(Photo | Courtesy of Sisters Folk Festival)
We’ve got an incredibly diverse lineup this year with over 30 accomplished musicians and bands, and we’re especially proud of the absolutely stacked lineup of powerhouse female performers we’ll have on our festival stages. Read more about these artists below and view our full lineup to learn more about ALL of our 2022 performers.
Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans brings the best of New Orleans to every performance. They are a group whose primary interest lies in spreading the culture and traditional music of New Orleans all over the world, through performances and education. They have appeared performing in numerous radio and television shows, national commercials, music videos and movies. Ketchens herself has performed for four U.S. Presidents. Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. She is a legendary clarinetist and a champion for her city not to be missed!
Colorado songwriter Emily Scott Robinson beckons to those who are lost, lonely, or learning the hard way with American Siren, her first album for Oh Boy Records. With hints of bluegrass, country and folk, the eloquent collection shares her gift for storytelling through her pristine soprano and the perspective of her unconventional path into music. The Greensboro, North Carolina native showcases her talent as a storyteller by gracefully blending imagined characters with meaningful people she’s encountered on her journey.
Lindsay Lou has been making soulful, poignant music for the last decade. An undeniable powerhouse, Lou’s remarkable gifts as a singer, songwriter, musician and performer demand the listener’s attention. Her singing floats over the masterful playing and deep groove of her band with both a fierce intensity and a tender intimacy. Born the daughter of a coal miner and the granddaughter of a Rainbow Gathering healer, Lindsay Lou grew up with room in her heart for both blue collar grit and mystical mind expansion.
Rainbow Girls are an eclectic folk trio hailing from the golden countryside just north of California’s Bay Area. Vanessa May, Erin Chapin and Caitlin Gowdey seamlessly combine soul-touching harmonies, vari-textured instrumentals and poignant, lyrical content into a beautiful sonic tapestry. Their music delves deeply into themes of the human experience: hopeful love, honest self-reflection and pursuits of social justice.
After forming serendipitously in late 2021 thanks to an all-female festival collaboration, Big Richard has quickly gained national recognition for their charismatic stage presence and their vocal/instrumental prowess. Members Bonnie Sims, Joy Adams, Emma Rose and Eve Panning are fueled by sisterhood, harmony and humor… along with the shared desire to rage fiddle tunes and smash the patriarchy.
If the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, then The Sweet Water Warblers are no exception. Comprised of Michigan songbirds Rachael Davis, Lindsay Lou and May Erlewine, the folk trio’s organic vocal harmonies and seamlessly interwoven instrumentation leaves listeners breathless. Each of the ladies’ bring with them a regarded solo career within the Americana and roots worlds, and individual perspectives on traditional music.
Telmary started her musical career with Free Hole Negro in 1999 before joining Interactivo in 2002, a stellar collective of Cuban musicians whose singular groove layers rap, funk, jazz and soul atop traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms. She launched her solo career with her flagship album A Diario, which won the Cubadisco award for Best Hip-Hop Album in 2007. After seven years in Toronto, Canada, Telmary returned to Havana where she formed her band HabanaSana.
Los Angeles-based street singer, guitarist and roots music revolutionary Sunny War has always been an outsider, always felt the drive to define her place in the world through music and songwriting. Her restless spirit, a byproduct of growing up semi-nomadic with a single mother, led her to Venice Beach, California, where she’s been grinding the pavement for some years now, making a name for her prodigious guitar work and incisive songwriting, which touches on everything from police violence to alcoholism to love found and lost.
Nashville-based singer/songwriter Caroline Spence is known for her gift for storytelling with songs featuring thoughtful musings on human nature. Spence has earned a reputation for her honest, introspective songwriting that transcended the lines of folk, country & roots music, drawing comparisons to artists like Patty Griffin and Emmylou Harris. Earning critical accolades & glowing respect from within the Music City songwriting community for her 2017 LP, Spades & Roses, she signed with the Rounder label and made her label debut with 2019’s Mint Condition.
Sisters-local Beth Wood is a modern-day troubadour, poet and believer in the power of word and song. Beth has been writing, creating, recording and touring full-time for 23 years — delighting and inspiring audiences across the country with her exceptional musicianship, intelligent songwriting, powerhouse voice and warm & commanding stage presence. Wood has released an impressive eleven solo albums, one duo album and one collaboration live album to date. Her dream is move something with her art, whether it’s a swirling emotion or a curious mind or tapping feet.
Kentucky singer-songwriter Abby Hamilton has garnered a reputation as a can’t-miss live performer, opening for acts like Wynonna Judd, Shakey Graves, Kelsey Waldon, Valley Queen, Arlo McKinley and Justin Wells. Her long-anticipated second EP, Afraid of the Dark, perfectly encapsulating her unique sound that feels just as comfortable in the Appalachian mountains as it does in a whiskey-soaked bar room in the city. With influences ranging from the classic country divas to Bruce Springsteen, Abby Hamilton wins over audiences with her clever lyrics and entrancing vocals.