.  In 2017 he headlined the “Festival of Europe” in Bois Le Roi, France, and was chosen as the opening act for the International Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois sur Seine/Fontainebleau which featured Stephane Wrembel, Stochelo Rosenberg, Avishai Cohen, Larry Graham, Bireli Lagrène, Kyle Eastwood, Roberto Fonseca, and Trombone Shorty.

He has also performed a tribute to Django Reinhardt with the legendary American jazz saxophonist, James Carter.  Baumgartner performed as both an actor and musician in the biopic “Django” directed by Etienne Comar.  Baumgartner is a regular at “Taverne de Cluny Monk”, THE most prestigious Jazz club in Paris, always backed by the greatest rhythm section in France, Mathieu Chatelain and Jeremie Arranger.  Baumgartner was a featured performer at Django a Gogo 2018 headlining the show at the legendary NYC venue, The Town Hall, where he received many standing ovations. Simba Baumgartner is highly regarded by his peers as one of the greatest Gypsy Jazz players in the world carrying on the legacy of his great grandfather.

Les Yeux Noirs was produced by heralded guitarist Stephane Wrembel, most known for his Grammy® Award winning composition “Bistro Fada” from the Academy Award®-winning Woody Allen movie “Midnight In Paris” and one of the preeminent guitarists specialized in the Reinhardt style. It was recorded live and mastered by Eric Ritter at The Windmill Recording Studio in Scranton, Pa. Baumgartner was accompanied by Wrembel and his band including Thor Jensen (guitar), Ari Folman Cohen (bass), and Nick Anderson (drums) with special guest Nick Driscoll (saxophone and clarinet).

Wrembel comments, “Although Simba is only 21 years old, he is one of the most important and one of the greatest Gypsy jazz guitar players in the world today. Not only is he Django Reinhardt’s great grandson, but he also carries the pure tradition of French Gypsy guitar masters. His first album shows not only his extreme level of virtuosity, but also the beauty of his phrasing and the poetry of his soul.”

Adrien Marco is a fine and powerful soloist, this self-taught guitarist from Yonne (Burgundy) began playing guitar at the age of 17, discovering by chance the music of Django Reinhardt. A dazzling playing style and rare sensitivity make him one of the best representatives of his generation and present on the international scene. A multifaceted Trio, which also has a gypsy imprint following the worthy legacy of the great Django Reinhardt, while bringing its own identity.

One thing that the public always remembers after meeting him is the power of this Trio. Adrien Marco, with his very personal sound, indeed puts his signature with a lively, airy, and precise playing. Well surrounded by an excellent and very solid rhythm section to accompany him: Mathieu Chatelain on rhythm guitar and Claudius Dupont on double bass. But also Titi Haag in rhythm and Costel Nitescu on violin, when the Trio turns into a quintet!

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/simba.baumgartner.9/ & https://www.facebook.com/marco.adrien/

Shay Martin Lovette

The tale of wayfaring songwriter Shay Martin Lovette is shaped by an enduring creative pursuit, an inseparable connection with the natural world, and a deep appreciation of the nonpareil musical voices of the past. The True As They Come EP, a new batch of homespun songs weaving intricate tales of retrospection and self-discovery will be released on April 26, 2024. Like the winding rivers and tributaries of his Appalachian homeland, Lovette's music flows with emotional depth, poetically exploring the beautiful melodies of the land and the human soul. With Joseph Terrell of Mipso back at the helm as Producer, these songs feature some of North Carolina’s brightest musicians and signify a shift in the gravity of Lovette’s writing.

Lovette’s songcraft has elicited high praise from American Songwriter, The Bluegrass Situation, No Depression, Under The Radar Magazine, Glide Magazine, and New Commute.  In April of 2022, Lovette and band capped off a tour in support of his album Scatter & Gather with a performance on the esteemed Watson Stage at Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Learn more at https://www.shaymartinlovette.com