HIGHLIGHTS

Grant Gordy Quartet
Friday, January 2 at 8 p.m.
Grant Gordy, who has most recently been seen playing as the guitarist for the David Grisman Quintet, is back at Swallow Hill with his entourage of all-stars who make up his Quartet: Alex Hargreaves, Paul Kowert and Dominick Leslie. Hargreaves is a 17-year-old fiddler extraordinaire who plays with Darol Anger and more, and is the youngest ever Grand Champion at the Weiser Fiddle Contest; Kowert is a bassist with Chris Thile's newest project, The Punch Brothers; and Leslie is a mandolin player back home for the holidays from his Berklee studies and who was last seen playing with Jeremy Garrett of The Infamous Stringdusters here at Swallow Hill, wowing the audience with his burgeoning talent. You won't want to miss this all-star band!

Southern Journey
Saturday, January 10 at 8 p.m.
Acclaimed songstress Marta Burton is joined by members of popular folk band Stray Dog and the incomparable Emily Morgan Bates in this band that is a tribute to the work of Alan Lomax and preserving the "deep river of song" of the Southern United States. They blew away the audience at our 2nd Annual Denver Folk & Roots Music Festival (now called RootsFest), where they were described as was described as “powerful” and “inspiring” by attendees. Southern Journey's performance includes extraordinary original versions of well-known and not-so-well-known American folk songs, tunes, spirituals, and folk hymns.

Santa Cruz River Band
Friday, January 16 at 8 p.m.
Another acclaimed band from our RootsFest, Tucson, Ariz.-based Santa Cruz River Band is back to bring their authentic Southwest songs to the Swallow Hill audience. Their latest album, Signal Fire, is truly an intriguing and captivating collection of original, contemporary and classic story-songs recorded in English, Spanish and Welsh that genuinely represent a very beautiful heritage and vision found in the people and places of the American Southwest.

Chuck Pyle
Saturday, January 24 at 8 p.m.
Swallow Hill's favorite Zen cowboy is back with more straight-from-the-saddle poetry! Admired as a sly humorist and an innovative guitarist, he has performed for the Colorado Legislature, on "Austin City Limits" and at Bill Gates' home. Pyle sees what's best about America, writing songs about love lost and love found, forgetful cowboys, heroic highway patrolmen and brain stems gone "critical."

Wendy Woo & Nina Storey
Friday, January 30 at 8 p.m.
This double-bill of two of Colorado's most revered female singer/songwriters has become one of our most popular annual events. They've both shared stages with everyone from Keb' Mo to Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls and have both received accolades from Westword's Best Singer/Songwriter to 5280 magazine's vocalist of the year. Their ability to connect with the audience makes this show even more special.

Trout Fishing in America
Saturday, January 31 at 8 p.m.
On the heels of their third Grammy nomination (My Best Day, a 2006 live concert recording), and their newest release, Big Round World, Swallow Hill is pleased to welcome this duo whose career spans three decades. The LA Times writes that Trout Fishing in America is "…the most lyrically creative, musically sophisticated, vocally muscular music-makers in the family business." It's music for people who take their fun seriously.

Clay Kirkland's Beat the Reaper III Celebration
Friday, February 6 at 8 p.m.
At 50, Clay Kirkland felt he had cheated the Grim Reaper. At 60, he felt there was cause to celebrate. For his third Beat the Reaper concert, he continues to laugh in the face of death as he turns 62. "Clay makes his harmonica sound like a screaming guitar, sultry sax, rocking piano, ethereal synthesizer, or lightning-speed violin," says American Harmonica Newsletter. This show takes on a life of its own as Kirkland is joined by myriad musicians who will take you on a celebratory journey of living life to its fullest.

2nd Annual Denver UkeFest
Saturday, February 7 at 10 a.m.
Our first UkeFest was an astounding success and we're pleased to give the people what they want, once more. There will be instrument builders, vendors, workshops, panels, a film screening, jams, an open stage, a huge evening concert and midnight jam. The evening concert will be headlined by Canadian James Hill, whose music is a "tour de force" mix of jazz, classical and folk influences (The Vancouver Sun). Other performers scheduled to appear are Sweet Hollywaiians (all the way from Japan!), Victoria Vox, Boulder Acoustic Society, Mad Tea Party, the Hobo Nickels and Ukulele Loki. In addition, Breckenridge Brewery is sponsoring the event and donating beer and barbeque.

Susan Werner
Friday, February 13 at 8 p.m.
Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune calls Susan Werner "One of the most innovative songwriters today." Werner's provocative songs effortlessly slide between folk, jazz and pop, and are delivered with a sassy wit and classic Midwestern charm. Her latest endeavor, Gospel Truth, is a collection of originals she describes as "hymns for the spiritually ambivalent" and surveys the wide variety of attitudes toward the Church in America.

Tyva Kyzy
Sunday, February 15 at 7 p.m.
Tyva Kyzy (Daughters of Tuva) are the one and only all-female Tuvan throat-singing and folk music ensemble. The group has also mastered a wide range of traditional and legendary folk instruments such as igil (the horse headed fiddle), chakhomus (a large mouth harp) and their signature instrument, chadagan (resembling a hammered
dulcimer). Tuva is a land of high mountains and broad valleys separating the Siberian forest from the desert of Mongolia, and has a rich musical culture inspired by the stark beauty of the landscape and the daily routines of traditional Tuvan life.

Tom Rush
Friday, February 20 at 8 p.m.
Tom Rush’s impact on the American music scene has been profound, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists, from Jackson Browne to Shawn Colvin. He has a new album, not yet titled, due out by his appearance at Swallow Hill, his first in a long time coming and recorded in Nashville, with special appearances by Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith and Bonnie Bramlett.

Catie Curtis w/Meg Hutchinson
Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m.
Troubadour Catie Curtis returns to Swallow Hill with latest recording, Sweet Life, her ninth to date, which abounds with her positive resilience, even with subject matters that have a dark underbelly. It features a welcoming blend of burnished keyboards and slide guitar, a departure from Curtis' most recent recordings, which were more spare. Meg Hutchinson, "a master of introspective ballads" (Performing Songwriter), will open the show.

For tickets visit www.swallowhillmusic.org or call (303) 777-1003 x2. Discounts are available for Swallow Hill members. Buy in advance and save! This press release is also available online at http://www.swallowhillmusic.org/newsroom/newsmain.htm and also as a RSS Feed at http://www.swallowhillmusic.org/xml/newsroom/rss/SwallowHillNews.xml.