Direct From Alaska, Award Winning Magician Eric Giliam

Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Eric Giliam will showcase his award winning magic and illusions in this thrilling, all ages show. Giliam has received numerous awards, among them winning an International stage performance competition in Las Vegas and receiving an award from Siegfried and Roy for the most innovative magic act. He recently traveled overseas as a guest performer on prime time TV shows in London and Rome and has performed his show for hundreds of events. The 22 year old talent sensation will incorporate a winter scene into one of his act. "I thought I would bring some Alaska weather to the warm valley," said Giliam. The high energy, live show of magic, laughter, fascination and crowd participation has entertained and amazed audiences of all ages. The show will reveal to the audience that not everything seen can be explained.

Solas, "Irish America's most influential band" (NPR's The Thistle and Shamrock), presents Shamrock City: a multi-media stage show featuring remarkable photos and stories from turn-of-the-century copper boomtown Butte, MT. Immigration, mining & murder: join bandleader Seamus Egan as he takes you on the unforgettable journey of his great-great uncle Michael Conway's life in Ireland and mysterious death in America.

“Solas offers a compellingly original, strikingly contemporary view of traditional Celtic sounds.” -Los Angeles Times

Warm as summer sunshine, real as the truth, intimate as a long overdue visit between old friends … such is a Jonathan Edwards concert.  Four decades into a stellar career of uncompromising musical integrity, the man simply delivers night after night – songs of passion, songs of insight, songs of humor, all rendered in that pure and powerful tenor which, like fine wine has only grown sweeter with age.

This is one veteran performer who is neither grizzled nor nostalgic.  These days Jonathan Edwards, a vital and relevant artist in today’s folk and Americana scenes, is most likely to be found on the road with longtime accompanist Stuart Schulman on bass, piano, fiddle, and vocals and Taylor Armerding, formerly of Northern Lights, on mandolin and high-tenor vocals.  “I’ve been … doing what I do best, which is playing live in front of people.  I’ve been concentrating on that and loving it,” he says. 

An artist who measures his success by his ability to attract and take good care of an audience for four decades, Jonathan maintains that it is the feedback he receives after his shows that keeps him going.  “It is really gratifying to hear [someone say], ‘Your stuff has meant a lot to me over the years.’”

The “stuff” he’s referring to is a highly respected repertoire that includes such classics as “Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy,” “Sometimes,” “One Day Closer,” “Don’t Cry Blue,” “Emma,”  “Everybody Knows Her,” “Athens County,” and everyone’s favorite ode to putting a good buzz on, “Shanty.”  And then, of course, there’s the anthemic “Sunshine (Go Away Today),” that fierce proclamation of protest and independence that resonated with thousands and thousands of frustrated and angry young men and women when it was first released in 1971.  Almost 40 years later, at show after show, the song continues to be embraced by faithful followers and new fans alike.

Mrs. Lincoln is an Americana roots band that takes contemporary folk to a new level, blending influences from rock, country, bluegrass, and rhythm & blues to create a sound that has attracted a following that spans all age groups. Mrs. Lincoln includes four songwriters, and performs a mix of original tunes and less common covers. When not performing with Mrs. Lincoln, the Lincolners (Gram Benike, Annrenee Jones, Marconias, David Wells, and Chad Standlea) can be found performing on solo projects.

EXILE - In 1963, the year before the Beatles scored their first American hit, a group of kids calling themselves The Exiles climbed onto an outdoor stage in the small midstate town of Richmond, Kentucky and proceeded to make musical history - not just with their songs but with their longevity as well. Forty-six years later, that same band Exile is still rockin' with a mix of original and seminal members. Nations have had shorter life spans. Nowadays, J. P. Pennington, Les Taylor, Sonny LeMaire, Marlon Hargis and Steve Goetzman can look back on a career arc that embraces 11 No. 1 country and pop hits, two gold albums and fans by the hundreds of thousands.

