Schedule & Tour Leaders 2024
Beyond the Borders:
April 1 - 11, 2024
Paul McKenna
Scotland’s Paul McKenna has long been ranked among our finest younger singers and songwriters, armed with a powerful yet intensely emotive voice and passionate social conscience, often expressed through his songs, a combination that’s brought frequent comparisons to the great Dick Gaughan.
Paul was a featured artist at the world-renowned Transatlantic Sessions in 2019. Alongside Cara Dillon, Tim O’Brien, Molly Tuttle, and the multi-talented house band, he performed a string of shows across the UK.
Performance highlights over recent years include Edmonton Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Celtic Connections.
Beyond the Borders:
April 12 - 22, 2024
Harmonious Wail
Sims studied for seven years with Burns, the legendary jazz mandolinist, laying the foundation for Harmonious Wail’s acoustic string sound. He furthered his studies with Matt Glaser at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, honing his skills while immersing himself in the “gypsy” music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli (Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Bireli Lagrene, Duane Allman, David Grisman, and Louis Armstrong are also on his list of musical heroes). Sims also plays a 1937 Gibson Tenor Guitar (tuned as an octave mandolin), sings, writes and arranges for the Wail. He founded the group in 1987.
Vocalist Maggie Delaney-Potthoff is a captivating performer. Equally at home scatting over a bebop tune, soaring on a solo, or blending with the Wail’s tight vocal harmonies, she delivers both powerhouse tunes and ballads with confidence and ease. Her sensual, sinuous movements (a product of her background in dance and theatre) and her use of a cardboard box played with brushes as a drum add to the charm she exudes onstage.
Beyond the Standing Stones:
23 April - 6 May, 2024
Buddy Mondlock & Mike Lindauer
Buddy Mondlock writes songs. He does it so well that some great songwriters have recorded his songs on their own albums. Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, and Janis Ian, to name just a few. When Buddyʼs not on the road you can find him in Nashville but he grew up in Park Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He sang Crosby, Stills and Nash songs with his sisters and answered his little brother’s questions from the top bunk. His new CD, “The Memory Wall,” was funded entirely by fans, friends and family through a Kickstarter campaign. “I was overwhelmed by the support I got and even more by the sense of community that came out of it.” This, his sixth release, draws on some veteran Nashville musicians including Dan Dugmore, Stuart Duncan and Kenny Malone. Along with his concerts Buddy teaches songwriting workshops as well. In 2012 he was on staff at the Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson college in North Carolina teaching two intensive courses over a week’s time. And in 2013 Buddy returned once again to the Kerrville Folk Festival to perform and teach at the song school there.
Bassist, guitarist, vocalist, chemist. The chemistry degree might do more for his bottom line but Mike Lindauer’s heart is in the music. His uniquely expressive and fluid style on the fretless electric bass has caused him to be sought out by singer songwriters in particular, both in the studio and on the road. Mike regularly tours with Buddy Mondlock, Al Stewart (of The Year of the Cat fame), Dave Nachmanoff, Krista Detor and Richard Berman. He also fronts the 7 piece band Swing Thing and is a member of the new-acoustic trio Natural Bridge.
Mike and Buddy have been playing concerts in Ireland for over 20 years and have been leading Inishfree Tours there since 2014.
Beyond the Tartan:
May 7 - 17, 2024
Jason Wilber
Jason Wilber is an American singer, guitar player, songwriter, and recording artist. In addition to his work as a solo recording artist, he is also known as the long time lead guitar player for singer-songwriter John Prine. Jason Wilber’s work with John Prine includes the Grammy Award winning CD Fair & Square, and the Grammy nominated CDs Live On Tour, In Spite of Ourselves (which spent 32 weeks on the Billboard Country Charts), and Prine’s final album Tree of Forgiveness. In addition to playing guitar on John Prine’s 2017 album For Better or Worse, Jason also served as a Co-Executive Producer. Jason has accompanied John Prine on duet recordings with Iris Dement, Allison Krauss, Susan Tedeschi, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, Kathy Mattea, Amanda Shires, Fiona Prine, Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter, Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack, Connie Smith, Melba Montgomery, Morgane Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, and Sara Watkins.
