JANIS IAN
Nine-time Grammy nominee (and Grammy winner!), Janis Ian wrote her first song at the age of 12, was published at 13, made a record at 14, had a hit at 15, and was a has-been at 16. It’s been all uphill since. She’s the writer of “Jesse,” a song recorded by so many others that few remember Ian wrote it; “Stars”, possibly the best song ever written about the life of a performer, recorded by artists as diverse as Mel Torme and Cher; “Society’s Child,” a song about interracial dating that provoked the burning of a radio station and the firing of DJs who played it, and the seminal “At Seventeen”, the 1975 song that brought her five Grammy nominations (the most any solo female artist had ever garnered), and which is now reaching its third generation of listeners. She’s also written short stories, songs for film and television, and her acclaimed autobiography, Society’s Child, published in 2008. A favorite guitarist of the late Chet Atkins, she was also the first female player to have a signature acoustic guitar by a major company (Santa Cruz.) In 2011, after 47 years as a professional in the music business, she is proud to be part of The Gathering’s 20th anniversary. www.janisian.com

KATHY MATTEA
Twice named Female Vocalist of the Year by the Country Music Association, Kathy Mattea carved out a role for herself in the late 1980s and 1990s as a sensitive yet energetic artist at ease both with country tradition and free-ranging innovation. In 1990, the West Virginia native won the first of her two Grammy Awards, earning the Best Female Country Vocal Performance award for her moving “Where’ve You Been,” co-written by husband Jon Vezner. She is among the most successful women in the genre’s history, yet her creative spirit has led her to explore musical territory extending well beyond its confines. Her recent recordings have intertwined Celtic, gospel and bluegrass influences with the folk and acoustic music that have always served as her artistic anchor. Increasingly in demand as a public speaker, Kathy regularly presents educational programs, both separately and in conjunction with concert appearances, at colleges and civic venues across the country. She has served as Artist-in-Residence at Berklee College of Music, provided vocal and songwriting workshops from the Swannanoa Gathering to the North House Folk School to Nashville’s Belmont University, and gives motivational talks about the arts, climate change, and “Finding Your Path.” Most recently she has developed a multimedia presentation called “My Coal Journey,” born out of her latest Grammy-nominated release, Coal, about the intersection of music, activism and nonviolence, featuring live musical performances and a powerpoint slideshow. An early spokesperson and advocate for AIDS awareness and research, Kathy’s long history of activism has led her to bring public attention to several current environmental issues, including global warming and some controversial mining practices in her native Appalachia. www.mattea.com

TOM PAXTON
Nanci Griffith has said, “I think we were all born singing Tom Paxton songs,” and truly, there are few whose original work blends so seamlessly with those traditional songs distilled over generations of the oral tradition. Tom has been an integral part of the folk music community since the early 60’s Greenwich Village scene and continues to be a primary influence on today’s ‘New Folk’ performers. In the words of John Gorka, “I would give every hair on my head to be able to write songs like Tom Paxton.” In a career that spans more than four decades, Tom has performed thousands of concerts and continues to find new fans throughout the world. Paxton songbooks, award-winning children’s recordings, and a catalog of thousands of songs, recorded by everyone from Willie Nelson to Placido Domingo, all serve to document a remarkable career, but his ultimate legacy is the profound influence and admiration his music has engendered among three generations of musicians and fans. In 1996, Tom received the first of our Master Music Maker Awards for lifetime achievement, and serves on our Advisory Board. He’s also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from ASCAP and Folk Alliance International, and a special tribute from Britain’s House of Commons.
www.tompaxton.com

