Artists & Instructors
A color image of Nic Gareiss, a white person with blonde hair wearing a blue waistcoat and plaid trousers dancing. They are elevated several feet off the ground.
Nic Gareiss (dance)
Named one of Dance Magazine's “25 to Watch,” dancer, musician, and dance researcher Nic Gareiss (he/they) has been hailed by the New York Times for his “dexterous melding of Irish and Appalachian dance” and called “the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene” by the Boston Herald. They reimagine movement as a musical practice, recasting dance as a medium that appeals to both eyes and ears. Gareiss engages many percussive dance traditions, weaving together a dance technique facilitating his love of improvisation, traditional flatfoot, clog, and step dance footwork vocabulary, and musical collaboration. They have concertized in sixteen countries including at London's Barbican Centre, the Irish National Concert Hall, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Kennedy Center. In 2020, Nic received the Michigan Heritage Award, the state's highest distinction for traditional artists.
Sheila Graziano is a white woman. She has long, wavy, salt 'n pepper hair, and a smile reflecting her love of dance. She is posed sitting sideways, looking over her shoulder at the camera. She is dangling a pair of black tap shoes, which are embellished with colorful stars, by her shoulder.
Sheila Graziano (dance)
Sheila Graziano discovered her passion for dance at an early age. Rooted in ten years of tap lessons as a child, her enthusiasm grew with the discovery of Appalachian clogging and other forms of traditional dance. Smitten with the art, Sheila Graziano devotes much of her time to continually developing her skills and knowledge of traditional dance, including American, English, Irish, Scottish, and Canadian dance steps. Ms. Graziano was a founder and member of The Crosstown Cloggers and Crow's Feet, and is the artistic director of The CommonWealth Dance Collective. She teaches ongoing workshops for adults, private lessons, various dance workshops at festivals and events, and has been the dance instructor and choreographer for The Saline Fiddlers for 29 years. She is also steeped in The Marley Project; a video archive of a series of dances from the Vaudeville era, with tutorials, for future use by interested dancers, historians, etc.
Sheila is very committed to passing on the 'common wealth' of knowledge of the dances and dance styles that she has learned over the years, and welcomes the opportunity to work with Earful of Fiddle campers this summer!
A colored photo of Enrique Rosario, a Latino man with black hair wearing a dark blue blazer with black shirt and pants. He is jumping in the air with his left leg tucked underneath and his right leg straight out at the camera showing the underside of his silver and sparkle tap shoes.
Enrique Rosario (dance)
Enrique Rosario (he/him) is an internationally-recognized professional tap dancer, choreographer, performer, and instructor based in North Carolina. He is a mentee of Sarah Reich, a 2018 YoungArts winner in choreography, and an alumni of the 2019 Tap Program of Jacob’s Pillow. He has been working professionally since he was fifteen years old and has performed nationally with some of the highest esteemed tap dancers and companies working today including Sarah Reich, Dorrance Dance, and Reverb Tap Company. He has taught internationally at tap festivals and intensives including RIFF Dallas, OC Tap Festival, and Sarah Reich’s Tap Music Project. He is currently the tap director at InMotion Dance Center in Winston-Salem, NC. He has been choreographing since he was fifteen and has had his work presented and awarded since he was sixteen years old. Also a director and producer, Enrique has been producing his own works since 2021, and is currently garnering praise for his dance short film series “A Love Story” featuring dancers and choreographers representing different love stories.
A color photo of Sophie Wellington, a white woman with brown curly hair. She is wearing a green summery dress that flows while she dances. She is flatfooting in blue suede shoes to the music of an old time stringband. The view from the side shows that she is grinning ear to ear. Photo by Arthur Stevens.
Sophie Wellington (dance)
Sophie (they/she) is a Boston-based musician who draws inspiration from old-time fiddling, percussive dance, and jazz improvisation. Raised in Staunton, VA by concert pianist Lynne Mackey and old-time musician and dance caller Bill Wellington, her childhood was steeped in shared music and movement. Contra dances, choirs, music festivals and camps shaped her curiosity and inspired her to pursue music professionally. In 2021, after graduating from Berklee College of Music, she recorded and released her debut solo record Roving Jewel. This collection of fiddle tunes, dancing duets, and vocal jazz standards marks a new phase of her musical career. Improvisation is at the heart of her relationship with sound and space. By using this spontaneous element to interpret rhythm, harmony, and melody, she engages the listener – and the music itself – in a conversation.
Bruce Bauman is an elderly white man wearing bifocals, a neatly trimmed gray beard with thinning and receding gray hair. He looks like he is concentrating on improving his fiddling technique. Concentrating very hard.
