Featured Performers
Enjoy a weekend of entertainment, participation and exhibits.
Along the banks of the historic Suwannee River in White Springs, Florida, folk artists long have gathered to celebrate Florida’s land, people and diverse cultural heritage. Since its humble beginning in 1953, the Florida Folk Festival has not only grown to become Florida’s most prestigious affair but also is named “Florida’s Best Cultural Event.” The festival has also been recognized by the Southeast Tourism Society as a “Top 20 Event” in the southeastern United States.
Get ready for a fun and entertaining weekend for the entire family! Featured performers are listed below with the times for their amphitheater performance. Many will be performing or teaching workshops some other time throughout the weekend along with our special guest artists. You can even dance the night away each evening with a variety of dances, and don’t miss dancing with Papaloko & Loray Mistik on the Heritage and Dance Stage. We are working to schedule performers for 2024. Our full schedule of events for specific times and stages will be posted April 1, 2024.
The Lee Boys
The Lee Boys are one of America’s finest African-American sacred steel ensembles. This family group consists of three brothers, Alvin Lee (guitar), Derrick Lee and Keith Lee (vocals) along with their three nephews, Roosevelt Collier (pedal steel guitar), Alvin Cordy, Jr. (7-string bass) and Earl Walker (drums). Each member began making music at the ages of 7 and 8 in the House of God church they attended in Perrine, FL. Born and raised in Miami, each of The Lee Boys grew up in the church where their father and grandfather, Rev. Robert E. Lee, was the pastor and a steel player himself.
“Sacred steel” is a type of music described as an inspired, unique form of Gospel music with a hard-driving, blues-based beat. The musical genre is rooted in Gospel, but infused with rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, funk, hip-hop, country and ideas from other nations. Influenced by the Hawaiian steel guitar fad of the 1930’s, brothers Willie and Troman Eason brought the electric lap steel guitar into the worship services of the House of God church in Jacksonville, FL. The Pentecostal congregation embraced the soulful sound, and over time this unique sound became the hallmark of the church. The Lee Boys are part of the fourth generation of musicians in this faith.
When The Lee Boys bring their joyous spiritual sound to the stage, audiences instantly recognize that this is not “sitting and listening” music: dancing, shouting out, and having fun are considered essential parts of their tradition. Founder and bandleader Alvin Lee explains, “the inspiration and feeling that comes along with our music is the reason that people feel good. It is like the new music on the block and it’s just getting ready to explode!” It’s mostly original material, with a few standards and hymns the group “blueses up a little.” In 2008-09 alone they performed for more than 250,000 music fans at festivals throughout the United States. In the process, their unique sound has attracted musical artists such as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes, Los Lobos, Gov’t Mule, Umphrey’s McGee, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk and The Travelin’ McCourys- all of whom have played with the Lee Boys and/or invited them to tour with them.
They’ve performed throughout the United States, Canada and Europe and will continue influencing audiences worldwide with their “sacred steel”. Their tour calendar includes over 100 major festival performances, including headline stops at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Memphis in May, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, MerleFest, DelFest, Wanee and All Good Festival. In December 2008, the band debuted on national television with a rousing performance on NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien that had the host jumping out of his chair and raving about the band.
The Lee Boys have been in the studio with The Travelin’ McCourys have completed a joint album entitled “Meetin’ In The Middle” which illustrates their amazing bluegrass/sacred steel festival shows and adds to their growing discography.
Walter Parks
(Saturday Evening)
In 2020 Walter Parks was invited by The Library of Congress to archive his research on and perform his arrangements of music made by the homesteaders of the headwaters of the Suwannee River – The Okefenokee Swamp. The hollers, hymns and reels of those hardy
southeast Georgia homesteaders are featured in his one man show “Swamp by Chandelier”
For 10 years Parks, a Florida native born and raised in Jacksonville, served as the sideman guitarist to Woodstock Festival legend Richie Havens. Now based out of St. Louis, Walter has recently co-written with Stan Lynch, former Tom Petty drummer and has performed at various venues with R&B drum legend Bernard Purdie and at Lincoln Center with Judy Collins.
