Trish Imbrogno is an upright bassist and educator based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her music journey began in the public school system and continued at Duquesne University, where she studied orchestral bass performance with Jeffrey Turner.
After years of classical training and performance, Trish found her way into American roots music, bringing that foundation to her work as a bluegrass bassist. She has performed at festivals and venues across the country, including DelFest, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion and IBMA World of Bluegrass. Her experience includes performing with the Mike Mitchell Band, Jakobs Ferry Stragglers and Crandall Creek, along with numerous regional bluegrass projects.
As an educator, Trish has taught at Augusta Heritage Center’s Bluegrass Week, Fisher Fiddle Camp and Pittsburgh’s Calliope Folk Music Society. She is also a certified Wernick Method instructor. Trish works with students at a variety of experience levels, with an emphasis on tone, timing and practical musicianship. Her teaching focuses on helping students build confidence, develop their skills and become more comfortable making music with others, whether onstage or in a jam.
Trish is a 2018 graduate of IBMA Leadership Bluegrass and serves as co-chair of the Leadership Bluegrass Alumni Committee, helping strengthen connections within the bluegrass community.
Greg was born and raised in the mountains of West by God, Virginia. When he sings, you can hear a voice that connects to the grand old generations of mountain singers, invested with a rich twang and rumbling drawl and the kind of eerily powerful high tenor cry that first inspired the ‘high, lonesome sound,’ a distinctive vocal style in bluegrass music characterized by its haunting, emotional quality.
Greg is the winner International Bluegrass Association (IBMA) Male Vocalist of the Year Award (2023, 2025) and received a 2022 nomination in that category. In addition, he is a five-time winner of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) Guitarist of the Year Award and received a 2024 nomination. He is twice nominated for the SPBGMA Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year Award, and is the winner of the Kansas State Flatpicking championship.
Greg’s musical journey began in his Appalachian home, where he was surrounded by the sounds of country greats on television and radio. Even as he played with G.I. Joes, Tonka Trucks, and Hot Wheels, singing along felt like the most natural thing to do. At the tender age of seven, he pleaded with his grandma for a guitar, determined to accompany himself while singing. This early determination and love for music set the stage for his future in the bluegrass scene.
After completing his high school education, Greg’s journey led him to Kansas City, where he enrolled at the Kansas City College and Bible School. It was here that he met Tracey Barlow from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and their love story began. They soon tied the knot, and their union was blessed with two wonderful children, Trent and Alayna. The family grew with the arrival of a grandson in 2021 and a granddaughter in the spring of 2024. However, their happiness was marred by the untimely passing of Tracey in February 2022. In January 2024, Greg found love again and married Joy Sue King, starting a new chapter in his life in Asheville, North Carolina.
During his time in Kansas City, Greg began playing in more and more bands, eventually recording on 12 albums for groups such as the Bluegrass Missourians and The Harvest Quartet, among others.
The HeartLande Quartet began in 1991 with a singing contest and an opportunity to perform an opening song before the world-renowned Commodores took the stage in Kansas City, Missouri. Still performing today, the group includes Greg Blake, Jeff Lyon, Fred Lynch, and Steve Powell, who sing their favorite tunes from across the years—Gospel, Country, Bluegrass, and a few other styles along the way.
Greg’s career in the ministry took him to Colorado in 2007. A couple of years later, he met banjo ace Jeff Scroggins and his son, Tristan Scroggins, and formed the band Jeff Scroggins and Colorado (2009-2019). Jeff’s and Tristan’s innovative and virtuosic playing, along with Greg’s traditional yet distinctive singing, created a formula for one of the most sought-after bluegrass acts in the U.S. and abroad.
As the band became increasingly in demand, Greg decided to transition from his lifelong calling as a minister to a full-time career in the bluegrass scene. In 2015, he released his debut solo album, Songs of the Heart and Home. The album marks him spreading his wings as a vocalist and bandleader, crafting genre-crossing music and following in the footsteps of his idol, Mac Wiseman, to create music that appeals to fans of Bluegrass, Folk, Country, and Gospel alike. It’s no small thing that Greg was able to gather some of the best musicians and vocalists in bluegrass to join him on his debut solo album, such as 3-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Claire Lynch, K.C. Groves (Uncle Earl), bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis, mandolinist John Reischman, fiddler Blaine Sprouse, bassist Mark Schatz and dobro master Sally Van Meter (who also produced the album). But it’s his voice that rings out above them all, earnestly delivering songs of family, love, and life in the hills.
