Working in a combination of the intricately syncopated Piedmont finger picking style and her own deeply bluesy lap-slide guitar, Mary Flower has earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike for her "spring-water clear" vocals and mastery of multiple guitar styles. Acoustic Guitar Magazine proclaims she is "one of the best blues-based singer songwriters working today," and as a live performer, Blues Wax calls Mary an "exquisite force [with] hauntingly poignant vocals." Having nearly as many instructional albums released to her name as she has music albums, Mary is a veteran teacher and longtime friend of the Swallow Hill School of Music.
Grammy award winner Pat Donohue is often recognized for his guitar work on NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion, with Garrison Keillor. Pat has been lauded by the late Chet Atkins, as "one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today." Though Pat considers himself foremost a folk guitarist, he manages to seamlessly blend jazz and blues into his work as well, creating a sound which Leo Kottke simply describes as "haunting." A National Finger Picking Guitar Champion (1983), Pat's work has been recorded by Chet Atkins, Suzy Bogguss and Kenny Rogers, and Pat has also been a featured performer at major music festivals including the Newport, Telluride, Philadelphia and Winfield Folk Festivals.
"Donohue is a clever songwriter who uses intelligent, creative rhymes and wastes few words. His instrumentals display his characteristic of clarity and ingenuity, combining the essential qualities of the originals with his own recognizable fresh sound." —Acoustic Guitar Magazine