Beyond the Tartan:
May 21 - 31, 2024
Jackson Grimm
Jackson Grimm marries folk pop melodies with the lonesome sound of traditional Appalachian music. In a region with a strong music culture, it is no surprise that Grimm’s songwriting is representative of his musical birthplace: Asheville, NC. His songs run the gambit from an homage to a traditional country waltz in “If Not For You”, an unrequited love song driven by a Beatles-esque melody in “I’d Hold You (But I Don’t Wanna Hold You)”, to a drunken partygrass song à la Old Crow Medicine Show in “Last Train Home”. Grimm lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and can be found playing solo or around Western North Carolina with bluegrass band, The Bull Moose Party.
Beyond the Tartan:
June 6 -16, 2024
Ordinary Elephant
International Folk Music Awards 2017 Artist of the Year Ordinary Elephant captivates audiences with their emotionally powerful and vulnerable songs, letting the listener know that they are not alone in this world. The collaboration of husband and wife Pete and Crystal Damore, their connection, and their influences (such as Gillian Welch, Guy Clark, Anais Mitchell) all meet on stage. “Two become one, in song…hand-in-glove harmonies surprise the listener with focused intensity and musical mastery,” says Mary Gauthier. The Associated Press is calling their latest album, Honest, “one of the best Americana albums of the year.”
Beyond the Borders:
June 14 - 24, 2024
Barb Bowers
When not spending time in Ireland or Scotland, Barb lives on the coast of Maine, three of the most beautiful places in the world. Barb has worn many hats in her life, including working in non-profit arts with theater, music and visual arts. She has served as executive director of a community theater, a film festival and was the ED, artistic director and development director of a performing arts center. This brought her in contact with musicians from all over the world, and as a result, also led her to the world of Inishfree Irish Music Tours and Scotland Folk Tours. She knows most of the tour leaders very well, and sees them throughout the year at music events and conferences. She currently works as a tour liaison for Inishfree Tours. Barb has nearly 30 tours under her belt in the last eleven years, and makes her home in County Clare during the summer months. She has ancestors from both Ireland and Scotland, with the MacLean Clan on the Scotland side. Piano lessons as a child, self-taught guitar and ukulele don’t technically make her a musician………her favourite instrument is her voice, and sometimes she shares it.
Beyond the Borders:
22 June - 2 July, 2024
Kate Campbell
Kate Campbell is a southern singer-songwriter who writes and sings memorable folk songs infused with undercurrents of delta blues, folk, pop, and country that originate from a musical landscape spanning the less-travelled back roads from Nashville to Muscle Shoals to Memphis. Over the course of 20+ years since her acclaimed debut album Songs from the Levee, she has resisted the temptation to follow musical trends but instead chooses to set the pace for her unique musical journey clearly palpable in her latest release Damn Sure Blue, a heart-felt collection of tunes that pays a respectful nod of admiration to the Man in Black and reverberates with the soulful sounds of award-winning Americana guitar whiz and producer Will Kimbrough.
Beyond the Standing Stones:
30 June - 13 July
Beyond the Borders:
5 - 15 August, 2024
Tim Grimm
Tim Grimm has toured and recorded with his friend, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, appeared with Harrison Ford in the film Clear and Present Danger, and has shared the stage with writer and poet Wendell Berry. Tim has had the #1 songs of the year (most played) on Folk radio in 2020 (GONE), 2017 (GONNA BE GREAT), 2016 (WOODY’S LANDLORD) and 2014 (KING OF THE FOLKSINGERS). Grimm grew up and has lived in southern Indiana, and has been called “The Poet Laureate of the rural Midwest”. Film director, Ken Kwapis, calls Grimm “Indiana’s Renaissance man” (Grimm’s song THE LAKE was in the soundtrack for A WALK IN THE WOODS, starring Robert Redford). With 12 albums under his belt, he consistently reaches the top of the Euro-Americana and folk charts and has become known as one of the best storytelling songwriters in America. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous feature films and for 2 years co-starred in NBC’s Reasonable Doubts. . As an actor, he has appeared in numerous feature films and for 2 years co-starred in NBC’s Reasonable Doubts. Current projects include voicing Eugene Debbs and composing music for the documentary film The Revolutionist for WFYI- PBS affiliate, and acting in a new feature filming- SWING SHIFT- portraying actor Richard Jenkin’s brother. He also narrated and wrote a song for the WFIU 13 episode podcast radio drama series— The Ernie Pyle Experiment. He tours across the states and western Europe each year, and his most recent album- GONE, was the #1 Folk album of 2021.