PATTY LARKIN
Patty Larkin redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics. Her recording career began in 1985 with three albums for Philo/Rounder Records, and in 1990, she signed to Windham Hill’s High Street label and delivered four highly-regarded releases: Tango, Angels Running, Strangers World and Perishable Fruit. For the Vanguard Records label she prodiced Agogo Live, Regrooving The Dream, Red=Luck and Watch The Sky, – the latter a NY Times Critic’s Choice. Acoustic Guitar hails her “soundscape experiments” while Rolling Stone has praised her “evocative and subtle sonic shading.” Patty is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music, and was also honored by Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino with “Patty Larkin Appreciation Day” for her philanthropic contributions. In 2005, she produced La Guitara, a compilation of women guitarists challenging the assertion that there are no significant women guitarists. She has performed on numerous compilations and has had work featured in the films, Evolution, Random Hearts, and Sliding Doors. In 2010, Patty celebrated her 25th year of recording with 25, a stripped down retrospective of 25 love songs with 25 featured guests including Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Gorka, Rosanne Cash, Greg Brown, and Swannanoa staffers David Wilcox, Catie Curtis, Peter Mulvey and Janis Ian, among others. www.pattylarkin.com

CATIE CURTIS
The vivid songwriting of Catie Curtis combines insightful lyrics with addictive melodies and energy, and her recordings (released on EMI, Rykodisc, Vanguard and Compass), engaging live shows and impressive touring career throughout the US and Europe have earned her rave reviews and wide recognition. She’s toured extensively with Mary Chapin Carpenter and with the original Lilith Fair, and her songs have been featured on the TV programs, Dawson’s Creek, Felicity, Alias, Chicago Hope, and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as in several independent films. Catie was the Grand Prize Winner of the International Songwriting Competition, for her song, “People Look Around,” co-written with Mark Erelli. In January 2009 she performed at the Human Rights Campaign’s official Obama inaugural ball, and in 2010, she performed at the White House. Catie Curtis is also passionate about teaching, as her former students will attest, and we’re pleased to welcome her back for her third summer at the Swannanoa Gathering. www.catiecurtis.com

JACK WILLIAMS
Jack Williams began his musical journey at age four, playing his mother’s Arthur Godfrey ukulele, quickly learning to play the piano and trumpet, and absorbing the big band, jazz, pop, and classical music on his parents’ 78 rpm records, as well as the raw folk and blues music from his surroundings in 1940s South Carolina. He discovered the guitar in 1958 and learned it quickly, forming his first band within a week. His current music is strongly influenced by a long early career in jazz, classical, folk, rock and roll, blues, and R&B. A professional touring artist for more than 50 years, Jack is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/storyteller whose songs display a clear sense of place, many of them grounded in- or inspired by- his deep southern roots. Since finding his place within the folk music community some 20 years ago, his memorable performances have been applauded at festivals from Newport, Kerrville, Philadelphia, and Boston to music halls, arts centers, coffeehouses and house concerts across 48 states and 8 countries. He often teaches at retreats, workshops, festivals, and at a semi-annual music retreat in his new home-area of the Arkansas Ozarks. He currently has eight albums and a DVD on Wind River Records. With a joyous recklessness and energy, Jack Williams performs music from a poet’s heart and a virtuoso’s hands. www.jackwilliamsmusic.com

DAVID ROTH
New Contemporary Folk Week Coordinator David Roth, is a veteran of many Gatherings and a singer, songwriter, recording artist, and masterfully inclusive instructor who has earned top honors at premier songwriter competitions at the Kerrville Festival (TX) and Falcon Ridge (NY), and taken his music, experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries over the last two decades. David’s songs have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Kennedy Center, Peter, Paul, & Mary concerts, NASA’s Goddard Space Center (his song, “Rocket Science” went up on the space shuttle Atlantis on May 11th, 2009!), and ten CDs on the Wind River and Stockfisch (Germany) labels. Featured on many of Christine Lavin’s Rounder Records compilations, the former artist-in-residence at New York’s Omega Institute has also been a songwriting judge at Kerrville, Napa Valley, Tumbleweed, Eventide Arts, and the South Florida Folk Festival. He’s taught singing, songwriting, and performance at the Augusta Heritage workshops, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Common Ground on the Hill, Rowe Center, Pendle Hill, Lamb’s Retreat, Wisconsin Stringalongs, the National Wellness Institute, and for many other songwriting groups and associations around the country. David is thrilled and honored to return to Swannanoa with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories, and powerful singing and subject matter. www.davidrothmusic.com