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Photo
by Larry Bilansky

Amy Gallatin,
born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, lived in several states before settling
in the West, where she was raised. During her ten years in Idaho and Montana,
she had had the good fortune of being able to work at two of her loves
in life: horses and music; Amy helped to organize the horseback riding
programs and was the featured entertainer at various guest ranches. Her
performing background had been as a solo artist out West prior to her
meeting some Connecticut musicians while wintering in New England in 1992.
With that Connecticut connection came the opportunity to tour as a working
unit, so Amy packed her guitar and moved east in the fall of 1993 to pursue
her music. Four albums later (including a live album and a project recorded
in Nashville with ace producer Rich Adler), Amy Gallatin and her band
Stillwaters have taken the stage at some of the most prestigious venues
in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe.Their 2009 tour of The Netherlands,
Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Denmark--the band's fourth overseas
tour--drew extremely enthusiastic crowds at house concerts, music clubs,
theaters, country & bluegrass festivals. They have twice had the honor
of representing the United States as the featured performers at the European
World of Bluegrass convention in The Netherlands.
Amy is at home singing various musical styles -- country, folk, bluegrass
or western swing--branding each song with soulful sincerity. Her influences
are diverse, ranging from old and contemporary cowboy tunes learned out
West, to great country artists like Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, Loretta
Lynn, and the Everly Brothers, with even a dash of blues influence thrown
in--Koko Taylor, Katie Wilson, BB King, and Shemekiah Copeland.

Photo by Larry Bilansky
Roger Williams started
playing the resophonic, Dobro style guitar in1963, when he was just a
young teenager. Within the first year, he had already debuted with The
Lilly Bros. and Don Stover at the Hillbilly Ranch in Boston, Mass. where
they had performed for nearly two decades. Since then he has gone on to
perform and/or record with many well respected Bluegrass and folk acts
on the national and international circuit, including Don Stover,White
Mountain Bluegrass, Hazel Dickens, Joe Val, Bill Harrell, Wyatt Rice,
Delia Bell & Bill Grant, Southern Rail, Ray Legere, Mark Schatz, Mac
Wiseman,The New England Bluegrass Band, Salamander Crossing, Amy Gallatin
and Stillwaters, Slavek Hanzlik, Mark Erelli, Hiro Arita and others. Career
highlights include eleven overseas tours with various artists, including
a performance at the prestigious Dobro Festival in Slovakia, and teaching
workshops during Bluegrass Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins,
WV. Roger has recorded three solo projects: 'Fireball', 'Rt. 2 To Amherst',
and 'River Of No Return', a collaboration with long-time friend and musical
associate Ray Legere. Most recently, Roger has been involved in CMH label's
'Pickin' On' series, where different musical genres are interpreted in
the bluegrass vein. About Roger, Bluegrass Unlimited magazine has
said: "Williams, like all great acoustic slide players, can be mellow
and lingering or crisp and jaunty. He's also a very fine singer (with)
more than a little of Merle Haggard in voice and emotion."
"Roger Williams is one bad-ass Dobro player."--Jim Chapdelaine,
Engineer/Composer/Producer/Guitarist
Stillwaters is...

