Dry Branch Fire Squad,
Festival Hosts

In thirty-plus years of music making, Rounder recording artists Dry Branch Fire Squad have become an institution in American acoustic music. Inspired by a fierce and uncompromising loyalty to the most traditional aspects of bluegrass, old time and southern gospel music, Dry Branch Fire Squad is fueled by the musical vision and cultural commentary of Ron Thomason. Unlike most bluegrass groups, Dry Branch Fire Squad sells neither itself, its members, nor even particular bluegrass songs. What it markets are the emotions that stimulated the creation of bluegrass and mountain music as well as a taste of the culture in which this music evolved.

A native of southwest Virginia, Thomason founded the Dry Branch Fire Squad in 1976. To date, the band has recorded over twenty-one projects and performed at the most prestigious acoustic music venues and festivals in North America. Most bluegrass observers agree that Dry Branch's current line-up is one of its strongest ever: in addition to Ron Thomason on mandolin, guitar and lead vocals, other group members are Brian Aldridge on guitar, mandolin and harmony vocals, Danny Russell on acoustic bass and harmony vocals and Tom Boyd on banjo and harmony vocals.

This year, Dry Branch Fire Squad will once again appear at some of the most prestigious music events in North America and the group will also host the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, the largest bluegrass festival in the Northeast, as well as the High Mountain Hay Fever Bluegrass Festival.

Dry Branch Fire Squad website

Dry Branch Fire Squad record for Rounder Records

Sons and Brothers,

Festival Hosts

The Sons and Brothers Band continues to captivate audiences around the country with their fusion of bluegrass, gospel, and western music inspired by the band’s founding father Frank Wolking, who lost his courageous battle with cancer in fall 2008. Rooted solidly in the Mountain West, the band describes its brand of music as “Westgrass,” songs with western and Gospel themes, built around the bluegrass lead instruments of mandolin, fiddle, dobro and banjo. The band is composed of brothers and sons Mike (dobro, banjo and lead guitar), Aaron (lead vocals and bass) and Joe (mandolin and fiddle), with uncle Fred Wolking (guitar and vocals), fiddle wizard Johnny Neill, and Ryan Finney on percussion. The Sons and Brothers’ sound is fresh, exciting and vibrant. A typical performance will feature a dynamic contrast of songs and sounds ranging from stirring ballads and powerful gospel numbers to fire breathing instrumentals to poignant stories of family life to classic waltzes and tales of broken hearts. Between the songs Sons and Brothers develops a powerful connection with audiences by sharing the good natured relationship that exists within the family and by presenting the songs with insightful introductions. The Sons and Brothers band won the 2004 National Bluegrass Playoffs in Victorville, California and gave a bang-up performance at the prestigious Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco in 2008.

Sons and Brothers website

The Old-Time Kozmik Trio

Three of the most influential string players of this era - Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky and Rushad Eggleston - have joined forces to make a portable and explosive meeting of the strings. Bruce's powerful singing and skills on guitar and banjo, and Rushad's phantasmagorical songs widen the scope of the band's sound, as does Rushad's ability to play the cello while standing, walking, or dancing. Add to this Anger's uncanny ability to imitate almost any instrument on his fiddle, from saxophone to electric guitar to drums, and you have a power trio capable of everything and anything. This trio exhibits a synergy which must be heard to be believed. Each instrument in the ensemble is an entire rhythm section in its own rightand it all comes out in this wash: re-invention of traditional music from many cultures, Jazz, American Rock and R&B, and original songs and tunes. The band's natural approach of completely redesigning all the music they play in their own image often culminates in songs which are sung in new invented languages, often by the audience.

Old Tyme Kozmik Trio Facebook Page

Foghorn Stringband

The internationally acclaimed Foghorn Stringband has been at the vanguard of a revival in American old-time music for over a decade now and inspired a new generation of old-time musicians, all without compromising their love of traditional American music. Their unique sound still comes from the fiery, intertwining melodies of Stephen “Sammy” Lind’s fiddle and Caleb Klauder’s mandolin, and now they’re supported by the bedrock-solid rhythm foundation of Reeb Willms’ guitar and Nadine Landry’s bass. And when it comes to vocals, they deliver; four powerful and exceptional voices resulting in countless combinations of harmonies. A typical Foghorn set is based around exquisitely rare old-time tunes and songs, but a vast knowledge of early country music and recent explorations in Cajun song traditions have molded a powerful new sound. Any band would be happy to have mastered one music genre, but Foghorn Stringband has a roaming spirit, and is already sparking new revivals of American roots music traditions.

