Rebby Sharp, violin

Rebby Sharp played keyboards and guitar in Richmond’s funk-Wagnerian Orthotonics, who put out two LPs in the 1980s: Wake Up You Must Remember and Luminous Bipeds. Her solo records include Green Street (Zensor) and In One Mouth & Out the Other (Shimmy Disc/Knitting Factory), and she plays on Michael Hurley's Coloured Birds. In the 1990s, she moved to the Blue Ridge – up Sugar Hollow, where the sun never shines – and took up the study of old-time fiddle music. Her fiddling is heard (briefly) on Hallelujah, Anyway: Remembering Tom Cora (Tzadik). Old Songs is graced by her unique combination of old-time and improvisational sensibilities.

Liz Downing, vocals

Liz Downing co-founded (with Nancy Andrews and Michael Willis) the great visionary band Lambs Eat Ivy in Baltimore in the 1980's. In 1995 she and Willis formed 3 Pig Cafe with Steve Berson, which became (with Steve Parks and Augie Buchheit) Radiant Pig. Radiant Pig has 2 wonderful CD's out: In The Attic and Daily Grace. Now she and Michael Willis have a new band, "Lurch and Holler". As the Baltimore City Paper writes, "she swings through lovely vocalizations, yodeling trills, and throaty gasps that make you think of what Björk may have sounded like if she grew up in the American South." To order Lurch and Holler CD's go to www.cdbaby.com and search for "Lurch and Holler". She is also a painter and teacher. We're lucky to have Liz presenting the words of Sappho to the 20th century.

Click here for Liz Downing's website.

Allen Thrasher, flute

Allen Thrasher was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1946, and first studied flute in junior high. He got interested in Irish music while teaching at the University of Chicago in the early '80s. Later he studied classical and Irish flute with traditional flutist Chris Norman of Baltimore. He has both a B.A. and a Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard, taught at several universities, and since 1984 has been reference librarian for the Indian subcontinent at the Library of Congress. He plays with the Library of Congress group The Morphios (Irish, bluegrass, etc.). We are grateful to Allen for the contribution of his warm, contemplative flute lines.

David Fair, vocals

David Fair is a founding member of Half Japanese, the band that invented grunge, and a true stylist on the electric guitar. He is master of many visual media, and a writer of acute and unbounded imagination. He has contributed to many many periodicals and published a children’s book, The Fabulous Four Skunks (Houghton Mifflin, 1996). It's been great having our old friend David contributing his humor and generous spirit to this project.

Jamie Wilson, percussion and sound engineer

Jamie Wilson moved to Baltimore in 1972 from Potsmouth, Virgina to attend the Maryland Institute of Art, where he received a BFA degree in 1977. He has played a wide variety of music in the Mid-Atlantic area for over twentyfive years. Jamie's musical experiences range from playing with Da Moronics in the 70's, playing such clubs as New York's famous C.B.G.B.'s Club to playing with O'Malley's March at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with the BSO. Presently, when Jamie is not on stage with O'Malley's March, he can be found playing percussion for the Bobwhites.

Birdhouse Studios is "a digital audio studio project located in Baltimore, Maryland. Our goal is to provide a warm and friendly environment for small recording projects. Our focus is geared to: the singer/song writer, traditional music genres, demos for artists to use for promotiion of their talents, and recordings of the spoken words. We would love to be involved in your audio project." Birdhouse Studios has been a great place to launch our Old Songs recording project.

Click here for birdhouse studio's website.

Click here for theO'Malley's March website.

Click here for the Bobwhites website.

Paul Jickling, guitar