2026 Festival Performers

Knoxville's premier Jazz Hot Sextet playing a vibrant style of jazz originating in France in the 1930s, pioneered by Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Blending American swing with Romani folk music, the music is characterized by intricate guitar work, rhythmic strumming (la pompe), and features two guitars, violin, bass, clarinet and drums.

Band Website: absintheallstars.com

Other Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Absinthe-All-Stars/61579031875302/
https://www.instagram.com/theabsintheallstars/
https://www.youtube.com/@AbsintheAllStars

Blue Ridge Gathering is a Knoxville-based neo-traditional old-time trio that blends the soulful roots of Appalachian music with fresh energy and a modern twist. Featuring Cody Bauer, Jessica Watson, and Duck Ryan, the group weaves traditional old-time with influences from bluegrass, Celtic, and folk music—delivering a sound that is both timeless and alive.

GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Candice Ivory (a.k.a. the Queen of Avant Soul), was born in Millington, Tennessee to a musical family steeped in Southern culture. Her great-uncle Will Roy Sanders was a Memphis-based blues musician, her cousins sang in the Mississippi gospel group the Salem Harmonizers, and at the age of eleven, Ivory joined a Richmond, Virginia youth choir directed by future R&B legend D’Angelo. By fifteen, Ivory had launched her career as a professional musician: her family relocated to Memphis, and she started singing jazz in the nightclubs on Beale Street. Ivory would devote the next several years to studying jazz, initially in Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead residency (held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.) and subsequently at the New School University in New York, where she earned a degree in vocal performance.

Artist Website: candiceivory.com

Grassy Creek is a hard driving Bluegrass group from Gatlinburg, TN, dedicated to  keeping the tradition alive.  With Brian on the mandolin,  Julia on the Bass, David on the guitar, Ashton Murray on the banjo, and Malachi Ellenburg on the fiddle, the band delivers powerful instrumentation, tight harmonies and an authentic bluegrass sound.

Band Website: grassycreekbluegrassband.com

Greg Marlow is a singer/songwriter, musician, guest speaker,  author and cancer survivor, bringing a message of hope and healing.

His musical ministry began in 1988 with the formation of the bluegrass gospel band New Harvest, in which he was lead singer and played several instruments in the band during his tenure for over thirty years. Greg and New Harvest traveled wherever they were asked to go playing churches, benefits, and major bluegrass festivals all across the eastern part of the United States.

Artist Website: www.gregmarlow.net

Jazmine LeBlanc is an Appalachian storyteller whose practice explores the intersection of folklife traditions, music, and community engagement. Her mission is to help people tell and share their stories in ways that affirm identity and strengthen connection. “Stories, like people, take different forms. There is not just one way to tell and interact with a story.” Jazmine believes that everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in stories and lives this belief daily through her work as a nonprofit leader in Chattanooga. In 2015, she founded the ELLA Library, a community-based arts and culture organization that uses the power of language and art to help people connect in the East Lake neighborhood. Jazmine has been as a mentor artist for the Berea College Folk Life Apprenticeship and has recently been named one of the National Association of Black Storytellers storytelling fellows and South Arts Emerging Traditional Arts awardees.

Jazmine LeBlanc Website: jazmineleblanc.com

Jess Mullins Fullen is the daughter of Kimberly Ellen, the granddaughter of Phyllis Jean, and the great-granddaughter of Wonnie Francies. A Black Appalachian theater artist, storyteller, and community cultural worker, her practice explores memory, identity, and belonging by bridging traditional stage performance with community storytelling, living history, and place-based cultural organizing throughout Central Appalachia.

Kelle Jolly & Will Boyd are a husband & wife duo who blend jazz, blues, soul, folk, and storytelling into performances that celebrate Appalachia and the African diaspora.

Popularly labeled the Tennessee Ukulele Lady, Kelle is an award-winning vocalist, storyteller, educator, and Black Appalachian Storytelling Fellow.

Will Boyd is a saxophonist and composer who brings soulful artistry and dynamic improvisation to his performances that inspire audiences of all ages.

“Kelle Jolly and the Will Boyd Project” is a vibrant new concert series making up a dynamic five member house band. Two sets of original music along with jazz favorites like Nina Simone and Ella Baker sung by Kelle Jolle, and co-led by multi-instrumentalist and "mad sax man" Will Boyd honoring the soul sax prophets—Eddie Harris, Hank Crawford, King Curtis.