Greg rapidly became known as one of the festival fans’ favorite singers and headlining artists; those like Del McCoury and others say, “he’s a singer’s singer.” A big man with an even bigger heart, he brings an uplifting joy to the music he knows and loves. Unfettered by genre divisions and unconstrained by tradition, he just follows his heart to find the deep mountain roots of the music, infusing everything he sings with a powerful, soaring spirit.
In 2021, Greg was asked by one of the premier bluegrass bands in the industry, The Special Consensus, to take over the lead vocalist and guitarist roles. In his “spare time,” you’ll also see Greg in special appearances alongside the likes of Jesse Brock, Jason Carter, and several others. He also continues to perform with his band, Greg Blake and Hometown, which released its album, The View from Home, in December 2022.
In April 2023, Turnberry Records released Greg’s solo album, People, Places, and Songs, which Bluegrass Today says ‘exhibits his smooth lead vocals and contains stellar material from start to finish.’ This album, along with his debut solo album, Songs of the Heart and Home, showcases Greg’s versatility as a vocalist and bandleader. Greg’s latest singles on Turnberry Records include ‘It Aint’ Their Heart That’s Breaking,’ the beautiful duet with Amanda Cook, ‘Out of Control Raging Fire,’ which received a 2025 Josie Music Award Nomination for Collaborative Song of the Year (Male/Female), and the fan favorite ‘Bluefield Mountain Wind.’
Chicago born and bred, Greg Cahill has been playing bluegrass banjo since the early 1970s. He co-founded The Special Consensus in Chicago in 1975 and has continued to tour nationally and internationally with the band ever since. In 1984, he created the Traditional American Music (TAM) Program to introduce students of all ages to bluegrass music. He has appeared on all 22 of The Special Consensus recordings, on numerous recordings by other artists and on many national television and radio commercial jingles. Greg has also released three recordings: Lone Star (1980, with guests Jethro Burns and Byron Berline); Blue Skies (1992, with Chicago mandolinist Don Stiernberg); and Night Skies (1998, with Don Stiernberg and guests Sam Bush, Glen Duncan and Tom Boyd). He has also recorded and toured European countries with the ChowDogs (Greg and Slavek Hanzlik, Dallas Wayne and Ollie O’Shea). Greg has released four banjo instructional DVDs and three banjo tablature books and he teaches banjo at festival workshops and music camps nationally and internationally. He is a banjo instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and has been an adjunct faculty member of the music department (teaching banjo) at Columbia College in Chicago. He served on the Nashville-based International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Board of Directors from 1998-2010 (Board Chair/President 2006-2010), became a Kentucky Colonel in 2010 and was awarded the prestigious IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2011. Greg was also appointed to the Board of Directors of the Nashville-based Foundation for Bluegrass Music in 2007, elected President of the organization in 2011 and rotated off that board in 2012. The 2012 Compass Records band recording Scratch Gravel Road was GRAMMY-nominated for Best Bluegrass Album; the 2014 Compass Records band release Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute To John Denver received two IBMA awards; the 2016 Compass Records band recording Long I Ride received an IBMA award and the 2018 Compass Records recording Rivers And Roads received two IBMA awards (one for Album of the Year) and a GRAMMY nomination for Best Bluegrass Album. Greg served on the Recording Academy Chicago Chapter Board of Directors 2018-2020 and he was inducted into the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) Hall of Greats in Nashville, TN in 2020. Greg appears on the 2020 Special C Compass Records release Chicago Barn Dance, the 20th band recording that received the 2020 IBMA Song of the Year award. He also appears on the 2023 Compass Records release Great Blue North, the 21st Special C recording that features guest appearances by many Canadian musician friends of the band. The Gordon Lightfoot song “Alberta Bound” received the 2023 IBMA Collaborative Recording of the Year award and the video received the first-ever 2024 IBMA Video of the Year award (tied with Authentic Unlimited). Finally, Greg appears on the 2025 Compass Records 50th Anniversary release Been All Around This World with current and former band members in celebration of 50 years of Special C music!
Silas is a 5th generation picker from the small town of Salem, WV. While a multi-instrumentalist of fiddle, guitar, and banjo, his passion remains with the mandolin.
Silas first had the mandolin in his hands in his playpen, and his dad and Papaw knew then he was going to follow them in their music talents. He first started playing the mandolin at age 7 when he picked up the instrument and started ‘chopping’ along to his dad’s band rehearsal!
Silas has performed at Merlefest, Houston-fest, Remington Ryde, Bob Evan’s Festival, and Baygrass Festival in the Florida Keys. He has performed with many top Bluegrass musicians, including Jesse McReynolds, David Grier, Doyle Lawson, Mike Compton, Blue Highway, Missy Raines, Sierra Hall, Mandolin Orange, Emory Lester, Johnny Staats, Terry Baucom, Joe Mullins , and The Grascals. Silas has been featured on Woodsong’s Old Time Radio hour as a “Woodsong’s Kid” as well as being a member of “Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars”. In 2017 and 2018 Silas was selected as 1 of 25 kids to participate at the IBMA’s Kids on Bluegrass.
