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April 24-26, 2026

Word of South

Hawktail

Hawktail is the instrumental acoustic quartet of fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie. Though at first glance it looks like an acoustic superpicker side-project, their all-original music is cohesive and unique, distinguishing them as an ensemble with a sound built from the ground up. Flush with orchestral sweeps […]

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Aoife O’Donovan

Grammy award-winning songwriter and musician Aoife O’Donovan is one of the most sought-after singers and songwriters of her generation. She has released 3 critically-acclaimed solo albums, is co-founder of the bands I’m With Her and Crooked Still, is the featured vocalist on The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris […]

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Wendell Brunious

The standard-bearer for a family of musicians with deep roots in the New Orleans Seventh Ward’s close-knit Creole community, Brunious ranks among the city’s most astute and elegant jazzmen, a trumpet titan in a trumpet town. His repertoire of more than 1,500 songs, built across a 40-year career, ranges from Louis Armstrong and Clifford Brown […]

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Mr. Sipp

Castro Coleman a-k-a Mr. Sipp, “The Mississippi Blues Child” began playing the guitar at the tender age of 6. With over 125 recording credits to his name, Mr. Sipp has played on over 50 national recordings with several Grammy nominated projects. He is the 2014 International Blues Challenge Winner by way of The Vicksburg Blues […]

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Eric Jacobsen

Eric Jacobsen is Co-Artistic Director and conductor of The Knights, and also serves as the Music Director for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony. A world-renowned cellist, Jacobsen founded the adventurous orchestra The Knights with his brother, violinist Colin Jacobsen, to foster the intimacy and camaraderie of chamber music on the orchestral […]

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Kate Karyus Quinn

Kate Karyus Quinn is an avid reader and menthol Chapstick addict. She lives in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York, with her husband, three children, and two dogs. She is the author of several books, including: Another Little Piece, a young adult novel with HarperTeen, Anti/Hero, a middle grade graphic novel with DC comics, and […]

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Demitria Lunetta

Demitria Lunetta is the author of many YA and MG books including: THE FADE, BAD BLOOD, and the sci-fi duology, IN THE AFTER and IN THE END. Her Hi-Lo books include OUR BROKEN EARTH and BITTER & SWEET. Her graphic novel, ANTI/HERO with co-author Kate Karyus Quinn is now available from DC. Find her at […]

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Yolanda Franklin

Blood Vinyls (Anhinga Press) is Yolanda J. Franklin’s debut poetry collection that Roxane Gay insists is a “must-must-must read.” A four-time Fulbright Scholar Award Finalist (’20, ’19, ‘18 & ‘17), Franklin is also a Cave Canem and Callaloo Fellow. Her poems appear or are set to appear in Frontier Magazine, Sugar House Review, Southern Humanities […]

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Paul Wilborn

A native of Tampa, Paul Wilborn collected multiple awards from the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors during a journalism career that included stints at the Tampa Tribune, The St. Petersburg Times and the Associated Press in Los Angeles. His plays have been produced at Stageworks, Off-Center Theater, Radio […]

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