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Jonathan Byrd
is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, He grew up
singing in the Southern Baptist church, where his father
preached and his mother played piano. After four years
in the Navy, he returned to Chapel Hill to play in rock
bands in that legendary underground music scene. A
friend of Jonathan's invited him to an old-time fiddle
festival in the mountains of southwest Virginia, where
his writing began to change. Assimilating the sounds of
southern traditional music, Byrd wrote new songs in an
ancient style.One of those first songs was "Velma," a murder ballad
based on the true story of Velma Barfield, the last
woman to be executed in North Carolina (in 1984) and the
murderer of Jonathan's own grandfather.
Jonathan's delightful, substantive songs are rich with
imagery and textures of influences from Appalachian,
country, early American balladry, modern atmospheric Mideastern, urban and old timey
folk music. A stalwart of modern folk music, Jonathan is
constantly evolving in new musical directions and each
incarnation has proven to be masterful. Like a gourmet
chef, Jonathan does not create the same dish twice, so
we're not sure what he will bring to the table tonight.
But if music were a meal, Jonathan would prepare us a
banquet. Catch this Kerrville New Folk winner as often
as you can; you'll never get 'full', your appetite will
only grow.
 Karen
Mal has become one of the most
sought-after performers around, both as a solo artist
and as a sideman for others on mandolin, guitar, and
harmony vocals. She has won numerous songwriting awards
and has opened for and/or appeared onstage with
performers such as Tom Paxton, Slaid Cleaves, Tom
Prasada-Rao, Gail Davies, Buddy Mondlock, and Tom
Kimmel.
Karen is originally from New England, but more recently
from Wisconsin. She worked in regional theatre for
several years as an actor and musical director/composer
before settling in Austin, Texas to play music
full-time. She has lived and worked in places from
Manhattan to Memphis, from Wisconsin to California, and
toured in 40 states. |
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