Grammy award-winning songwriter, Nashville based, Jon Vezner is a tunesmith of rare sensitivity and dry wit. His catalogue of recorded songs, topped by the poignant “Where’ve You Been,” reflects his straight-to-the heart sensibility and emotional awareness. Vezner weaves the particulars of his own feelings with the lives of people he has known into universal themes that deeply touch listeners’ emotions. Vezner was honored with a Grammy for “Best Country Song” and the Nashville Songwriters Association “Song of the Year” in 1990, for “Where’ve You Been”, the true story of Vezner’s grandparents, co-written with Don Henry, and recorded by Kathy Mattea. “Where’ve You Been” was also honored as “Song of the Year” by the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). Jon’s catalogue of songs reads like a songbook itself, interpreted and recorded by the greats in the business as varied as the songs themselves; artists such as Martina McBride, Janis Ian, John Mellencamp, Nancy Griffith, Faith Hill, Clay Walker, Diamond Rio and Native American recording artist, Bill Miller. Other co-penned songs recorded by Kathy Mattea include “A Few Good Things Remain,” “Time Passes By,” “Whole Lotta Holes,” “Slow Boat,” “Who’s Gonna Know,” “All Roads to the River,” “The Innocent Years,” “Calling My Name,” “Trust Me,” and most recently the touching ballad “Ashes in the Wind.” Singles written by Vezner include “If I Didn’t Love You” by Steve Warriner, “Has Anybody Seen Amy” by John and Audrey Wiggins, “Then What” by Clay Walker, and “You’re Gone” by Diamond Rio.

Pat Alger was born in New York, but raised in the small town of LaGrange, Georgia. As a teenager, he taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs at age 15. He studied architecture and graphic design at Georgia Tech in Atlanta while touring the Southeast college-club circuit, sharing stages with singer-songwriters such as Jerry Jeff Walker, Steve Goodman and Jonathan Edwards. He moved to Woodstock, New York in 1973 and made three folk albums with the Woodstock Mountains Revue for Rounder Records. This loose-knit group also included, at one time or another, John Sebastian, Paul Butterfield and Eric Andersen. Alger also recorded a 1980 duet album with guitarist/singer Artie Traum, also for Rounder, and the two toured together internationally. He next spent time in Boston and Manhattan trying to break into the songwriting mainstream. Alger's first success as a songwriter was "First Time Love." Recorded by Livingston Taylor, it became a Top 40 pop hit in 1980. Alger moved to Nashville in 1981. The Everly Brothers chose him as their opening act in 1984, and he toured with the duo for four years thereafter. His songs have been recorded by Mickey Gilley, Brenda Lee, Dolly Parton, George Hamilton IV, Crystal Gayle, Patti Page and Peter, Paul & Mary, among many others. He has written Top 10 country hits for Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks, Hal Ketchum, Don Williams and Trisha Yearwood. His solo albums include True Love and Other Short Stories (Sugar Hill, 1991), Seeds (Sugar Hill, 1991) and Notes and Grace Notes (Liberty, 1994). Pat Alger was named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association in 1991 and ASCAP's Country Songwriter of the Year in 1992. From 1995 to 1997, he was president of the Nashville Songwriters Association International board and most recently named 2013 Inductee Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

The unmistakable voice of Grammy Award winner Kathy Mattea explores music’s most basic human essence through timeless melodies and uplifting narratives. Singer, musician, songwriter, public speaker, activist: Mattea’s music and message have taken her to venues across America from Maine to Alaska, and overseas from England to Morocco, from college campuses to capitol buildings, and from festivals to concert halls. Mattea’s music has spoken to millions of people during her 20-plus years as a singer, songwriter, and recording artist. In recent years she has found a growing audience for the words and ideas she has to offer on a variety of issues, ranging from arts education to finding your creative path to global climate change. Often interweaving her message with musical selections, Kathy’s presentations seek to provide her audience with spiritual nourishment: food not only for thought, but also for the soul. A dedicated arts and education advocate, Mattea is also deeply involved in social and environmental activism. She believes that music can influence social change by giving a voice to those who have none. Trained by Al Gore following An Inconvenient Truth, Mattea has traveled the country with her own lecture presentation, My Coal Journey, a reflection on her coal country heritage, her personal experiences as an activist, and her artistic journey. An accomplished speaker, Mattea was chosen to deliver keynote addresses at both the Arts Northwest and Performing Arts Exchange conferences in 2010.

"Amy Speace seems to have the most reliable muse in Music City and an ear for sonic settings that help her carefully chosen words soar and drift. She got her start as an actor in New York focused on Shakespeare, but some encouragement to sing got her on open mic stages, where she thrived. She’s been a star at folk and roots events for years now thanks to her intimacy, her way with a story and the vibes she shares with icon Judy Collins, who mentored her. Just when we thought she couldn’t be any more vulnerable, she arrived this year with Tucson, an album written largely at a recovery center where Speace confronted some early life trauma and its long shadows. If a folk artist is supposed to share everything while teaching us something about ourselves, Speace is an exemplar." - Craig Havighurst Heralded by Rolling Stone and Billboard Magazine, Amy Speace is one of contemporary folk and Americana music’s leading voices of the new generation. Lauded by mentors Judy Collins, Tom Paxton and Janis Ian, as well as the songwriting community in Nashville, her songs have been recorded by Judy Collins, Red Molly, Sid Selvidge among others. After 20 years of touring, she has played concerts all across the US and Europe and has graced stages from Glastonbury Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival in the UK to Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and Mountain Stage. She began her career in the iconic folk venues of New York City where she was discovered by Judy Collins and signed to her Wildflower Records label. Relocating to Nashville in 2009, she quickly became embraced by the songwriting community, with regular shows at The Bluebird Café as well as her international touring. In 2020, her song “Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne” was named International Song of the Year by the Americana Music Association UK. Her 2021 release, “There Used To Be Horses Here” received widespread critical acclaim from Rolling Stone to Billboard. Performing Songwriter gave it 5 out of 5 stars and named it as the #4 release of 2021. Her latest album, “Tucson” (Windbone/Proper Records) sets Speace’s majestic voice to symphonic arrangments, wrapped around her most intimate and emotional record yet. It landed #1 on the Folk Radio Charts in April, 2022 and was widely lauded as one of Speace’s finest work. This year, her 2013 record, “How To Sleep In A Stormy Boat,” which was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered was named to the Top 10 Albums of the century. A “writer’s writer”, she is a published poet, with pieces appearing in 2022’s Spring edition of 2River Review and Euphoia. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, American Songwriter, The Blue Rock Review.