Joe Crookston & A.J. Roach February 3, 2012

Joe Crookston
Haven't seen Joe Crookston perform?? You'll be glad you did. In 1987, The Kent State Folk Festival changed his life. After hearing Harvey Reid and the Horseflies at the festival, Joe sold his electric guitar, bought a steel string and never looked back. He's a fiddler and a pretty darn good percolating clawhammer banjo player to boot. He has performed throughout the US, at Folk Festivals, Coffeehouses, venues. There is not a navel gazing break-up song to be found anywhere. His audience rapport, musicianship and playful stage presence is intense, mesmerizing, and unforgettably dynamic. Fall Down as the Rain, not surprisingly, was chosen by Performing Songwriter Magazine as a 2004 "TOP-12-Do-It-Yourself" independent recording, was featured on National Public Radio's “All Songs Considered”.

A.J. Roach
Now splitting his time between New York City and Edinburgh, Scotland, A. J. Roach was born and raised in the deep hollows of mountainous Scott County, Virginia -- the cultural and geographical epicenter of America's Appalachian Mountain Range, and the birthplace of American country music. Best known from his relentless touring schedule, A. J. has traveled well over one million miles and performed in more than a dozen countries since the release of his first album in 2003. At the forefront of the new troubadour movement, A. J.'s performances are so powerful that it is not uncommon for audience members to be moved to tears by his poetic lyrics and powerful voice. A. J.'s songs have been featured in several U.S. television shows and feature-length films, and have drawn comparisons to Townes Van Zandt, Vic Chesnutt and Will Oldham.