Eric "Kraz" Krasno is a New York-based Grammy-winning guitarist, songwriter, recording artist, and producer best known for his work with Soulive and Lettuce, both of which he co-founded. His own musical roots lie in funk, jazz, rock, and hip-hop, and he has written songs and produced records for a variety of artists in a range of genres including Norah Jones, Aaron Neville, Talib Kweli, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ledisi, 50 Cent, and Matisyahu. Krasno was raised in the suburbs of New York City, and in Fairfield County, Connecticut. His earliest influences were his musician grandfather, a professional pianist who played gypsy jazz and swing, as well as his older brother and father, also accomplished musicians though amateurs. His early attraction to classic rock records from Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jeff Beck, and Grateful Dead influenced his decision to become a guitarist. He began playing in local bands during high school. After graduating, he attended the Berklee School of Music for one semester before transferring to Hampshire College. Despite its brevity, it was at Berklee that he encountered other founding members of the funk/jam unit Lettuce during a summer program. The band formed while its members were still in their teens and have been a going concern in both the studio and on concert stages since then. In 1999, he joined brothers Alan and Neal Evans, and Sam Kininger, to co-found Soulive, a jazz/hip-hop/folk/groove unit that recorded for several labels including Blue Note and, like Lettuce, they're known for a rigorous touring schedule. Krasno began his career as a producer on Kweli's Quality in 2002. His reputation spread among hip-hop artists, and under various monikers he worked with a variety of rappers including Redman and Pharoah Monche, and R&B, jazz, pop, and rock artists including Keyshia Cole, Allen Stone, Dave Matthews Band, Justin Timberlake, and Nigel Hall. As a guitarist, Krasno's work has graced albums and tours by everyone from the Beatnuts, Snoop Dog, and Sonya Kitchell to Vieux Farka Toure, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Krasno issued Reminisce, his debut solo album in 2010 on SOI, and toured with his own group while continuing to play and record with Lettuce and Phil Lesh & Friends. His sophomore offering, Blood from a Stone, was released in July 2016 through Feel Records. It was preceded by the singles "Waiting for Your Love" and "On the Rise." The latter set showcased his lead vocals for the first time alongside his playing and songwriting. Krasno and his road sextet toured throughout the summer supporting Dumpstaphunk. The same year, he produced Neville's Apache album. The studio band he enlisted included members of Lettuce, Soulive, the Dap Kings, and Budos Band. ~ Thom Jurek

Celisse has been making strides for over a decade, but recently she has taken the music world by storm. If you ask her where she is from, you'll get a few different answers. Born in Oakland, she spent a meaningful portion of her life in New York City on Broadway and television, which helped shape her artistic vision. In the past few years Celisse’s momentum has carried her into numerous ventures. She has collaborated with Alicia Keys contributing guitar and additional production to her track “Billions (Unlocked).” Her touring in 2022 included support spots for Lucius and Brandi Carlile, Dave Matthews Band at The Gorge, and as part of Joni Mitchell’s historic “Joni Jams” performance at Newport Folk Festival, among various festival appearances. Her soulful voice and captivating stage presence led to her inclusion on NIVA’s Live List as a favorite up-and-coming touring artist in 2023, with festivals this year including Boston Calling, Bonnaroo, and more. In addition to the fireworks of her live performance, audiences may have caught Celisse on television appearing alongside Lucius on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert or the season premiere of Austin City Limits Live with Brandi Carlile. Most recently, Joni Mitchell once again invited Celisse to collaborate, this time in celebration of Joni's Gershwin Prize Honor, where the two played a stirring performance of "Summertime." With her debut album forthcoming, Celisse is preparing to give full exposure of herself. The thesis has been written... now we get to the good stuff.

