2025 Lineup
Elias Hix
“I’m Elias Hix. I grew up on a cattle farm in South Carolina. I’m shaped by the south's summers of thick heat and hazy air that are soon followed by the cold of harsh and dry winters that leave the sky empty and hollow. Days from those seasons are trapped in my head, with places I will not go anymore, and names that will not leave my lips.
When I was 15, I wrote a song called “Thinner” — two years later I wrote and produced an album with that song as its title. This album and the projects that followed are the products of the things I do not speak of anymore and the things I’ve grown too scared to say. So I write them in music, disguised within the imagery and metaphors of the place I grew up in. This is the honest truth of my music and I hope it can help you the way it is helping me. Thank you.”
The Litch Brothers Duo
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms
Pillars of the West Coast music scene, they carry the torch of their music around the world, and can be found touring as a duo, as well as with the Caleb Klauder Reeb Willms Country Band, their bluegrass band the Cali Cutups, and with the Foghorn Stringband,. Fans old and new exude admiration for the timeless sound that these two produce, capturing the essence of American roots music.
Caleb and Reeb's new album, Gold in Your Pocket, released on Free Dirt records, is spinning its way to the top of the Americana, AltCountry and Folk charts, no surprise to the loyal fans that follow this international touring act. These two are known to music fans across the globe for their soulful singing, driving dance music, and classic songwriting embodying their commitment to American roots music.
Kian Dye
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, over the past two decades Kian Dye has made a name for himself as one of the premier bluegrass musicians in the region. Kian comes from a childhood of fiddle contests, bluegrass festivals, and music camps, and has performed alongside artists like Never Come Down, Eli West, and Under the Rocks as well as leading his own group. Kian released his debut album in May of 2024 which he wrote, produced, engineered, and mixed. Kian is joined this weekend by two PNW legends: Forrest Gibson (Bellingham) on guitar and Brian Alley (Methow Valley) on the banjo.
Eli West
Eli West is an American Roots musician from the Pacific Northwest. A multi-instrumental creator of sonic spaces, Eli’s former training as a designer informs a sound that is lush and organic – neither manicured nor overgrown. Evergreen timbres weave among pitches, rhythms and lyrics to become comfortable rooms into which listeners are invited.
Lauded by Tim O’brien as a musician “making music the World needs,” Eli’s reputation as a crafter of considered, toneful environments has fostered collaborations with Bill Frisell, Andrew Marlin, John Reishchman, Julie Fowlis, and many other pillars of the growing Americana movement.”
The Hot Tomatoes
Forced to reconcile their differences during the dark years of quarantine, The Hot Tomatoes emerge as a point of light and hope for all of humanity. These multi-instrumentalists will play all those swinging tunes from the 1920's and 30's that you've forgotten you like, plus some other favorites from your future.
Elise Leavy
Raised on the central coast of California and currently living in Lafayette, LA, Elise Leavy has a distinctly unique voice as a singer and songwriter. Often likened to Joni Mitchell and Judee Sill, Elise says it must be the California seawater getting inside her head and heart from an early age. She was recently selected as a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition. She released her first studio album just last year, a group of songs written and recorded in Brooklyn, NY with producer and engineer Robin MacMillan, and a full band of local musicians, and was on the road touring for most of 2023 and 2024, alongside Viv and Riley, Eamon O’Leary, Sami Braman, and Love, DEAN. She is thrilled to be touring an even newer record in 2025, released in September of this year, called “Memorandum”.
Doctor Harvey Mudd
Doctor Harvey Mudd plays folk music on Orcas Island, Washington...Some of these folks include Muddy Waters, Yank Rachell, Sleepy John Estes, Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie McTell, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe...
Doc Rierden plays drums in a most unforgivable style...Think the unknown drummer on the fabulous first recordings by J. B. Lenoir...
Former bands include Charlie Burton & The Hiccups, The Sandfleas, and there are rumors he might have played drums for Slappy Tubbs and The Big Horn Band...not sure about that one.
Bruce Harvie is a veteran of so-ooo many bands on Orcas Island and elsewhere, including The Tasmanian Devils, The Burned, The Silvertones, The Sandfleas, and The Toasted Crumblies.
In Doctor Harvey Mudd, it's all about slide guitar on an old Japanese Tiesco, through an old Gibson Falcon amp...you know, "that" sound...
Jimi Mudd...what can't you say about Jimi Mudd?He's on stand-up bass, holding down the fort just like he does in Chubasco. It's a Trainwreck everywhere he holds court, and that's a good thing.
Doctor Harvey Mudd plays the blues...
Devin & Andy Rick
The Bowties
The Bow Ties are a group of true bluegrass pickers dedicated to infusing traditional bluegrass with fresh energy. Frontman Yoseff Tucker is a staple in the California Bluegrass scene, known for his piercing tenor and driving rhythm guitar. Billy Moore sets the groove with his no-nonsense five string banjo playing. Caleb Roberts brings the Monroe style mandolin, while Jack Kinney lends his tasteful and clean fiddle playing to the group. The beating heart of this unit comes from the fierce rhythm of duo Zach Sharpe on upright bass and Michael Carroll on snare. The combination of these talented musicians offer a refreshing, exciting and meticulous bluegrass experience.
Schmid & Guest
Cayley Schmid and Aaron Guest met at the Bellingham Farmers Market in 2009. Desperately jealous of each other’s busking success, they neutralized the competition and started a band together. This was the beginning of a decade-long musical partnership that descended into marriage. After the retirement of their band, Polecat, in 2020, Aaron and Cayley suddenly found themselves musically unsupervised by their bandmates for the first time. Together they play instrumental Celtic music on fiddle and piano. Tunes range from lively reels and jigs to sweeping airs and waltzes, and drawing from Scottish, Cape Breton, and Irish traditions.
Goods Guild
Devin Champlin
Bellingham Washington's Devin Champlin writes songs for gettin' along, sometimes with his band Sons of Rainier, sometimes on his ownsome. He likes to fingerpick the guitar, grease the fiddle, and thump on the piano, all while singing about dreams of breakfast, and existentialism.