Beyond the Borders:
July 8 - 18, 2024
Chad Elliott
Midwest singer-songwriter Chad Elliott blends folk roots, swampy
blues and soulful writing to deliver an original Americana sound. His
live performances have been honed over a decade of being on the road
performing more than 200 shows each year. Elliott is lauded as “Iowa’s
Renaissance man” by Culture Buzz Magazine. He has penned more than 1,500
songs in his career while also cultivating his skills as a painter,
sculptor, illustrator and author (Wilderman’s Treetop Tales; Rumble &
Flash).
Chad Elliott released his 25th album, Singing River, on May 17, 2021. He
traveled to Muscle Shoals, AL with famed Iowa musician and producer Bo
Ramsey to lay the tracks. Singing River was recorded at FAME Recording
Studios, where music legends Etta James, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin
and many others laid renowned songs into the fabric of time. Ramsey, who
produced Singing River, lent his signature sound on guitar. He was
joined by two original Muscle Shoals Swampers, Spooner Oldham and David
Hood. The new Americana/roots/blues mix that arose in Singing River is
exactly the sound Elliott was hoping to create.
Beyond the Tartan:
July 16 - 26, 2024
Caroline Cotter
With a captivating soprano voice and award winning song writing, Caroline Cotter’s songs take listeners all over the world and into the depths of the human heart. Since her debut album, “Dreaming as I Do”, released and reached #5 on the Folk DJ Charts in 2015, Caroline has performed over 800 shows in 45 states and 13 countries. Currently touring to support her second major release, “Home on The River”, No Depression calls it “sweet and smooth, and downright refreshing… raising spirits with one song, calming them with another.” Icon Magazine writes, “Her well-constructed songs bring to mind the early work of Mary Chapin Carpenter.” “Today’s folk scene has a new champion, one who encapsulates the sweetness, serenity and sophistication that has always made the genre so affecting in such a timeless manner. In that regard, ‘Home on the River’ is an absolutely essential record.” (Country Standard Time)
Beyond the Borders:
August 15 - 25, 2024
Darryl Purpose
Beyond the Tartan:
September 2 - 12, 2024
David Roth
David Roth strikes many chords, hearts, and minds with his unique songs, offbeat observations, moving stories, sense of the hilarious, and powerful singing and subject matter. As singer, songwriter, recording artist, keynote speaker, workshop leader, and instructor, David has earned top honors at premier songwriter competitions – Kerrville (TX) and Falcon Ridge (NY) – and taken his music, experience, and expertise to a wide variety of venues in this and other countries full-time for more than three decades. The Chicago native has called Cape Cod home since 2000.
Beyond the Tartan:
September 10 - 20, 2024
John Smith
Johnsmith is one of those artists so often under-recognized – he possesses a genius that cannot be denied, ignored, or overlooked. For the past thirty-plus years, Johnsmith has been sharing his music all across America and abroad. He has become a favorite at festivals, clubs, and house concerts alike. In addition to being a Kerrville New Folk Winner, Johnsmith has released seven solo CDs to rave reviews, leads musical tours to Ireland, teaches songwriting, and has served as a staff songwriter in Nashville. With his faded jeans, his twinkly blue eyes, and his infectious smile, John immediately connects with audiences. You get the sense of a man who loves his life, his family and friends, and who loves nothing more than sharing that love in song and stories all across this land.