When Matisyahu emerged in 2004 with his debut album,Shake Off the Dust...Arise, his musical persona seemed a novelty to some. Here was a Hasidic Jew -- dressed in a black suit with a broad-brimmed black hat worn over a yarmulke, and sporting a full, untrimmed beard -- who nevertheless performed toasting raps about the glories of traditional Judaism over reggae beats in a dancehall style directly from Jamaica. Moreover, he punctuated his performances with stage diving. It may have seemed like a joke at first, but Matisyahu was serious about his craft, and his diverse style soon garnered Grammy nominations, gold record certifications, and a broad audience. Matisyahu was born Matthew Miller on June 30, 1979, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Berkeley, California, which they eventually ditched for White Plains, New York. Miller initially rebelled against his traditional Jewish upbringing, considering himself a Deadhead and a hippie by his early teens. But at the age of 14, during a camping trip in Colorado, he reconciled himself to Judaism and visited Israel shortly thereafter. After returning to White Plains, he dropped out of high school and traveled the country to attend Phish concerts. Back at home again, he agreed to let his parents send him to a wilderness school in Bend, Oregon, where he became enamored of reggae and hip-hop, and began rapping at open-mike competitions. He returned to New York at 19 to attend the New School for Social Research in Manhattan, but also joined the Carlebach Shul, a synagogue where his musical interests were encouraged. Meeting a Lubavitch rabbi, he became interested in the strict Lubavitch Hasidic sect of Judaism and renamed himself Matisyahu. Continuing to perform, Matisyahu assembled a backing band consisting of guitarist Aaron Dugan, bassist Josh Werner, and drummer Jonah David. The group recordedShake Off the Dust...Arise, which was released by JDub Records in 2004. While touring in support of the album,Matisyahu recorded one of his February 2005 concerts and released the material as Live at Stubb's, which was issued in April courtesy of Or Music before getting picked up for national distribution by Epic Records. Epic reissued it on August 23, 2005, as Matisyahu toured around the country and prepared a second studio album with producer Bill Laswell. The final product, Youth, appeared in March 2006 and was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Reggae Album. A simultaneously released dub version of the album was made available to mail-order customers. Meanwhile, Matisyahu's backing musicians chose to release additional material on their own, adopting the nameRoots Tonic for the side project. Roots Tonic Meets Bill Laswell marked the group's debut in May 2006, and by the end of the year the EP/DVD combo No Place to Be was also released. Jonah David dropped out of the band in June 2007, however, and Roots Tonic effectively disbanded, despite the enlistment of replacement drummer Skoota Warner. The entire group (sans David) turned its focus back to Matisyahu instead, and Light marked the singer's third LP upon its release in August 2009. Two years later, Live at Stubb's, Vol. 2 would appear, this time with a companion DVD release. In late 2011, the singer posted a picture with a shaved head and payes cut with the caption, "No more Chassidic reggae superstar." As such, his 2012 effort Spark Seeker was more secular pop, and was produced by Kool Kojak, who had previously worked with Kesha and Nicki Minaj. In 2014, Matisyahu released his fifth LP, Akeda. The tracks had been written while on tour and then recorded at Studio G with producer Stu Brooks.

Demonstrating Molly Tuttle’s musical range on their latest album, City of Gold encompasses everything from the sprawling roots-rock of “When My Race Is Run,” a gorgeously moody piece described as “a love song about death, and wanting someone to be the person there waiting for you when you cross over,” to the spooky folk of “Stranger Things,” a darkly charged reverie featuring masterful work on Dobro. Tuttle also showcases her beguiling vocals and lavishly detailed songwriting with such matters as marijuana legalization on “Down Home Dispensary,” a gloriously fun track spiked with unforgettable lines like “Legalize the southland and roll us a number” and gentrification’s corrosive effect on the character of once-vibrant neighborhoods on the harmony-fueled and freewheeling“ Where Did All the Wild Things Go.” Throughout City of Gold, Tuttle and Golden Highway deliver the kind of high-energy and full-hearted songs primed for a joyously unified singing-along, an element that partly inspired the title to the album. “To me the words ‘City of Gold’ represent the community that the band and I have built with the people we get to play music for, and how it’s become like its own little world,” says Tuttle. “I wanted the album to celebrate that sense of community, because one of the things I love most about this music is how so much of the audience plays music as well. They inspire me to keep writing songs in the hopes that people will sing along and maybe play those songs with their friends—almost like we’re all a part of one great big family.” Since moving to Nashville in 2015, Tuttle has continued to receive widespread accolades, most recently earning seven nominations at the 2023 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards: Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Guitar Player of the Year, Album of the Year (Crooked Tree), Song of the Year (“Crooked Tree”), Instrumental Group of the Year and Collaborative Recording of the Year (“From My Mountain [Calling You]” with Peter Rowan Linsday Lou).Additionally, Tuttle also won Album of the Year at the 2023 International Folk Music Awards, Female Vocalist of the Year at the 2022 IBMAs, Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards and Guitar Player of the Year at the IBMAs in both 2017 and 2018.