Saturday Will McLean Stage Performers
The Will McLean Stage features outstanding Florida Artists. These artists represent the BEST of Florida Folk and Acoustic Performers. It is funded by a grant from the Will McLean Foundation. We are grateful for their support and commitment to Florida music and musicians.
12:00 pm (Round) David Zilmer
David Zilmer is a singer, songwriter, and the charismatic frontman of the band Tewahedo. Through his music and performances, he has helped raise more than $32 million for nonprofits across Florida, using his art as both a creative force and a vehicle for impact. As both a solo artist and with Tewahedo, he has toured extensively across the United States, building a reputation for powerful live shows and a signature sound that defies easy categorization.
Often described as a blend of indie rock and neo-soul, Zilmer refers to his own style as “freedom music”—a sonic space where genre boundaries fall away and emotion leads. Each song is crafted without confinement, reflecting his constant push to expand creatively and live boldly. With a dynamic voice and an ever-evolving musical palette, David Zilmer continues to carve out a distinctive place in today’s music landscape.
12:00 pm (Round) Bill Ricci
Bill Ricci is a singer/songwriter performing on acoustic guitar & vocals. Ricci has been an opening act for many headliners including Leon Russell, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, and The Georgia Satellites. Significant venues include performing at The Historic Tap Room on Beale Street in Memphis, and at Ground Zero in Clarksdale, MS. In 2024 Ricci was nominated in 4 categories with ISSA Music Awards for his Album RIB SHACK BLUES. 2025 has him performing at many festivals in the southeast.
12:00 pm (Round) Mindy McGee Schleifer
Mindy McGee Schleifer is a very diversified entertainer. She was born in Brooklyn, NY to a Showbiz family. When she was six years old, her father, Hal Schleifer, who was a professional pianist, started her with piano lessons. While attending Benjamin Franklin Junior High School in Teaneck, NJ, Mindy’s brother, Lon Gary, taught her song chords on the guitar. Lon is a singer-songwriter, as well as an actor. His early days of singing and playing the guitar were a tremendous influence on Mindy in her young years. While going to high school in Fort Lee, NJ, Mindy joined the Concert Band, Color Guard, and Marching Band. At that time, she started playing the trumpet. Mindy continued her music studies at Bergen Community College. She appeared as a folk singer in the college’s production of Edgar Lee Masters’ play, “Spoon River Anthology.” Mindy then began singing with her brother at lounges in NJ, eventually going out on her own. She entertained at that time in many local pubs, restaurants, country clubs, and hotels. Mindy’s mother, Jeannie Reynolds, a renowned comedienne, taught Mindy how to deliver musical comedy and jokes. Mindy eventually moved to South Florida and began doing shows in hotel lounges, retirement communities, country clubs, restaurants, and condominiums. She is very popular with charitable organizations of all kinds and has an extensive repertoire that is bound to please any crowd. Mindy is a South Florida favorite.
12:30 pm Bear and Robert
1:00 pm Andy Wahlberg
Andy Wahlberg is a Grammy nominated and Emmy award winning musician, and has been captivating audiences worldwide with a musical career that has spanned over 45 years, more than 3000 concerts and performances, 8 albums and hundreds of television and radio appearances. Andy has performed on stage with groups such as Chicago, Spyra Gyra, Firefall, Hall and Oates, Don McLean and Tommy Emmanuel. He has created soundtracks and scores for numerous television, radio and movie projects. His most recent works include the soundtrack for the PBS Special Florida’s Historic Lighthouses and the motion pictures “Captiva” and “Jericho”. He has been named the world’s premier Harp Guitarist by Stephen Bennett, founder of The Harp Guitar Gathering.
Listen
1:30 Jimmy Stowe
Jimmy Stowe’s “American Folk Rock Heroes”
How That Music Used to Make Me Smile!
Jimmy Stowe’s American Folk Rock Heroes live stage performance captures the true spirit of a generation – a heartfelt musical journey through time that celebrates the music of the early pioneers of Folk Rock, Acoustic Pop & Americana.
Experience an authentic revival, a tribute born of a lifelong dedication to preserving the music and spirit of the Peace & Love Generation.
The 2026 South Florida Folk & Acoustic Music Festival welcomes Jimmy Stowe backed by keyboardist Larry Agovino as he delivers an inspired tribute to the Great American Singer-Songwriters of the ’60s and ’70. With all the heart, harmony, and storytelling of an unforgettable musical era, this engaging artist proves that legends live on and the music will surely never die.
2:00 pm Larry Mangum
Singer songwriter Larry Mangum has logged nearly 3000 performances over the last 4 decades as a folk, rock, country and Americana Artist. It’s not optional for Larry to play music- it’s genetic. For over 100 years somebody from Larry’s North Carolina family has been playing.
Larry Co-wrote the Lee Greenwood single “Who’s That Knocking.” Gary Buck recorded 2 of Larry’s songs, “I Guess I do” and “We’re going Out Dancing tongith” and Gramma’s Purple Flowers” is a crowd favorite everywhere.
Larry’s concert appearances with music legends are too many to mention, but some highlights include the late Waylon Jennings, the Texas Playboys, billy Joe Shaver, Roger McGuinn, and Alabama.
2:30 pm Sandy Back Porch
The Sandy Back Porch band presents Stan Burns playing hotter than fire guitar licks and memorable lead vocals. He began playing guitar professionally when he was 13 years old and toured nationally, headlining with Charlie Cline. Sandy Holdeman offers lead and harmony vocals while playing Big Daddy Bass. Sandy’s people-pleasing performances are a familiar presence throughout Florida and Georgia.
3:00 pm Ry Rivers
Ry Rivers is a rising country artist bringing blue-eyed country soul to stages across the country. Born and raised between the beaches of Pompano Beach and his father’s farm in Okeechobee, Florida, Ry blends classic country storytelling with soulful vocals and modern country-pop production.
2025 marked Ry’s breakout year with the release of his debut single “Kiss a Cowboy,” which led to performances on an official CMA Fest Spotlight Stage, BMI’s Key West Songwriters Festival, and multiple national TV appearances. Known for his warm voice, magnetic presence, and ability to turn any room into family, his live shows are full of heart, humor, and high energy.
3:30 PM Brett Staska
Emerging from the swamps of Loxahatchee, Brett Staska’s “coastal cowboy” sound is the geographical product of being a landlocked surfer. One part honky-tonk jukebox, one part vintage single fin longboard. Bringing together two unlikely genres(country and surf music), Staska has been able to blend the two seamlessly, leading his own path into previously uncharted musical territory.
4:00 pm Soulshine
4:30 pm Joel Zoss
Joel Zoss is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and award-winning prose author. Joel cut his teeth in Chicago in the 1960’s with some of the world’s greatest bluesmen and began his recording career with Arista in the 1970’s. Featuring his own songs and folk and blues classics by Americana masters Elizabeth Cotten, Lead Belly, and Big Bill Broonzy, Zoss’s unique fingerpicking style and moving vocals have entertained audiences in blues clubs, concert halls, and folk festivals throughout the US and Europe. From 2007-2009 Joel opened shows for B.B. King and Etta James in theaters across the country. He has enjoyed an international reputation as a songwriter since Bonnie Raitt recorded his “Too Long at the Fair” in 1972. His songs have been recorded by Natalie Merchant, Albert Castiglia, the UK’s Katie Melua, and many other prominent artists.
