Roy Berns started playing classical guitar as a seven-year-old. Eventually, rock and roll took its toll and since that time, he has played as a part-time professional sideman and leader in styles including Brazilian, rock, soul, jazz, fingerstyle, western swing, gypsy jazz, and vintage country western. Currently, Roy plays in an Americana band in Rochester, NY. He has taught for many years at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.

Kat Bula is a Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist. In addition to about a zillion musical collaborations across folk and pop genres, she has worked with hundreds of adult and teenage students around the world via her live workshops, online courses, and private lessons. Kat has also written for Fiddler magazine and Mel Bay’s Fiddle Sessions, and will probably tell you too much about her cat, Audrey.

On July 15, 2022, Gina Davis finally unveiled her long-awaited debut album, Field Notes. Garnering immediate acclaim and radio airplay as far afield as the UK, her collaboration with the award-winning guitarist/producer Marc Atkinson not only joyously captures Gina’s buoyant personality, but melodiously articulates a professional life passionately dedicated to the composition, performance, and teaching of music. An emotive singer-songwriter and richly talented multi-instrumentalist, Gina leaves audiences spellbound and joyous with her beautiful original material and riveting live performances.

Amy Friedricks first picked up a guitar at summer camp at the age of ten and that love affair changed the course of her life. A versatile multi-instrumentalist and veteran jam leader, she teaches guitar, ukulele, and bass privately and at various music camps in the west. Amy has added bass, vocals and guitar to a variety of bands including a Beatles tribute band, an acoustic jazz quartet, and an Americana trio. Currently she performs with an eclectic mix of musicians showcasing a range of styles including roots, folk & classic rock, Celtic, klezmer and swing. Amy enjoys bringing people together around music and loves to organize community singing and jams with musicians of all levels.

Since Nina Gerber first gained recognition accompanying Kate Wolf, her acute skills as a performer, producer, and arranger have continued to deepen. Her contributions to acoustic music have earned her a loyal following and proven that, when it comes to creating honest, powerful, and beautiful music, the shadow can equal the spotlight. Nina has a unique ability to completely free herself within an eclectic range of styles. Presented with folk, country, bluegrass, rock, or blues, she falls into leads that have rare reverence for the true feeling of a song, always emphasizing taste over technical display. She seeks to express through her hands, rather than to gain attention, and it is this integrity that makes her expressions worth intent listening.

Sylvia Herold brings to CCMC a deep enthusiasm and knowledge of jazz, swing, and folk songs. Researching songs and developing guitar arrangements fuels her artistic passion. Her performing credits include the popular swing trio Cats & Jammers, Euphonia, Hot Club of San Francisco, and Sylvia Herold & the Rhythm Bugs. Sylvia currently performs with the Celtic Grateful Dead band, Wake the Dead, and her jazz combo, the Sylvia Herold Ensemble. She is a popular guitar and repertoire teacher at Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, California Coast Music Camp, British Columbia Swing Camp, Colorado Roots Music Camp, Lark in the Morning, and the Ashokan Center.

Classical. Brazilian. R&B. Jazz. Afro-Cuban. Pop. Rock and Roll. Funk. Folk. Ed Johnson’s mastery of so many different styles, coupled with a passion for harmony vocal and horn arrangements, all factor into a magical blend of vibrant, original contemporary jazz that has won fans and airplay worldwide. As a vocalist, Ed is frequently compared to Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, Kenny Rankin, and Michael Franks. As a guitarist and bandleader, critics often cite the sounds of Airto and Flora Purim. Ed has seven recording projects to his credit, in addition to producer credits for numerous artists. He currently performs and records with his Brazilian jazz ensemble Novo Tempo, as well as with the Americana roots band Cabin Fever NW.

