Tony is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef (he’s also an accomplished sculptor, but that’s another story). All of the music of America is in Tony’s music. Relix hit the nail on the head when writing of Tony: “True talent doesn’t need categories.” 

“Tony Furtado, banjo player, is back…in a big way,” writes banjo master Tony Trischka in his liner notes to Decembering, the brand-new album from Tony Furtado. “He’s planted his flag in the midst of the fertile ground that is modern banjo. Texturally fresh, confidently audacious, rich and giving, this recording is a masterpiece.” Decembering is a welcome return to the banjo and a much-needed ray of sunshine and light in these troubled times. 

Tony has performed throughout the world at top venues and appeared at such prestigious music festivals as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, Jazz Aspen, Kerrville Folk Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival and countless others. He especially values the opportunities he has had to tour with such legendary musicians as Gregg Allman and with such esteemed slide guitarists as David Lindley, Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth.

Luke Price

Five-time Grand National Fiddle Champion Luke Price is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, and studio musician based in Portland, OR. He has his roots in American fiddling and swing traditions, but his interests and influences are diverse ranging through Soul, Jazz, Pop, and Americana. Luke is a Berklee School of Music alum and regularly plays and sings in a vintage soul/pop tinged band, “Love, Dean” alongside his wife Rachael Price. Luke brings a unique voice to any music he plays, whether he’s on the fiddle, guitar, or singing.

Born and raised in Knoxville, TN, Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson of The Montvales spent much of their formative years busking amidst the Elvis impersonators and musical saw players of the town’s Market Square, honing their uniquely boisterous harmonies and perfecting the art of people-watching. Some fifteen years later, the two are still at it-maintaining their study of the robust chaos of the commons as they tour the country playing their descriptive, textured songs on the self-described “feral outskirts of country music.”  Their lyrics tackle everything from heartbreak to gentrification to abortion rights, pulling audiences in alongside their well-worn harmonies and nearly telepathic musical connection.  

The music of Creekbed Carter Hogan (he/they) is a quiet act of defiance made at the end of your rope. It is the warm feeling of solidarity coursing through your body as you link arms with strangers. It is a hard-won laugh, brittle but brave, in the face of what hurt you the most. It is finding hope where there is none, asking questions when you’re told to stay quiet, demanding a future you believe in, and facing a world hellbent on destruction with community, enthusiasm, and joy.

The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee play music the way it sounded before bluegrass, old-time, and country went their separate ways. Rooted in the Blue Ridge music traditions of Southwest Virginia, the band draws from the fertile gray area of the 1940s and early 1950s — a transitional period where traditional and modern styles mingled freely, musicians who had grown up on old-time music at local fiddlers conventions were eager to try new things, and bands attempted to imitate new sounds they heard on radio and records. The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee’s sound is earthy, direct, and unadorned: five masterful musicians and singers delivering stirring harmonies and hard-driving instrumental work with no modern gloss and no apology, alongside a handful of original compositions that sit seamlessly in the tradition — an approach described by Bluegrass Unlimited as sounding like “a lost volume from Rounder’s Early Days of Bluegrass series.” Their recordings Live at WPAQ and Live at WPAQ II were captured in single takes around a single vintage RCA ribbon mic, standing in a circle, exactly as much of this music would have been recorded nearly eight decades ago.

More than a decade into one of contemporary folk’s most quietly extraordinary careers, Alela Diane returns with Who’s Keeping Time? on May 22 via Fluff & Gravy / Loose Music. 

The Portland songwriter’s seventh full-length came as the consequence of intuition, coincidence, and community. “I came to the end of a season last year,” Alela shares. “My daughters had grown a bit. I no longer had babies waking me in the middle of the night. I could hear myself think again.” More and more, those thoughts circled music. 

The ultimate spark for Alela’s return to her music community came in April of last year with the death of her close friend and mentor Michael Hurley — folk legend and indispensable presence in the Portland music scene. Tracked live in the attic of her 1892 Victorian home, Who’s Keeping Time? was produced by Sam Weber (Madison Cunningham, Anna Tivel) and brought to life with staples from the local music orbit, including members of the bands Lucius and Blind Pilot and fellow singer-songwriters Anna Tivel and AC Sapphire. 

Over the years, Alela’s lustrous discography has gathered major critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR Music, The Guardian, and plenty more. UNCUT counted her work in their ambitious “50 best singer-songwriter albums” of all time roundup—a canon comprising John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Paul Simon—with Consequence echoing that significance, declaring, “Hers is a timeless sound, that of a wayfaring troubadour, which only seems to come a few times a generation.”

Shannon Lay’s music is shored by radical empathy. After 15 years of writing, recording and performing her singularly gentle songs in venues around the world, the self-taught singer-songwriter is most concerned with how her music may help people in emotional and spiritual need. In a world of persistent change, Lay’s goal is to have concentrations of love and energy in her work that double as a helping hand or a voice whispering “everything is going to be ok.” The singer’s abiding belief is that immense change also means invaluable transformation and permanent relief. Intention is her North Star. Hailed by publications such as Pitchfork, The Guardian, SPIN and Uncut magazine, Lay’s solo albums, including “Geist,” “August”, “Living Water,” and “All this life goin’ down” are noted for their thoughtful and entirely tender reflections on life’s big questions. Her seraphic voice has drawn comparisons to British folk icons Anne Briggs, Sandy Denny and Vashti Bunyan. Though an old soul, Lay aims to meet her listeners in the present. For her, creating a song, a recording or a live performance that is relatable and communal is of the utmost importance for we are constantly in flux and those unknowns, met with compassion, can be beautiful. 

