About the Musicians
Edward Howe
Ed is well known for his joyful groove when playing the fiddle. He has been playing since he was 4 years old. Over the past 35 years Ed has been playing solo, in duos, and bands that span Bluegrass, Celtic, Scottish, and American folk music.
His style and emotion have inspired and moved so many people. When he as 17, he won the prestigious Niel Gow Award for Best Straphsphe. As he dived deeper into his style he got into the electric fiddle and he turned the contra world upside down by introducing live looping at dances. In 2013, he was recognized for this and was the featured artist on the cover of the Country Song and Dance Society's (CDSS) Magazine.
Ed is well known in the contra world not just as a musician and sound engineer, but also as a caring community leader. In 2023 he was asked to lead the organization of Folk Dance for the Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) in North Carolina. This same year Ed received a nomination for 'Best Fiddler of the Year' from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
He has played for thousands of contra dances across the nation - most well known for his music duo Perpetual e-Motion (2008-2015). He has played in bands such the Howe Family Band, Wake the Neighbors, Union River Band, The Dave Rowe Trio, and Barefoot. His current bands are Drive Train, Double Trouble, Howe & Co, The Flying Howes, and occasionally plays with other bands such as Breakin' Strings (he is the fiddle on the album). He is an NS Design electric violin-endorsed artist. He is also hosting the Dawn Dance!
Mitch Reed
Mitch was awarded a Grammy with BeauSoleil for the album “Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival” in 2009. Since 2008 he has performed on 4 Grammy Nominated albums. He was born in Bayou Vista, Louisiana and raised in Lafayette by musicians and storytellers from Mamou. When he was 12 he started playing the cello and at 15 began playing the fiddle. By 17 he was touring and performing with Dewey Balfa, Marc Savoy and DL Menard.
Over the years he has built his repertoire and learned an old style of playing which is evident in his sound today. During his career, he has played alongside Louisiana greats such as Canray Fontenot, Wade Frugé, Michael Doucet, Steve Riley, Charles Neville, Zachary Richard, and George Porter. In addition he has worked with Richard Thompson, Natalie Merchant, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Natalie McMaster, and Kenny Baker to name a few.
He is also a Traditional Music Instructor. Besides offering private lessons, group classes, and online fiddle breakdowns he has taught at Fiddle Camps hosted by Jay Ungar, Mark O’Connor, and Louisiana Folk Roots. In addition, he has worked with the Smithsonian Institution Office of Folklife Programs in Louisiana schools and at International conferences since 1989. He recently retired from 11 years on the road as the bass player and second fiddler with BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet. In addition, he expanded his music school from Louisiana to Maine with his wife and family. These changes have afforded him the opportunity to continue passing on the unwritten tradition of Cajun fiddling and storytelling while exploring the connections between the musical traditions of Acadia and Acadiana.
George Paul
George has been playing the piano since he was 3 years old. In fact, though he was introduced to music while he was still in the uterus, as his mom played both her piano and her accordion while she was pregnant, he jokes he’s been trying to get back inside the music ever since. In the 2nd grade, he was introduced to the violin, which he fell in love with and played in the orchestra through high school. Being taken to orchestral concerts by his mom gave him a great background in and love for classical music. In his senior year in high school, he discovered Jazz and left the violin behind to concentrate on piano.
He went on to play for 15 years in honky tonks, blues bars, and country bands. He then found himself totally burnt out and quit playing entirely for 15 years. After a life-altering divorce, he went back to the piano and his music started pouring out. He always had melodies playing in his head, and they really started to mature as he started writing them down.
Over the years, his skills kept improving till now there is a direct connection between his heart, emotions, and hands. He is most well known as the “King of Waltzes”. He can capture emotions in melodies that really touch people and they remember it for a long time. His current band is well known contra band Playing with Fyre and Double Trouble. He also plays with many different people along the way for contra dances in the South East.
Rob Zisette
Rob started playing the violin at age eight in the classical music style and began to explore fiddle music at age twelve when his family started a contra dance band, Toss the Possum, of which he is still a member today. As a lover of dancing and experience in teaching Blues, Lindy Hop, Swing and Waltz Rob brings his knowledge of movement in those musical genres from the dance floor to the musical stage to create and share with his fellow contra dancers. He also draws from his two years of experience as a choir director, six years of playing symphonic percussion and five years of drum line to his skill set for composing and playing fun, imaginative and groovy tunes for contra.
He enjoys the creative freedom that fiddle music offers in the sense of never playing a tune the same way twice. His current bands are Toss the Possum and Playing with Fyre.
Sammy Wetstein
Sammy Wetstein is a musician, composer, and teacher intent on fusing styles of folk and jazz music with improvisational creativity. Sammy's love of music stems from his dream to find belonging and bring others together, and in his teaching he hopes to encourage string players of all ages and backgrounds to find freedom in their music, explore alternative string styles, and to play music as a means to find and build community while better understanding oneself.
In 2024 the world agreed he is amazing and we he was awarded the 'Spirit of Trad' award from the Acadia Festival of Traditional Music and Dance.
As a multi instrumentalist fluent in playing accordion, guitar, mandolin, violin, and viola he has performed at many high profile venues and has appeared alongside artists such as the Grammy winning 8 Bit Big Band and Guster, Jazz icons Joe Levano and Kenny Barron, and world renown string players including Eugene Friesen, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall and Jason Anick, and toured with folk icons Jake Bount and Nic Gareiss.
As an advocate for furthering the role of the cello in traditional music, he has been featured on Bluegrass Today and Sirius XM Bluegrass Junction. Additionally his contemporary folk fusion quartet, Catfish in the Sky was a winner of the 2024 Freshgrass Band Competition and was selected to perform at the 2024 Berklee Convocation and Amplify Berklee Gala. His Celtic trio, Carroll Sisters, was voted one of the top 5 Celtic bands of 2022 by Irish and Celtic music podcast.
Samuel
Samuel Foucher is an accordionist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer who loves to dwell where music, stories, craft, and the wild meet. He brings you tunes from Celtic, New England and French traditions, and a collection of ancient and modern folk songs. He is drawn to songs that help us remember the past, and inspire us to dream up a better future.
Samuel has played for contra dances, danced with a Morris team, collected songs, and tinkered with instruments since he was a wee lad in Harrisville, NH. He now lives in Guilford VT and plays regularly with the dance bands Sycamore and Spintuition across the region.
Alex Wilder
Alex Wilder is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer, and songwriter based in Nashville, TN. Drawing on his Acadian roots and early years in Maine, his energetic piano, guitar, and foot percussion styling blend traditional contra music with elements of popular music. Recent collaborations include Atlanta Dance Weekend with Ed Howe and Palaver Strings’ Welcome Home Tour. As a recording engineer, his work can be heard on albums from Maya de Vitry, Madison Cunningham, and the soundtrack to Disney’s Encanto.
Logan Duys
Logan is an amazing multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta. He plays a killer bass and his banjo game is quite amazing! When he's not at Bluegrass jams or playing gigs with some talented people, you can find him tuning pipe organs!