FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June, 2018 Contact: Greg Schmitz [email protected] (605-261-7414) • 2018 Sioux River Folk Festival Line-up Announced for August 3rd, 4th & 5th. South Dakota Friends of Traditional Music (FOTM), a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional music for generations of South Dakotans, has announced the line-up for its 39th Annual Sioux River Folk Festival on August 3rd, 4th, & 5th. The festival is held at Newton Hills State Park (6 miles south of Canton, SD) and the line-up includes: Trout Steak Revival (Denver, CO), The Railsplitters (Boulder, CO), Honeysuckle (Boston, MA), The Rough & Tumble (Nashville, TN), Jackson’s Flatboat (Farmington, NM), Kristian Bugge, Jamie Fox & Dwight Lamb; with Jill Groth calling square dance (Denmark/Montana/Iowa), Jim Groth (Sioux Falls), Dakota Roots Revival (South Dakota), Matt Fockler (Sioux Falls), Gerry & Martha Stai (Sioux Falls/Inwood, IA), Trap Kit (Rapid City), and the Winner of the Strawbale Winery Rib Challenge and Folk Off held the week before on July 28th. And…Don’t miss The Red Willow Band at the 6th Annual Folk Off and Rib Challenge. Workshops will be presented by the musicians from 10:00 AM to Noon on Saturday, and a yoga workshop will be led by Mary Lou Greenway on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM. Performance times and dates will be available at http://www.fotm.org/festival.html and at https://www.facebook.com/pages/South-Dakota-Friends- of-Traditional-Music/295637052444. Find festival photos at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/157911527@N06/ in the SD Friends of Traditional Music collection and on both Facebook pages. https://www.facebook.com/siouxriverfolkfestival Trout Steak Revival (Denver, CO) Ever since winning the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition, Trout Steak Revival has quickly become the quintessential Colorado string band. The band won an Emmy Award for a soundtrack they contributed to a Rocky Mountain PBS. They have collaborated with school children in mentoring programs in both Denver and the mountain communities. Their music is featured on Bank of Colorado’s radio and television advertisements. Most recently, Westword named them Denver’s Best Bluegrass Band and they were nominated as a Momentum Band of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. Defined more by expressive songwriting and heartfelt harmonies rather than any one genre, Trout Steak Revival crosses over and blends the bounds of folk, indie, bluegrass, and roots evoking its own style of Americana. With five band members all contributing unique lyrics, lead vocals, acoustic instrumentation, and harmonies, Trout Steak Revival delivers memorable tunes to an energetic fan base that grows hand-in-hand with the band. See Trout Steak Revival in action here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TroutSteakRevival The Railsplitters (Boulder, CO) Although rooted in traditional bluegrass and old time music, The Railsplitters are pushing the boundaries of those genres in every sense. With their lush harmonies, instrumental virtuosity and non-conformist songwriting, The Railsplitters deftly demonstrate what happens when musical influences ranging from samba to hip hop merge with traditional Appalachian music. Hailing from the Rocky Mountain front range in Boulder, CO, the Railsplitters spend their time on the road appealing to audiences all across the US and Europe. Their line-up features Lauren Stovall and her 'Emmylou-esque' vocals in the lead, Dusty Rider's melodically intricate banjo licks, Peter Sharpe's Brazilian and bluesy flare on mandolin, Joe D'Esposito's New-England and Italian inspired fiddling and the ever-so- groovy Jean-Luc Davis on the double bass. The Railsplitters have won multiple awards including first place in the RockyGrass Band Competition in 2013. They’ve also successfully crowd-funded all three of their studio albums, including their latest, which is to be released later this year. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the band, The Railsplitters will release the new album in late 2017 featuring 10 tracks of all new, genre bending, original music. Check out The Railsplitters here: http://www.therailsplitters.com/watch/ Honeysuckle (Boston, MA) Honeysuckle is a progressive folk act that blends older influences and traditional instrumentation with modern effects and inspiration. Comprised of Holly McGarry, Benjamin Burns, and Chris Bloniarz, this Boston based band can frequently be found performing across the country, playing alongside bands like The Ballroom Thieves, The David Grisman Sextet, Boy & Bear, Sam Moss, The Western Den, The Novel Ideas, Shook Twins, John Craigie, Damn Tall Buildings and others. Honeysuckle has performed at Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza and CMJ, was chosen as a Converse Rubber Tracks artist, and has been nominated for Best Folk Artist of the Year, and Best Americana Artist of the Year three years in a