With great regret we report that Charlie McCarroll, Tony Thomas, and Bobby Fulcher won't make it to Port Townsend this summer. We're working on them for next year, but in their place we've invited the legendary Mike Bryant and the National Old Time Banjo Champion Joseph Decosimo, from Tennessee.

Mike Bryant was born in 1954 Georgia, but has spent most of his adult life in upper East Tennessee. He’s perhaps most recognized for his work with his band, The New Dixie Entertainers, named after fiddler Earl Johnson’s 1930s-era outfit. Mike has twice won the prestigious fiddle competition at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival, in Clifftop, WV; he’s considered one of the preeminent old time fiddlers in the United States.

He’ll be accompanied by National Old Time Banjo Champion Joseph Decosimo, one of the new generation of young musicians connecting with older regional traditions of music. His playing is deeply rooted in the old time traditions of the Cumberland Plateau and reflects time spent studying under some of the finest older musicians of that region. Both Mike and Joseph play both fiddle and banjo.

We've also added Alison Hedlund to our intermediate tutorial staff in Swedish Fiddling. Alison discovered her true musical passion when she heard her first record of traditional Swedish music – you know, that blue and white one, featuring the music of Bjorn Stabi and Ole Hjorth – and started the band “Swedes for a Day.” Two trips to Sweden to meet her cousins, travel, collect tunes and attend music festivals were inspiring. She played with the Scandinavian Clover Blossom Band for 12 years, and is a member of various ensembles for dances and other Scandinavian events in Western Washington.

Learn more about these folks, and the rest of our 2010 Faculty and tutors on our Festival of American Fiddle Tunes Faculty page.