Ginny Hawker & Tracy Schwarz

Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwarz teamed up 15 years ago and combined a wealth of the understanding and performance of old-time and traditional music. Ginny grew up in southern Virginia singing with her father in the Primitive Baptist Church. Transferring that powerful, stirring unaccompanied vocal style to bluegrass harmonies has produced an impressive list of concerts and recordings.

There was a time in the ‘60s and ‘70s when anyone wanting to learn rural southern music relied on the recordings of the New Lost City Ramblers. Tracy’s masterful fiddling, soulful singing and his interest in Cajun music have earned him three Grammy nominations. The Washington Post said you could “smell the wood smoke” in Tracy's music. Ginny and Tracy have appeared in concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Canada and England, and they teach southern traditional singing in several camps. Their music is both authentic to their culture and straight from the heart. This time they are joined by guitarist Debra Clifford, whose fine backup playing lets Tracy feature his fiddling more.

Big Muddy for other years