Juice Newton - "I always see singing as a painting project", Juice Newton says. It's very visual for me - the story of the song unfolds before my eyes while I sing. This Grammy, CMA and Billboard award-winning artist has multiple platinum and gold albums, ten million records sold and 15 Top 10 hits under her belt.

BOB EUBANKS is a kaleidoscope of an industry staple! On-camera he’s the effervescent, quick-witted host of The New Year’s Rose Parade for Tribune TV that entertains 44 million homes annually. Off-camera he’s the entrepreneur that brought the Beatles to the US, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Barry Manilow and Elton John to Concert History. His management talent included crafting the careers of Dolly Parton and Barbara Mandrell.

The live Not So Newlywed Game follows the original format of the television show using four married couples who are either newlyweds or feel like newlyweds. (In other words, it doesn’t matter how long they have been married.) The show consists of Bob narrating hilarious clips from the television show and then playing a half-hour version of the game. The Not So Newlywed Game is always funny and is a great entertainment opportunity.

Based on the 2003 Grammy-winning CD of the same name, Go Tell It On The Mountain features The Blind Boys of Alabama in a joyful holiday concert performing holiday hymns, carols and seasonal pop standards, blending material from the CD with other traditional favorites. The CD has sold over 200,000 copies and this annual tour has become a popular holiday event since its 2003 debut. It has inspired and uplifted audiences of all ages at such prestigious venues as Washington DC's Lisner Auditorium, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Atlanta's Symphony Hall, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco and now the Higley Center for the Performing Arts.

  Daniel Boling is a songwriter with a storyteller's ear for detail and a balladeer's turn of phrase. His songs are inhabited by interesting characters drawn from Daniel's life, family and friends: the vagabond running off with a tiny circus to tour the West; an aging Viet Nam veteran looking back with surprise at his departed youth; a young rancher inheriting his grandfather's nearly worn out rangeland and hoping he can hold on and live up to the family legacy; a passenger on Flight 93 calling his wife to say goodbye; and morons with a death wish proving Darwin's theory of evolution! His finger-picked guitar and banjitar support a good, clear tenor voice that evokes his characters' emotions perfectly.
 
Songwriting honors include:
*1st Place Songwriter - Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival 2012
*Winner - Love Songs - Walnut Valley Festival 2010
*Winner - Feeling Blue Songs - Walnut Valley Festival 2010
1st Place Songwriter, Woody Guthrie Folk Festival 2007 - Okemah, OK
*Winner - Songs for Children, Walnut Valley Festival 2005 - Winfield, KS
*Alternate Winner - Love Songs, Walnut Valley Festival 2005
*Daniel’s song WELCOME HOME has been chosen as the Festival Theme Song for the
Albuquerque Folk Festival - Albuquerque, NM

Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone is a multi-talented entertainer, who has been delighting
audiences nearly all his life. He was born in Manchester, England and at the age of fifteen, Peter achieved international fame as “Herman”, lead singer of the legendary pop band Herman’s Hermits. His classic hits include: “I’m Into Something Good”, “Mrs. Brown, you’ve Got A Lovely Daughter”, “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”, “Silhouettes”, “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat”, “Wonderful World”, “Just A Little Bit
Better”, “There’s A Kind of Hush”, “A Must To Avoid”, “Listen People”, “No Milk Today” “The End of the World” “Leaning On A Lamp Post”, and “Dandy”. Ultimately, Herman’s Hermits sold over fifty-two million recordings. In all, fourteen singles and seven albums went gold. As “Herman”, the photogenic Noone graced the cover of nearly every international publication including Time Magazine. He performed on hundreds of television shows and appeared with such luminaries as Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin and Danny Kaye. Accompanied by his band, Herman’s Hermits, Noone currently performs over 200 concerts a year. He consistently plays to sold-out venues and his admirers span the generations. Today’s teen girls scream just as passionately as their mothers did back in 1965, prompting
VH1 to select Noone as their viewer’s choice for the “Sexiest Artist of the Year”. There is no doubt that Peter Noone’s extraordinary talent, disarming wit, handsome features and compelling stage presence will continue to delight fans of all ages, for a long, long time to come.

