2008 Artist Bios

Witt Mead

Drawn to the infectious rhythms of Old-Time music, Whitt Mead took up banjo at the age of 21 and fiddle a couple years later. The early years were spent seeking out older musicians who still remembered the music and listening and learning from them. “It did not take me long to realize the historic and cultural value of this music I had discovered . It was a combination of the rhythms brought to this country by slaves and the melodies of old world immigrants to America . The music was fairly ubiquitous throughout the Appalachian region from the early-mid 1800s until the second world war.”
Over the last 25 years Whitt has played countless square , round and contra dances, and performed with various groups including the Cincinnati based Company Comin’, The Rhythm Rats , The Dan Gellert Trio and  the OK Ramblers. He has performed from Alaska to Florida  and  taught at several instructional music camps. Since 2002 Whitt has worked as a Master Artist for the Ohio Arts Council mentoring students in Ohio’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.

Rabbit Hash String Band

Band Members Include:

Russ and Barb Childers

Warren and Judy Waldron

Tommy Taylor

"Just two hops and a jump" from the Ohio River in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, and not a "fur piece" from Cincinnati, the Rabbit Hash String Band is pickin' tunes.  

The band developed from a shared love that these long-time old-time friends have for the 1920s and '30s music of Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers band.

Russ and Barb Childers live in Batavia, Ohio, and primarily present old timey music to area school children.   Warren and Judy Waldron live in Somerville, Ohio, but play and call square dances all over the region.   Tommy Taylor lives in Rabbit Hash and performs with a bluegrass gospel band.    His brother was the beloved 1930s WJJD Chicago country radio personality Pappy Taylor of Uncle Henry Warren's Kentucky Mountaineers Band.

The Rabbit Hash String Band features the twin fiddles of Tommy Taylor and Warren Waldron, the clawhammer banjo of Russ Childers, and Judy Waldron and Barb Childers round out the sound on guitar and banjo uke.   All members, without warning, have been known to belt out a song.

Any evening spent with the Rabbit Hash String Band is a good time -- and their fun-loving music will transport the listener back in time:   "Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, is where I long to be; cornbread, and 'lasses, and sassafras tea..."

Website: http://home.fuse.net/russchilders/rhsb.html

Contact: Russ Childers

1555 Old State Route 74

Batavia, Ohio 45103

513-732-2015

Warren and Judy Waldron

Warren and Judy Waldron began playing old-time Appalachian music as a duo in 1980 on the Frontier Trail at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, although their love for the music goes back to their early childhood.   Each has fond remembrances of gathering around the piano and singing hymns with family, a tradition that continues to this day.   Judy's first string instrument was her mother's ukelele and Warren's, his grandmother's banjo.   Today, Judy plays the guitar, autoharp and old-time banjo, Warren , the fiddle, mandolin and all kinds of banjos in concerts throughout the tri-state region.    Their favorite thing to do is sing old country duets, playing with the harmony until it feels just right.   But the drive of old-time dance music also draws them in, inspiring Warren to grab his fiddle and Judy to call some hoedown!   They believe it is very important that this music carry on to future generations as traditional music brings people together, invites participation and involvement and adds meaning and joy to life.

Wild Carrot

Pamela Temple and Spencer Funk are the award-wining Cincinnati-based duo "wild carrot". Rooted in traditional American music, their repertoire branches in diverse directions: award-winning originals, traditional folk songs, not-so-traditional folk songs, show tunes, jazz and blues. They do interesting arrangements with guitar, mandolin, concertina, penny whistle, dulcimer, banjo and bowed psaltery. Wild carrot's entertaining, honest and moving performances have something for everyone. Their growing reputation for high musicianship, professionalism and fun have made them a favorite on the national folk circuit. They have shared the stage with such internationally known acts as Fairport Convention, Jean Ritchie, Arlo Guthrie, Stanley Jordan, Robin and Linda Williams, David Massengil, Bill Staines, Peter Mulvey and Bill Morrissey.

All Nations Drum

All Nations Drum is made up of many Nations. Such as Cherokee, Blackfoot, Mingo, Shawnee, Lakota and many others that have come and gone. We are very rich in various ways of several nations. We are what is commonly known as an inter-tribal Drum. a Drum made up of many nations coming together to teach one another as well as our children and public. This Drum has many families dedicated to the Drumming and Dancing as to continue to teach our children of our traditions so that it is not last or the Traditions die. For we look toward the children for they are our Leaders and Teachers of Tomorrow just as we have been for our ancestors whom has walked on before us. We give thanks for Mother Earth and Father Sky for all their Blessings. We Love Life in a simple and non-complicated way.

