Chance McCoy

is one of the brightest traditional fiddlers to emerge from West Virginia, a state well known for it's rich fiddling heritage.  Played with such virtuosity, his music brings to light an almost vanished tradition of mountain music and makes it once again as vivid and exhilerating as the pioneer america from which it was carved.  Performng fiddle breakdowns, haunting ballads and racuas string band numbers, one is struck by the relevance and need of such music today.

Current Projects

Chance is currently performing with:

• The Appalachian String Band featuring Adam Hurt, Danny Knicely and Aimee Curl
• Allison Williams old time banjo player and singer formerly of the Forge Mountain Diggers
  
• Sabra Guzman from the Flat Iron String Band and Blind Tiger String Band
• Taylor Made commercial country music act backed by Dale Morris productions

Extended Bio

 Chance stumbled upon old-time music at a speak easy near his hometown of Harpers Ferry, WV, the small mountain village made famous by John Brown's raid.  Shorlty after acquiring his first fiddle, he won the West Virginia Championship held at the Vandalia Gathering, one of West Virginia's most prestigious awards.  Since then he has gone on to perform with some of the greatest acts in traditional American music.  He has been recorded by the History Channel, PBS and BBC television, he has performed at The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Barbican Hall in London.

He has toured with roots guitar virtouso Larry Keel as well as Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Everett Lilly (The Lilly Brothers, The Foggy Mountain Boys) has been a guest performer with The Wiyos and Hot Seat (formerly Special Ed and The Shortbus) and was a founding member of The Woodshedders recording on there last album which received the best album of 2008 award.  fHe has learned his music by ear through the living tradition of old-time music in West Virginia as well as mentoring with master fiddlers James Bryan (Norman Blake, Rising Fawn String Ensemble) Dave Bing (The Bing Brothers, Gandy Dancer) and Joe Hermann (Critton Hollow String Band). 

He is now consider one of the most important fiddlers in the new generation of traditional musicians from Appalachia and is becoming a fixture in the small but vibrant old-time scene happening in the south.  Still mostly known only as a local phenomenon, 2008 saw the release of his debut album which is gaining recognition as a master piece in contemporary old-time recordings.  He now lives near the town of Greenville, Monroe County, WV, an isolated farming community in the rugged Allegheny Mountains where he has a small homestead with his family.

The Appalachian String Band-

Adam Hurt, Banjo:  Deemed a "banjo virtuoso" by the Washington Post, Adam Hurt draws on diverse musical influences from the North Carolina piedmont, the mountains of central West Virginia, the Ohio River Valley, and beyond to create his own elegantly innovative clawhammer banjo playing.  At age 24, Adam has already placed in or won most of the major old-time banjo competitions including Clifftop, Mount Airy, and Galax, and won the state banjo championships of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio, as well as the state fiddle championships of Virginia and Maryland.  A gifted and respected teacher, Adam has conducted banjo workshops at the Swannanoa Gathering, the Augusta Heritage Center, and Appalshop, among other venues around the country.

Danny Knicely, Guitar:  Danny Knicely is a fourth generation Appalachian multi-instrumentalist from a Virginia family steeped in mountain music tradition.  He has won many awards for both his mandolin and guitar expertise such as the first place in the mandolin contest of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.  He has years of experience as a professional musician performing in many bands of varying musical styles.  He has recorded and toured nationally and internationally with many groups including the award winning Magraw Gap, David Via and Corn Tornado, James Leva and Purgatory Mountain, and is a musical director for the Mountain Music Project and Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, featuring Mark Schatz and Eileen Carson.

Aimee Curl, Harmony Vocals:  Aimee Curl, of Loudon County Virginia, her unmistakable breathy sound and sultry style combine in a musician with incredible depth.  Original member of the Musemeant, she has toured with bands like Dave Matthews, Widespread Panic, and Blues Traveler on the Horde tour, as well as being part of the Appalachian folk-group Furnace Mountain.  Her dynamic performances and mysterious persona have earned her a cult-like status in the indie scene.