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2026 Lineup

The festival convenes some of the brightest old time musicians, singers, and dancers in the country to celebrate where this music exists today. Join host artists Ken & Brad Kolodner for the Baltimore Old Time Music Festival! 

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Rhiannon Giddens
(Friday only*)

Rhiannon Giddens has made a singular, iconic career out of stretching her brand of folk music, with its miles-deep historical roots and contemporary sensibilities, into just about every field imaginable. A two-time GRAMMY Award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient, Pulitzer Prize winner, and composer of opera, ballet, and film, Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through art. Her most recent work is the songbook Go Back And Fetch It, a groundbreaking collaboration with Baltimore-based music writer Kristina R. Gaddy. The songbook makes nineteen examples of early Black Atlantic music accessible and playable for today’s musicians, music enthusiasts, and historians. Presenting music from 1687 through the 1860s in modern treble clef and banjo tablature, along with the rich stories behind each song, Gaddy and Giddens take readers on a journey from the Caribbean across the Americas. ​*During the Friday night kickoff concert, Rhiannon & Kristina will discuss their work and Rhiannon will perform a handful of selections from the book.

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The Wild Shoats
​(Friday/Saturday)

Emerging from the in-between realms of Morgantown, WV, and Millheim, PA, The Wild Shoats write an alt-folk soundtrack to the strange times they find themselves in. Characterized by the plaintive sound of fiddles and mountain singing, The Wild Shoats call on their collective background of Appalachian old-time fiddling, folk songs, and the high-lonesome to reimagine the songs and sounds of their home. The Wild Shoats won the Appalachian String Band Music Festival’s Neo-Traditional Band Competition in 2023, just a few months after the band’s formation, and they released their debut album, Yell In The Shoats, in early 2025. The band is comprised of brothers Gus and Huck Tritsch (Millheim, PA), Mary Linscheid (Morgantown, WV), and Alex Heflin (Morgantown, WV). 

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Joseph Decosimo & Stephanie Coleman
​(Friday/Saturday)

Two of the most capable and compelling interpreters of Old-time music, Decosimo and Coleman have been making music together for nearly two decades. Joseph cut his musical teeth in East Tennessee folks like Charlie Acuff and Clyde Davenport. Stephanie spent her youth immersed in the rich fiddle traditions around Chicago and the Midwest. More recently, Joseph has performed in the Bucking Mules while Stephanie has worked with Nora Brown, the Red Squirrel Chasers, and Uncle Earl. In performance, they explore old songs and tunes with voices, fiddles, banjo, and pump organ, crafting immersive, patient renditions.

Jerron Paxton
(Friday/Saturday)

Acclaimed blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jerron Paxton released his most recent album, Things Done Changed, on Smithsonian Folkways in 2024. Once described as "virtually the only music-maker of his generation—playing guitar, banjo, piano, and violin, among other implements—to fully assimilate the blues idiom of the 1920s and '30s” by the Wall Street Journal, the thirty-five-year-old’s latest collection is his first of all original songs. Pairing Paxton’s lived-in voice and California drawl underpins a stripped-down concoction of blues, ragtime, folk, and old-time Black music styles that originated nearly a century ago. 

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Golden Shoals
​(Friday/Saturday)

Golden Shoals is a fiddle and guitar duo with a "rousing old-time-style music that’s fueled by acerbic modern-day wit” (-No Depression Magazine). They are no strangers to traditional music, having placed in contests including Clifftop (3rd place 2023, 4th place 2022), Mount Airy, The Grand Masters Fiddlers Championship and Galax. Often switching instruments between fiddle, two guitars, and banjo, their original songs have been compared to Gillian Welch, with the added edge of instrumental prowess informed by energetic old time and bluegrass recordings. 

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Ken & Brad Kolodner
​(Friday/Saturday)

Your festival co-founders and hosts, Ken & Brad Kolodner exemplify the powerful musical bond that can exist between father and son. Their playing is rooted in old-time traditions, yet brimming with innovation and nuance. Ken’s hammered dulcimer blends seamlessly with Brad’s expressive clawhammer banjo, creating a sound that is both timeless and refreshingly original. Their deep musical chemistry is evident in every performance, with Brad’s evolving technique and Ken’s world-class artistry pushing the boundaries of traditional stringband music. Joined by Rachel Eddy and Alex Lacquement, they deliver a vibrant, nuanced, and forward-looking sound.
​WEBSITE

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Tessa McCoy & The State Birds
​(Friday/Saturday)

“Some of the best mountain music from the mountain state”. The State Birds are a super group of award winning multi-instrumentalists from West Virginia, keeping traditional music alive while putting their own spin on age old classics. Tessa McCoy’s driving and intricate fiddling is paired with Cody Jordan’s versatile clawhammer and three-finger banjo playing. They are backed by unbeatable rhythm from Jesse Milnes on guitar and Chance McCoy on mandolin. The heartbeat of the band is coveted bass player Joanna Burt-Kinderman. Time bending vocals and harmonies from all of the members tie together their diverse instrumentation.