row at the annual Boston Music Awards. They were also put in the Top 10 bands of 2016 So Far list compiled by NPR. Honeysuckle recently released their sophomore album, "Catacombs." They also have two previous titles: "Honeysuckle" (full length 2016) and "Arrows" (EP 2015). Watch Honeysuckle here: http://www.honeysuckleband.com/music/ The Rough & Tumble (Nashville, TN) Formerly from Nashville, The Rough & Tumble now find themselves living full time on the road, in a 16ft camper with an 85 lb puppy named Puddle. If you ask Mallory Graham or Scott Tyler how their lives ended up this way they’ll likely respond, “with careful planning, spreadsheets and shoddy cell phone service.” On their new album, We Made Ourselves a Home When We Didn’t Know (February 2018), the Americana duo retraces their mileage back to their footsteps and explores the struggle between going home and being home already when there's no other home and everywhere is home. The R&T know how the tread wears down on the tires when you play 140 shows in year cross-country. They’re willing to stop, should the music run out of them and the road end, but until then, they are likely cross referencing a spreadsheet to play your town. Check out The Rough & Tumble here: www.theroughandtumble.com Kristian Bugge & Jamie Fox with Dwight Lamb: Traditional dance tunes, whirling waltzes, happy polkas, groovy jigs, fiery reels and breathless hopsas plus the exotic Sønderhoning dance tunes from the Island of Fanø, Denmark are simply a brief glance into the complexities and multi-layered performances of the fiddling couple Jamie Fox and Kristian Bugge. To accompany the music they tell the stories of the traditions they both grew up in. Bugge (Denmark) is widely considered a master of traditional Danish music, awarded Folk Musician of the Year at the Danish Music Awards (Danish Grammy) 2016. Fox (Montana, US) is one of the most well-known young players of Métis fiddle music which is mired in a tradition crossing ties of Celtic, French and Native American music cultures. This contrast in approach and style helps to create a complex and sundry sound. Together, Bugge and Fox perform groovy and warming set that interchanges between each performer’s strengths. This creates a versatile array of melodies that sends the listener’s ears to distant lands and touching home… Dwight Lamb was born in Moorhead, IA, on May 16, 1934 to Clarence G. and Mary Lamb. Descendants of Danish immigrants, the Lamb family cherished the traditions of self-made music and entertainment. Dwight's grandfather, Chris Jerup, played traditional Danish melodies and American-style fiddle tunes on a single-row button accordion. His father, Clarence Lamb, played the fiddle. Dwight took to both these instruments and mastered them.Dwight plays a style of fiddling often referred to as Missouri Valley Style. Also called "North Missouri Hornpipe Style", this manner playing and repertoire of tunes was both melodically complex and technically demanding. The greatest exponent of this style of playing was Uncle Bob Walters of Tekamah, Nebraska. Tekamah is located on the Missouri River and Dwight happened to live directly across the Big Muddy in Iowa. Dwight became a protégé of Walters and learned much of his vast repertoire of hornpipes, waltzes and other dance tunes. Find more about Kristian, Jamie & Dwight here: www.kristianbugge.com http://www.missourifiddling.com/Articles_Features/DwightLamb/dwight_lamb.htm#Recordings Jim Groth (Sioux Falls) Jim Groth has been playing guitar since the early 1960’s, starting with surf bands before the British Invasion. In high school and in college he played with the regional rhythm and blues band The Pilgrims, The Starfires, DJ and the Runaways, and Wonderband, work recognized three times in the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and twice in Iowa. Alongside R&B and rock, Groth played bluegrass and folk, going on to write gospel and folk music. Since performing as a teen, Groth has continued to sing and play electric and acoustic guitar on stage and in the studio. Now he performs solo and with the blues band The Stallions, Irish band Trefoil, and is known as "the godfather of the Rowena Polo Club" in the Rock Garden Tour Family Band on South Dakota Public Radio. A born storyteller, Groth relates life experiences in his original songs. Versatility in style and expression and command of so many musical traditions make him difficult to categorize. An accomplished vocalist, Groth's sets blend original tunes with obscure yet recognizable interpretations. Jackson’s Flatboat (Farmington, NM) Jackson’s Flatboat—like its home state of New Mexico - is a convergence of frontiers. The bray of a Bluegrass mandolin ignites the lonesome melody of a Mexican Bolero. The National guitar engages the clawhammer banjo in a sonic Capoeira. Founding members Jackson Magyar and Keith Warshany first met in 2014. They found their distinctive styles mingled in a way that was oddly harmonious, and produced a familiar syncopated rhythm.