“In much the same way that The Okefenokee Swamp still is the eastern United States’ final
frontier, it has also served the same for my career, for by it I have found uncharted territory
and that’s hard to do in the music business.”
The Firewater Tent Revival
(Saturday Evening)
Expect the unexpected! Described as a “whiskey snortin’, happy-go-lucky, good-time band,” The Firewater Tent Revival is a psychedelic bluegrass band from the small fishing village of Mayport, located just outside of Jacksonville Florida. Not quite Bluegrass, Country or Rock, this is “Psychedelic-Party-Grass.” Storyteller style lyrics, using bluegrass instrumentation, done jam band style, by a High-Energy String Band simply makes you want to dance.
Formed in 2010 and originally called The Hopeless, Dave Smith and Jon Deering formed the band simply to be able to keep playing music together. Soon after, new members joined the band and it had several featured guest artists.The group recorder their first EP “Sinkin Boat” in February 2015. Two months later they played their way into the hearts of the Jacksonville public, winning third place in the popular crowd funding festival One Spark.
Folio Weekly Magazine, Jacksonville’s most widely printed arts and entertainment publication. proclaimed, “The Firewater Tent Revival burns it up with primo bluegrass and a hot party vibe” and describes them as being “on a subliminal mission to return the music to its original function as pure entertainment.”
“When it isn’t fun to do any more it’s over,” is the perspective the band maintains.
Ben Prestage
Ben Prestage has music in his blood. His great-grandmother was a professional musician who toured the American vaudeville circuit opening shows for Al Jolson. His grandmother was a Boogie-Woogie pianist.
For years, Folk Festival fans have flocked to the stages where Ben Prestage appears. Growing up in a swampy area of rural central Florida, Ben has created his own signature sound, “Deep South Swamp Music,” by melding Juke Joint Blues, Delta Blues, and blazing Piedmont Blues, with award-winning finger-style guitar and soaring steel-guitar work. After a stint as a busker on historic Beale Street in Memphis, Ben emerged as one the nation’s top one-man-bands and earned acclaimed accolades including: the Lyon/Pitchford Award for “Best Diddley Bow Player” and “Most Unique Performer” at the Songwriters’ Showcase of America. He also finished 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place at the International Blues Challenge. Ben is one of the only artists to be nominated for both a Blues Music Award and an Independent Music Award. These accomplishments and uniquely powerful live performances have earned Ben invitations to perform at prominent blues, jazz, and folk festivals across North America, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Dôdô Awoko
(Saturday Evening)
Dôdô Awoko showcases the rich heritage of instruments, rhythms and songs from the Côte d’Ivoire and the rest of West Africa. Dôdô Awoko is made up of various African musical instruments. The name Dôdô Awoko is in itself made from two words each representing an instrument: the Dôdô and the Awoko both used in the group. Other traditional instruments including the Balafon, Boro, Yadoh, and Attoungblan added to the captivating voices of the lead vocalist and other singers. The Dôdô Awoko is a very unique, complex, musical combination and Mr. Zagbo is one of the very few musicians in Côte d’Ivoire to play it today. Dôdô Awoko as an ensemble participated in several festivals in Africa as well as in America.
The Currys
(Friday Evening)
The Currys have been staking their claim within the Americana music scene since 2013, when vocalist/guitarist Tommy Curry quit his teaching job and moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to join the harmony-based folk-rock outfit newly formed by brother Jimmy Curry (vocals, guitar) and cousin Galen Curry (vocals, bass). The band, who cut their teeth playing the oyster bars and listening rooms of the Florida Panhandle, have since written and released three full-length albums: their studio debut Follow (2014), called “eye-opening, but warmly familiar” by Earmilk, and whose title track is “one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard” (Todd Moe of NCPR); sophomore effort West of Here (2016), with its “tight-as-a-rubber-band” harmonies and “infectious” songwriting (PopMatters); and This Side of the Glass (2019).