Stanley & The Ten Sleepless Knights
​(Friday/Saturday)

Stanley Jacobs and The Ten Sleepless Knights wrap the old-time Virgin Islands quelbe sound of squash (gourd rasp), steel (triangle), flute, and banjo uke, in the contemporary trappings of electric keyboard, drum set, conga, and electric bass. The distinctively Caribbean, yet uniquely Virgin Islands, sound of quelbe music is an old but new dance music. Declared the “official” music of the United States Virgin Islands, classic songs such as “Queen Mary” and “LaBega Carousel” tell of historical events on the island of St. Croix, while other pieces accompany the local traditions of quadrille dance, a relative of the square dance!

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From China to Appalachia
Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer & Chao Tian
(Saturday)

GRAMMY Award winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer join with Chinese classical hammered dulcimer player Chao Tian in a show that combines music from China to Appalachia and beyond. Instrumentation includes yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, guitars, dumbek, cello-banjo and mandolin. The group’s repertoire includes traditional Chinese and Appalachian music as well as contemporary and traditional music from around the world. From China to Appalachia was borne of a friendship and mutual love of musical exploration experienced in jam sessions that inspired a show speaking to the power of music to connect cultures.

Mark Schatz & Bryan McDowell
​(Friday/Saturday)

Mark Schatz and Bryan McDowell are the quintessence of Appalachian roots music. Schatz's playing is so merged with celebrated bluegrass artists that it's hard to imagine the last quarter century of the genre without him. He's been the heartbeat and downbeat for Tony Rice, Tim O'Brien, and Nickel Creek. Recently, with Bela Fleck's "My Bluegrass Heart," he's been inspiring new audiences with new horizons. McDowell, after unprecedented contest success, became one of the most in-demand sidemen in Nashville. Now with his move to Baltimore, he continues to collaborate and innovate. He's steeped in the first generation bluegrass fiddling of his Western Carolina mentor Arvil Freeman, but no less adept in the improvisational frontiers of Sonny Rollins or Brad Mehldau. Mark & Bryan have toured together extensively since their first meeting 12 years ago.

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Eddie Bond Trio
​(Friday/Saturday)

Eddie Bond, born in Galax and raised in Fries, Virginia, grew up surrounded by Appalachian music and learned guitar, banjo, and fiddle from his musically rich family and mentor, Great Uncle Leon Hill. A devoted preserver of Old-time traditions, he has won top honors at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention and received the 2018 National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest folk arts award. Eddie now teaches Old-time music at Grayson County High School and performs worldwide with the New Ballards Branch Bogtrotters. His wife, Bonnie Bond, also from Fries, plays double bass with the band and shares his love of Appalachian ballads, rooted in her own family’s singing and church music traditions. They'll be joined by Jared Boyd on banjo.

Becky Hill
(Saturday)

Becky Hill is a percussive dancer, square dance caller, choreographer, community organizer, and educator. As an avid organizer and teacher, Becky's work is deeply rooted in the connections between music and community. She believes there is always more to learn and is dedicated to creating  innovative choreography rooted in Appalachian music and dance. She grew up in Michigan, spent extensive time in West Virginia and now resides in Brentwood, Maryland. Becky served as the Artist in Residence at Davis & Elkins College from 2013 - 2015 where she coordinated The Mountain Dance Trail of Augusta Heritage Center and co-directed the Appalachian Ensemble. She became the Events Coordinator for Augusta Heritage Center from 2015 - 2019 organizing their summer intensives. 
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Janine Smith
(Family Dance and Square Dance Caller)

The Janine Smith experience is what you get when you cross a howdy-ma’am-BBQ-and-beans Honky Tonk with Zoom contra and sprinkle on some twinkly lights for sass. She’ll bring you a night of fun dances, from squares to contras, heck maybe a Singing Square, whether you’re sitting, standing, or somewhere in between. Her teaching is clear and to-the-point, though she has been known to goof around a bit. She’s one of the “Hot Square Babes”, a quintet of female callers who threw a monthly Square Dance Party in the DC area from 2004-2018, and a founding member of the DC Square Dance Collective.

Kristina Gaddy
(Friday)

Kristina R. Gaddy is the author of A Most Perilous World: The True Story of the Young Abolitionists and their Crusade Against Slavery (Dutton 2025), Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022) and​ Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers Who Resisted the Nazis (Dutton 2020). She is the co-author, with Rhiannon Giddens of Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music in the Americas for Fiddle and Banjo​, and a Baltimore-based writer and fiddler. She has received the Parsons Award from the Library of Congress, Logan Nonfiction Fellowship and a Robert W. Deutsch Foundation Rubys artist award. She will moderate the conversation with Rhiannon Giddens during the Friday night concert.

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The Old Time Cobras
​(Saturday Family Dance)

The Old Time Cobras are an old-time band dedicated to performing traditional old-time music, with roots deep in the musical heritage of Appalachia and the American South. Based in Washington, DC, and Maryland, they bring a unique blend of energy and passion to every performance. Our current lineup consists of a guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, and fiddle, each played by talented musicians who share a love for the genre and its timeless sound. The Old Time Cobras are playing for the Family Square Dance.

Phillip McKnight
(Saturday)

Phillip is a Baltimore-based Old Time musician and certified mindfulness teacher. He'll be leading the Mindfulness in Music workshop.

Besides performing, all of our artists are leading workshops

Part of what makes Old-Time music so beautiful is the long tradition of passing on these sacred melodies, rhythms and lyrics from one generation to the next. Learn from some of the best in an intimate workshop environment. Sign up today!