Talk to the abundantly gifted violinist and mandolin player Jason Anick and the phrase “jazz without borders” will invariably come up. What the axiom means to Anick is a contemporary jazz that is stylistically inclusive in nature, a jazz that brings whatever it can to the party, unwilling to cut something out of the mix for fear of it not fitting prescribed boundaries. An inviting demonstration of the maxim in action can be found on Anick’s second album as a leader, Tipping Point, which has been gaining critical acclaim with praise from the prestigious Boston Globe which stated “Jason’s compositional voice is as distinctive as his virtuoso playing.”
One of the youngest instructors at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Anick is considered “a rising star in the world of jazz violin and mandolin” (Downbeat Magazine). In addition to leading his own contemporary jazz ensemble and performing with the Rhythm Future Quartet, Anick has been touring and recording with Grammy award-winning Nashville guitar virtuoso John Jorgenson since 2008 when he was recruited while still a senior at the Hartt Conservatory.
Jason will be joined by his Rhythm Future Quartet bandmates Greg Loughman on bass and West Rutland native Max O’Rourke on guitar.

For more info on the band, visit: http://www.jasonanick.com/

Vermont based trio Pete’s Posse is composed of acclaimed musician Pete Sutherland (fiddle, piano, banjo, melodica and vocals), his talented protégé Oliver Scanlon (fiddle, viola, mandolin, foot percussion and vocals) and the uber-dynamic Tristan Henderson (guitars, mandolin, jaw harp, foot percussion and vocals). Twin fiddles in tight, wild harmony over high-powered guitar and pounding footwork with mandolin, clawhammer banjo, jawharp and rocking keyboards adding their voices to the mix. Songs and tunes, old and new, lyrical and driving: that’s the multi-generational heart and mind of PETE’S POSSE, at work and at play.

Pete’s Posse is three generations of musicians who have come together to create their own electrifying sound they call “multi-generational roots music.” In 2013 Pete and Oliver, building on a long-time mentor/mentee partnership, asked Tristan to join them to play a contradance, and a match was struck! Gig by gig their chemistry grew, and the Posse quickly developed a reputation for being an innovative, driving, sought-after, can’t-keep-your-feet-still power trio.

Within a year of their first performance, their self-titled album was out, and days later they were off on a nine week, 48-gig, 11,000 mile U.S. tour. It was on this odyssey that they began to add more vocals to the mix in a major way, expanding not only the dance floor experience, but also their desire for concerts. Their second album, “Down to the Core” was released in July 2015, a pure distillation of their first national tour. With it they attracted the attention of festival promoters and concert series large and small, as well as finding themselves much in demand for contradance weekends in the Northeast and beyond.
The Posse continues to engage audience members of all ages with their distinct and expansive energies, and their intuitive feel for one another’s playing. Being a restlessly creative bunch of self-styled ‘rehearsal addicts’, there are always new songs, dance sets, and concert arrangement in the works! So if you’ve heard them at a house concert or danced with them until 1 AM at a festival, you know there’s always a new favorite to listen for. The steady flow of powerful uplifting energy across the age gap is the engine that drives Pete’s Posse, and it shows no sign of letting up!

For more info on the band, visit: http://www.petespossevt.com/about/

Upstate Rubdown is an acoustic septet drawing inspiration from every corner (and decade) of America’s musical heritage. Based in New York’s Hudson Valley region, the band has spent years cultivating its sound, and continues to grow by the tune. The instrumentation includes Harry D’Agostino on upright bass, Ryan Chappell on mandolin, Dean Mahoney on cajón, and Christian Joao on flute and alto/baritone saxophone. The dynamic rhythm section supports a three part vocal harmony powerhouse of founding members Mary Kenney and Melanie Glenn with recent Nashville-transplant Allison Olender.
Over its five year history, the band has played in more than twenty states, from intimate house concerts to prominent festival stages, including Mountain Jam, Frendly Gathering, and Green River Festival. The band has opened for Cory Henry, Phox, The Felice Brothers, and many others.

For more info about the band, visit: http://www.upstaterubdown.com

Big, bad beauty from Boise, Idaho, Emily Braden covers a lot of ground. Whether she’s fronting an orchestra on the west coast or leading a world-class trio in the heart of Manhattan, Braden has the innate ability to win the heart of any audience with her powerhouse vocals and striking stage presence.
Winner of New York City’s prestigious “Best of the Best” Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, Braden’s signature sound is an effortless blend of jazz and soul. Her knock-out debut album Soul Walk is composed of high-energy originals and “flipped-out” jazz standards. Producer Misha Piatigorsky says, “As a singer, Emily has no boundaries. She gives me goose bumps.” Braden has performed as a headliner at NYC venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club (Late Night Groove Series), Nublu, Smalls Jazz Club, Zinc Bar, The Kitano and the Iridium Jazz Club as well as on international stages. She recently completed a weekly residency at Richard Bona’s Club Bonafide in New York City with guitarist Richard Padrón. Braden’s versatility and infectious energy make her a highly sought after collaborator and special guest. She is the lead vocalist and lyricist for the twenty plus member Sketchy Orkestra and works regularly with her band Double Bass, Double Voice, Oliver Swain’s Big Machine and saxophonist Matt Parker.
In April 2014, Braden was selected by the US Embassy to travel to Burkina Faso, West Africa as part of the Arts Envoy program. The Emily Braden Quartet closed out the Jazz a Ouaga Festival with a standing ovation. This past fall she headlined a weekend of performances at Club Esse in Moscow, Russia with trumpeter Vitaly Golovnev. This past December, her love for groove and percussion led her to Cuba where she performed and studied with local musicians putting her Masters degree in Spanish to good use.
See Braden live and she’ll make you a believer. This girl is smokin’, smokin’ hot.

For more info about the band, visit: http://www.emilybraden.com

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Mollie O’Brien and her husband, guitarist Rich Moore, have for nearly 30 years quietly made it their mission to find, mine and reinvent other artists’ songs. They are geniuses at the craft of interpretation in the way that great singers, since the beginning of popular American music, have made the songs of their era their own. As songwriters they add their own tunes to the canon of American roots music they inhabit and show us they’re completely at home with their musical selves.
Grammy winner Mollie has long been known as a singer who doesn’t recognize a lot of musical boundaries, and audiences love her fluid ability to make herself at home in any genre while never sacrificing the essence of the song she tackles. She is a singer at the very top of her game who’s not afraid to take risks both vocally and in the material she chooses.
Rich, while known to produce some of the funniest onstage running commentary, is also a powerhouse guitar player who can keep up with O’Brien’s twists and turns from blues to traditional folk to jazz to rock and roll. He creates a band with just his guitar and, as a result, theirs is an equal partnership.

For more info on the band, visit: http://mollieobrien.com/