In 2020, The Currys began releasing a weekly podcast, This Side of the Mic, to showcase new song ideas and remain engaged in the creative process during the pandemic-induced downtimes. The podcast allowed The Currys to expand their writing and production palettes and this evolution resulted in genre-hopping single releases such as “Man on the Side” and “Last Night.”
Bing Futch
(Friday Evening)
Using Appalachian mountain dulcimer, Native American flute, ukulele and a board full of stomp-boxes, Bing Futch celebrates traditional and modern Americana music with passion, humor and boundless energy. Known for his musical shape-shifting, Bing switches the channels on style and tone with every song, from his pop, rock and blues originals to world music and showtunes. Bing was a finalist at the 2016 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN and was named "Best Solo Guitar" despite performing solely on the mountain dulcimer.
Bing is the grandson of the late boxing hall-of-famer Eddie Futch. With roots in both African and Seminole Indian cultures, Bing Futch's window to America is a unique landscape of music, words and imagery. He began playing Appalachian mountain dulcimer at Knott's Berry Farm theme park in 1986, working at a Ghost Town shop for Bud & Donna Ford. That same year, Futch founded techno-punk band Crazed Bunnyz, a trio that grew popular in the international underground college radio scene and has remained a fan favorite long after disbanding in 1988. Since then, he has enjoyed a diverse and prolific solo career, composing dozens of scores for film, theater, themed attractions and television. In 1994, he wrote and recorded music for The Castle of Miracles in Kissimmee, Florida. In 1999, Futch formed American band Mohave, featuring the mountain dulcimer as the main instrument. The group has performed at the House of Blues in Walt Disney World, Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios Florida and has opened for Molly Hatchet, among other acts.
As a solo performer, Bing’s high-energy, crowd pleasing shows and unique approach to the mountain dulcimer combined have made him a much-sought national act from California to Connecticut. Named 2006 "Songwriter of the Year" by the Songwriters Showcases of America (with a 2007 "Song of the Year" award for "Crazy Feels Like"), Bing has become a regularly featured artist at festivals, house concerts, Irish and British pubs and other venues across the country. He's opened for Grammy-award nominated artists Sam & Ruby, bluesman Scott Ainslie, singer/songwriter Larry Mangum, shared the stage with Zydeco king Chubby Carrier, Tom Constanten (The Grateful Dead), national fingerstyle guitar champion Michael Chapdelaine, produced numerous recordings and has published several songbooks.
Alongside his performing career, Bing has become a popular instructor of the mountain dulcimer and Native American flute and his video podcast, "Dulcimerica," has been seen and downloaded by over half a million unique viewers.
The Peyton Brothers
(Saturday Evening)
The Florida Folk Festival is pleased to welcome the Peyton Brothers who have been performing their unique style of bluegrass and folk music for over forty years and made their first Florida Folk Festival appearance in 1977. The four brothers, John, Dan, Michael and Lee, began playing as a hobby in 1972. Within a year of picking up instruments for the first time the brothers were making public appearances in and around their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. In 1976 the group began performing on a full-time basis and was soon touring throughout the Southeast playing for clubs, colleges, music festivals, theme parks and concert venues.
They have appeared in concert with such notables as The Dillards, John Hartford, Doc & Merle Watson, Gamble Rogers, Ralph Stanley, Mike Cross, Mike Reid and many other well-known folk, bluegrass and country performers. In 1978 the band hosted its own TV show, The Peyton Brothers – Up Close and Musical, which aired on NBC’s Jacksonville, Florida affiliate, WTLV. They also appeared for five consecutive summers at ABC’s Silver Springs Park in Ocala, Florida.