R. Carlos Nakai, Will Clipman, William Eaton

R. Carlos Nakai: Of Navajo-Ute heritage, R. Carlos Nakai is the world’s premier performer of the Native American flute.  He began his musical studies on the trumpet.  His musical interests took a turn when he was given a traditional cedar flute as a gift and challenged to master it.  As an artist, he is an adventurer and risk taker, always giving his musical imagination free rein.  Nakai is also an iconoclastic traditionalist who views his cultural heritage not only as a source and inspiration, but also a dynamic continuum of natural change, growth, and adaptation subject to the artist’s expressive needs.  He has sold over four million albums in the course of his career.  Nakai has received 8 Grammy® nominations.

Will Clipman: Will Clipman began playing his father's drums and his mother's piano at the age of three. He played his first professional gig at fourteen, and has since then has mastered a pan-global palette of over one hundred percussion instruments in addition to the traditional drumset. Will is a six-time GRAMMY® Nominee, a three-time Native American Music Award Winner, a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award Winner, a New Age Reporter Music Award Winner.

William Eaton: In late 1978, he frequently played in the moonlight near Arcosanti, Paolo Soleri’s experimental community in Central Arizona. Interested people collected to listen to these sessions. Eaton's awareness of the acoustic properties of various spaces led him to stage impromptu concerts in a variety of improbable locations. Handwritten signs promoted events at the Arizona Sand and Gravel Building, the Central Arizona Project Siphon Tunnel at Granite Reef Dam, and the Monroe Street Civic Building, culminating in 1980 with the Sunset Moonrise Concert on South Mountain, the beginning of his formal performance career. For the following 22 years, Eaton has explored the ways people can be brought to interact with music. 

Tight harmonies, universal humor, and unbelievable a cappella energy = The Alley Cats

THE ALLEY CATS began at Fullerton College in California, and landed their first professional gig at Disneyland's "Blast to the Past." Soon after, they appeared on TV, radio shows, corporate events, Performing Arts Centers, fairs, festivals, schools, and even a USO show aboard the John C. Stennis aircraft carrier welcoming home the troops from Iraq. Currently, the CATS are the opening act for Jay Leno in Las Vegas.

John Michael Montgomery has turned an uncanny ability to relate to fans into one of country music's most storied careers. Behind the string of hit records, the roomful of awards and the critical and fan accolades that have defined his phenomenal success lies a connection that goes beyond his undeniable talent and his proven knack for picking hits. Since the days when "Life's A Dance" turned him from an unknown artist into a national star, John Michael’s rich baritone has carried that most important of assets--believability. Few artists in any genre sing with more heart than this handsome Kentucky-born artist.

  Ken Waldman has drawn on his 25 years in Alaska to produce poems, stories, and fiddle tunes that combine into a performance uniquely his. A former college professor, Waldman has had published six full-length poetry collections, a memoir, a children's book, and has released nine CDs that mix old-time Appalachian-style string-band music with original poetry. Since 1995 he’s toured full-time, performing at some of the nation’s leading universities, festivals, arts centers, and clubs.  His most recent books are the memoir, Are You Famous? (Catalyst Book Press, 2008), which chronicles Waldman’s adventures on tour throughout the United States, and D is for Dog Team (Nomadic Press, 2009), a sequence of Alaska-set acrostic poems for young readers. Nashville Scene has called the memoir, “a travel guide for aspiring free spirits.” The University of Alaska Press, which distributes the children’s book, says D is for Dog Team is destined to “be a fireside treasure for the whole family.”  Among Waldman’s CDs are two for children, Fiddling Poets on Parade (2005) and D is for Dog Team (2009), which goes with the children’s book of the same title. On all CDs, Waldman is joined by a number of ace accompanists. Of particular note is the double CD, All Originals, All Traditionals (2006): one CD contains Waldman originals with a five-piece string band; the other CD contains Waldman and friends playing traditional tunes to Alaska-set poems, and includes a ten-minute treatment of Waldman’s 1996 plane crash near Nome. Though he still performs solo on occasion, Waldman teams with other musicians when he headlines such venues as Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, The Ark in Ann Arbor, The Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., or else for concert series and festivals. Recently, he’s begun bringing a whole troupe of musicians for performing arts series shows. He is also a popular visiting artist in classrooms. Using both his fiddle and a repertoire of proven writing exercises, he has led workshops in over 200 schools in 31 states nationwide, and has been a guest writer at over 80 colleges and universities, including University of Tennessee, University of Alabama Birmingham, Knox College, SUNY Brockport, and San Diego State University.

