Jadein Black is a performing Drag Queen, as well as founder and producer of the Boylesque Drag Show in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In addition to performing locally, she has been on multiple tours around the United States and Canada, from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She has made top-ten at the prestigious Nation Entertainer of the Year competition. In addition to her performance at venues and shows including Boylesque, she also hosts and performs at many universities around the country, private parties, as well as at local Drag Show and Storytime events. The events she produces and performs in with Boylseque Drag Show regularly raise money for various causes ranging from at-risk LGBTQ youth to the Black Lives Matter movement. Boylesque Drag Show features local drag performers such as Maxi Chanel, Hershae Chocolatae, Izaya Cole, and Ani Briated.
Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 09/04/2020.
Interview with Beau Bledsoe, Kansas City, Missouri
Beau Bledsoe studied classical guitar at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music under Douglas Niedt, where he received a Master of Music. There he continued his professional career in the Kansas City music scene playing with jazz musicians, classical chamber musicians, and also participating in the burgeoning Latin music scene. His interest in exploring new repertoire, cultures, and programming ideas led to the creation of a large body of arrangements, transcriptions and compositions for the solo guitar and guitar chamber music. He also founded Ensemble Ibérica, a group that performs the music of Ibéria (Spain and Portugal) and the colonial Americas while educating the public about Iberian cultural influence. His music is regularly programmed on Radio 1 BBC and All Songs Considered on NPR. His recording Yalnız by Alaturka received 4.5 stars and Best Albums of 2013 from Downbeat Magazine. He serves on the music faculty at the UMKC Conservatory of Music.
Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 09/09/2020.
Interview with Annalisa Boerner, New Haven, Connecticut
Annalisa Boerner is a violist and educator based in New Haven, Connecticut. As Senior Resident Violist at Haven String Quartet/Music Haven, she teaches music to youth in the New Haven community and plays with the resident quartet. Before Music Haven, she held a Community Music Works fellowship in Providence, R.I., where she performed as a member of the Community Music Works Players and taught a full studio. During her time there, Annalisa was part of world premiere performances of music by Gonzalo Grau and Kareem Roustom. She has collaborated with such artists as the Kronos Quartet, the Cavani String Quartet, the Claremont Trio, and members of the Cleveland Orchestra in concert. Annalisa earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has performed with various orchestras throughout New England and Ohio.
Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 09/28/2020.
Interview with Anna Borges, Medford, Massachusetts
Anna Borges, originally from Recife, Pernambuco, began her career in Brasília, singing in local nightclubs and theaters. She studied the guitar and enrolled in the Escola de Música de Brasília, where she studied voice with Jane Duboc and sang in choral groups, studying both classical and popular techniques. After many years working closely with Brazilian guitarist Agilson Alcântara, Anna moved to Boston, Massachusetts along with her father, who was stationed there as a vice-consul in the Brazilian Consulate. In Boston, she began a musical collaboration with Bill Ward, with whom she would start the band Receita de Samba. The band performs bossa nova and samba, and well as regional specialties such as forró, ijexá, and coco. Anna is also an event promoter for Brazilian music in the Boston area with her own Sounds of Brazil Anna Borges Productions.
Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 09/27/2020.
Interview with Roy Bosh, Salt Lake City, Utah
Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, percussionist Roy Bosh moved to United States when he was eleven years old. He got involved in percussion at an early age and later learned Latin percussion on his own. He grew up listening to Latin music, salsa, merengue, bachata, as well as African rhythms, some of the genres he loves to play. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he plays with a number of groups. Roy is also working on documentaries with dancers and Afro musicians in the community, and is back at college working on two master’s degrees.
Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/15/2020.
