Jon Shain
Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who’s been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style – combining improvised piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime.
Shain cut his touring teeth from 1989-1998 founding the Chapel Hill, NC folk-rock group, Flyin’ Mice and their spin-off group, WAKE. The band performed with acts such as David Grisman, Tony Rice Unit, Hot Tuna, and the Dixie Dregs, released four CDs, and played clubs, schools, and festivals up and down the East Coast, building a legion of fans.
After his band’s breakup, Shain went solo, returning to his roots in the folk and blues circuit. In addition to the new album with Joe Newberry, and a live album with Jon Shain Trio, Jon has released eight studio albums, working with studio luminaries such as Dave Mattacks, Tom Dube, and Chris Stamey, along the way. In addition to festival slots and headlining club dates, the last few years has seen Shain playing esteemed listening rooms and opening sold out theatre shows for John Hiatt, Keb’ Mo’, Little Feat, and others. When Shain is not recording or performing, he stays busy giving private instruction in Piedmont blues fingerstyle guitar, and teaching group workshops in songwriting and blues guitar.
Wyatt Easterling
Easterling’s career has been full of chart-topping songs including cuts with Dierks Bentley, Joe Diffie, Billy Joe Royal, Paul Thorn, Neal McCoy, Sons of the Desert, Robbie Hecht and others but these days, Easterling is embracing the life of a troubadour, focusing his energy on bringing his music and his stories directly to his audience. His new CD, Divining Rod, was produced by Chris Rosser. This refreshingly intimate, Folk/Americana album is a bit of a departure from Wyatt’s previous Nashville recordings and highlights, even further, the strength of his songwriting. The album features a great cast of guest musicians including Chris Rosser, River Guerguerian, Eliot Wadopian, David Henry, April Verch, Rob Abernethy, Carter Minor, Todd Breck, Beth Wood, Laurelyn Dossett, Lisa Brokop, Paul Jefferson, Jen Smith and Rebecca Newton.
FJ Ventre
Joining Jon and Wyatt will be outstanding bass player and vocalist F.J. Ventre. F.J. attended the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, earning a B.A. in Music Performance and Sound Recording. He remained in the Boston area, performing in the city’s vibrant music scene. Since relocating to Chapel Hill, NC in 2000, Ventre has performed with his own group The Swang Brothers, as well as The Stars Explode, Rebecca and the Hi-Tones, and Matt Hill. In addition to performing as a sought after sideman, he spends his time behind the mixing board, engineering at his Good Luck Studio and operating his graphic design firm Tadpole Designs.