Performers
Annie Wenz & Charlie Wilkinson
Annie Wenz has stomped her dusty musical boots through 25 countries around the world! She’s shared her songs from the prestigious Kennedy Center to Auckland New Zealand’s Millennium Celebration, from international festivals and arts centers to refugee camps in Southeast Asia, spas in Malaysia, ESPN videos, independent film scores, and blaring speakers at Major League Ballparks.
She has collaborated musically with Dr. Jerri Nielsen of the “Icebound” book and movie, baseball legend Bill Spaceman Lee, and Roy “Futureman” Wooten of Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. As an activist, Annie has performed at Women’s Marches, and political events, and taught the art of writing “Songs for Change”.
Annie's Kerouac-ish lyrical portrait story songs and eclectic blend of globally inspired roots/Americana music are played on Sirius XM and radio stations around the globe.
“Annie is a gifted diva and multi-instrumentalist blessed with a crystalline voice, a keen ear for melody, an uncanny feel for rhythm and a strong sense of social justice!” Metroland, Albany, NY.
Charlie Wilkinson, co-host of Downtown Hendersonville’s “Songwriter Sessions at the Brandy Bar,” has been writing and performing since the late '60s, from Washington, D. C., to Florida! His talents span the spectrum, from weaving intricate & thoughtful lyrics to whipping up gnarly basslines. He loves surrounding himself in special times, special places, and with special folks, especially in his home in Western North Carolina!
Crystal Cauley
Crystal Cauley is a native of Henderson County, NC, and the founder of Black History Collective of Henderson County, NC, and Black Business Network of WNC.
She is also a member of the “Poetic Versers of Color”, a spoken word poetry group that performs the 2nd Thursday of the month at Shakedown Kava Lounge in Downtown Hendersonville.
As a community leader, Crystal finds herself working with issues that matter to our local community. She advocates for everyone who calls for her assistance, & she and plans numerous community cultural events!
Crystal is presently running for Henderson County School Board!
She is the mother of 2 children and aspires to be a foster parent that will lead to adoption in the near future.
Crystal presently serves on the Arts Council Board, Safelight and Hendersonville Historic Preservation Commission. She leads a parent led group, African American Parent Alliance and enjoys collecting African artifacts.
David LaMotte
David LaMotte is a songwriter and author, with 3500 concerts and thirteen full-length CDs to his credit. He has performed in all of the fifty states, as well as five of the seven continents. The Boston Globe writes that his music “pushes the envelope with challenging lyrics and unusual tunings, but he also pays homage to folk tradition,” while BBC Radio Belfast lauds his “charm, stories, humour, insightful songs, sweet voice and dazzling guitar ability.” His most recent album, Still, features the number one song on Folk Radio in September, 2022 (September Me), and the album remained in the top forty for six months. He has been a featured performer at top tier music festivals including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Merlefest, the Auckland Folk Festival (NZ), and the Australian National Folk Festival. His recent TEDx talk and his most recent book are both called “You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not.”
Friction Farm
Modern-folk duo Friction Farm, is a husband and wife team of traveling troubadours. Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay combine storytelling, social commentary and humor to create songs of everyday life, local heroes, and quirky observations. Their lyrically rich, harmony-driven songs earned them spots as Kerrville New Folk Finalists, Falcon Ridge Emerging Artists, and South Florida Folk Festival Songwriter winners. Friction Farm’s latest CD, “Evidence of Hope,” which reached #10 on the Folk Radio Chart, was inspired by the collision of strong political polarity with personal kindness, the intersection of fragility and breathtaking beauty.
Keturah Allgood & Bradford Carson
Keturah Allgood was born and raised in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She is a Soulful Americana artist who draws on her myriad of life experiences for inspiration. While traversing the dusty back roads and often forgotten places, she taps into the heart and soul of our shared existence. Keturah believes that music has the power to bring all of us together and reminds us that love, kindness and compassion always shine through the darkness of these often trying times.
Marley’s Chain
Marley’s Chain, features David Hintz and Angela Christie, both on guitar, bass, and vocals. They play original songs and eclectic cover tunes, switching instruments throughout their show. Both David and Angela have solid solo careers and decades of performance and songwriting experience, with David’s influences based more in folk music and Angela’s in country. The combination of their individual styles gives them a unique blend of material and musical chemistry. They cover a variety of genres: Country, Blues, Rock, Folk and Americana. As a songwriter, David is known as a storyteller, with songs that cover the emotional gamut from funny to touching. He has scores of songs in his catalogue and has been writing songs for over 50 years.
David has recorded 3 albums: Rode Hard & Put Away Wet, Out With A Bang, Happy Today. His slapping rhythm guitar and earthy vocals make him a natural for country, standards, folk, rockabilly and rock & roll. As a recording artist for Playback Records in Nashville, several of Angela’s songs made the Top 40 on CashBox Magazine. She has opened for or performed alongside Roy Clark, Jeannie C Riley, Leroy Van Dyke, Shenandoah, Billy Dean and Patty Loveless. She has released two albums: Love & Learn (Playback Records) and It’s All Up to You (Fraternity Records).
Moonshine State
Moonshine State is a country band with a rock twist, or a rock band with a country twist, depending on the day.
Singer-songwriters Raphael Graves and Elizabeth McCorvey play as a duo or in collaboration with other regional artists and performers, playing original music and a variety of their favorite rock and country covers.
Moonshine State is known for being as unpredictable as they are prolific. The duo released their second single, "Highway Nine" in January of 2024.
Possum Royale
Possum Royale is Richard Brock and Todd Hoke – a couple of well-mannered friends who've been playing music together for 25 years (that's 4 years longer than Tony Orlando and Dawn, if that matters).
Their music is a rootsy mishmash of folk, country, and blues that sounds nothing at all like Tony Orlando and Dawn if that matters. Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle – that's the sorta' music Possum Royale plays.
Tony Robles
Tony Robles is the author of the poetry collection, “Thrift Store Metamorphosis.” The collection was inspired by his job working at a local thrift store and captures a cross-section of the community of Hendersonville, a community that he has lived in for 6 years.
Tony was named the Carl Sandburg Writer in Residence in 2020. His work has been published in numerous collections and anthologies.
He was shortlist nominated for Poet Laureate of San Francisco in 2017 and received an individual artist literary grant from the North Carolina Arts Council in 2023. Tony received his MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2023.