Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music educator Harvey Reid has honed his craft over the last 40 years in countless clubs, festivals, streetcorners, cafes, schools and concert halls across the nation. He has been called a “giant of the steel strings” and “one of the true treaures of American acoustic music,” and is considered to be one of the modern masters and innovators of the acoustic guitar, autoharp and 6-string banjo. He has absorbed a vast repertoire of American contemporary and roots music and woven it into his own colorful, personal and distinctive style. His 32 recordings on Woodpecker Records showcase his mastery of many instruments and styles of acoustic music, from hip folk to slashing slide guitar blues to bluegrass, old-time, Celtic, ragtime, and even classical.
Reid’s skills and versatility on the guitar alone mark him as an important voice and one of the deepest artists in acoustic music. He won the 1981 National Fingerpicking Guitar Competition and the 1982 International Autoharp competition. Yet he’s also a veteran musician with a long list of studio and band credits, a strong flatpicker who has won Bill Monroe’s Beanblossom bluegrass guitar contest, a versatile and engaging singer, a powerful lyricist, prolific composer, arranger and songwriter, a solid mandolin, mandocello and bouzouki player, and a seasoned performer and captivating entertainer.
Late Bloomers are the duo of Brett Kinney & Randy Browning. Together they play a fun, original mix of new and traditional folk, blues, jazz, and ragtime.
After years as self-taught musicians, they met at Berklee College of Music, in line for a mandatory film about the terrible things that happen to people who default on their student loans. Brett was working at a record store when he first heard Doc Watson and Tony Rice, and Randy was a work-study in the Berklee Learning Center when he found the collections of Alan Lomax and Harry Smith in the library. After college, they continued exploring traditional folk and modern roots music together, performing regularly in Boston area coffeehouses.
In recent years their music was honored with the Kerrville ‘New Folk’ award, and they were voted among the top 5 audience favorites as emerging artists at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. They play a variety of music: modern instrumentals and story songs, with a lively approach to traditional folk. As musicians, they have a simple goal: to continue to grow in new and interesting ways.
Linden Tree Coffeehouse 