All Nations Drum is made up of 12 people whom are Families that continue to teach their children and the public as well of their Culture’s, through Drumming and Dancing and Storytelling. The Drum was made bu the members of All Nation Drum Group each and everyone contributed n someway to the making.

Spotted Horse Helton is the Drum Keeper and Song Leader for the Drum. He is a native of Cincinnati and descendants from Gray Kentucky which his Elder are from. His teachings were taught to him by these Elders.

Panther Helton is Eastern Cherokee born in Know Kentucky. She was taught most of her old way Traditions by her father which was taught to him by Elders. Panther now carries on these teachings and knowledge for our Children’s Future with a driving force as her dear father Pearl Eliott did with her in his teachings so the Culture as he knew would not be lost upon his walk before us. She is very informative of these teachings. You may see All Nations at several events and celebrations we hope you enjoy or Drums as much as we Love Drumming, Singing and Dancing.

All Nations Drum:

John Spotted Horse Helton
Eagle Jack Lewis
Sam Layne (Scooby)
Stone Wolf Tharpe-David
Panther Helton
April Reed
Shannon Layne
Lisa Meyers
TIm Cozad
David Thomas
Connie Thorpe
Crow Meyers-Davidm

Sharon Kirk Clifton

Sharon's family has been in Indiana since the early 1800s, when her Quaker ancestors left North Carolina to come north and settle Wayne and Henry counties. She is a kinswoman to Levi Coffin, well-known Indiana Abolitionist and stationmaster on the Underground Railroad; Sharon's and Levi's immigrant ancestors were brothers. With short-term residencies in Greenfield and Spiceland, Sharon spent most of her childhood in New Castle, Henry County, Indiana.

Ask her when she began telling stories, and she will tell you that she was born telling stories. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but after all, she is a storyteller, and storytellers are given to hyperbole. She does remember hearing stories at her mother's knee from her earliest days.

"My mother [Martha Carolyn Wright] used to tell me the traditional folk and faerie tales," Sharon says, "but she also told me stories of her own life, especially her childhood. I grew up hearing about how she rejected her daddy when he came home after having had his handlebar moustache shaved off. She also told me that her mother would walk Mama and her four siblings to church every Sunday morning and night. Because it would be dark when they headed home after the evening service, her mother would sing hymns to soothe the children and calm their fears." Ah, the power of Story!

Sharon's father told some stories, as well. From him, she learned about a favorite history teacher who had used "story" and reenactment to bring the past to life in the classroom. Though she heard that story often, Sharon says that she never tired of it. "It inspired me." When Sharon became an English teacher, she used story extensively in her own classroom. She resigned classroom teaching in 1996 "to enter a broader classroom," she says. "I'm still teaching, but I'm doing it my way, by putting a pulse to the past and bringing literature to life."

Sharon says that she was inspired to become a professional storyteller when she heard the "Johnny Appleseed" performance by Hank Fincken, who bills himself as "a national theatre company of one." She heard him do his show three times in the same day at Conner Prairie, a living history museum in Fishers, Ind. "I talked with him following his last performance," she remembers. "'I'd like to do what you do,'" she recalls saying. He told her to find a character and develop it. Five years later, following earning her B.S. degree at Ball State University, she discovered the Jack Tales of the southern Appalachians. Noticing that Jack's mother showed up in many of the stories, Sharon knew that she had her first storytelling character, Jack's Mama! It remains a favorite of audiences.

Through the years, she has received various grants and commissions to research, develop, and perform various historical programs. See Program Information for more information.

Stephen Hollen

Storyteller, Mountain Humorist, Writer and Appalachian Poet writing ragged verse. Stephen has a degree in Oral Interpretation and has been telling stories since 1976. He is known for his heartwarming and humorous stories about his hometown of Beloved, Kentucky. The cousins and kin there will make even a grouch chuckle when no one is looking. His Cousin Peanut leads a cast of mountain folk that will charm you as you read and listen to Stephen's stories. His poetry is often bittersweet and reminds us all of "how things used to be."Stephen received 2005 Heritage Award from the Appalachian Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, was selected for Who's Who in America in 2000, 2001 and 2005.

Stephen has a book of poetry published, "Old Ragged Verse" from Wasteland Press and a CD of his stories titled "Tall Tales and Mountain Musings