Headliners

From winning the band contest at Pickin‘ In The Pines (mere weeks after forming in 2009) and a special appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2012, to two appearances on National Public Radio‘s A Prairie Home Companion, Run Boy Run have been making friends and fans alike with their open-ended musical approach and wonderful stage presence. A Prairie Home Companion host Garrison Keillor was impressed enough that he penned the liner notes to the band‘s debut CD.

Tagged by Paste magazine as “One of the top 10 Arizona bands to hear now,” the band is brother and sister Matt Rolland (fiddle, guitar) and Grace Rolland (cello, vocals), sisters Bekah Sandoval Rolland (fiddle, vocals) and Jen Sandoval (mandolin, vocals) and bass player Jesse Allen. With three strong female voices, singing separately or in harmony, and deeply rooted familial connection to traditional American music, Run Boy Run didn‘t come lately to their sound; it‘s in their collective blood.

The Stray Dogs are Larry Cobb on drums, Neil Harry on pedal steel, and Alvin Blaine on Telecaster, accordion, dobro and whatever else will fit in the truck. Their first gig together as the 7-piece Dogs was at the 2013 Tucson Folk Festival.

The Sonoran Dogs have performed at many festivals and concert venues, entertaining crowds with their own style of fast-paced bluegrass, heartfelt Americana, and original songs, with improvised humor throughout their shows. These accomplished veteran musicians are known for their instrumental virtuosity and vocal harmonies. Many of their songs are about, or inspired by, people, places, landscapes, and history of the southwest. They have been selected as the headlining band at the Prescott Bluegrass Festival, to be held in June of 2014, and they have received many accolades and awards, individually and as a band.

During their stay in La Crosse, Hans played and toured in a duo with folk musician / singer / songwriter John Smith. It was there also that he met Native American artist Bill Miller, with whom he would go on to tour and record a number of albums. Hans’ involvement in children’s/family music began with a request to write a theme for a public radio show for kids. The theme music proved so popular that he was asked to create more music for the show and for kids in general. In the late nineties he began to tour and record more extensively for kids and families - although he has always continued to record and perform for adults.

They have since relocated back to their hometown of Tucson, AZ, where they have won more than a dozen Tucson Music Awards including “Best Folk Band” and “Best Rock Band” (you can decide for yourself which is most accurate). But it's not just Tucson that loves them - they were recently named “Best Group/Duo” in the 2014 International Acoustic Music Awards.

Their airtight vocal harmonies, along with Ryan’s rapidly precise guitar riffs and Cameron’s soulfully rich lead vocals, create the pleasantly distinguishable “Ryanhood” sound. “Cameron Hood and Ryan Green, armed with finger-flying acoustic-guitar solos, vocal harmonies and crowd-pleasing banter, easily won over the audience ..” - Arizona Daily Star