Katey and Jack
Dwyer

Jack (19) and Katey (17) are quickly gaining recognition as rising talents in the acoustic music community. They have already performed hundreds of shows together in Alaska, the East Coast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest, as a duo act, and with their parents, Mindy and Bill, as The Dwyers.

Jack and Katey began playing together almost 10 years ago, up north in Anchorage, AK. For eight years, they gave performances for their family and friends, worked as street performers at the Anchorage Saturday Market, gave shows in their own respective bands, and continued to improve their talents.

In 2000, the Dwyer family moved down to the Hudson River Valley in New York, where before long, the brother-sister duo grew to include their dad Bill on rhythm guitar, and a year later, their mom Mindy on upright bass. The newly formed Dwyer Family Band (later renamed to The Dwyers) performed close to five-hundred shows during the four years the Dwyers lived in New York. The band became a well-known regional favorite among listeners, restaurateurs, and fellow musicians alike. Their performances often featured many guest musicians, from various New York area bands.

In 2005, The Dwyers moved out west to Port Townsend, WA, where they continued to give weekly performances at local Washington venues. In 2007, The Dwyers recorded and released their debut CD, Is It True?, a sprawling twenty-song hybrid of bluegrass, newgrass, old-time, dawg and at times, outright jazz. Is It True? was recorded "live in the studio," over two and half days, with Engineer Neville Pearsall at his Synergy Sound studio in Port Townsend, WA.

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Jack, an 18 year-old multi-instrumentalist and singer, began his musical study at age nine, studying with many great instructors including bluegrass banjo legend Bill Keith and renowned jazz guitarist Mike DeMicco. In September of 2003, he had the opportunity to play behind Peter Rowan on the opening night of the Woodstock Film Festival, alongside Bill Keith, Jay Ungar, and Tony Garnier (bass player, and musical director for Bob Dylan). Also, Jack is on track to graduate from the University of Washington in December 2008 with a English Degree from the Undergradutate Creative Writing Program. Jack's college career began in 8th grade, when he was awarded two years of music education on scholarship at Bard College in New York State. Jack was also awarded scholarships to the 2nd and 3rd Mandolin Symposiums held in Santa Cruz, CA, where he studied with mandolinists David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Andy Statman, Don Stiernberg, Hamilton de Holanda, Danilo Brito and others. In 2007, he was invited back to Santa Cruz to run the nightly bluegrass jam at the 4th Mandolin Symposium. Jack gives music lessons on a variety of instruments: mandolin, guitar, banjo, and fiddle, and offers personalized instruction for students of all experience levels.

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Katey, a 16 year-old fiddler and singer, began playing at age 6 and has developed a strong and unique fiddling style influenced by bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic music and jazz. She has studied with many fiddle instructors including Larry Packer, an internationally recognized performer known across many genres. Years of playing and performing on the New York bluegrass scene have made her a seasoned and mature artist, well beyond her years. Having learned to play entirely by ear, she provides a fresh and distinctive outlook on bluegrass and traditional music.