Tray Wellington Band

Growing up in western North Carolina’s Ashe County, Trajan “Tray” Wellington heard a lot of music — and from the first time he heard the banjo as a young teen, he was, he says, “hooked.” Even before he graduated from East Tennessee State University’s renowned Bluegrass, Old-Time and Country program, Wellington had earned acclaim as the banjo player with Cane Mill Road, performing across the country and winning a 2019 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award while the group took Momentum Band of the Year honors. 

Tray's May 2022 release, Black Banjo, has received some glowing reviews - 

“This is a record that breaks right through subgenre boundaries. If bluegrass is about spotlighting virtuosos, here’s a new one people will be checking in on for some time to come.” - Wall Street Journal 

"Black Banjo is set to accomplish more than broadening perspectives on Wellington’s instrument of choice. It showcases his versatility and his promising career." - No Depression

www.traywellington.com

When something is in your blood, it’s easy to take for granted. But if the last few years have taught Lilly Winwood anything, it’s that nothing is set in stone. Mixing salt-of-the-earth songwriting with a graceful splash of old-world sophistication, the Americana songstress reached a long-sought milestone with her 2021 album debut, Time Well Spent, only to feel like the clock had run out. But with her follow-up LP, Talking Walls, a weary creative heart has something to say once more.

“It’s exciting,” Winwood says, speaking not just of her latest project, but also the musical passion encoded in her DNA. An eclectic fusion of trans-Atlantic roots-music styles, hers is an unpredictable sound of opposing forces, with its feet firmly on the ground and head in the clouds – quite literally.

The daughter of Grammy winning British rocker Steve Winwood (Traffic, Spencer Davis Group), Lilly grew up splitting time between the U.K. and Nashville’s neon-lit streets, with the family often visiting her mother’s hometown. Back then music was ever present, she says, and whether performing with her older brother, writing teenaged odes to young love or just soaking in her father’s work, it gave Winwood a unique creative perspective – one that felt more in line with Nashville than London.

www.lillywinwood.com

With her 2017 debut Shame, Americana songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Baiman emerged as a fearless voice of the American female experience. “Shame” was featured on NPR’s “Songs We Love”, called a “Rootsy Wake-up Call” by Folk Alley, and described by Vice’s “Noisey” as “flipping off authority one song at a time.” On her new full-length album Cycles, Baiman has found a grittier musical medium for her signature unabashed and defiant songwriting, employing a majority-female team including co-producer Olivia Hally, known as the front woman of Indie-pop band Oh Pep!

Originally from Chicago, Baiman moved to Nashville at eighteen, and has spent the last decade working as a musician in a wide variety of roles, from session musician (Molly Tuttle, Kelsey Waldon, Caroline Spence), to live sidewoman (Kacey Musgraves, Amy Ray), to bandmate and producer. Fiddle music was her first love, and she is known in the bluegrass and old time world for her work with progressive acoustic duo 10 String Symphony with fiddle player Christian Sedelmyer. Her first solo album Shame, was produced by Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange, and established her role as part of a new generation of political songwriters. Since 2017, Baiman has toured her solo project internationally with appearances at the Kilkenny Roots Festival in Ireland, the Mullum Music Festival in Australia, and the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington, DC. 

www.rachelbaiman.com

motional, gut-wrenching, but still incredibly hopeful, National Park Radio’s music reverberates important themes about life, love, and difficult choices, all while echoing the enduring beauty of the band’s deep-seated roots in the Ozark Mountains. Formed in Northwest Arkansas in 2012, National Park Radio, headed by singer/songwriter Stefan Szabo, has infused the surrounding region (and many others as well) with their unique brand of indie-folk music. Emerging from the shadows cast by giants Mumford & Sons, The Decemberists, and The Avett Brothers, NPR offers the indie folk world something a little different: An outstanding blend of incisive songwriting and organic Americana charm, alongside a heritage in genuine mountain music.Szabo (lead vocals, acoustic guitar) self-produced the band’s EP back in 2013, and National Park Radio has never looked back. Initially, the music spread like mountain wildfire throughout the region, earning the band a substantial and incredibly loyal following in their home region. After facing some of the challenges in the music industry while creating their first full-length album The Great Divide (2016), Szabo’s wife Kerrie joined the band with the release of their quick follow-up album “Old Forests” (2017), bringing beautiful harmonies and a unique chemistry that created a sense of family at the core of the band. They have spent the last few years touring and gaining fans throughout the country, building a passionate fan base that is inspired by their songs. Their most recent release The Road Ahead (2020) is now available and demonstrates the next step in the evolution of where National Park Radio’s music is headed.

www.npr.band