Tim O’Brien

The John Cowan Band

The John Hartford Stringband

Alison Brown

The Dismembered Tennesseans

Tim O’Brien

We were thrilled to see him play with Hot Rize at Bonnaroo, and now he’s headed to the Tennessee Shines stage! The incomparable Tim O’Brien has collaborated with multitudes of country and folk artists and fellow singer-songwriters, including Shines alum Darrell Scott. O’Brien’s new CD, Chicken & Egg, comes out July 13.

The John Cowan Band

His voice is as unmistakable as his high status in the world of American roots music, earned through years of service as New Grass Revival’s vocalist. John Cowan brings along his new band—Jeff Autry (guitar), Shad Cobb (fiddle) and John Frazier (mandolin)—to perform energizing songs from their latest release, New Tattoo.

The John Hartford Stringband

Longtime listeners to WDVX will know that John Hartford played a small but important role in the station’s early history. His visits to the camper included impromptu performances, and on occasion he’d send WDVX program director Tony Lawson tapes of a show he dubbed the “Anderson County Home Companion.” Hartford passed away in 2001, leaving behind a legacy of great string music and a backing band made up of Chris Sharp (guitar), Bob Carlin (banjo), Matt Combs (fiddle), Mike Compton (mandolin) and Mark Schatz (bass). Their new CD, “Memories of John on Compass Records, honors their late leader with a 15-track collection of well-known and rare Hartford gems.

Alison Brown

Banjo virtuoso and Grammy winner Alison Brown first came to national prominence when she was asked by Alison Krauss to join her band Union Station in 1989. Brown had already made a name for herself by performing extensively with fiddler Stuart Duncan and occasional pick-up sessions with artists such as Vince Gill, Byron Berline and John Hickman. Her experience as band leader for Michelle Shocked led her to merge bluegrass with jazz and folk idioms, and in the early 1990s, she and her husband, bass player Garry West, started their own record label, Small World Music. This company eventually led to the launch of Compass Records in 1995, an internationally recognized label, which has such artists as Victor Wooten, Colin Hay, Catie Curtis, Jeff Coffin, Russ Barenberg, Darol Anger and others.

The Dismembered Tennesseans

Back in 1945, a group of McCallie students got together and began playing bluegrass. They called themselves “Dismembered Tennesseans,” and the name has stuck for more than 60 years as the members performed across the country—from Florida to Washington to Ohio and Colorado and points between. The group—currently made up of Fletcher Bright, Ed “Doc” Cullis, Laura Walker, Bobby Martin, Don Cassell, Brian Blaylock, George Bright and Ansley Moses—has shared bills with many bluegrass stars and performed with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, the Chattanooga Boys Choir, and the Chattanooga Ballet. They have appeared on a segment of ABC-TV’s Peter Jennings Nightly News and were featured on the NBC Sunday Today Show. They have also played at the Annual Chattanooga Riverbend Festival and at Kennedy Center.