Liz Longley

Best known for her stop-you-in-your-tracks voice, Liz Longley is an accomplished singer-songwriter based out of Nashville, TN. With her deeply emotional music, Longley has earned accolades from some of the most prestigious songwriting competitions in the country, including the BMI John Lennon Songwriting Scholarship Competition.

Her self-titled debut album received critical acclaim, being described as “something more; a cleverness, a wit and a mix of musical styles” (Dallas Morning News) and “stunning” (HuffPost). Her follow-up album Weightless, released in 2016, was praised as “a thing of beauty” (Pop Dose) and “packed with instantly memorable pop rock songs…” (Popmatters).

The Berklee College of Music grad worked alongside 5-time Grammy-nominated producer Paul Moak on her much-awaited sixth album, Funeral For My Past. The journey of her self-release made music industry headlines when her devoted fanbase raised over $150,000 to help her purchase the rights to and independently release the album. Longley became the #4 most funded solo female musician in Kickstarter history - a story covered by Billboard Magazine.

Embraced by the press and music fans alike, Funeral For My Past was described as a “…stunning new album!” (Forbes), “…from Americana to gospel-flavored soul to shimmering pop anthems” (Billboard), and included in “100 Albums Released in 2020 to Put on Your Radar” (Newsweek). The Nashville-based musician has found a loving give-and-take with listeners: Longley shares her music with the world, enriching fans’ lives, and in return, they provide her with the means necessary for her to make music on her terms.

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

Hank Pattie & the Current

Bluegrass visionaries Hank Smith (banjo) and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw’s (fiddle) innovative twist on traditional bluegrass music is a soulful brew flavored with classical, Motown, jazz, and pop influences.  Hard-hitting bluegrass pickers who moonlight as symphonic classical musicians Hank & Pattie have forged their unique sound by refreshingly embracing their myriad of musical influences to create a unique sound true to themselves. Their overall musicianship, vocal harmonies, impassioned delivery, and innovative arrangements captivate all generations of music lovers.

The band includes bass player Stevie Martinez, who also performs with the Asheville Symphony, and guitarist Billie Feather, who holds numerous degrees in guitar and engineering.

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

Wayne Henderson

Wayne Henderson was born in Grayson County, Virginia, where he lives today. He is a full-time instrument builder and musician, specializing in building guitars, and playing in a unique finger-picking style. Though he has lived in Virginia all of his life, Henderson has played countless performances in Western North Carolina, been a member of Western North Carolina bands, and influenced many regional musicians, through both his music and craft. He developed a unique style of using a thumbpick and fingerpicks, making his playing sound like flatpicking, with fast, accurate, and clean notes.

Henderson’s father and uncle were musicians who played with Estil Ball, an admired finger-style guitar player from the area who influenced Wayne’s playing. Inspired by Ball, Wayne ordered a cheap guitar from the Sears catalogue. Disappointed with that instrument, he decided to build his own guitar, out of a used dresser drawer bottom. When he struggled to find the proper glue for his newly crafted instrument, he sought out the advice of a neighbor, Albert Hash, who built fiddles and other instruments. With Hash’s encouragement, Wayne continued working on his instrument building.

He sold his second guitar in exchange for some tools and cash. “Ever since,” he says, “somebody’s wanted one as soon as I get it finished.” For years he worked as a rural mail carrier, spending his off-time performing and building guitars and other instruments. He has become so famous that he has a long backlog of orders placed for guitars. Henderson has built guitars for Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, Peter Rowan, and Eric Clapton.

Wayne Henderson has trained several apprentices, taught intensive workshops, and given informal discussions about instrument building and repair. He has been a regularly featured instructor at the Augusta Heritage workshops in Elkins, West Virginia.

Henderson is an accomplished performer. He has won more than 300 ribbons at fiddlers’ convention competitions. He was featured as part of the Masters of the Steel Guitar tours, and has traveled internationally. Wayne has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian Institution, on A Prairie Home Companion, and for the 1992 presidential inauguration. He has hosted the annual Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition since 1995. Winning the competition is said to be the only way to skip ahead of the waiting list for a Henderson Guitar.

Learn more at https://www.waynehenderson.org/wayne-henderson/