In 1981 the band ceased performing full-time but never abandoned their music. Over the last twenty-five years The Peyton Brothers have continued to perfect their musical style which features vocal harmonies only a family act can deliver. They are now joined on guitar by Lee's son Grant and promise to delight you with awesome fun filled folk and bluegrass music. Their performances remain as fresh and enjoyable as ever drawing their audiences into an entertainment experience that eclipses the typical listening event.
The Byrne Brothers
(Sunday evening)
The Byrne Brothers – Luca (19), Finn (18), Dempsey (14) and Tommy (Dad) are from Donegal, Ireland, and are a multi award winning family band currently taking the Irish American scene by storm!
Their achievements include a massive social media presence, winning the Young Artist Academy© Award for Outstanding Music Ensemble and being named Rising Stars of the Year by American Celtic Radio Listeners for their album "Living the Dream."
They are also one of the biggest Irish bands on Facebook, Youtube and Instagram and TikTok with over 70,000 followers and 32 million views on their music videos.
They are all County champion musicians and Ulster champion Irish dancers. The band consists of Luca on accordion, Finn on banjo, mandolin, and guitar, Dempsey on bodhran and whistle, and their father Tommy on uilleann pipes, fiddle, guitar, and grade 1 bagpiper.
They moved to America in 2018 to perform at Walt Disney World where they became Youngest ever cast members in the history of Disney, and have since toured extensively across 47 US States.
The Byrne Brothers have established themselves as a significant presence in the traditional Irish music scene, attracting interest from Hollywood and receiving a reputation as a "Must See Band" at festivals.
They are well known for their electrifying and high-energy performances that showcase modern traditional Irish music and world-class Irish dancing. Their music features both traditional and original tunes and songs. Audiences around the globe are captivated by their infectious humor, energy and talent.
Jeanie Fitchen
Jeanie Fitchen has come a long way since her first appearance at the Florida Folk Festival in 1966. Since then, she has traveled to nearly every part of Florida, as well as to Tennessee, New York, Alaska, and points in between, earning for herself a bevy of accolades and awards for her performances, songwriting, and recordings focusing not only upon the culture, history, and environment of Florida, but also the basic human dignity of all people and their right to live in freedom with justice and equal opportunity.
As a young teenager Jeanie found her niche in the simple beauty and artistic style of traditional music from around the world. Throughout the years, however, she began to write and record her own songs earning a 1999 Grammy nomination for her CD, Roads, in the category of Best New Folk Album. For her long-standing contributions to the folk cultural resources of the state, Jeanie received a Florida Folk Heritage Award in 2001. For the songs she has written and sung in praise and defense of Florida's natural and cultural heritage, Jeanie was honored with The Fellow Man and Mother Earth Award by The Stetson Kennedy Foundation in 2010. And In recognition of her legacy of performances as a Florida singer-songwriter and for her contributions to the Florida Folk Festival, Jeanie was inducted into the 2016 Florida Folk Festival’s Legends and Legacy Hall of Fame.
When asked why people should care about folk music, Fitchen says, “I think it allows people to reflect, and sometimes it compels people to make changes in their life or world around them. There will never be another form of music like this.” And there will never be another Jeanie Fitchen, a truly unique performer devoted to Florida Folk music steeped in the tradition of past folk icons and Florida’s diverse cultural history.
Jon & Zelton Kay
(Saturday Evening)
“Father-son songwriters from Southern Indiana, Jon and Zelton Kay are no strangers to White Springs. Jon directed the Florida Folk Festival from 2001 to 2004, and Zelton began his life in White Springs. While working as the folklorist for the park, Jon coordinated craft demonstrations and organized dulcimer retreats. A successful folk musician in his own right, he also hosted monthly coffeehouse concerts where local and national performers shared their talents. By age two, Zelton was accompanying his father at these events playing a small wash-tub bass. Today, Zelton can’t remember a time when he didn’t play music.
Zelton began writing songs while attending Indiana University, developing a catalogue of folk and alternative-inspired tracks which sonically owe as much to bluegrass and country music as they do to modern indie rock. A talented guitar and dulcimer player, Zelton can often be found filling up the cafes, art galleries, and small-town theaters of Central Indiana with his eloquent ballads and upbeat anthems.