Interview with Monte Briggs, Marty, South Dakota
Guitar player Monte Briggs lives in Marty, South Dakota. His mother is from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge, and his father is from the Standing Rock Reservation. He grew up in a musical family and learned to play music from his uncle, who also taught many musicians in the Black Hill area. Monte was passionate about playing music since he was a child. With his brother, Robert Briggs, he plays and tours extensively with their group Still River, which in 2016 regrouped as Stones of Red, a high-energy group with haunting, soulful vocals and musicianship. With the release of their album Arianna Rain, Stones of Red showcase their ability to meld various genres and create vintage sounds with a whole lot of soul. The album was released and immediately gained traction within the blues and blues rock communities. To this day, the track “Arianna Rain” plays on major radio stations across America.
Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/06/2020.
Interview with Keith Brintzenhoff, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
Keith Brintzenhoff is an autoharp musician and school teacher by profession based in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. He studied autoharp with leading musicians including Bryan Bowers, Bonnie Phipps, and Becky Blackely, and was a consultant for the large size autoharp built by Folkcraft Instruments of Connecticut. He is an expert researcher on the mountain dulcimer and its Pennsylvania German connections. Keith also plays guitar and old-time banjo, and has performed solo, duo or with his band the Toad Creek Ramblers both in Pennsylvania and in Germany. He has performed in venues including the Hershey Museum and the Historic Schaefferstown, Der Dutch Peddler Homecoming (Ohio), and has served as musical advisor for the Kutztown Pennsylvania German Festival. His performances in Germany included a tour for the 700th anniversary of Switzerland Fescht in his ancestral hometown. Keith has also recorded music for various videos and films.
Interviewed by Tamar Sella, 10/05/2020.
Interview with Sissy Brown, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma singer-songwriter and guitarist Sissy Brown has maintained a grueling touring schedule for many years. Originally from between Wichita Falls and Waurika, Oklahoma, the independent country singer grew up in a very rural area before relocating to urban centers in her adult life. She first settled in Spokane, Washington, where she played with rockabilly bands, then moved to Los Angeles, where she played at famed venues like the Viper Room. She also spent time living in Austin and Kansas City, but she chose to return home to Oklahoma in the late 2010s and refocus, beginning to spend less time on the road and more time alone, writing and slowing down. From a family of musicians, including a great-uncle who played with Jimmie Rodgers and Lefty Frizzell, Sissy Brown is a born artist who also collects and sells vintage western wear.
Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 09/28/2020.
Interview with Jay Burgess, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Jay Burgess is part of a new generation of Muscle Shoals musicians continuing in the long tradition of the Muscle Shoals sound. Burgess is the founder and front man of the band the Pollies, known for their innovative and unique take on southern rock music. Jay got his start in a band called Sons of Roswell and toured the Southeastern U.S. before forming the Pollies. Together, they have released two albums: Where the Lies Begin on This Is American Music and Not Here on Single Lock Records. Individually, Jay has done session work, and together with the band, they have backed Browan Lollar on an EP as well as the late Chris Porter and currently serve as the backing band for Dylan LeBlanc.
Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 09/25/2020.
Interview with Isaac Callender, Sand Coulee, Montana
Isaac has been a regular in the North American folk music scene for the last twenty years. He has performed with such notable acts as Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, the April Verch Band, Bobby Hicks, John Reischman, Tony Trischka, Tommy Emmanuel, and Peter Rowan, to name a few. Isaac’s versatility as a musician has garnered him accolades on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass. He plays mostly bluegrass and Cajun music. Isaac has performed and taught at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes; the Port Fairy Folk Festival; the Australian National Folk Festival; the International Bluegrass Music Association Festival; the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho; the Grand Masters Fiddle Contest in Nashville, Tennessee; and on Irish (RTE), Australian (ABC), Canadian (CBC), and US (NPR) National Radio. Isaac’s current endeavors include playing with duos, trios, and bands throughout North America and Europe, teaching at camps and workshops, building and repairing instruments, recording, and publishing tune books with his wife Louise. He is the president of the Montana Old-Time Fiddlers.
Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/22/2020.