Silas’s lists of competitions wins and awards is impressive for such a young player:
4 time Junior Champion, State of Maryland;
2nd place, Maryland State Adult division (age 12);
West Virginia State Championship Adult Division Top 5;
4th place, Monterey Virginia’s Old Time Fiddler’s Convention (at age 10);
2106 State of West Virginia Junior Flatpick Champion
2nd place Appalachian Old time Fiddler’s Championship, West Virginia University (Fiddle);
Scholarship Recipient Houstonfest, Galax, VA
In 2019, Silas became the 1st Recipient of the Monroe Mandolin Camp Apprenticeship, which offers students going into music teaching, a teachers hands-on experience and mentoring.
Add on to all of these accomplishments, Silas shares his love of music monthly at a local nursing home, which has earned him “Youth Volunteer of the Year”, State of West Virginia. You can see Silas Powell and The Powell Family Band at festivals around the country.
Kentucky mandolinist Jesse Brock has spent more than four decades immersed in bluegrass music. He began singing as a child and took up the mandolin by age nine, first performing with his family before beginning a professional career that has placed him alongside some of the most respected musicians and bands in bluegrass.
Over the years, Jesse has performed with the Lynn Morris Band, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Dale Ann Bradley and Coon Creek, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Audie Blaylock & Redline, the Gibson Brothers, and Fast Track, in addition to leading his own projects. His solo recordings include Kickin’ Grass and Streamliner. His distinctive approach to the instrument was also documented in the 2016 transcription book The Mandolin Style of Jesse Brock, created with Nick DiSebastian.
Jesse is a three-time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year, receiving the honor in 2009, 2015, and again in 2024. He currently performs with Authentic Unlimited, whose combination of instrumental musicianship and tightly woven vocal harmony has earned the band IBMA Vocal Group of the Year honors in 2023, 2024, and 2025, as well as New Artist of the Year in 2023. Their recording “Fall in Tennessee” was named IBMA Song of the Year in 2024.
Grounded in traditional bluegrass, Jesse brings to the mandolin a lifetime of experience in rhythm, tone, timing, improvisation, ensemble playing, and the relationship between instrumental and vocal parts.
If you’re looking to be impressed, you will be – if you’re looking to make a friend, you already have. Darren Nicholson, who has played mountain music since his youth in Western North Carolina, is a high-caliber musician with substantial contributions to such acts as Alecia Nugent and Balsam Range.
Yes, he’s a punchy mandolinist with instrumentation nods to Bill Monroe and Marty Stuart, but he’s also an introspective songwriter, technical harmony singer, convincing lead vocalist, and a man on a mission. Since going solo, Nicholson has persistently and earnestly invested in his shows, making each one a tailored experience. They are genuine, entertaining, and an extended handshake to the community. He’s accomplished this all while managing to retain the fun-witted and approachable character formed in his raising.
“I want to be a positive part of other people’s lives with music, you know? I want to be an ambassador to roots music – tip my hat to the past while looking forward at the same time.”
“This music was intended to be played in a way that adds joy to the community. All I want is to restore that purpose, not to complete a transaction.”
He may not be focused on commercial success but his accomplishments have certainly earned recognition. Darren is the recipient of 11 International Bluegrass Music Association awards, along with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor bestowed by North Carolina’s governor. But he won’t talk your ear off about that.
When you come out to a show, whatever you do, please come talk afterward. “I’m like Willie Nelson. ‘I don’t want fans, I want friends.’ It’s a communal thing.”
Darren Nicholson. Homegrown. Whole Hearted. Music with a purpose.
Jeff Burke is a professional musician and instructor who teaches bluegrass music and improvisation to individuals and groups. He plays Guitar, Mandolin and Banjo and has performed and recorded with a number of bands over his 23 year career. Jeff has worked both independently and in connection with the Wernick Method to bring group jamming classes to both Nashville, TN and Chicago, IL. He founded the popular bluegrass jamming class at the World famous Stayion Inn and works extensively with the Country Music Hall of Fame to provide hands on acoustic instrument and jamming workshops for their youth and family programs.
In 2020 Jeff Became the general Manager of The Station Inn in Nashville, handling day to day duties and booking the bands. In 2021 he left Station Inn to join the management and booking team at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in Madison, TN where he is currently employed. He is also involved with Bluegrass Wednesdays at American Legion Post 82 in Nashville. Jeff also produces 2-3 day jam camps at festivals around the country and has been a faculty member at numerous music camps.
