A night of rotating players and combinations of slide guitar masters!
Jeff Ray crafts transcendental slide-guitar music that blends Mississippi Delta blues, American fingerstyle, and Indian Carnatic drone into immersive, landscape-inspired songs that feel both ancient and newly discovered. Ray has released eight albums, been featured on NPR and has appeared alongside artists such as Chris Smither, Justin Townes Earle, and Pat Donohue. Ray has earned praise for slide guitar work that critics have called "among the best on the planet."
For Gabriela Sweet, her guitars are dearest collaborators. "My 1930s dobros and my Nationals have open sound doors, so I can hear things that I wouldn't, otherwise. I love to hear what these tremendously responsive guitars do especially when improvising and playing bottleneck slide in open tunings." Gabriela plays instrumentals & songs with words: jazz, son montuno, festejo, zydeco, American standards, blues, and sings in Spanish, English, French, Gaelic, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Tagalog, and Ukrainian.
Dan Schwartz is a Minnesota musician who plays roots based, melody driven tunes on guitars and lap steels. Dan earned a degree in American Finger-Style Guitar Performance from The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee where he dove deep into the works of Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke. His recordings have earned him a nomination for guitarists of the year (Minnesota Music Academy) and Folk/Roots album of the year (Mpls. St Paul Magazine).
Originally from Cloquet MN, Joe Savage was involved with music from an early age but didn’t begin playing pedal steel until his mid twenties, remaining in the Twin Cities since 1983 playing here, there and everywhere. Joe has been recognized by his peers with two Minnesota Music Awards and with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame. Joe is proud to be a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe including the opening ceremony for the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC.