Montana Folk Festival

06/04/2026

MONTANA BUSINESSES HELP 2026 MONTANA FOLK FESTIVAL MATCH DENNIS AND PHYLLIS WASHINGTON FOUNDATION CHALLENGE

Montana businesses have stepped up to meet and exceed the challenge grant made possible by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation in conjunction with Montana Resources for the 2026 Montana Folk Festival, returning to Butte July 10-12.

"We are grateful for the strong support demonstrated by Montana businesses who have helped us to reach our goal to match the generous support from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and Montana Resources," said George Everett of the Montana Folk Festival Executive Committee. "The festival could not continue without the support of our sponsors, and we are amazed by how strongly businesses continue to respond to help us match this challenge," Everett added.

This year the Foundation, in conjunction with Montana Resources, provided invaluable momentum when they pledged $200,000 with a $100,000 grant up front and up to $100,000 additional dollars in support of the Festival, provided that Montana businesses help match the award with their contributions.

As of June 2, with the festival fast approaching, Montana business sponsors who see the many economic benefits of the festival have responded to the matching grant challenge to help sustain the event. Several businesses large and small have contributed to ensure the success of this year’s Montana Folk Festival. This year’s Montana Folk Festival is set in Butte for July 10, 11 and 12.

Montana business sponsors who have risen to the Foundation challenge and had their sponsorships matched dollar for dollar up to $100,000 include: Northwestern Energy, Seacast Corporation, Intermountain Health St. James Healthcare, Summit Beverage and the Markovich Family Foundation, Mile High Beverages, Montana Honda Dealers, TDS Fiber, Campbell Investment Management, Clearwater Credit Union, Patagonia Dillon Outlet, and Zip Beverage.
The Foundation’s challenge and the match of other Montana businesses helps with the expenses of bringing some of the best traditional performers in the country to perform at the festival. This year, the lineup includes The Pine Leaf Boys, Keith Johnson, Be’la Dona Go Go Band, The Amanda Cook Band, La Santa Cecilia, Tamburitza Ponoc, Saraswathi Ranganathan, Pedro Luis Ferrer, Sterling Drake, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and several others – 22 performers that will converge in Butte, Montana to perform on six stages throughout the festival weekend. To see the full lineup, visit www.montanafolkfestival.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and Montana Resources have been a major supporter of the Montana celebration of traditional music, dance, arts, and cuisine from its inception as the National Folk Festival in 2008. “From the start of this project, we saw the amazing success of the festival and its potential to help expand a wide array of cultural opportunities in Montanans and the region,” said Jon Bennion, Executive Director of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. “The festival has grown into a much-anticipated annual summer event for all of Montana, the Northwest and the nation. We are thrilled to see it continue in 2026 and beyond.”

On site sponsorship opportunities are still available for businesses to showcase their products and services to thousands of attendees at the festival. These benefits are described at www.montanafolkfestival.com, or for more details about remaining sponsorship opportunities, call 406-565-2249.

For more details about the many charitable works of The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, visit www.dpwfoundation.org. For more information about Montana Resources, visit www.montanaresources.com/.

For details about the Montana Folk Festival coming to Butte July 10-12, including the performers and upcoming schedules of performances, visit www.montanafolkfestival.com.

The Montana Folk Festival will remain a new and exciting event each year at the same time it remains very familiar to anyone who has attended in previous years. The Montana Folk Festival will continue…

05/25/2026

Previously announced groups as well as the full lineup to perform at the 2026 Montana Folk Festival are featured on www.montanafolkfestival.com:

Pine Leaf Boys (Cajun)
The Amanda Cook Band (Bluegrass)
Keith Johnson (Blues)
Afro Dominicano (Meringue Tipico)
Tamburaski Sastov Ponoc (Tamburitza)
The Legendary Ingramettes (Gospel)
Cecilia (Quebecois)
La Santa Cecilia (Mexican American)
Prezident Brown (Reggae)
Be’la Dona (Go Go)
Saraswathi Ranganathan (Carnatic Veena)
Dale Watson (H***y Tonk)
Parangal (Filipino Dance)
Nest of Singing Birds (Appalachian songs, stories and ballads)

For details including images, bios, and video clips, visit www.montanafolkfestival.com or on facebook at mtfolkfest. Rounding out the 2025 festival program are dozens of artists, demonstrators, instructors and performers in the Arts Markets and Montana Folklife Area, and these will be announced soon along with the performance schedule for the festival in the weeks before the festival.

About The Montana Folk Festival
The Montana Folk Festival evolved from the three-year tenure in Montana of the National Folk Festival from 2008-2010. Since 1934, the National Folk Festival has celebrated the roots, richness and variety of American culture through music, dance, culture and cuisine. It is the oldest celebration of traditional arts in the country. The Montana Folk Festival continues this tradition in our region by highlighting, exploring and celebrating the heritage of diversity and cultural richness that makes our state and our country great.

The Montana Folk Festival in Butte, Montana July 12-14 will feature hundreds of performers and craftspeople with music and dance performances on six stages, workshops, folklife demonstrations, two festival markets and ethnic and regional foods. For details, visit www.montanafolkfestival.com.

The Montana Folk Festival is produced by Mainstreet Uptown Butte in partnership with Butte- Silver Bow County and the Imagine Butte Collaborative with programming and artistic assistance from the National Council for the Traditional Arts. Other partners include the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, Montana Resources, and the BSB TBID.

The Montana Folk Festival will remain a new and exciting event each year at the same time it remains very familiar to anyone who has attended in previous years. The Montana Folk Festival will continue…

05/25/2026

Wolfbear Singers
Apsalooke Drum Group
Lodgegrass, MT
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1610148143623362

Wolfbear Singers is an award-winning traditional drum group from Lodgegrass, Montana in the heart of one of Montana’s seven tribal reservations, the land of the Crow or Apsalooke nation.

Each drummer in Wolfbear Singers has grown up surrounded by the powerful rhythm of the drum and they each feel a deep connection to their heritage and culture. One day they decided to come together and form the group Wolfbear Singers, each sharing their passion for music and tradition.

Each drummer and singer in the group brings their unique energy, voice and vibes to create a vibrant sound that resonates with audiences.

Through their music, Wolf Bear Singers honors their roots and fosters a strong sense of their community.

They can be found busy in powwow season winning prizes and awards for their performances as well as providing rhythm and cadence for ceremonial gatherings throughout the year.

This year they will be using the Montana Folk Festival to warm up for Crow Fair, one of the largest gatherings of culture and community in the West called “The Tipi Capital of the World” coming August 12-17 to Crow Agency, Montana.

05/25/2026

Sterling Drake
Cowboy
Philipsburg, Montana
https://sterlingdrakemusic.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7iNxUEy-g

Montana songwriter Sterling Drake has a penchant for honest storytelling, weaving his own perspective into the American songbook and rooting it in the landscapes and traditions that shaped him. His music carries the character of the rural West, often speaking directly to the people, places, and working cultures that define it.

In recent years, Drake and his band have become fixtures at cornerstone gatherings such as the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Under the Big Sky, AmericanaFest and more, further cementing their place in the country & roots community.
Drake’s work is deeply message‑forward, advocating for the issues facing his home region and rural America at large.

In 2024, he released the EP Jerico Sessions in partnership with the Western Landowners Alliance, supporting efforts to sustain working family ranches across the West. His 2025 debut full length album “The Shape I’m In” also serves as a platform for mental‑health awareness among rural communities and working cowboys, offering a voice of solidarity in places where those conversations are often hardest to start.

Through it all, Drake champions the pride, diversity, and shared heritage of American roots music. His songs aim to build unity, giving small communities a place in the broader cultural conversation and reminding listeners of the common threads that run through the American story.

2 likes. "Sterling Drake | National Cowboy Poetry Gathering 2026"

05/25/2026

Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Blues
Bentonia, Mississippi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaOyTH_q8qs&t=2s

Bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes is the greatest living proponent of the Bentonia blues, a highly localized style known for its haunting and eerie sound. Some have dubbed him “the last” master of this distinctive style, but his dedication to preserving and passing on his knowledge, his award-winning recent recordings, and his electrifying stage performances are building a renaissance for the unique music that bears the name of his tiny Mississippi hometown.

Bentonia blues came to international attention in 1964, when the legendary Skip James was among the leading figures of the blues revival featured at the Newport Folk Festival. James learned the style from its progenitor, Henry Stuckey, who developed it using tuning learned from Caribbean musicians he met while serving in the U.S. Army in France during World War I.

These tunings, based around open D minor and open E minor, give Bentonia blues an ethereal, even ominous, feel. The style is notably improvised and intricate, even when building from the best-known songs in the blues canon. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes first heard the music as a child sitting on the porch with Stuckey, who was his parents’ tenant in the 1950s.

Later Holmes developed his own musical chops playing in his family’s juke joint, the Blue Front, with Jack Owens, the other great Stuckey protégé of Skip James’s generation.

Mary and Carey Holmes opened the Blue Front in 1948, when Jimmy was only a year old. He’s been the proprietor since 1970, when his father passed away. It’s now a designated stop on the Mississippi Blues Trail, in recognition of its status as the oldest continuously operating juke joint in Mississippi and, some claim, the entire United States.

An unassuming yet lovingly tended building in rural Bentonia (current population around 300) on the southern edge of the Delta, it draws a diverse cast of local people and blues tourists from as far away as Europe and Japan to the sessions Holmes kicks off every weekend. Some return to study the style from the master himself.

He also continues the tradition he started with his mother Mary of hosting the annual Bentonia Blues Festival, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary. It’s a huge endeavor Holmes hosts on his family farm as a free celebration for the community he loves.

Although Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ daily life revolves around the Blue Front, recently fame has come knocking. He has toured and recorded since the early 2000s, and his 2006 debut brought multiple Living Blues awards. Then in 2019, superstar producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys proposed a collaboration. “I like to work with people who inspire me, and Jimmy inspires me,” Auerbach explains. “Jimmy’s music is rough and tumble, and it can shatter a lot of preconceptions purists have about Delta blues.” Their sessions in Nashville led to Holmes’s most recent album, Cypress Grove, which earned him his first Grammy nomination. From Bentonia to Butte, Montana, his heart is with the blues, which Holmes calls “the foundation [that] all American music was built on.

And it’s the truth—all true stories about real life, ‘cause country blues got no room for lies…. As long as I live, I’m gonna be on a stage somewhere, singing the old-style country blues.”

The legendary Jimmy Duck Holmes performs at the Bentonia Blues Festival in Bentonia, Mississippi, 6/15/2019.

05/25/2026

Alash Ensemble
Tuvan Throat Singers
Tuva, Russia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK0npp2NLaY

ALASH are masters of Tuvan throat singing (xöömei), a remarkable technique for singing multiple pitches at the same time. What distinguishes this trio from earlier generations of Tuvan throat singers is the subtle infusion of modern influences into their traditional music. One can find complex harmonies, western instruments, and contemporary song forms in Alash’s music, but its overall sound and spirit remain decidedly Tuvan. Trained in traditional Tuvan music since childhood, the Alash musicians studied at Kyzyl Arts College just as Tuva was beginning to open up to the West.

They formed a traditional ensemble and won multiple awards for traditional throat singing in international xöömei competitions, both as an ensemble and as individuals. At the same time, they paid close attention to new trends coming out of the West. They have borrowed new ideas that mesh well with the sound and feel of traditional Tuvan music, but they have never sacrificed the integrity of their own heritage in an effort to make their music more hip.
Alash first toured the U.S. under the sponsorship of the Open World Leadership program of the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Arts. Since then they have returned many times, to the delight of American audiences. The Washington Post described their music as “utterly stunning,” quipping that after the performance “audience members picked their jaws up off the floor.” Alash enjoys collaborating with musicians of all stripes. Since their early partnership with the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, they have joined forces with musicians across the spectrum—from country to classical to jazz to beatboxing. Alash appeared as guest artists on Béla Fleck & the Flecktones’ Grammy-winning holiday CD Jingle All the Way (2008). They joined Chicago’s innovative Fifth House Ensemble in a groundbreaking concert series called Sonic Meditations, and later were part of a "global jam band" which recorded the soundtrack for the video game The Pathless. Most recently, Bady-Dorzhu Ondar teamed up with beatboxer Shodekeh in a live recording of original Tuvan songs filtered through the creative artistry of hip hop musicians.

Beyond performing, Alash has a passion for teaching and promoting understanding between cultures. Their tours often include workshops in which they introduce Tuvan music to students in primary, middle and high schools, colleges, universities, and music conservatories. Children as young as 8 and 9 have learned to throat-sing. One inspired student exclaimed, “Alash opened my eyes to a whole new world!” Alash albums: Alash Live at the Enchanted Garden (2006), Alash (2007), Buura (2011), Achai (2015, re-released on Smithsonian Folkways in 2017), Meni Mana (2020), Embodiments by Bady-Dorzhu Ondar with Shodekeh and hip hop artists (2022).

