Musicians and Presenters

Breaking Up Winter presenters for 2008 were:

James and Rachel Bryan

James Bryan, of Mentone, Alabama, is the son of an old-time musician who took him to visit every fiddler in and around Sand Mountain. He learned tunes from local repertoires and from master fiddler Kenny Baker, who accepted James. He won his first fiddlers' convention at the age of 12 and the prestigious title of Tennessee Valley Fiddle King at the age of 17.

He has several solo albums on Rounder label and more playing with Norman and Nancy Blake as the Rising Fawn String Ensemble. He plays Southern old-time tunes learned by ear as well as vintage tunes from New England and Britain, collected from rare old tune books.

His daughter, Rachel, has been touring with him for several years, on guitar, mandolin, and fiddle.

Charlie Acuff

One of Tennessee's greatest musical treasures, Charlie spreads joy playing left-handed fiddle in the style of his grandfather on instruments made by his father and encouraging us all to sing more.

Charlie was for many years resident fiddler at the The Museum of Appalachia and is a recipient of the Governor's Heritage Award for his long dedication to traditional music.

Charlie has has been a welcome performer at almost every BUW since the beginning, missing recently because of health, but we're expecting to see him with us at BUW this year.

To read more about Charlie and for links to some of his fine fiddling, visit Songs of Appalachia special produced by www.KnoxNews.com. Be sure to click the link to the video.

Evan Hatch

A folklorist with the Arts Center of Cannon County, Hatch's work includes the re-release of 15 titles of the classic Davis Unlimited catalog, making a wealth of musical history availalble to fans and practitioners of the genre. The re-release is under the Center's own Spring Fed Records label.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from the University of North Carolina in 1998 and completed his Master of Arts in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi in August 2002.  He centers his interests on documentary work honing his skill in oral histories and photography. Evan serves on the Tennessee Arts Commission's Folklife Grants Panel and the Board of the Tennessee Folklore Society.

Gerry Milnes

Gerry is coordinator of Folklife Programs at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College. 

An award-winning fiddler and banjo player, he's a member of the band Gandy Dancer, Gerry has been researching the music culture of West Virginia for more than 30 years.

As a player, he's taken top honors at Clifftop, the Vandalia Gathering, and the West Virginia State Folk Festival.

His latest book is "Play of a Fiddle: Traditional Music, Dance, and Folklore of West Virginia", published by the University of Kentucky Press.

Jeff Todd Titon

Jeff Todd Titon has been a professor of music and director of the Ph.D. program in ethnomusicology at Brown University since 1986.

In addition to teaching academic courses, he leads a community old-time string band ensemble at Brown which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006. Hear their music and read about them at their university Website.

He is the author of several books including Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes (University Press of Kentucky, 2001), highly regarded by scholars and loved by musicians. Jeff will be sharing his research on Kentucky tunes and playing music.

Susan Kevra

A driving force in contra dancing in Middle Tennessee, Susan is a talented and popular dance caller with much developed skill at getting all of us, even nondancers, to kick up our heels and have a big time.

She lives in Nashville teaches dance and plays music on both coasts and both sides of the Atlantic. She began calling and teaching traditional dances in 1991, appearing in New England grange halls in tiny, snow-covered villages as well as major festivals and dance camps throughout America.

She spent 2000 - 2001 in France and traveling throughout Western Europe teaching contras, squares and English Country Dancing – and learning French dances. Susan sings and plays clarinet is the English Country Dance Band, "Meeting House." Her calling and singing can be heard on the critically acclaimed CD, "Full Swing" featuring some of New England's finest contra dance musicians.

You can learn more at www.susankevra.com.

Roby Cogswell
Musician and Director of Folklife for the Tennessee Arts Commissison, Roby is a great supporter and participant in old-time music. He serves as Master of Ceremonies for our Roots of Old-Time Music Day.