Beyond the Tartan:
September 14 - 24, 2024
Katie Dahl
Katie Dahl is a songwriter and playwright whose work is as expansive as Lake Michigan and as deeply rooted as its rocky coastal bluffs. A small-town celebrity on the Wisconsin peninsula where her family has lived for 175 years, she is now a radio-charting folk artist who tours around the world. Clear-eyed and tough-minded, fresh and funny, Katie “delivers razor-sharp lyrics with a hearty, soulful voice” (American Songwriter). Katie’s four albums of original songs showcase her creamy alto and trademark wit, as well as her unflinching authenticity. Her recent work finds her exploring more vulnerable territory than ever before, from anxiety to body image to the challenges of growing up queer in an evangelical church. Richly steeped in the American songwriting tradition, Katie navigates the muddy waters between the personal, public, and political with tenderness and dexterity.
Beyond the Borders:
September 18 - 28, 2024
Kitty Donohoe
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Emmy~winning songwriter Kitty Donohoe
doesn’t consider herself an Irish or Celtic artist, but she clearly draws from that
part of her heritage (as well as her American roots) in the music she creates.
With a love of language, an ear for melody, and the soul of a storyteller, she’s
been praised in the press equally for her voice, her musicality and her
songwriting. Sing Out!, one of the oldest and most respected folk music
magazines in the industry says that Kitty is “one of the rare singer~songwriters to sensuously weave words and melody into a strong and mezmerizing fabric.”
Legendary Chicago radio icon Rich Warren calls Kitty “far above and beyond most singer~songwriters.” He also included Kitty in his list of “50 of the most
influential songwriters of the past 50 years.” She backs herself on guitar, cittern, and piano, and whether performing a song that sounds like it was written 100 years ago or yesterday, Kitty’s clear and compelling voice carries it all with confidence and passion. Her latest release is “The Irishman’s Daughter.”
Beyond the Borders:
September 26 - October 6, 2024
Katie Dahl & Julie Wolf
Katie Dahl is a songwriter and playwright whose work is both as expansive and as deeply rooted as the narrow Lake Michigan peninsula where she lives. A minor celebrity in her tiny Wisconsin hometown, she is now a radio-charting folk artist who tours around the world—and who loves traveling with groups of friends and fans to Scotland! Clear-eyed and tough-minded, fresh and funny, Katie “delivers razor-sharp lyrics with a hearty, soulful voice” (American Songwriter). Richly steeped in the American songwriting tradition, Katie navigates the muddy waters between the private, public, and political with tenderness and dexterity.
Julie Wolf is an Oakland, California-based music producer and multi-instrumentalist. She has appeared on stages around the world and on numerous critically acclaimed recordings, collaborating with Ani DiFranco, Carly Simon, Indigo Girls, Maceo Parker, Joan Baez, Jill Sobule, Bruce Cockburn, Dar Williams, and many others. Julie’s current focus on music production gives her the opportunity to alchemize things that matter the most to her as an artist, using her decades of experience to help other artists discover their most authentic expression, while in the process building community and making beautiful records! Her most recent deep dive was with Katie Dahl, resulting in Katie’s gorgeous record Seven Stones.
Katie and Julie are each fun on their own, but even more fun together. They can’t wait to travel to Scotland with a bunch of other music-loving folks!
Beyond the Tartan:
October 7 - 17, 2024
Stephen Fearing
Stephen Fearing was born in Vancouver in 1963 and grew up in Dublin where his schoolmates included future members of U2. Beginning in 1981, Fearing became something of a musical nomad, living variously in Vancouver, Minneapolis, Guelph, ON, and Halifax, NS before settling in Victoria, BC. A founding member of the Canadian roots-rock super-group Blackie and the Rodeo Kings — alongside Colin Linden and Tom Wilson — Fearing is a two-time JUNO Award winner in both band and solo categories and has 26 albums to his credit: 13 solo albums (11 studio, one live, one compilation); 11 studio albums with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings; two with Andy White as Fearing & White. Over a vibrant and acclaimed career, Fearing has collaborated with multiple marquee artists including (but not limited to) Nick Lowe, Cassandra Wilson, Richard Thompson, Patti Loveless, Bruce Cockburn, Sarah McLachlan, and Margo Timmins. Throughout Canada, the UK, and Europe, Fearing is a sought-after touring artist, electrifying festival stages, concert halls, and intimate venues alike with a unique performance style, cementing his reputation as a roots troubadour, songwriting storyteller, and master guitarist.