The untimely death of John Denver in 1997 was a tragedy that was felt the world over. Such a void in the musical world left John's ardent fans demanding that his music survive. CBS television responded by producing a made for TV movie: "Take Me Home: the John Denver Story," in which Jim Curry's voice was selected as the voice of John Denver. Jim Curry has now created the ultimate tribute experience, emerging as the top performer of John Denver's music today. Often performing with John Denver's former band members, Jim Curry's tribute is the first and only full-length John Denver tribute to headline in Las Vegas and has been celebrated nationally and internationally.

Joe Bethancourt, Jim Pipkin, Linda Bilque

This show returns for an encore performance for the fifth year in a row.   It features Arizona music legend Joe Bethancourt, a master of the banjo and just about any other stringed instrument you can name.  He is joined by the ever popular Jim Pipkin as well as Linda Bilque.  You will be singing along by the time the evening concludes when all three performers take the stage for the finale. 

If one word describes the new Red Molly CD, Light in the Sky, that word is joyous. Once again, with the "tick-tight arrangements, crystalline vocals and caramel harmonies" that the Boston Globe praised, Red Molly creates an album with gorgeous a cappella ballads, bluegrass-tinged folk and a touch of jazzy western swing, all done up in Red Molly's trademark three-part harmonies, signature dobro licks and inventive arrangements. The title sets the theme for the 14 tracks: optimism, joy, and excitement for the future.

Red Molly knows about optimism and joy. The band's fans, referred to as "RedHeads", have always responded to the sense that the band is a group of friends, sharing songs in their living room. That's exactly how it felt in 2004 when Laurie MacAllister (guitar, banjo, bass), Abbie Gardner (dobro, guitar) and Carolann Solebello (guitar, bass) sat around a campfire at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, singing and talking about their favorite songwriters. Knowing they had stumbled into something extraordinary, they formed Red Molly and spent the next seven years on the road.

From the start, the trio got attention with their lively, engaging stage performances. They moved quickly from NYC coffeehouses to the festival circuit in less than two years, winning notices for their performances at Merlefest, the Philadephia Folk Festival, and NPR's Mountain Stage. Between knocking out audiences from coast to coast, the trio found time to record three albums: Never Been to Vegas in 2006; 2008's Love and Other Tragedies, which spent ten weeks in the Top 15 on the Americana Chart, and 2010's James which logged four months in the Top 40 on the Americana Chart, peaking at #4, and landing at #23 in the year's Top 100.

Melanie, who became the voice of an era in one magical instant onstage at Woodstock, has been putting the pieces in order.  Pieces of a career, scattered by the winds of experience and assembled again by the force of love into the most personal and brilliant moments of her musical journey. Melanie is poised to enlighten new generations about what it means to sing with both passion and eloquence, to write at once with intelligence and emotion, and to inspire through song… and nobody does this better than Melanie.  Others learned this that night at Woodstock, where as a New York kid barely known outside of the coffeehouse circuit in Greenwich Village, she sang her song "Beautiful People" and inspired the first panorama of candles and cigarette lighters ever raised at a concert event. That, in turn, moved the young singer to write "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain"), which sold more than one million copies in 1970 and prompted Billboard, Cashbox, Melody Maker, Record World, and Bravo to anoint her as female vocalist of the year. Her single "Brand New Key," an infectious romp about freedom and roller skates, topped the charts in 1971.