Foghorn Stringband website

Red Molly

High Mountain Hay Fever is pleased to welcome back Red Molly! Since 2004, this Americana trio has been bringing audiences to their feet with gorgeous three-part harmonies, crisp musicianship, and their warm, engaging stage presence. The band consists of Laurie MacAllister (bass, banjo), Abbie Gardner (dobro, banjo) and Molly Venter (guitar). The dynamic female trio that began as a happy accident around a folk festival campsite is now drawing invitations from renowned historic national events like Merlefest, and is winning over audiences around the country. CDBaby.com notes, “This hot female trio plays a variety of stringed instruments, and sings tight 3-part harmony, creating their distinctive rootsy, Americana sound. Their live performances resonate with warmth, fun, infectious energy, and a love of great American music.”

Red Molly website

Kathy Kallick Band

"Kathy Kallick is one of the best songwriters in bluegrass and acoustic music, always coming up with interesting, sometimes playful, always sure-handed songs [featuring] conversational yet evocative lyrics and solid bluegrass sensibilities. The Kathy Kallick Band is a wonderful combination of youth and experience. All are strong musicians and they create a distinctive band sound," says Chris Stuart of Sing Out! Kathy Kallick has been a leading light in California bluegrass since the mid-'70s, mixing Bill Monroe's traditional sounds with nicely administered dollops of folk, blues, and even jazz, as required. Band members include Annie Staninec (fiddle, clawhammer banjo, vocals), Tom Bekeny (mandolin, fiddle, vocals), Greg Booth (dobro, banjo, vocals), Sharon Gilchrist (acoustic bass, mandolin, vocals) and Annie Staninec (fiddle, clawhammer banjo, vocals). You certainly remember Annie from her stellar performance at last year's High Mountain Hay Fever playing with John Reichman and the Jaybirds.

Hard Road Trio + Bill Evans

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Stories abound where the prairie meets the hills – modern/retro harmonies and groove in original and traditional Americana and Bluegrass music. Life-long musicians Steve Smith (vocals, mandolin, mandola and guitar) and Chris Sanders (vocals and guitar) have captured audiences across the country with the depth of their songwriting and the power of their distinctive voices. They welcome the exciting groove of Anne Luna (bass, vocals) – she has appeared with April Verch, Spring Creek Bluegrass and recorded with Kenny Maines and Alan Munde. All three are songwriters who have found their collective voice in the light and air of the Southwest. The Trio's roots extend into old time, jazz, country and modern chamber music, the product of over 30 years of performing. The great progressive and traditional banjo player, Bill Evans, will be joining the Hard Road Trio for their High Mountain Hay Fever performances.

Hard Road Trio website

Bluegrass Patriots

The Bluegrass Patriots return to Westcliffe for a special reunion performance after three-plus decades of thrilling crowds with stunning lead and harmony vocals by all five members, bluesy and punchy picking, well-penned originals, and folksy charm on stage. The Bluegrass Patriots traveled far and wide, including five tours of Ireland and the British Isles, two tours of Denmark/Sweden and several appearances in Alaska and Canada. The band served as goodwill ambassadors for bluegrass music everywhere they played, making countless friends over the years wherever they appeared. Four of the original band members - Glenn Zankey, Dan Rogers, Willie McDonald and Ken Seaman - still form the core of the band.

Bluegrass Patriots website

Blue Canyon Boys

Every once in awhile a band comes along that stands out among the crowded field of the bluegrass world. Winners of the 2008 Telluride Bluegrass festival band contest, the Blue Canyon Boys offer a unique style of Colorado Bluegrass steeped in tradition with enough excursions to keep all types of music lovers tapping their feet. This bluegrass powerhouse consists of Gary Dark on mandolin, Jason Hicks on guitar, Drew Garrett on bass, and award-winning Chris Elliott on banjo. Blending incredible brother-duet-style vocals and hard-driving instrumental proficiency, this energetic band has created an infectious brew of hard-driving Colorado bluegrass. Blending incredible brother-duet-style vocals and hard-driving instrumental proficiency, this energetic band is driving audiences to their feet and keeping them there. With four well-received recordings of originals and interpretations of traditional songs by the likes of Monroe, Stanley, and McReynolds, the Blue Canyon Boys have become one of Colorado’s most celebrated bluegrass bands. This is the band's third High Mountain Hay Fever appearance.

Blue Canyon Boys website

Steel Pennies

The rusty, lonesome, sound of the Steel Pennies harkens back to the heyday of bluegrass music. Even the band’s numerous original songs have a timeless feel. The collaboration of so many musicians has taken the music in subtly different directions on many occasions, like water threading through a mountain valley. However, the result is always true to our convictions: hard driving, honest, well played, and thoroughly enjoyable. Steel Pennies plays a mix of traditional bluegrass and original music and is always looking for new and interesting music to add to their repertoire. The band took its name from the 1943 steel penny, produced by the U.S. Mint to save copper during the Second World War. Widely rejected by the public for being too rusty, in 1944 the Mint dumped the remaining steel pennies into the San Francisco Bay! Steel Pennies are David Patton on banjo and vocals, Darrell Cox on mandolin and vocals, Kathy Drazsnzak on guitar and vocals, Kevin Slick on guitar, clawhammer banjo and vocals, and Kathy Foster-Patton on bass. David, a veteran of Coal Creek Bluegrass Band, joined Kathy Patton and several friends who were playing on a regular basis, and Steel Pennies was soon performing for appreciative audiences. Darrell joined the band after meeting up with them at various festivals and jams.  David heard Kathy Drazsnzak sing at a jam and asked if she was interested in joining Steel Pennies.  Kevin Slick joined the band after the members also encountered him at local jams.

Steel Pennies website

Grass It Up

Grass It Up, a critically acclaimed band based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is steeped in American musical traditions such as bluegrass, old-time, ragtime, rock and country. Its members have shaped a unique brand of Americana that expresses the feeling of life in today's American West. Just as the elements of a song – notes, words, rhythms – take form only when combined into lyrics and melody, so too the members of a band coalesce when they take to the stage or the recording studio. Grass It Up has become famous for their live performances, whether at their regular gigs – pickin’ on the patio of the Front Range Barbeque and playing at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs – or at special events such as the Meadow Grass Bluegrass Festival, Keystone Bluegrass and Brews, headlining the Happy Ass Ranch Bluegrass Festival, The Indy Music Awards or competing in band contests at Telluride Bluegrass and Rocky Grass. Grass It Up started in Alabama with David Jeffrey, Shannon Carr and Jim Marsh where they garnered a substantial following before relocating to Colorado in 2004.

Grass It Up website

Phoebe and Harper - The Powell Sisters

Phoebe & Harper, The Powell Sisters, are natives of the Salida area. At the ages of 9 and 10, the sisters began performing at the open mic nights at the venerable Salida Café and have gone on to perform at a number of venues including Wet Mountain Western Jubilee, Bluegrass on the Arkansas, and the Salida SteamPlant. With both girls doing vocals and Phoebe, age 15, on fiddle, and Harper, age 14, on guitar; they bring a youthful energy to their bluegrass, old time, and Americana music. You might remember Phoebe & Harper’s recent High Mountain Hay Fever appearances with Gary Bowman’s children’s band and with the Westcliffe Old Time All Stars.

Gary Bowman



Gary is a zookeeper, teacher, musician and songwriter. He resides with his family in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California. In addition to writing and arranging "Song of the Oceans," a compilation of original songs celebrating the ocean world and the variety of creatures that live there, Gary sings, and plays acoustic and electric guitars, 5-string banjos, mandolin, electric bass, harmonica and percussion on the project. Gary's latest CD is a collection of original songs called Song of the Dinosaurs. Gary plays a major role in producing the festival's children's workshops and performance.

Gary Bowman website

Heidi Clare and Lonesome Cowboy Hobo Wyoming Slim

Heidi Clare is widely acknowledged as the best old-time fiddler on the stage today. “What you get here is MUSCLE, pure and simple, powerful and purposeful, seemingly limitless and untiring,” says Ron Thomason of Dry Branch Fire Squad. “Heidi Clare plays like she's defining 'bearing down.’ This is athletic fiddling done by an athlete. To find fiddle chords and drone notes like these you'd have to listen to John Carson, Ray Cline, or G.B. Grayson. There comes a time in modern convention when even those with the strength, taste, and talent to muscle through a tune tend to lighten up for the sake of melody, clarity, or finesse. But Heidi just refuses. Once she's in her "groove" (her word) it would take an old-time southwest Ohio bluegrass bar fight to dislodge her. And those are as gone as the fiddlers who defined the standards that Heidi Clare emulates." Heidi will be teaming up with Lonesome Cowboy Hobo Wyoming Slim. Little is known about this singing cowboy other than rumors that he is the same person who used to go by the nom de plume of Lonesome Cowboy Hobo Colorado Slim until there was some trouble with horses in that state where it’s rumored that he went to sleep and the horses tried to eat him. The duo has a new album release due in the spring. Heidi also plays a major role in producing the festival's children's workshops and performance.

Todd Belveal, Emcee

We have a new emcee for 2013, Todd Belveal, who is, as you've probably guessed, following in his Dad's footsteps. He's got some pretty big shoes to fill, but he's eminently up to the task. Todd lives in Austin, Texas which is well known as a music mecca. And he's an entrepeneur, being a founder and owner of Silvercar, a unique airport rental car company employing up-to-date technology to make the rental process smooth as silk.Todd has been a regular HMHF attendee for many years and loves the whole festival experience.