Kelle Jolly website: kellejolly.com; Instagram: instagram.com/tnukulelelady/
Will Boyde website: willboydonsax.com

The Lonetones are a genre-bending, modern-folk band from Knoxville, TN. Driven by the songwriting of married-couple Steph Gunnoe and Sean McCollough, the band artfully fuses urban and rural themes and musical styles. Steph and Sean have performed together since the year 2000. They’ve always surrounded themselves with talented musicians and will be joined at the festival by Cecilia Stair on cello, Vince Ilagan on bass and Jamie Cook on drums.

Band Website: thelonetones.com/

Other Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/thelonetones
https://www.instagram.com/thelonetones/
https://thelonetones.bandcamp.com/

Natti love Joys have been electrifying audiences with their dynamic reggae performances for decades, opening for legendary artists like Joan Jett, Three Dog Night, The Band, The Clash, The Ramones, Psychedelic Furs, Debbie Gibson, Jimmy Cliff, and more.

Known for their energetic stage presence, the band has brought their unique sound to countless venues and festivals across the country — from the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, TN alongside Joan Jett and Widespread Panic, to AthFest in Athens, GA, Dollywood Splash Country, and the International Kite Festival in Atlanta.

Their performances blend top 20 hits in reggae style, Bob Marley classics, and original songs from their albums All I Can Say, Universal Mind, Thingz, and Orchestrata. Their music is for and about universal peace.

Band Website: Nattilovejoys.com

Other Social Media:
Spotify/nattilovejoys
YouTube/nattilovejoys

Rhea Carmon, also known as RheaSunshine, is a dynamic poet, educator, and activist weaving passion, purpose, and power into her craft. A Poet Laureate Emerita of Knoxville, TN and an inductee of the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame, she has authored 5 chapbooks, a children’s book of affirmations and recorded three audio CDs. For over 25 years, Rhea has traveled nationally, using poetry as a tool for healing, self-expression, and liberation.

Check back for artist information

Sparky and Rhonda Rucker deliver an uplifting presentation of heart-rending, soulful songs spiced with humor, history, and tall tales. They have long been ambassadors of cultural heritage, accompanying themselves with bottleneck slide guitar, old-time banjo, harmonica, piano, spoons, and bones. Over fifty years of performing, Sparky and Rhonda have performed at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as NPR's On Point, Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, and Morning Edition. Their recording, Treasures & Tears, was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award, and their music is also included on the Grammy-nominated anthology, Singing Through the Hard Times. Sparky is a 2025 recipient of the Tennessee Arts Commission Folklife Heritage Award.

Artist website: sparkyandrhonda.com

The Sunshine Ambassadors enrich the lives of individuals with disabilities through dance! They use choreography techniques that keep in mind balance, focus, sensory, processing, cognitive, and other issues that may delay or hinder a student from regular dance class moves. Their dance numbers are choreographed with additional time between movements. Movements are also adapted for those who have physical limitations, including those who use wheelchairs, braces, or gait trainers. They use teaching techniques of modeling, repetition, verbal cues, and some hand over hand as needed. Who can dance? EVERYONE!!!!!

Sunshine Ambassadors is always looking to meet new dancers, volunteers, instructors, and sponsors! If you would like to get involved or for more information about the Sunshine Ambassadors please visit our website at sunshineambassadors-dance.org. We hope you will come see and enjoy our performance...I know our dancers do!!

UT Appalachian Strings is an ensemble at the University of Tennessee made up of multiple student bands that play bluegrass, old-time and other Americana music.

The band playing at this year’s Louie Bluie Festival is made up of some of the program’s best returning students - Finley Rider (bass, vocals), Rowan McCoy (fiddle, vocals), Marian Moss (mandolin, vocals), Jensen Halsey (guitar, vocals), and Tyson Taylor (banjo).

The Lonesome Steel Rails are a high-energy bluegrass, country, and folk music band based out of Caryville and LaFollette. They play traditional Appalachian mountain music with a fresh, modern spin inspired by classic bluegrass greats such as the Stanley Brothers and the Country Gentleman. They frequently play regional venues and events, including the Cumberland Gap Music Show and local mountain retreats.

The Hancock Family is a regional gospel group from Oneida (Scott County), Tennessee. The group, led by Mark Hancock, regularly performs southern gospel and traditional music for local events, community gatherings, and services at regional landmarks like the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and nearby churches.

Rickard Ridge Pickers is a group of local string band “pickers” and singers led by John Overton of Powell, TN that performs regularly at Rickard Ridge Restaurant at Cove Lake State Park.