Bruce Bauman (fiddle)
Since his Plymouth, Michigan, childhood Bruce Bauman (he/him) has had an interest in fiddling and square dancing. An elder cousin spun 78 RPM fiddle records by “the Henry Ford Orchestra” while he called dances in his barn. Hearing broadcasts of the Renfro Valley (KY) Barn Dance on WJR Detroit was an asset, too. In 1976 Bruce took up the fiddle in earnest and with his exposure to the fiddlers at the Wheatland Music Festivals, and a growing collection of recordings, he determined to learn to play. Twenty years later the opportunity came along to teach fiddling and the students have been coming ever since.
Allison de Groot, a white woman with long, brown hair, is wearing a blue jacket, a dark t-shirt, and black pants. She sits on the ground with her legs crossed and a banjo in her lap, looking to the side.
Allison de Groot (banjo)
On clawhammer banjo, Allison de Groot has become a significant voice in the North American traditional, Americana and roots music scenes. Her style is adventurous and grounded, and No Depression writes it “transports the listener to a different plane”. Starting out on banjo in her hometown of Winnipeg, MB, Allison’s grown into a career of exciting collaborations and continued musical exploration. She has performed and recorded alongside some of the most renowned traditional musicians in North American and Europe and was nominated by the Americana Music Association for 2023 ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’.
Collaboration is at the centre of Allison's music. Her duo with fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves has been described by Bandcamp Daily as “one living, breathing organism”. Allison and Tatiana create a sound that is adventurous, masterful, and original. They expand on the eccentricities of old songs, while never losing sight of what makes them endure. Their latest release ‘Hurricane Clarice’ won two Canadian Folk Music Awards and was nominated for ‘Traditional Album of the Year’ at the Juno Awards.
Alongside bandmates Tatiana Hargreaves, percussive dancer Nic Gareiss and legendary fiddler Bruce Molsky, Allison has performed at festivals such as Newport Folk Festival, Pickathon, Red Wing Roots, Winnipeg Folk Festival and Hardly Strictly. For a second year in a row, Allison and Tatiana are working in the Celtic Connections Transatlantic Sessions house band led by Jerry Douglas.
Tatiana Hargreaves, a white woman with short, dark hair, is wearing a long-sleeved black shirt with multi-colored flowers embroidered on it, and dark jeans. She is smiling and holding a fiddle,
Tatiana Hargreaves (fiddle)
Over the past decade, Tatiana Hargreaves has been on the forefront of an up and coming generation of old time, bluegrass and new acoustic musicians. From placing first at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest, to her bluegrass fiddling on Laurie Lewis’ GRAMMY-nominated album The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Hargreaves shows a musical fluency that flows between old time and bluegrass worlds with ease. She has toured with musicians such as Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Laurie Lewis and Jake Blount. Her current duo with banjo extraordinaire Allison de Groot has been described as a “can’t-miss pair in,” by Paste Magazine and has garnered the attention of Rolling Stone Country, the IBMA awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Hargreaves has been the lecturer of bluegrass fiddle at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill since 2018.
Ruby John, a Native American woman with long brown hair. She’s playing the fiddle and wearing a green jacket and black shirt. She is outside, standing in front of a lake with beautiful blue water.
Ruby John (fiddle)
Ruby John is a Traditional Fiddler and a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa Chippewa Indians from Northern Michigan. Ruby learned to fiddle the traditional way by ear, listening to and learning from experienced fiddlers while attending OFMA Jamborees (Old-Time Michigan Fiddlers Association), TC Celtic Sessions, Algomatrad Traditional Music and Dance camp (St. Joseph Island ON), Elder Youth Legacy Métis Collective and Bluegrass Festivals. Ruby has performed her traditional fiddling throughout the US and Canada and looks forward to sharing this music she loves with others.
A color photo of Jake Blount, a biracial Black person with curly Black hair, brown eyes and a short beard, playing the banjo. He is in a white room with a Greek column, looking to the right of the camera.
Jake Blount (fiddle, banjo)
Jake Blount (he/they) is an award-winning old-time banjoist, fiddler, singer and scholar based in Washington, DC. Blount specializes in the music of Black and Native American communities in the southeastern United States, and in the regional style of Ithaca, New York. His teachers include Rhiannon Giddens, Bruce Molsky and Judy Hyman. He has claimed first place in both the Banjo and the Traditional Band categories at the prestigious Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, WV. He has shared his music and research at the Smithsonian Institution, Yale University, and Berklee School of Music, as well as numerous other venues and institutions. Blount tours domestically and internationally as a solo performer, with his duo Tui, and with his band The Moose Whisperers. In the spring of 2020, Jake released “Spider Tales”, his critically acclaimed solo album.
