Rhys Jones has been playing traditional Appalachian fiddle music for over 30 years, and is considered one of the finest old-time musicians of his generation. Born in Chicago, he began his fiddling at age 7. Soon after he moved to southern West Virginia, where he learned from the older generation of fiddlers, including Ernie Carpenter, Melvin Wine, Glen Smith, and Wilson Douglas. He is currently based in Warrenton, VA, and teaches regularly in the Baltimore area.

Leo Shannon is a traditional musician from Seattle, Washington, currently living in Whitesburg, Kentucky. He learned to play as a boy from older musicians around him and from friends his own age, and plays now with the Onlies, the Mudpuppies, John Haywood, and others. He is drawn to old music that has passed through many hands and the ghostly imprints left on traditional music by sound reproduction technologies.