Photo by Gerry Urbanik
JD Williams
joins his father Roger Williams as a full time member of Stillwaters on
mandolin and guitar. JD grew up steeped in the Williams family tradition,
learning multiple instruments at a very early age thanks to his dad's
influence. Today he exhibits a youthful style all his own with jazz and
blues influences, and the family on-stage chemistry is magic!
Photo
by Erin Prawoko
Eric Levenson
Bassist Eric Levenson's bluegrass pedigree is road-tested and solid, having
played bass for the estimable Joe Val and the New England Boys for 8 years,
during which they toured extensively overseas and in the US, including
numerous appearances on Prairie Home Companion on National Public Radio.
A recipient of the Boston Bluegrass Union's Heritage award, he has toured
and/or recorded with Bill Grant and Delia Bell, Hazel Dickens, Jack Tottle,
Jim and Jennie and the Pinetops, Orrin Starr, and Boston City Limits,
as well as a previous stint with Stillwaters back in the 90's. As if playing
with us is not enough, he keeps busy near his home base in the Boston
area by playing in numerous area bands (Boston City Limits and the Charles
River Boys) and by anchoring the hugely popular weekly Bluegrass Picking
Party at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, MA.
In his alternate life, Eric has pursued an award-winning career as a theatrical
set and lighting designer for theater and a scenic artist for motion pictures,
and is a recipient of the prestigious Elliot Norton Design Award given
annually by Boston theater critics. In addition to having served as a
member of the theater staffs of the Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory,
Wellesley College, Harvard and MIT, he has designed close to 500 shows,
including plays and operas (and one circus!), including the WGBH Celtic
Sojourn Christmas and St. Patrick's Day shows and 20 years of Revels,
a national arts organization with production arms in nine cities across
the country, producing community and seasonal celebrations. He has contributed
to such movies as Gone Baby Gone, Twenty-One, Underdog, The Departed,
Mystic River, The Perfect Storm, Amistad, and Good Will Hunting, among
others.
Eric
brings good cheer and an exuberant energy to each and every show, and
we're happy to have him back in the fold.
OCCASIONAL
STILLWATERS GUESTS:
Photo by Eric Levenson
Kimber
Ludiker
Joining Stillwaters for selected shows, including our 2010 UK tour, is
Grand National Fiddle Champion Kimber Ludiker. Born of fiddle-playing
parents--who met competing with each other at a fiddle contest!--this
Washington state native excelled from an early age at Texas-style fiddling
and went on to win multiple fiddle championships including the Washington
State Championship, Colorado State Championship and the aforementioned
Grand National Fiddle Championship in Weiser, Idaho. She has performed
with Mark O'Connor, Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Hanneke Cassel, and her
brother Dennis, a well-known fiddle/mandolin player from Austin, TX. As
a founding member of the all-"girl" group Della Mae, she is
widely regarded as a pillar of the new-generation fiddle scene. She brings
a good-hearted spirit and a great work ethic to the group, and we're delighted
to have her with us as much as her busy schedule permits.
Dave
Dick
(banjo, guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals) guests with Stillwaters from
time to time. Dave and Roger go 'way back to the 80's, when they gigged
together in a group they formed called The Alternative. Dave has played
with many other bands including Southern Rail, the acclaimed folk-bluegrass
group Salamander Crossing (both with Roger), and most recently the contemporary
bluegrass group Northern Lights. He is also a member of the Blackstone
Valley Bluegrass Band with his brother, acclaimed bassist and former Front
Range member Bob Dick, who has also played bass for Stillwaters on numerous
occasions. Dave is a staff producer for CMH Records' Pickin On series,
producing and perfoming on "Pickin' on Jack Johnson", "Pickin'
on Brad Paisley", and "Pickin' on Dwight Yoakam". When
not gigging or in the studio, Dave is the stringed instrument repairman
at Union Music in Worcester, MA. For a peek at Dave and Roger in the old
days, surf on over to Roger's Gallery on his website:
http://rogerreso.net/rwgallery.htm

Photo by Larry Bilansky
John Urbanik,
a seasoned acoustic bassist from Salem, CT, blends his husky baritone
in harmony with Amy's soprano and Roger's tenor, making for some great
country and "brother-style" duets. John's musical experience
and tastes span a wide range of genres and instruments, beginning with
guitar at age 8, jamming to old time bluegrass with family members, then
as a drummer at age 14 with the rock-and-roll group Davy and the Dolphins.
He played percussion in a jazz group, the Jimmy D Trio, while he was in
the Air Force, a country band in the 80's, and then bluegrass bass in
the Eight Mile River Band with local legend (and cousin) Dave Liska in
the late 80's and 90's. John has fond memories of his Air Force days of
playing clubs six nights/week until 3 am, going to breakfast and then
straight to work! For many years John, with his brother Don, owned and
operated Cardinal Sound, providing professional sound reinforcement for
music festivals and concerts. He is an invaluable and experienced resource
for those engagements for which Stillwaters provides sound.
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