Grace (a non-binary white person) sits cross legged on a leather loveseat in a mid-century wood paneled office, leaning forward and smiling with their chin resting on their hand and their Kevin Enoch banjolele resting next to them. They’re wearing chunky red loafers, railroad worker jeans, a black suit jacket, and a button-down black lace shirt.
Grace van’t Hof (ukelele)
Michigan native Grace van’t Hof (they/them) has developed and taken a unique shade of ukulele playing across the United States and overseas with such groups as Bill and the Belles, Aaron Jonah Lewis’ Ragtime Banjo Revival, and Chris Jones & the Night Drivers. Driven by inspiration from American popular music of the early 20th century, Grace thoughtfully incorporates their uke stylings into genres from bluegrass to 80’s pop rock. Most recently, Grace brought their custom steel stringed baritone ukulele to the hallowed stage of the Grand Ole Opry where their solo was featured on the Night Drivers IBMA nominated song, “Riding the Chief.” A devoted fan of early 20th century music, Grace strives to return the ukulele to its rightful place in swing, country, and popular music. In addition to being an accomplished ukulele performer and session musician, Grace also plays the 5-string banjo professionally, is a published illustrator, and is the three-time reigning International Bluegrass Music Association’s Graphic Designer of the Year. Grace makes their home in Detroit, Michigan.
Lindsay McCaw, a white woman with long, dark hair is pictured in a black and white photo. She is smiling, holding a fiddle, and wearing a fez.
Lindsay McCaw (guitar & dance calling)
Lindsay McCaw (she/her) is a musician, square dance caller and puppeteer who lives in Detroit. Lindsay is a founding member of the Detroit Square Dance Society, and has called dances around the country. She plays fiddle, guitar and Hawaiian guitar in several bands including the Corn Potato String Band, the Boblo Islanders and Roochie Toochie and the Ragtime Shepherd Kings. Her puppet company is called "Flying Cardboard Theater" and produces the Detroit Cantastoria Festival.
A black and white photo of Reed Stutz with short dark hair, wearing a light-colored shirt, and jeans, playing the mandolin while standing outside on a path.
Reed Stutz (mandolin, guitar)
Reed Stutz brings a powerful rhythmic sensibility and evocative, soulful energy to string band music. Adept as a multi-instrumentalist and singer (mandolin, guitar, banjo), he is fueled by a love for old time and early bluegrass, and his inclination to dig into their roots has fed a distinctive sound with colorful blending of tradition and personality. Close study of Bill Monroe’s mandolin style serves as one anchor to Reed's sound, from which he has delicately constructed a hard-driving, fiery edge woven with tender expressiveness.
Collaborations have taken Reed to stages and festivals across the country, as a member Molsky’s Mountain Drifters (Bruce Molsky, Allison de Groot) and with musicians including Alice Gerrard, Tatiana Hargreaves, Bella White, Joe Troop, Joseph Decosimo and Laura Orshaw. His playing and singing can be heard on Bella White’s acclaimed Rounder Records album “Just Like Leaving,” Joe Troop’s “Borrowed Time,” Laura Orshaw’s “Solitary Diamond,” and a forthcoming album from Alice Gerrard.
Emily Doebler, a white woman with long, dark hair is pictured in a black and white photo. She is standing on a wood floor in front of a brick wall, while looking to her left.
Emily Doebler (dance collaborator)
Emily Doebler (she/her) works closely with musicians of all kinds to create movement that emphasizes the shared connection between dance and music. She was first introduced to traditional percussive dance forms at five years old through an arts program run by dancer Jeannine Sladick. Growing up, Emily participated as both a student and performer at many different festivals and camps that nurtured her interest in percussive dance and traditional dance and music. Additionally, Emily has been awarded three Michigan Traditional Arts Apprenticeships with Nic Gareiss. Those apprenticeship opportunities provided Emily the opportunity to focus on improvisation, the complexities and interconnectedness of music and percussive dance, and the history of traditional dance and music. Emily embraces the opportunity to be curious about the collaboration of movement and sound, and emphasizes the importance of reconsidering the conventional confines of movement and expression. Emily also holds a Master of Public Policy from Michigan State University.
A color photo of Gray Reynolds, a white person with short light brown hair and round glasses, who is playing the banjo and singing. They are standing onstage at a microphone and facing toward the camera. Photo taken by Ana Monteiro.
Gray Reynolds (musical collaborator)
Gray Reynolds (they/them) is a multi-instrumentalist who grew up in the mid-Michigan folk music community. They started out studying fiddle with Bruce Bauman and have since branched out to include other instruments like tenor banjo, mandolin, and guitar in their repertoire. Recently, Gray has been a participant in Ethno Sweden and Ethno USA, two branches of an international traditional music camp, where they spent two weeks learning and teaching folk music with other musicians from around the world. In addition to making music, Gray is a printmaker whose work often draws from and celebrates the American traditional music community.