ARTISTS
Larry & Joe
Larry & Joe fuse Venezuelan and Appalachian folk traditions into a genre-defying sound rooted in justice, exile, and joy. Larry Bellorín is a master of Música Llanera. Joe Troop is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass innovator from North Carolina. Together, they’ve performed at the Kennedy Center, LEAF, and the Library of Congress, sharing stages with Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, and Tim O’Brien. With harp, banjo, fiddle, and powerful storytelling, they transcend borders and genres—offering a soul-stirring performance that bridges cultures and uplifts communities through shared musical heritage.
Dom Flemons & THE TRAVELING WILDFIRES
The Traveling Wildfires is a supergroup created and led by Grammy Award-winning musician and American Banjo Hall of Fame Inductee Dom Flemons, “The American Songster”. Flemons is widely recognized as a roots music icon, and he is one of the founders of the groundbreaking Carolina Chocolate Drops, making him one of the most influential voices in the music industry. His newly anticipated young band features a powerhouse lineup of multi-instrumentalists whose collective talents deliver high-energy performances and innovate new sounds that showcase the depth of American roots music. the musicians joining Dom Flemons' supergroup are Bassist/Fiddler Brian Farrow (formerly Gangstagrass), Banjoist/Guitarist Tray Wellington (formerly New Dangerfield), and Singer/Drummer Dante Pope (formerly Old Crow Medicine Show). Together, Dom Flemons and The Traveling Wildfires create a sound that’s both fiery, fresh, and fiercely rooted in a good time—while carrying the cultural musical legacies of Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Blues, and Black string band music into the present and future.
The Jake Leg Stompers
The Jake Leg Stompers evoke the rebellious spirit and colorful pageantry of American popular music before the Second World War, from the Memphis blues to Gullah ring shouts; when jazz began, vaudeville was urgent, and folk music was still dangerous.
From their home base in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Jake Leg Stompers have been serving up chicken-fried, pre-war, hokum-billy jug music since 2005. Acclaimed for their spirited, eclectic, and wildly unpredictable performances, the Stompers evoke the ethos and repertoire of early juke joints, speakeasies and 20th-century medicine shows, featuring period dress and vintage instruments.
Terry Harmonica Bean
Terry “Harmonica” Bean is a Mississippi bluesman carrying the torch of North Mississippi Hill Country and Delta blues traditions. Born in Pontotoc and raised in a musical family, Bean is a one-man band and master of the blues harp, known for his raw, soulful performances steeped in authenticity. A tireless performer and cultural preservationist, he’s graced stages at the Chicago Blues Festival, King Biscuit Blues Festival, and internationally across Europe and Asia. With deep roots and boundless energy, Bean embodies the living legacy of juke joint blues—keeping the spirit of the real deal alive with every stomp and wail.
Ferd
Ferd is a high-octane string band blurring the lines between old-time, rock 'n' roll, and cosmic mountain music. Fronted by Ferd Moyse—fiddler, songwriter, and longtime member of the Hackensaw Boys—the band delivers gritty, heartfelt performances steeped in southern storytelling and back-porch soul. With raw vocals, foot-stomping rhythms, and a punk-meets-honky-tonk spirit, Ferd ignites stages from dive bars to major festivals like Bristol Rhythm & Roots and AmericanaFest. Rooted in tradition but unafraid to push boundaries, they’re a hard-driving force keeping roots music wild, weird, and gloriously alive.
CAROLINA MENDOZA
CARONLINA Mendoza is a singer and songwriter from Mountain View, Arkansas, mentored by generations of traditional folk music performers. Her nickname “Voice of the Mountain”, “Songbird of the Ozarks” was bestowed on her for her rich tones and flute-like whistles.
Carolina’s signature sound combines her traditional Mexican roots and a deep influence of country, Americana, bluegrass, Nordic folk, and old-time Ozark music
nichols & SLOAN
NICK Nichols first found an interest in the distilling world through coppersmithing and a natural fondness for whiskey. As a hobby distiller, he is interested in both the tradition and history of distilling as well as its growth and continuation in the modern Ozarks.
Matthew Sloan is a hobby distiller, focusing on keeping the tradition alive with an appreciation for the time when moonshine wasn’t just a way of life but a necessity for many.
creek rocks
“Wolf Hunter” is the debut CD by The Creek Rocks from Springfield, Missouri. The title is an amalgam of the names of the two folklorists whose collections provided the raw materials for the songs on the album — John Quincy Wolf of Batesville, Arkansas and Max Hunter of Springfield, Missouri. Cindy Woolf was raised in Batesville, along the southern foothills of the Ozarks Mountain region, and Mark Bilyeu hails from Springfield, located atop the Ozarks Plateau.
steve green
STEVE Green grew up on a hill country farm in the Arkansas Ozark Mountains, with memories of old time American square dances alongside German Polkas and Schottisches in his grandfather’s front room. Southern mountain music, square dance calling, ballad singing, storytelling, and old time flatfoot dancing are a big part of his life. In 2015 he won first at the US National Buck Dance senior competition, as well as the open flatfoot dance competitions at Clifftop.
BRIAN MARTIN
Primarily performing as a solo artist since the early 2000’s, Brian Martin released his debut album “No Rider” in 2011, a self described bare bones collection of intimate folk songs. He is also a founding member of Sad Daddy, a critically and commercially heralded string band based in the Ozark region and gaining traction well beyond. Since their 2010 inception, the band has released three studio albums and a live album, their most recent, “Way Up In The Hills,” debuting in 2022.
OZARK HIGHBALLERS
The Ozark Highballers are a three to four piece string band from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Since 2014 the Ozark Highballers have brought their music to square dances, farmers markets, festivals, workshops, as well as plain old street corners and front porches. Their music reflects the spirit and drive of the rural Ozark string bands of the 1920s and ’30s.
Carousel orchestra
The Carousel Orchestra plays music most often heard today on fairground carousel rides, but was at one time commonly played by string bands and small-town brass bands. It could be heard at beer gardens, barn dances, band shells and dance halls.
Band leader Clarke Buehling plays the "classic style" banjo, winning first place at the Charlie Poole banjo contest in 2011, and for thirty years led The Skirtlifters string band. Buehling has collected thousands of banjo compositions and arrangements published between 1880 and 1920 which he uses to arrange the band's repertoire.
cHICOT CHEETAH STRING BAND
The Chicot Cheetah Stringband is a group of student musicians from Chicot Elementary in Little Rock, Arkansas. Under the direction of Aaron Farris, their music teacher, this talented group was one of the 2025 recipients of an IBMA Foundation Arnold Shultz Fund grant, supporting their incredible work building a school-based bluegrass & stringband program.
As far as Mr. Farris knows, this is the first all-Black string band in the state of Arkansas — and they’re bringing their energy and heart to the Arkansas Country Blues & String-band Festival.