Debutants have evolved from a duo between longtime friends, Lynn Nicholson and Jon Swain, into a formidable string band with eclectic influences. What somehow manages to always come through loud and clear is the amount of fun they're having playing together, and the vibrant life breathed into their music. On their 2021 debut release, , Debutants went into the studio with banjoist Michael Earl Newsome, fiddle player Sean Hoffman (, The Goat's Beards, Soltré), and bassist/vocalist Colin Taylor (, ). Also highly instrumental in capturing their original sound, was recording engineer and producer Tyler Thompson (, , ) at his Studio 110 in Pittsburgh, PA. For their 2022 sophomore release, , the band unquestionably returned to Thompson's Studio 110, this time bringing Lauren Blair on fiddle/vocals, and Ellen Coplin on cello/vocals. Growth became evident on titles such as Nicholson's , along with increases in tempos and instrumental prowess demonstrated on pieces like Swain's . With the same lineup in 2023, the band tackled their first full-length album, . Nicholson and Swain were now joined by Hoffman and Taylor in songwriting. This release conveys their most ambitious and cohesive sound yet, in part due to recording all of it "live" circled together around a few microphones.

Mama Said is a five piece string band based out of Louisville, Kentucky.   

Mike Oberst is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, musician, and songwriter best known as a co-founder of the Cincinnati, Ohio string band, The Tillers.  Mike was born and raised in the Sayler Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, a stone’s throw from the historic US Route 50 as it winds down the banks of the Ohio River. He was introduced to music at a very early age, starting Suzuki piano lessons at the age of four. At the age of 13, Mike’s father showed him some chords on the guitar, and within a year, he began forming punk rock bands with his friends. Over the next decade, Mike’s bands “Disarm” and later, “The Resurgence”, became fixtures on the local punk scene.  Mike’s interest in traditional music began with his membership in the Cincinnati Caledonian Bagpipe and Drum Corps from the ages of 17 to 22. At age 23, Mike became a part of “The Blue Rock Boys”, an Irish Traditional Folk band, which gave Mike his first taste of the life of a touring musician.  When The Blue Rock Boys went on hiatus in 2007, Mike began performing solo shows around town. During this time, he became consumed with a love of clawhammer-style banjo playing and an interest in American folk music in the vein of Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, and other Depression-era performers. He soon chanced upon a like-minded musical compatriot in the form of guitarist Sean Geil, with whom Mike formed the band “The Tillers”.  The Tillers’ rise to prominence in the local and regional folk scene was a rapid one, bolstered by a stroke of good fortune in the summer of 2009, when The Tillers’ recording of Mike’s song “There is a Road (Route 50)” was featured on veteran NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw’s USA Network television documentary on the history and significance of US Route 50.  The Tillers maintained a relentless touring, performing, and recording schedule over the next three years, releasing three more albums, becoming a staple at folk festivals throughout the country, and sharing the stage with luminaries and heroes such as Doc Watson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Iris DeMent, Jerry Douglas and many more.  In 2011, Mike released his first solo album, “Mike Oberst and His Five-String Banjo”, which featured collaborations with a number of Mike’s musician friends from Cincinnati and beyond.  Also that year, Mike was the driving force behind “To Sing with You Once More”, a benefit concert to raise money and awareness to fight multiple myeloma cancer, the disease which claimed both Mike’s mother Lori and one of his musical heroes, Mike Seeger. The concert, which featured rare appearances by folk giants like John Cohen and Tracy Schwarz, was a rousing success.  Mike continues to play and tour, both solo and with The Tillers. He was recently bestowed with the Ohio Arts Council Traditional Arts Apprenticeship for clawhammer banjo in 2011-12, and again in 2013-14. He also teaches clawhammer banjo lessons from his home to a number of students both locally and regionally.  Mike’s appreciation and gratitude to the tradition of Field Recording for its preservation of rapidly-disappearing musical styles and traditions has led him to attempt some of his own. In 2016 he produced and co-recorded an album of original music by North Carolina songwriter Jean Dowell. He is currently in the early stages of recording and compiling the music of legendary Kentucky fiddler Tommy Taylor.  Mike is also interested in traditional American folk art, history and ways of life, and methods of sustainable city living. He enjoys gardening, farming, and raising chickens at his home.