One Square Mile of Hope :: Canoe & Kayak Guinness World Record

“STOMPING LOUD IN MINOR KEYS & STORY SONGS & JAMBOREES”

In April 2011, His new CD “Darkling & the BlueBird Jubilee” shot straight to #2 on the International Folk/Acoustic Music Charts.

Joe Crookston’s CD, "Able Baker Charlie & Dog" was awarded 2009 “Album of the Year” by the International Folk Alliance in Memphis, TN

"This is not reviewers hype...this guy is flat out good"

Rodger Nichols of The Dalles Oregon Chronicle

Artful, intense, and often transcendent, If you love a moving song and musical magic, Joe delivers it all....the melodies, the lyrics, the energy, and a deep passion for exceptionally well written songs.

He loves his audience, it’s palpable, you can feel it in the room.

Joe was chosen as a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Most-Wanted Artist, Played Mainstage at The Kerrville Folk Festival in TX, and received a year-long songwriting grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to travel throughout New York State, interview local residents, and write songs based on his experiences. It's been a good couple years, and there is no stopping now.

There is much beauty still left on this earth, and Joe is looking for it. If you haven’t seen him perform? …trust us, you’ll be glad you did.

The Seattle Folklore Society says… “I’ve watched audiences glued to their seats at the end of Joe’s shows simply not wanting the evening to end. There is a spirit in his music that is simultaneously sacred, celebratory and entertaining. Don’t be surprised if you drive home singing his songs with a renewed sense of what’s possible.”

He stands on stage holding his Martin OM 28, stomping his foot, singing superb songs about St. Francis, ruby red dresses, drunk roosters, ex-slaves, window washers, Polish Immigrants, Tinian Island, rutabagas and the cycles of life & death. There is much beauty still left on this earth, and Joe is looking for it.

Haven’t seen him perform? …you’ll be glad you did.

Karen lives her life down in the dirt - she feels the moist, fertile soil of life between her toes, and digs her hands into the dark, rich earth. She loves to make nourishing relationships grow by planting community everywhere she travels. She comes back from time to time to tend to the bounty that results. Her songs and her music are her seeds, and her rich, supple, creative vocal style is her hoe.

Her musical and life partner, Pete Heitzman, is her fellow farmer. His "inspired and transcendent guitar work is central to their signature sound." You might hear a cello, a pedal steel or a rutting elk. With his broad pallet of tones and textures he paints the ideal landscapes for Savoca's engaging songs.

Savoca’s seventh release, "Promise", was recorded in their 19th century church/studio nestled deep in the hills of upstate NY and is being lauded as her strongest collection of songs to date.

"On her latest excellent album "Promise", there’s soul in the delicious grooves and phrasing, and soul in the broader spiritual sense that floats out in her lyrical vision." EDMONTON JOURNAL ~ Edmonton, Alberta

"Melodic songs that probe the mysteries of heart and soul. One of the most breathtaking live performances I’ve ever experienced."
WILLAMETTE WEEKLY ~ Portland, OR

"If she were a Native American, her name would be Sings Like Two Birds."
GREG BROWN

Possessing an exquisite musicality rooted in modern-day folk, tuneful rock and countrified jangle pop plus a lyrical perspective brimming with real life and mature emotion, the two singer-songwriters known as Open Book exhibit a gift for songwriting that entwines melody invention with astute observations of the heart. Their shimmering male-female harmonies are backed by a tapestry of their interweaving guitars. Michele Rubin and Rick Gedney have examined in song the keen awareness that comes with loving and leaving. Open Book has made an art of mixing the forthright honesty and storytelling of the folk tradition with songcraft and rhythms that are truly cosmopolitan.

Here’s just some of what the press is saying about Open Book:

Jim Motavalli, of WPKN Radio:

"Open Book's songs build on Rick and Michele's beautiful and entwining harmonies, achieving an incantatory power."

Sam Tallerico, Cold Spring Radio

“Blown away by the HARMONIES! People, they're exquisite....live, their vocals are really front and center. Michele's pristine tone, at times reminiscent of Shawn Colvin's, just soars and Rick's voice complements hers beautifully...shines on his own too."

John Hammel of Homegrown Radio, NJ:

"Open Book is the working identity of singer/songwriters Michele Rubin and Rick Gedney. An amalgam of folk inflected styles with tunes that concern themselves with love and loss, their music crosses into the urban landscape as easily as it inhabits and embraces it’s rural roots. The duo’s harmonies are sublime and tastefully evocative; their music is amply fulfilling and the structures incorporate sounds that travel far outside the standard instrumentation of the base genre to incorporate sounds from the city and world. This is a top flight release."

Mike Jurkovic, of Chronogram Magazine

"The Things We Keep”, like its tuneful predecessor, 2002's “Out of Time”, is an engaging amalgam of harmony vocals, tasty folk rock, and, most importantly, intelligent and astute songwriting that fully realizes that whatever the two songwriters are living through, most of their audience has also experienced. Unlike many contemporaries, the duo and its producer-guitarist, Billy Masters, know not to overproduce the music, and instead let the songs speak not only for themselves but to Open Book's deservedly growing audience."

Thomas Staudter of The Gazette and The New York Times:

“Open Book is a folk-rock duo, yes, but...the big advantage of having two co-leaders in harmony and agreement rests on the spectrum of influence and experience each brings to the table...songcraft and soul-filling vocals of sterling quality. Michele and Rick are both excellent songwriters with strong, distinctive voices-hers is an alto of discovery, his announces a gentle understanding-and their ego-less approach to supporting each other musically is impressive in its sincerity".

The Troubadours are an eclectic Americana duo from Kentucky with accordion, guitar and female harmonies who having been playing internationally and in the US. They have traveled the wondrous expanse of America, Europe & Canada, as true
Troubadours, & have been inspired accordingly. Their travels have given them the opportunity to sample a wide variety of tastes, cultures & timely issues that have become the muse for their myriad of musical genres & 5 recordings.

Voted "Best Folk Band"
-New Orlean's Offbeat Magazine
& Louisville's LEO Weekly

Impressions
"They are the embodiment of a new generation of Folk Artists who have taken
the genre to the next level...with a 21st Century Creative Edge. Since their
appearance, the Troubadours have stolen the hearts of the Blissfest faithful"
-Jim Gillespie, Blissfest Founder

"Their acoustic music with a streak of old-timer flavor appeals to those who
like the female camaraderie and harmonies of the Indigo Girls but are looking
for something with a bit more weirdness, humor and range...sultry
narratives...vaudeville send-ups...luscious covers...Aim Me and Renee move
from pathos to flippancy with breathtaking speed."
-Anastasia Pantsios, The Scene
"A caravan of creativity from Houdini to Fellini, from front porch to torch,
from jamboree to gypsy."
--Allen Marando, Indie Muse---ician