Juno Award–winning singer-songwriter-musician Cara Luft is that rare artist steeped in folk and traditional roots music almost from birth, yet willing to alter the fabric, stretch the boundaries, and fearlessly bend genres and styles. A founding member of Canadian folk super-group The Wailin’ Jennys and the brainchild/bandleader of Winnipeg’s acclaimed powerhouse duo The Small Glories, Cara deserves her solid reputation as one of Canada’s finest live performers, armed with amazing tenacity, vision, energy, and a contagious hilarity. To quote the roots magazine No Depression, “Luft has a rich tradition in folk music—it’s safe to assume that she knows her stuff—and upon listening it becomes quite clear that she is indeed a formidable songwriter and performer.” Reviewers of her live shows talk about her powerhouse vocals, superb musicianship, humourous anecdotes, her ability to switch between styles, her accomplished songwriting, and the charm of her stage presence. 

Tony Marcus has found joy playing many styles of music. He’s played bluegrass with mandolin legend Frank Wakefield, jug band music and blues with Geoff Muldaur, fiddle tunes with the Arkansas Sheiks, string swing with Cats & Jammers, big band jazz with the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, weird old Hawaiian and hokum with R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and honky tonk country with Rose Maddox, to name a few. Playing music has taken him from Japan to Ireland, and from Alaska to Florida in the USA. He currently performs with Patrice Haan in the vocal duo Leftover Dreams and with the country band Crying Time.

Since the age of 12, multi-instrumentalist Susan Peña has been collecting, singing, and accompanying herself on guitar or fiddle, playing songs from the American folk, old-time, and country traditions. For the past four decades, she has performed Mexican, Tex-Mex, and Colombian music with her family band, La Familia Peña-Govea. She retired six years ago after twenty years of teaching high school Spanish, where she made music an important teaching tool. Since then, she has worked part-time as a Teaching Artist for the San Francisco Unified School District’s Mariachi program.

Brian Rice began his orchestral career at age 15, playing percussion with the Northwest Michigan Symphony. After attending Interlochen Arts Academy and heading to Oberlin Conservatory, Brian had an epiphany: There’s a whole world of music beyond the classical and jazz of his youth! Brian has since established himself as an expert on Brazilian music as well as other worldly genres. Brian recently performed with Brazilian master Danilo Brito at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Savannah Music Festival, and has guest taught at universities across the U.S. and in Brazil. Currently Brian teaches the samba and Afro-Cuban ensembles at UC Davis, co-chairs the Brazilian focus at the California Jazz Conservatory, and is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Berkeley Festival of Choro. Brian’s percussion is heard on over 70 recordings. He regularly performs around the Bay Area with Wake the Dead, Cascada de Flores, and the Berkeley Choro Ensemble.

Jennifer Scott is a Vancouver-born vocalist and jazz pianist specializing in jazz, blues, and world music. She is considered one of the most important jazz artists working in Canada and the United States today. From sold-out concerts in San Francisco to exclusive local club performances, Jennifer’s performance experiences have been varied. Jennifer has appeared at jazz festivals all across Canada and the U.S., appearing with such jazz luminaries as: Tommy Banks, Don Thompson, Jon Batiste, Kenny Wheeler, Skywalk, and Hugh Fraser, to name a few. She has numerous ongoing musical projects, including performing as the pianist/vocalist for San Francisco–based Novo Tempo, a Brazilian/jazz fusion group, and is a founding member of Crossing Borders, an international jazz group that performs and records music from the heart. Crossing Borders has released two CDs and performed at Kuumbwa and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Jennifer continues to perform at festivals worldwide and has two new recordings: Live at Samson Winery and Music for Bigs and Smalls. Her duo recordings and concerts with bassist/husband René Worst are critically acclaimed. Jennifer is in demand as an educator and clinician in the U.S. and Canada, and has taught and created many workshops and college courses.

Cosy Sheridan has been called one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful songwriters. Backed by the strong rhythms and harmonies of bass player Charlie Koch, she plays a percussive bluesy guitar style, often in open tunings and occasionally with two or more capos on the guitar. Her concerts are wide-ranging: ragtime guitar and social satire, and modern mythology. The Cornell Folksong Society wrote: “Sheridan is frank, feisty, sublimely and devilishly funny. She fuses myth with modern culture; Persephone with Botox.” Appearing on the national folk scene in 1992 when she won the songwriting contests at The Kerrville Folk Festival and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival, she regularly tops the folk radio charts. She teaches classes in songwriting, performance, and guitar at workshops and camps across the country. She is the director of Moab Folk Camp in Moab, Utah.

Steve Smith is one of the country’s top mandolin players. He’s an outstanding educator who has taught privately for 35 years and at more than 65 camps. Along with his work with the duo Tim May and Steve Smith, the Roots/Bluegrass group The Hard Road Trio, and the Alan Munde Gazette, Steve has appeared at numerous festivals. In addition to his 40 years of coast-to-coast touring, Smith has performed all over the world and in a variety of venues such as musical theater; he composed and performed the score for a production of the Sam Shepard play “Curse of the Starving Class.” Steve has appeared on over 50 albums as a performer and producer, and his music has been heard on countless radio stations across the U.S. and on the Discovery channel, the History channel, and even the Weather channel. Steve is a proud endorser of Ellis Mandolins and GHS Strings. www.desertnight.com

Heidi Swedberg is passionate about people, which is why she loves the ukulele—the people’s instrument! Encouraging all ages to engage and connect through music, she teaches, writes, lectures, and performs for the youngest children to older adults. Born in Hawaii, Heidi received her first ukulele from the Easter Bunny when she was 5 years old. Heidi has helped start uke programs across the globe, from Los Angeles libraries to schools in Mexico to orphanages in Haiti. She has been a performer for more than 30 years, working in music, film, and television, and is a contributing editor for Ukulele magazine, where she writes about community and connectedness. She collaborates with her husband, Daniel Ward, on recordings and instructional books, including ’Tis the Season for ‘Ukulele and Color-Along Ukulele: A Method Book for those Drawn to Play.

Daniel Ward grew up in New Mexico, exposed to a wide variety of musical styles, including Mexican mariachi, Spanish flamenco, world music, and jazz. By the time he completed a degree in classical guitar and composition, Daniel was also playing electric jazz, flamenco guitar with dancers, percussion, trumpet, lute, and world beat music. As a guitarist, he toured with Dance España, Maria Benitez, Yjastros, and Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra In 2009 he moved to Hollywood, and fell in love with the ukulele. He has become a premier ukulele performer known for his command of Latin and world styles, and performs and teaches at festivals across the U.S. and abroad. Daniel contributes lessons to both Ukulele and Acoustic Guitar.

René Worst, an internationally known bass player, has established himself as one of the most influential and leading jazz voices in North America for several decades. He attended the UBC School of Music and Douglas College jazz program. For the four years the award was given, he was voted Bassist of the Year by the BC CARAS Tribute to West Coast Music. René was co-leader of the now-legendary fusion band Skywalk, which has six CDs to their credit. He has toured Canada with jazz legends Chet Baker, Gene Bertoncini, and Joe Pass. On the international scene, he has toured the former Soviet Union with Paul Horn. He is also the bassist with Brazilian band Novo Tempo and multi-disciplinary ensemble Crossing Borders; both bands have toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is a virtuoso on both string and electric bass. René has recorded and performed with numerous jazz greats, including Jack Sheldon, Tommy Banks, Herb Ellis, Freddie Hubbard, Ernestine Anderson, John Faddis, and Don Thompson, to name a few, and has recorded and produced seven CDs for musical partner Jennifer Scott, one of the top jazz artists in Canada, including the highly acclaimed Emotional Girl. He has also been featured as a session player on recordings by Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Bowie, Aerosmith, and Poison, to name a few. René has released a duo album with pianist Miles Black called Two; it has received much critical acclaim. René’s studio work includes jingles, album projects, and movie scores. As a noted producer, René has helmed recordings for Sandy Foster, Megan Fanning, Skywalk, and Crossing Borders. This year, René released the Jennifer Scott CDs Live at Samson Winery and Music for Bigs and Smalls as bassist and producer, and was featured on new releases by Ed Johnson and Leslie Evers. He also released a second duo CD, El Escorial, with pianist Miles Black.