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MASTER MUSICIAN AND FIDDLE-MAKER DAVE BING
Dave Bing, born in 1955, is a master player of the fiddle, banjo and guitar, and is a renowned fiddle-maker, woodworker and teacher who lives in the tiny town of Harmony in Roane County, WV. As a young man, he spent time learning from many elder fiddlers in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, including the Hammons Family of Pocahontas County. Dave Bing has been a member of numerous old-time bands such as The Bing Brothers, the WV all-star old-time stringband Gandydancer with Gerry Milnes, Mark Payne, and Ron Mullenex, and The High Ridge Ramblers with Mark Payne and Andrew Dunlap. He is a respected teacher who has worked at the Augusta Heritage Center, Allegheny Echoes, and in England and Spain. In 2012, Dave and his brothers Mike and Tim were honored with the Vandalia Award, West Virginia’s highest honor for folk arts.
Dave Bing performs “Waynesboro” on the Opera House Story Sessions
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JAKE BLOUNT
At 30 years old, Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Jake Blount weaves a world where history and roots music meets Afrofuturism and unexpected sonic alchemy. With the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, two International Folk Music Awards nominations and two first-place ribbons from Clifftop already under his belt, Blount’s star continues to rise. Blount has shared his music at Carnegie Hall, Newport Folk Festival, the Library of Congress and NPR’s Tiny Desk. Starting with his full-length debut Spider Tales (2020), each of Blount’s records has appeared on “best of year” lists from outlets including Bandcamp, The New Yorker, NPR, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone. Blount also served as a music consultant on Ryan Coogler’s 2025 film Sinners and contributed music to Ken Burns’s The American Revolution (2025). In addition to performing traditional old-time and black string band music, Blount’s original compositions and arrangements embody the concept of sankofa, pulling the music out of a static state as a historic artificat to address our contemporary world.
“On top of being wildly intelligent and knowledgeable, he’s also a killer musician and it’s an incredible combo.” – Rhiannon Giddens
PBS News Hour feature on Jake Blount
NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring Jake Blount
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PERCUSSIVE DANCER BECKY HILL
Becky Hill is a percussive dancer, square dance caller, choreographer, community organizer, and scholar-educator. Highlighting Appalachian dance traditions from buckdance and flatfooting to square dances, she has worked with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Good Foot Dance Company and Rhythm in Shoes, and has studied with an array of percussive dance luminaries. In 2014 and 2106, she was awarded a West Virginia Division of Culture and History Professional Development Grant to further her study of percussive dance. Becky served as the Artist in Residence at Davis & Elkins College from 2013 – 2015 where she coordinated The Mountain Dance Trail of Augusta Heritage Center and co-directed the Appalachian Ensemble. She became the Events Coordinator for Augusta Heritage Center from 2015 – 2019 organizing their summer intensives. Together with noted folklorist Gerry Milnes, she produced a documentary film on West Virginia dance traditions, Reel ‘Em Boys, Reel ‘Em. Becky has organized Helvetia Hoot, formally known as Dare to be Square West Virginia since 2013. She is currently a Programming Manager for the National Council for the Traditional Arts.
Hill completed her M.F.A in dance at University of Maryland, College Park in May 2022. She was an Artist-in-Residence at Strathmore in 2021, John C.Campbell Folk School in 2022, Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts & Sciences in 2023 and Loghaven in 2023.
“Hill slides and shuffles her feet with the precision of snare brushes.”
– NPR Music
“Becky Hill approaches a dance floor, a creative project, and life in general, with a sense of innovation and accomplishment that aligns with tradition.”
– Gerry Milnes, West Virginia Folklorist