Ron Thomason
Ron is a legend in the bluegrass world and rightly so. His early years above the Clinch River in Russell County, VA, were tied with all the succeeding ones for being the most enjoyable of his life. He has been able to make his living doing things he loves. He has taught both math and English at almost every secondary level, including college; farmed, trained and competed with horses, and been instrumental in the production of bluegrass music festivals and horse expositions; including the two great festivals, Grey Fox and High Mountain Hay Fever both of which DBFS proudly host.

His professional music career started at the age of 13, and since then he has played and/or recorded with The Clinch Mountain Boys, The Wilson Brothers, Joe Isaacs, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, and a host of others. Nowadays he enjoys such activities as horseback riding, mountain climbing, skiing, conservation advocacy, cowboying, and seeking out adventures in the wilderness.

He writes occasional articles and helps with civic functions. Ron still hopes to get some kind of book written about his experiences in bluegrass music and the many unique people he has met as a result. He started DBFS in 1976 and is known to enjoy music-making more now than ever.

Heidi Clare is widely acknowledged as the best old-time fiddler currently performing. Her style and the material that she chooses to perform keeps alive the hundreds-years-old traditions established by immigrant fiddlers who came to America starting in the seventeenth century and established the fiddle as a major American instrument for dancing, Appalachian ballads and hoedowns, and bluegrass breakdowns. She applies the muscle to her performances that has been indicative of the hard working pioneer farmers and stockmen and women who carried the traditional sounds of the instrument into modern times.

She not only plays the music that drove the raucous dances of those pioneers, but she dances the steps and sings those joyous and wistful songs of the era. She has performed all over the U.S. with her current band as well as with her former band, the Reeltime Travelers, which also recorded on the sound track of the movie, Cold Mountain. Heidi Clare is a formally trained classical violinist and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Music Education with an emphasis in Kodaly from Holy Names University. She has performed with such stalwarts of acoustic music as Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Steve Earle. Heidi has five recordings out to date.

As the Hellman Visiting Artist for 2011-2012 at UCSF, Heidi led monthly workshops with the intent to generate a dialogue between scientists, caregivers, patients, clinicians and the public regarding creativity and the brain. She also worked directly with patients with neurodegenerative diseases. The further intent of the workshops was to aid the UCSF community and general public in understanding how music can communicate through cognitive and linguistic barriers; help scientists, doctors and healthcare workers see the whole persons beyond their diseases; use music to reconnect families living with members who have dementia; and help inspire empathy about dementia and aging in the general public.

Heidi is a Fellow at UCSF as part of the Global Brain Health Initiative. She is establishing parallel music programs in San Francisco and Dublin (Ireland) for our elders as well as developing a radio show/podcast for the purpose of creating public awareness for elder advocacy.

Eric Pearson plays many instruments in many genres with great creativity. He has performed and recorded as a solo artist and with a multitude of bands including Mushroom, Sonya Hunter, Alice Bierhorst, Crooked Jades, Nearly Beloved, The Billy Talbot Band, Irene Sazer and The Stairwell Sisters. Pearson tours the US with master storyteller Diane Ferlatte. They have made six award-winning CDs, including three Parent’s Choice Gold awards, and a 2007 Grammy® nomination for Wickety Whack, Brer Rabbit is Back. Performance highlights include The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN (where 10,000+ people come to hear stories), and The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Erik is also a fine teacher who shares his knowledge with great openness. The styles he teaches range from old time folk music, singer-songwriters to free-improv jazz-rock on the guitar (acoustic and electric), banjo, and ukulele.

Erik holds a degree in Music Composition and Cultural Anthropology from the famed Oberlin College/Conservatory of Music, has composed music for San Francisco choreographers Chris Black and Jordan Fuchs, and written film and chamber music ranging from Creeping Dawn: Mountain & Shadow, a prize winning composition for 24 recorders commissioned by the American Recorder Orchestra of the West, to “Fork & File”, a banjo composition on the Crooked Jades’ World’s on Fire CD which was included in the soundtrack for Sean Penn’s 2007.