Alash Ensemble - "Ediski deg Boostaamny" (My Throat, the Cuckoo)Ayan-ool Sam - VocalsAyan Shirizhik - VocalsBady-Dorzhu Ondar - Vocals, doshpuulurA Beehive F...

05/25/2026

Gene Tagaban
Raven Dancer and story teller
Ruston, Washington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZlr1r4ufos&t=13s

“When you’re talking to the people, talk to their spirit,” Gene Tagaban remembers his mentor once telling him. “That’s where you’re going to see miracles happen.” A renowned storyteller and dynamic performer, Gene uses interactive stories, music, and dance as tools to entertain, inspire, and heal. He brings people of all ages and backgrounds into active participation with timeless Indigenous teachings centered on deepening self-knowledge, strengthening interpersonal connections, and developing compassion and respect for the natural world.

Tagaban, whose Tlingit name is Guuy Yaau, is a member of the Tak’deintaan Raven Freshwater Sockeye Clan of Hoonah, Alaska, and the child of the Wooshkeetaan Eagle Shark Clan of Juneau, Alaska. Of Cherokee descent on his mother’s side and Tlingit and Filipino on his father’s, Gene was raised in his father’s homelands in Southeast Alaska, where the Tlingit people have lived for at least 11,000 years. While his father was among the generations of Native peoples who experienced deculturization resulting from federal assimilation policies, his mother ensured that Gene and his brother learned their Tlingit culture by enrolling them in traditional dance groups as children. Native storytellers who visited the schools further helped Gene reconnect with Tlingit culture, and inspired him early on to begin teaching others.

When working as an outdoor and experiential educator, he met Chris Makua, a performer with Alaska Native storytelling company Naakahidi Theater. Apprenticing with Makua, Gene became immersed in Tlingit and other Indigenous cultures by visiting with elders and storytellers throughout Alaska and beyond. Makua was a Raven Dancer, an interpreter of the bird that embodies the trickster in Tlingit cosmology. Being of the Raven Clan, Gene was drawn to perform the dance—and following Makua’s passing, accepted Naakahidi Theater’s invitation to take his place.

Since then, Gene has devoted his life to sharing teachings gathered from a range of mentors and disciplines. He has performed for or appeared alongside such figures as the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Maya Angelou, and Jane Goodall, and is also a celebrated comedian, actor, and motivational speaker—all of which he incorporates into his live performance. The Raven Dance remains a featured part of Tagaban’s repertoire: Dancing in a stunningly beautiful, hand-painted mask and feathered wings, he transforms into the mythical bird while telling the classic Tlingit story of how Raven transformed darkness into light and filled the world with spirit. Gene especially likes to perform for mixed-generational audiences: “When the children are feeling it, the adults start opening up, and they start feeling the spirit that’s there, the spirit that’s in all things,” he says.

Like Raven, Tagaban’s mission is to empower, educate, and transform. “There are a lot of people who have suffered trauma or pain, and they’re searching for something, searching for healing,” he says. “Ultimately, our life is a story, and it's up to us what story we choose to tell.

Gene Tagaban, “One Crazy Raven,” is a storyteller, dancer, cultural...

05/25/2026

Vasilis Kostas
Greek traditional music
Boston, Massachusetts
https://www.youtube.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV1Q9n_copw&t=10s