Since leaving White Springs, Jon has served as the state folklorist of Indiana and is currently a professor of folklore at Indiana University. He doesn’t play concerts that often anymore but has returned to the festival to share the stage with his son and to celebrate the retirement of his friend Elaine McGrath. “
Bob Patterson
(Friday Evening)
Bob Patterson is a Florida Folk music icon with over five decades of fans, has recorded ten albums, and has published three books. He’s an environmentalist serving as spokesperson for protecting the wild heart of Florida. He received a Life Time Achievement Award from the Florida Storytelling Association and the ‘Fellow Man and Mother Earth Award from the Stetson Kennedy Foundation. The award recognizes performers and composers whose lives and works have influenced their concern for the environment, human rights, and traditional culture.
Bob’s music career began in Philadelphia in the late 1960’s when he signed a recording contract with Vanguard Records with his band ‘Elizabeth”. Bob wrote the popular single, ‘MaryAnn’ released from that project. He followed up with another Lp recorded at Norm Baker Studios and then hit the road as a touring singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. He decided to make St Augustine, Florida for his home base from which to tour. He is an inaugural inductee in the St Augustine Music Hall of Fame.
Bob is well known in his community as the co-founder of the Gamble Rogers Folk Festival where he served as the events artistic director for twenty five years, president too! He created ‘Music for the Birds’, a benefit concert series for the HAWKE Wildlife Association. He, also created with his partner, Carol Kramer, The Lullaby of the Rivers Festival which is an Earth Day celebration presenting an Earth Day Fair with lots of great music and food.
Bob’s takes whatever he’s singing and makes it his own. Not many people can do that. His performances are a blend of music and storytelling. He’s been a favorite at the annual Florida Folk Festival and around the whole state for over fifty years. Don’t miss an opportunity to catch one of his performances.
The Carr Sisters
(Friday Evening)
Florida grown sisters Madi and Ella grew up playing music together. Their tight vocal blood-harmonies combined with flat-pick guitar, acoustic bass, and bluegrass rhythms create a unique small-town sound. In addition to performing soulful original songs, the duo often covers a wide range of classic rock, folk, and country favorites, drawing influences from Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Bruce Springsteen. The Carrs deliver lively shows, and their musical chemistry is undeniable.
The duo is currently based in Austin, TX.
Sarah McCulloch
(Sunday evening)
Considered a noteworthy talent of Florida's singer-songwriter community, Sarah McCulloch was born in Miami and raised in the Everglades. She has been prolifically penning heartfelt songs about her distinctive upbringing for years. Her debut album, ‘Strawberry Moon,’ was released in 2019 to rave reviews and even garnered a nomination for Country Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards. Sarah's second album, ‘Sawmiller's Daughter,’ was recorded in Muscle Shoals and produced by the reputable Jim Bickerstaff. Her music has been praised by Lonesome Highway Magazine as "a refreshing departure from the current trend of country crossover and genre-blending," and Sarah was also recently announced as a Top 3 Finalist in the Will McLean Music Festival’s New Florida Songs Competition.
Bullard Brothers and Friends
(Friday evening)
The Bullard Brothers and Friends are a five-piece folk and bluegrass group hailing from White Springs, Florida. The group includes brothers Jerry Lawrence Bullard (vocals, guitar) Johnny Bullard (vocals), Kerry Waldron (upright bass, vocals), Clint Dockery (mandolin), and Jason Baker (fiddle). The group combines traditional southern gospel songs with Florida folk and bluegrass tunes. The group's dynamic live performances enjoyed by audiences across North Florida have made them a beloved fixture of the Florida folk scene, including at the annual Florida Folk Festival where they have been performing for over 50 years. Be sure to catch their set for a good, down-home time.