Known around the world for his clawhammer banjo playing, Joe Newberry is also a powerful guitarist, singer and songwriter. The Gibson Brothers’ version of his song “Singing As We Rise,” featuring guest vocalist Ricky Skaggs, won an IBMA “Gospel Recorded Performance” Award. With Eric Gibson, he shared the IBMA “Song of the Year” Award for “They Called It Music.”

A longtime and frequent guest on A Prairie Home Companion, he was a featured singer on theTransatlantic Sessions tour of the U.K. with fiddler Aly Bain and Dobro master Jerry Douglas, and at the Transatlantic Session’s U.S. debut.  

Growing up in a family full of singers and dancers, he took up the guitar and banjo as a teenager and learned fiddle tunes from great Missouri fiddlers.  Newberry moved to North Carolina as a young man and quickly became an anchor of the incredible music scene in the state.  Still going strong more than 40 years later, he collaborates with some of his favorite musicians, does solo and studio work, and plays and teaches at festivals and workshops in North America and abroad.

Jenner Fox & Jeremy Elliott Album Release

The new Jenner Fox & Jeremy Elliott record, Beauty in Strange Colors, follows their acclaimed The Moon That Moves the Sea, and goes deeper in the way that friendship does. The songs were written mostly together this time, a record born from necessity — because hope sometimes requires a project, a reason to start again. It is seeing differently, it is apples right from the tree, it is the swirling lines of the surface of a river, it is remembering on purpose.

The Bellingham based duo recorded Beauty in Strange Colors sitting across from each other with acoustic guitars live at Bell Creek Studios last fall. Like the record, the onstage performance will include Stephanie Walbon, whose voice is its own kind of weather. Come hear the new record alongside some old favorites tunes, in the cozy home court of the New Prospect Theatre.

More on the artists:

Jenner Fox & Jeremy Elliott are a Bellingham, WA–based internationally touring duo praised for their poignant storytelling, intricate guitar interplay, and uncanny ability to blend two into one. Their debut LP, The Moon That Moves The Sea (2024), was hailed by Americana UK as “evocative and revelatory.” Fox, a prolific troubadour with 9 albums in a decade, has built his reputation on heartfelt and humorous storytelling with a voice that carries equal measures of vulnerability and conviction. Elliott, a Macon, Georgia native, weaves blues, rock, bluegrass, country, and West African influences into his unique virtuosic style. Since joining forces for a 365-mile bicycle tour across New England, the powerhouse duo has delighted audiences from Patagonia to Portland and sometimes even places that don’t start with P. 

Raised between the rugged lines of Tennessee and the long shadows of Michigan, Cruz Contreras has spent nearly thirty years forging his path through the Americana musical landscape. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, bandleader, producer, and storyteller whose voice cuts through noise like a well-honed blade.

First as co-founder of Robinella and the CCstringband, then as the fire at the heart of The Black Lillies, Cruz helped carve a sound that feels as old as the hills and as wild as the road. His songs have topped the Billboard and Americana charts, picked up Independent Music Awards, and earned him a nomination from the Americana Music Association as an emerging artist, though his music suggests he was never chasing trends to begin with.

He’s stood on stages from Conan O’Brien’s late-night set to the Grand Ole Opry, the latter over 40 times, and drawn praise from Rolling Stone, NPR, American Songwriter, and Vanity Fair. Contreras has toured with Robert Earl Keen and the Turnpike Troubadours, collaborated with John Oates, and shared stages with Old Crow Medicine Show, The Travelin’ McCourys, Tyler Childers, Mavis Staples, Elizabeth Cook and more. A festival veteran, Cruz Contreras & The Black Lillies have performed at Bonnaroo, Merle Fest, Jazz Fest, Red Ants Pants, Stagecoach, High Sierra, DelFest, Pickathon, Mile Zero, Cayamo and more.

Cruz Contreras & The Black Lillies kick off their Feels Like Home summer tour on June 24th in Durango, Colorado, in support of his upcoming album.

John Mambira

Originally from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, John Mambira is the founder of the acclaimed band Bongo Love. Since arriving in the United States in 2007, he has shared the joy of Zimbabwean drumming, marimba, dance, and theater arts with audiences and students across the Pacific Northwest, earning a reputation as one of the region’s most vibrant ambassadors of Zimbabwean culture.

Ratie D

A captivating vocalist and world music artist, Ratie D channels Zimbabwe’s spirit through her powerful voice and contemporary sensibility. She has performed at Carnegie Hall and released her debut EP, Ink & Melodies, which blends traditional Zimbabwean influences with modern expression. Her music is a bridge between cultures, rooted in tradition and alive in the present.

Rujeko Dumbutshena

Rujeko is a Zimbabwean born dancer, teacher, cultural arts community organizer, and performing artist of African dance practices. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Dance at the University of Florida. Rujeko Dumbutshena has performed and taught across the United States and internationally. For 16 years, she directed African music and dance camps featuring artists from across Africa. She was an original cast member of the Broadway musical FELA!

Napoleon Jambwa

Born and raised in Highfield, Harare, Kudzie Jambwa grew up steeped in Zimbabwe’s musical traditions. Taught his first mbira song by his father at age five, he went on to master marimba, ngoma, hosho, and a range of modern instruments, and added dance, from traditional African to Western styles, to his remarkable repertoire. He is a complete artist in every sense of the word.

Ukama Band

Ukama is a Northwest-based band and emerging arts initiative that brings people together through music, culture, and community. We promote and back artists, helping bring meaningful cultural exchange, live performance, and connection to our communities.