Vasilis Kostas, a Grammy-nominated performer on the laouto (a long-necked, fretted lute with four paired strings), represents the next generation brought up in the musical traditions of Epirus, a region in northwest Greece known for music with strong melodic lines, mournful lyrics, and slow rhythms. Born and raised in Ioannina, Greece, Vasilis grew up listening to his grandfather sing each night—an early exposure that ignited his passion for this musical tradition. A key mentor in his journey has been Petroloukas Halkias, a living legend of the clarinet and master of the Epirotic tradition. Together, they have toured extensively across the U.S., Europe, and Greece, and recorded two acclaimed albums, The Soul of Epirus Volume I & II, which showcase their deep musical dialogue and commitment to evolving this rich tradition.
The music of Epirus has an immense and expressive repertoire, blending joy and sorrow, paying tribute to people no longer alive or to those living in far-away lands, and celebrating life and nature. Its unique musical idioms stand apart from other Greek musical traditions, with instrumental and vocal pieces often based on pentatonic sounds and slow tempos. Central to Epirotic tradition are panegyria—multiday, music-filled religious festivals that gather communities to mourn, honor, and celebrate what remains. Traditional instrumentation features clarinet, violin, laouto, defi (frame drum), and vocals. The clarinet and violin, central melody instruments, lend the music its distinctive slides, inflections, and ability to powerfully evoke human emotion; while the laouto, traditionally an accompanying instrument, has become a solo voice in the hands of modern master Vasilis Kostas through the guidance of his mentor, Petroloukas Halkias.
Vasilis Kostas first learned from his grandfather and local elders in Epirus. “I remember being five years old and my grandfather coming to our house at 9:00 p.m. and singing very old traditional songs from Epirus,” he recalls. “… When you have this routine every day, you get to know this music. You get to know the culture.” Vasilis took up the guitar to accompany his grandfather, later performing at weddings and local events. A move to the United States to study jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music unexpectedly brought him back to his roots: playing the laouto for a presentation of Greek music in Spain, he rediscovered his love for Epirotic music.
Vasilis completed his master’s degree under his mentor, renowned pianist, Danilo Pérez, with whom he performed internationally and earned a Grammy nomination. At the same time, he studied closely with laouto master Christos Zotos in Athens, continuing the work of adapting laouto technique and transforming it into a leading voice within the ensemble.
Vasilis is the first to introduce a course on the music of Epirus in the U.S. At the Montana Folk Festival, Vasilis will be joined by talented rising musicians performing Greek traditional music on voice, violin, and the laouto.

"Beyond Syndesis" is the first track of the upcoming album "Léna" by Vasilis Kostas, to be released on April 17th, 2026. The piece explores the deep connecti...

05/25/2026

Nour Hakarti
Tunisian Desert Blues
New York, New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9s17K4tXbk&t=4s

Based in New York, Nour Harkati is a Tunisian desert blues musician, singer-songwriter, forging a powerful bridge between ancestral North African traditions and the raw pulse of contemporary urban sound. Deeply rooted in spiritual Gnawa rhythms and the trance-driven spirit of desert blues, he blends the ancient resonance of the Guembri with gritty NYC drums, electronic textures, and modern songcraft. The result is a sound that is both meditative and electrifying-philosophical in depth, yet irresistibly groove-driven.
His latest album, Moulena, premiered worldwide on Live on KEXP and stands as an homage to his North African roots and a tribute to those who journey far from home. With poetic lyricism and infectious rhythms, Moulena marks a bold new chapter—where the soul of the desert meets the relentless energy of New York City.
After eight transformative years living in New York City, Harkati has performed on major international stages including GlobalFEST at Lincoln Center, Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, and Habibi Festival, and will take up a month-long residency at Pioneer Works. Across continents and communities, Nour Harkati continues to redefine desert blues for a global audience—honoring lineage while fearlessly pushing it forward.

http://KEXP.ORG presents Nour Harkati performing live in the KEXP s...

05/25/2026

The remaining performers filling out the lineup for the 2026 Montana Folk Festival are:

Pedro Luis Ferrer
Cuban Trova
Miami, Florida
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_ycmZbu4J4&list=RDl_ycmZbu4J4&start_radio=1

Pedro Luis Ferrer embodies the heart, mind, and soul of Cuba; a legendary singer/songwriter, masterful vocalist, composer, poet, and virtuoso on Spanish guitar and Cuban tres. Pedro Luis performs with his daughter, Lena Ferrer, who contributes stunning vocals, hand percussion and Marimbula (an African derived Caribbean plucked box which provides bass lines). Together, they create unique and compelling harmonies, drawing on deep research into indigenous Afro-Cuban styles, like son, trova, and guaracha, while adding contemporary innovations.
Pedro Luis writes songs with a playful understanding of folk melodies and the hooks of popular music. His lyrics convey an organic philosophy of the important things in life; truth telling, good food, an appreciation of beauty and freedom, always with uplifting energy and a keen sense of humor. Pedro Luis admits: "I am my own version of what is Cuban. I am my own version of son. I am my own version of trova. I am even my own version of the Cuban revolution".
Pedro Luis has recorded extensively, and 5 albums have reached the international market over the past quarter century, including a 1999 debut simply titled "Pedro Luis Ferrer" on Atlantic Records, followed by four highly praised albums on the Escondida label, which have garnered a devout worldwide following.

SI NO ME VOY DE CUBAInterpretada en el programa del animador venezolano Luis Chataing, el 11 de mayo de 2021, con motivo de un concierto que daría en Miami e...