The Little Mercies is a folk trio of three singing and songwriting multi-instrumentalists, Bronwyn Chelette (bass, banjo), Rosalee Walsh (fiddle, banjo, dance) and Shanice Richards (fiddle, guitar, dance). The three friends found each other through the Tallahassee old time music and dance scene. Each of them stood out at the local jams for their respective instrumental skills, distinctive style, and voices that could cut through the onslaught of fiddle and banjos.
With a lifetime of singing and over a decade of experience playing, Bronwyn produces a sound that recalls the high, lonesome mountains of the Appalachians and the deep, still waters of the Florida swamps. Shanice’s experience in reggae, hip-hop, jazz and traditional gospel flavors her playing of old time tunes with soulful vocaling and a unique, genre-jumping improvisatory sound. Rosalee’s roots as an old time and bluegrass fiddler and training as a classical chamber musician have led her to create intentional and conscious arrangements that blend genres. Together, they present traditional music with authenticity and innovation alongside originals that draw from their musical upbringings and experiences.
Nora Bear,11, has been singing since she could talk, and she hasn’t stopped since. After her first performance at a summer camp at the Music Compound at age 8, she was hooked. Since then, she has written a handful of songs (mostly about her baby brother, and the challenges and adventures she faces growing up), and has jumped in in-between “step dude’s” local sets to sing a song or two whenever she gets the chance.
She is such a talented performer we just HAD to invite her when we saw her at the Will McLean Music Festival. You will NOT be disappointed!
“To hear Corey play the blues is to step back into history to the formative days of the genre, when field hollers mixed with African rhythms, jazz, folklore and even a touch of vaudeville to create something distinctly American. The Panama City musician has his eye on the future. Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, Norman Blake and Doc Watson would be tapping their feet. “-Kerry CappsPhotographer/Music Connisseur. Panama City, FL
The Unquiet Grave began from a desire to set old English ballads and fantasy tales to new music and theatrics. Spurred by the rediscovery of a Child Ballad book in a family home that rekindled enthusiasm for these tales mixing with the artistry of Elise’s singing and theater along with Randall’s guitar and composition. This sparked the desire to break from traditional song forms in order to evolve and bring new life to these rich ballads, tales, folklore, and fantasy worlds of yore.
Founded by Elise and Randall Krieger in 2019 the two have performed as The Unquiet Grave as a duo and as a band with as many as 8 members performing in a variety of venues across the US including renaissance fairs, festivals, house concerts, pubs, wineries, theaters, and more. Their music combines the beautiful and alluring vocal stylings of operatic singing with other folk and traditional song stylings of Elise mixed with virtuosic lute accompaniment and rich contrapuntal lute melodies with contemporary harmonie and rhythmic changes pulling music influences from contemporary classical, and renaissance music, to metal, celtic, and world music. They perform a varied repertoire including old English ballads, renaissance music, celtic, traditional folk songs, originals, and occasionally parody covers of modern songs rewritten to be “old timey”.
“Daddy was a seeker,” says Mare Wakefield. “Eventually he became a Salvationist minister. Mama was a gypsy, loving nothing more than a long stretch of highway.”
Born with wanderlust in her DNA, Mare lived in eight different places before she was ten. “It was a roller-coaster way to grow up, but my brother and I learned to fit in fast,” she says. “We picked up Wisconsin accents in two weeks. Eighteen months later we were drawling like native Texans.”
For Turkish-born Nomad, the journey was equally varied. His musical education began at the exclusive Istanbul Conservatory and continued with a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Nomad’s gift for musical arrangements includes a full arsenal of classical, folk and jazz chops.
Versatility and travel-scapes are evident in their music. Listeners roam through Arizona deserts, Oklahoma oil fields and Amsterdam canals. Journeys go inward too, exploring hope, heartbreak and barroom brawls. Story and song are woven together by Mare’s intimate delivery and Nomad’s exquisite piano and accordion.
Currently based in Nashville, the pair were 2016 and 2015 Kerrville NewFolk finalists and 2015 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists.
David Roth strikes many chords, hearts, and minds with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories, sense of the hilarious, and powerful singing and subject matter. David’s songs have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Kennedy Center, Peter, Paul, & Mary and Kingston Trio CDs (and 15 of his own), NASA’s Goddard Space Center (“Rocket Science” went up on the Space Shuttle Atlantis’s May 2009 mission to repair the Hubble Telescope), and the classic folk song books “Rise Up Singing” and “Rise Again” (sequel),
David has also taught singing, songwriting, and performance at the Augusta Heritage workshops, SummerSongs (NY – where he currently serves as Executive Director), Common Ground on the Hill (MD), the Woods Dance & Music Camp (Canada), WUMB’s Summer Acoustic Music Week (NH), Moab Folk Camp (UT), Rowe Center (MA), Pendle Hill (PA), Lamb’s Retreat (MI), the Swannanoa Gathering (NC), the National Wellness Institute (WI), and for many other songwriting groups and associations around the country. David is also founder/director of the Cape Cod Songwriters Retreats and creator/host of Cape Cod’s “Full Moon Open Mic” which, for the past 20 years has provided a forum for musicians to connect and be heard while at the same time collecting donations ( more than $17,000 to date) for local non-profits to help neighbors in need.