Mark Stoffel is a mandolinist, recording artist, and instructor based in Southern Illinois. Originally from Munich, Germany, he spent years traveling between Europe and the United States before making Southern Illinois his home in 2001. Known for his expressive playing, musical versatility, and longtime work with Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Mark has built a respected career as a performer, recording artist, and collaborator.
A self-described bluegrass music addict, Mark’s journey with the mandolin began by accident. As a teenager in 1979, he asked for a ukulele for Christmas but was mistakenly given a mandolin instead. What started as a mix-up became a lifelong passion. With the help of a classic mandolin instruction book, exposure to bluegrass through radio and live performances, and experience playing in folk, rock, and bluegrass bands, Mark developed the foundation for his musical career.
During those years, he began building connections with American musicians by helping arrange tour dates and offering hospitality to touring artists, including Chris Jones, who would later become a key part of his professional journey. As Mark spent more time in the United States, his tasteful playing, growing sound engineering skills, and strong harmony vocals earned him recognition. He first performed with regional acts, then with Sally Jones, and eventually joined Chris Jones & the Night Drivers around the time of the band’s 2009 recording, Cloud of Dust.
Today, Mark’s mandolin playing can be heard on numerous recordings, most prominently his three solo releases One-O-Five (2008), Coffee & Cake (2020), and True Tones (2024), in addition to the nine albums byChris Jones & the Night Drivers albums, including their latest release, Chalk Lines and Dust (2026).
Kimble mandolins are custom made tools for acoustic musicians. Each mandolin is carefully crafted by hand based on input regarding tone, feeling, aesthetics. There are no standard models or trim levels. Excellent workmanship is key to great sounding mandolins. Will started building mandolins in 2000. Taught by his father, Fred Kimble, they still work side by side building instruments.
Befriended and mentored by Bill Monroe, the acknowledged Father of Bluegrass Music, Mike Compton is one of today’s foremost interpreters of Monroe’s genre-creating mandolin style. Compton’s mastery of mandolin is at once effortless and exceptional. A compelling entertainer either alone or with a group, his skills as a singer, arranger, instrumentalist, composer and accompanist also make him in-demand as a band member and ensemble player at festivals, clubs and concert halls, recording sessions, music workshops and as a private instructor.
Compton’s decades of touring and recording with musical luminaries ranging from rockstars Sting, Gregg Allman and Elvis Costello, to straight-fro-the-still acoustic legends like John Hartford, Doc Watson, Peter Rowan, Ralph Stanley and David Grisman, have established him as a true master of the modern American mandolin and a premier interpreter of roots and Americana musical styles. With over 140 CDS in his discography, Compton has helped keep mandolin a cool, relevant sound as the modern musical styles ebb and evolve to reach an every-broadening audience.
A native of Meridian, Mississippi, Compton picked up the mandolin in his teens and absorbed the area’s native blues, old-time country and bluegrass sounds. He soon gravitate to Nashville, where he helped found one of the 20th Century’s most admired and influential bluegrass groups, the iconic Nashville Bluegrass Band. He’s also been a part of the Hubert Davis Band, John Hartford Stringband, 1942, Compton & Newberry, and other seminal groups.
When A-list Americana producer T-Bone Burnett needed experts in authentic rural musical styles to anchor the landmark ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ movie project and subsequent tour, he called upon Compton’s unique knowledge and signature mandolin style to authenticate the Soggy Bottom Boys’ rootsy sound. That Grammy Award Album of the Year-winning album went on to sell seven million copies and sparked a global revival in old-time and bluegrass musical styles.
Connoisseur of hand-painted vintage silk ties, popularizer of the denim overall urban fashion statement, lover of iconic men’s hats and curator of oddball official days (ask him about National Lost Sock Memorial Day or National root Canal Appreciation Day), Mike Compton thrives at the intersection of traditional funk and modern authenticity.
Equally skilled in bluegrass, old-time string band music, country blues, roots Americana styles, and much more, Compton soars beyond easy categorization as n acoustic mandolin player and singer. Gifted at tastefully incorporating rural, roots-based learn and rhythm mandolin styles into modern Americana music, Compton’s unique musical skill set allows him to entertain audiences ranging from racers and urban hipsters to die-hard country, folk and bluegrass fans.
A mandolin master able to channel the Monroe-style playing better than anyone, Compton is a preservationist who continues teaching the music that Bill Monroe innovated, and which set the standard for generations of bluegrass mandolin players to come. For more information about Mike, visit his website at mikecompton.net
