NFO 2026 Presenters

Phil Jamison is nationally known as a dance caller, old-time musician, and flatfoot dancer appearing for over 40 years as a member of the Green Grass Cloggers and in the film Songcatcher. He has called dances, performed, and taught throughout the U.S. and abroad and has many films, videos, recordings and a book to his credit. He was inducted to both the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame and America’s Clogging Hall of Fame. At NFO Phil will give a presentation on dance, music and the cultures of the Appalachians as well as a movement workshop with clogging, flat-footing and buck dancing.
Click philjamison.com here for more information about Phil.

Erik Bendix began folk dancing in Europe at the age of 10, and has been teaching folk dance in Europe and America since 1972. He choreographed for the Westwind International Folk Ensemble in San Francisco, performed with the Green Grass Cloggers in North Carolina, and has taught at the Ethnic Arts Center in New York City, the Omega Institute, Klezmerquerque, Stockton Folk Dance Camp in California, Autumn Leaves Folk Dance Camp in Nashville, Findhorn Festival of Sacred Dance in Scotland, June Camp in Wisconsin and Yiddish Summer Weimar in Germany. He helped the beginnings of the VTI (Volkstanz International) folkdance weeks in Switzerland in 1980, co-founded the Mountain Playshop summer folkdance weekend in Asheville, N.C. in 1984, and he has been a regular teacher at both venues ever since. His dance interests embrace everything from Mevlevi dervish whirling to Appalachian clogging to Chinese martial arts to Balkan village dance collected on trips to Bulgaria and Macedonia. A serious student of human movement, Erik Bendix has a private practice as an AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and as a certified Practitioner and Teacher of Body-Mind Centering®, with a particular interest in how human uprightness and movement evolved. He played a pivotal role in reintroducing folk dancers in western Europe to live music, and has been a key figure in the revival of nearly lost traditions of Yiddish dance.

Andrew Walker is a fiddle and banjo player who plays old time music from North Carolina and Virginia. Andrew has been a featured performer at the Blue Ridge Folk Life Festival in Ferrum, Virginia, as well as in Colombia, South America (at a series of concerts sponsored by the Colombian Ministry of Culture). He has won awards for his fiddle and banjo playing from various festivals and conventions, including the Grayson County Fiddlers Convention (VA), Fries Fiddlers Convention (VA), Surry Old Time Fiddlers Convention (NC), Hoppin’ John Fiddlers Convention (NC), Seagrove Fiddlers Convention (NC), and the Charlie Poole Festival (NC). He is particularly devoted to learning and teaching older styles and repertoires from regional musicians such as Stella and Taylor Kimble, Norman Edmonds, Tommy Jarrell, Kahle Brewer, Wade Ward, Frank Blevins, Babe Spangler, Charlie Higgins, G.B. Grayson, Dorothy Rorick, and Charlie Poole.

Appalachian musicians for fiddle workshop and evening dance

Kilby Spencer, a native of Whitetop, Virginia, is a respected old-time fiddler and founder of the Crooked Road Ramblers. Raised in a musical family, he was deeply influenced by his parents, Thornton and Emily Spencer, who revived the Whitetop Mountain Band in 1975, as well as by the music and poetry of his cousin Dean Sturgill and recordings of his uncle Albert Hash. Known for his powerful, rhythmic style, Kilby has won numerous fiddling contests across North Carolina and Virginia. Since 2017, he has played full-time with the Whitetop Mountain Band while continuing to lead the Crooked Road Ramblers.
Beyond performing, Kilby is dedicated to preserving Appalachian music traditions. He serves on the board of the Field Recorders Collective, which has released over 130 projects focused on American roots music. He has taught fiddle at Warren Wilson College and the Ashe County Arts Council, judged contests including the Galax Fiddlers Convention, and performed at venues like the Kennedy Center, the National Folk Festival, and the Carter Family Fold. Kilby has contributed to various compilations and released multiple albums with the Crooked Road Ramblers, Spencer Branch, and the Whitetop Mountain Band.

Kelley Breiding is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist known for her work on clawhammer banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bass. A full-time member of the Crooked Road Ramblers, she also hosts The Floyd Radio Show and her own variety show, The Blue Ridge Opry. Kelley occasionally performs with the NC Sacred Steel Legends, The Allen Boys, and has taught old-time fiddle and flatpicking guitar in the Ashe County Junior Appalachian Musicians program since 2017, helping preserve the region’s musical traditions.
Recognized by the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and the NC Arts Council Folklife Program, Kelley received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Music Maker Relief Foundation in 2023 for her contributions to roots music. She has performed with legends like Dr. Ralph Stanley, Peter Rowan, and Donna the Buffalo, and appeared at major festivals and venues including the Kennedy Center, National Folk Festival, Richmond Folk Festival, and the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, among many others.

The Apple Chill Cloggers from Chapel Hill, NC have been dedicated to the performance and preservation of traditional Southern Appalachian clogging since 1975. They have performed all throughout North Carolina and in nearly every state east of the Mississippi. They are members of CIOFF USA and have participated and performed in folk dance festivals in Canada and Europe, and stay committed to cultural exchange.

The Apple Chill Cloggers’ style includes patterns and steps from clogging, square dance, and Scottish traditions, as well as creative additions from the members. Their trademarks are energetic high kicks, brightly colored authentic costumes, and a genuine love for Southern Appalachian Clogging.

Ben Owen III is a potter from Seagrove, North Carolina. His forefathers came to NC from England as early as the late 1700s to ply their craft and furnish storage jars and other utilitarian wares to early settlers. Like his grandfather, Ben III’s pottery reflects a foundation in traditional designs alongside Asian influences. See benowenpottery.com for more information.

Sheila Kay Adams is a North Carolina seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and musician who will be one of the presenters at the 2026 NFO Conference. For more information about Sheila Kay, you can go to her website at
sheilakayadams.com.

Judy says:
Musical notes written with different shapes? That is the Shape Note tradition, which has had a home in the Appalachians since the 19th century. Instead of the usual oval shape for notes, Shape Note music is written with shapes to make it easier for untrained singers to read the music. After a quick lesson, join the Triangle Shape Note singers, or just listen. Those of you familiar with Balkan traditional singing will feel right at home with the powerful, full voice style and unusual harmonies used in Shape Note singing.

Wendy says:
Learn about Shape Note music, an Appalachian tradition since the 19th century written with “shapes” rather than musical notation to make it easier for untrained singers to read. Then, you can try this singing technique with the Triangle Shape Note Singers.

Debby Szajnberg specializes in connecting people across cultures through musical play. A retired kindergarten teacher, she has been devoted to arts integration throughout her career. She has extensive training in world dance and music, especially Balkan and Eastern European folk traditions here and abroad. Debby has presented many national and regional workshops for music educators on creative movement, folk dance, multicultural singing games, and integrated arts, frequently for the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. She sings, plays violin, doumbek, tupan and other hand percussion in international folk dance bands, as well as leading community dances at schools and libraries. One of her current projects is transcribing and teaching children’s clapping and rhythm games she has collected in her travels and from immigrant communities.

Clap It, Tap It: Global Rhythm Games by Debby Szajnberg is a collection of 23 children’s rhythm games representing 19 different cultures. Debby learned these games from people in her travels and from immigrants in her community over the last 20 years. The book includes maps, musical notation, pronunciation guides, and instructions for how to play. The hand gestures for each game are illustrated. Debby includes links to audio recordings of herself singing and/or reciting each of the texts in real time, in addition to slow teaching versions with spaces for learners to repeat the text.