Raymi Dance School
(Friday Evening)
Raymi Dance School is a nonprofit organization that shares the dance, music, history and traditions of Peru in Florida. Led by Silvia Huddleston, a Folkloric Art Teacher and a Peruvian folk dancer raised in Lima, where rural and indigenous folklife was once viewed negatively. She joined the Folkloric Ballet in Lima and while traveling to perform, deepened her appreciation for the Spanish, Afro-Peruvian, and indigenous influences in Peruvian folk dance. The group played an instrumental role in promoting national pride in Peru’s folk culture when they performed at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band
(Friday Evening)
With vocals, guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and bass fiddle, Matthew Sabatella and the Rambling String Band connect people with music that is woven into the fabric of the United States. Carrying on the tradition of old-time, pre-bluegrass string bands and songsters, they raise the roof with traditional folk songs, fiddle tunes, old-time country, bluegrass, Appalachian music, ragtime, blues, spirituals, railroad and cowboy songs, work songs, sea shanties, reels, breakdowns, ballads, and more.
2PM
(Sunday evening)
2PM Band is Pete Price, Pete Hennings, and Mike Jurgensen, a trio of talented musicians who blend their varied musical talents into an eclectic mix of material, from original songs, to obscure covers, to well-known standards. With Price on guitar and bass, Hennings on guitar, bass, and mandolin, and Jurgensen on guitar and harmonica, these three performers combine tight instrumentation with pristine vocal harmonies to delight audiences of all musical tastes. All three are talented songwriters and have performed solo as well as with other bands: Hennings and Price with Jon Semmes and the Florida Friends, and Jurgensen and Hennings with Myriad. The combination of Pete, Pete, and Mike as 2PM Band, however, is a unique trio that has delighted audiences at acoustic venues and folk festivals around the state of Florida.
2PM Band has released four CDs: “Keepin’ Time”, "Let's Just Play One More", “Writing on the Wall”, and their recent 2023 release, ”Going Back”.
Special Guest Artist
Jim Stafford
Winter Haven native; Jim Stafford is a comedian, singer, songwriter, and entertainer extraordinaire. He wrote and recorded his first chart making song, “The Swamp Witch”, produced by his boyhood friend Kent LaVoie aka Lobo in 1974. He followed with a gold single, “Spiders and Snakes”, which stayed on the American pop charts for 26 weeks. The hits just kept coming and included “My Girl Bill”, “Wildwood Weed”, and the wonderfully satirical “Cow Patti”, written for the Clint Eastwood movie, Any Which Way You Can, in which Jim appeared.
For over 20 years the Jim Stafford show is always named a favorite by audiences and critics alike. The singer, songwriter, comic genius, and entertainer extraordinaire is self-taught on guitar, fiddle, piano, banjo, organ, harmonica and the human brain--he might bring any of them into play at any moment. 417 Magazine, the Springfield News Leader and the Branson Entertainment Awards have voted Jim Best Entertainer, Best Personality and Best Comedy Show. Mayflower Tours has named Jim’s Show as one of their top ten suppliers in North America. Jim wrote many of the songs for which he is famous and has brought his inimitable style to several movie soundtracks. He received a gold record for his work in the Disney movie The Fox and The Hound and writes for many other popular artists.
Jim launched his television career with The Jim Stafford Show on ABC in 1975. His numerous television appearances included music specials, variety shows, and talk shows. He co-hosted the popular prime time show Those Amazing Animals with Burgess Meredith and Pricilla Presley. Jim also hosted 56 episodes of Nashville on the Road and made 26 appearances on the Tonight Show. In 1987 & 1988, Jim was a regular performer and head writer/producer for the Emmy-nominated Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
Jim’s first love has always been live performance. During his show Jim combines hysterical comedy with masterful performances on the classical guitar as well as with heart-warming stories of the human spirit. Critically acclaimed as the “Victor Borge of the Guitar”, Jim creates hilarious antics from everyday life taking laughter to a new art form. He’ll share his secrets for creating stage presence.