Fiddler Mark Barsamian, from Athens Ohio, began playing classical violin as a young child. Twenty years ago he became smitten by Celtic fiddle music, and has been playing folk music ever since. By day, he is a Lecturer in Mathematics at Ohio University in Athens.

Hilarie Burhans, from Athens Ohio, has played clawhammer banjo since high school. In addition to playing in a number of bands, including the Great Big Taters and the influential Hotpoint Stringband, she is an active teacher. Hilarie and her husband Mark own and operate the wonderful Restaurant Salaam in Athens and, each summer, feed hundreds of musicians at the Clifftop Festival from their camp, Burhania.

Pianist Mark Delozier, from Yellow Springs Ohio, has been active in the contradance music scene for years, first in the Cleveland area and more recently in the Dayton/Columbus area. He is known in particular for the warm sound he gets from a small acoustic piano that he hauls around to gigs, and for the seemingly endless variation that he brings to simple tunes.

Mandolinist Zeke Hutchison, from Athens Ohio, is best known for his bluegrass background but is equally fluent in styles as diverse as jazz and classical. Zeke recently recorded with Tim O’Brien on his Short Order Sessions, and O’Brien states that "Zeke is one of the very best unsung mandolin players in the world."