“RICKY NELSON REMEMBERED” is a unique multi media entertainment event featuring the live music of Ricky Nelson’s hit songs (including “Hello Mary Lou”, “Travelin’ Man”, “Garden Party”) performed by Ricky’s own twin sons Matthew & Gunnar and includes never before seen big screen video footage of the NELSON family with interviews from celebrities influenced by Ricky Nelson. 

Fate has a magical way of bringing people together. Take the case of Joe and Hannah, aka Acoustic Eidolon. In 1995, Hannah, a studio cellist, received a call to play on a Boulder ensemble’s record. Hannah listened in amazement as directions to the recording studio told her to turn on a small road near her home, and then turn down her own street past her house!  Little did Hannah know that across the street and three houses away lived Joe, the greatest double-neck guitjo player in the world (OK, the only double-neck guitjo player in the world). A few years after they met, Joe and Hannah both found themselves between full-time musical engagements. Joe called Hannah, saying he’d always wanted to hear the cello and the guitjo together. He had a feeling the harp-like sound of the guitjo, combined with the warmth of Hannah’s cello, would be beautiful together. So on a snowy day in February 1998, they got together to play for the first time. What happened next was magic. Captivated by the music they created together, Joe and Hannah immediately agreed to clear out their schedules, start rehearsing full-time, and form what would become Acoustic Eidolon. But, fate wasn’t finished with Hannah and Joe. What started as a musical/business partnership and friendship blossomed into their marriage on October 14, 2001. Hannah and Joe (and sons Zach and Alex) became a family. Joe and Hannah joke that this was a marriage of convenience since they were already together all the time anyway! But, anyone watching them perform can feel the love that draws them together. Their love for one another, and their passion for life, speaks through their music.

LUMA is a state of the art, cutting edge show that uses the dark as a canvas and light as the brush. All of us have a memory of playing with flashlights under the covers or a sparkler in the backyard.  Humans’ fascination with light is universal. With over fifteen years of technical research and development behind it, LUMA has pioneered this new genre of performance art by combining rhythmic gymnastics, juggling, magic, puppetry, physics, dance and experimental methods with hi-tech self-illuminated objects.

 LUMA is a show of unseen performers producing a swirling tapestry of light that is constantly in motion while depicting the light we see in our lives. Fireflies, shooting stars, carnival rides, digital fireworks, computer screen savers, the Northern Lights, EKG monitors, and the  body electric are but a sampling of the lights humanity experiences and that LUMA brings to life on a darkened stage. With shows in Japan,India,Venezuela,Scotland,Italy andHolland, LUMA has astonished audiences of many world cultures with its innovative, creative and revolutionary approach.

RubberBand is a perfect name for Ryan Shupe and his band of amazing musicians. Each member possesses years of experience on his respective instrument and when the band comes together their collective talent is explosive and undeniable.

LeeLee Robert grew up in Arizona where three-part harmony with her brother and twin sister became her favorite child’s play. She wrote her first song at 14 and started her professional career at 16 years old performing in the coffee houses of the 60’s.   Over the next three decades she worked her way up to singing with a 13-piece orchestra at the renowned Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and performing worldwide.  Lee is best known for her style she calls "Cowgirl Jazz." where she combines the subtle colors and textures of  jazz and blues with the storytelling strengths of traditional western music. She is a high-energy performer who inspires her audiences as she entertains with her originals as well as “old favorites.” She recently released her 6th CD entitled, “Western Stars,” that placed #l8 on the Top 30 Cowboy/Western Albums.