Say Sister! Festival

Join us for a diverse and revolutionary celebration of women in roots music with the inaugural Say Sister! Festival. This transformative event celebrates the vital contributions of women to a space where their presence has always been essential, though often underappreciated, shining a spotlight on the past, present, and future contributions of women in Old Time Music.

Set against the backdrop of Baltimore’s rich musical history—home to icons like Alice Gerrard, Hazel Dickens, and Mama Cass—Say Sister! honors the women who have endured, thrived, and shaped the roots music landscape.

Co-curated by Maryland’s beloved, multi-Grammy Award-winning artist and Roots Music Specialist, Cathy Fink, the Inaugural festival kicks off on January 3 with the lively Inaugural Say Sister! Square Dance, the festival unfolds over two weekends of electrifying performances, insightful workshops, films, storytelling, and jam sessions. Each artist will not only take the stage but also lead an engaging workshop, offering a deeper connection to their craft and the roots music tradition.

The festival culminates on January 10-11, featuring performances by: Amythyst Kiah, Sarah Kate Morgan, Kimber Ludiker, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer Old Time Coalition, Ann Porcella, Becky Hill, Dena Ross Jennings, & more!

The highlight of the festival is the Saturday night supergroup, where all of the incredible artists unite for a never-before-seen, one-time-only collaboration. This unique performance promises to be an unforgettable showcase of talent and creativity.

The 2nd weekend is hosted by behind-the-scenes star of the queer music industry, Chair of the Board for Bluegrass Pride, and President of Elderly Instruments, Lillian Werbin.

View the full schedule for Saturday.

FRI JAN 3, 2025

• 6-9pm | Main Gallery | I’ve Endured: Women of Old Time Music | Exhibition Opening
• 7pm | Theater | Opening Night Squaredance w/ Becky Hill $

FRI JAN 10, 2025

• 6pm | Theater | Concert Night 1! $
  Performances by: Amythyst Kiah, Sarah Kate Morgan, Kimber Ludiker, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer Old Time Coalition, Ann Porcella, Becky Hill, Dena Ross Jennings
  

SAT JAN 11, 2025

• 8pm | Theater | Concert Night 2! $
  Saturday night supergroup, where these incredible artists unite for a never-before-seen, one-time-only collaboration.
  Cathy Fink – guitar, banjo, ukulele, vocals
  Marcy Marxer – guitar, mandolin, ukulele, vocals
  Amythyst Kiah – guitar, banjo, vocals
  Kimber Ludiker – mandolin, fiddle, vocals
  Sarah Kate Morgan – Appalachian dulcimer, vocals
  Chris Kosky- bass

CLASSES | Attend 2 or 4 with concert or weekend pass tickets

• 10-11am | Fiddle w/ Kimber Ludiker
  Champion fiddler and Della Mae member, Kimber Ludiker will teach a tune in the NW old time fiddling style she grew up with. Kimber will address bowing, fingering and fun!
  Level: confident beginner + intermediate
• 10-11am | Dulcimer Workshop & Demo w/ Sarah Kate Morgan
  Build from the basics and further your Appalachian dulcimer skills. We’ll start by honing our strumming skills and developing a strong, consistent, and interesting strumming hand that can add unique rhythmic drive and texture to any old time jam. Learn a tune and watch Sarah demonstrate modern versatility of the instrument.
  Level: All levels
• 11:30am-12:30pm | Mandolin w/ Kimber Ludiker
  Learn to play rhythm mandolin in 2 keys  D and G, to some favorite fiddle tunes. And of course we’ll learn version of those 2 tunes.
  Level: confident beginner-intermediate
• 11:30am-12:30pm | LIBBA COTTEN Guitar w/ Marcy Marxer
  Dig into the fingerpicking guitar style of Elizabeth Cotten. We’ll be learning the song “Oh, Babe It Ain’t No Lie.” Cotten wrote “Freight Train” and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her style includes keeping a steady bass rhythm while playing the melody of the song on higher strings.
  Level: Intermediate + Up
• 11-12pm | Flatfoot w/ Becky Hill, Music w/ Meghan Mette & Ann Porcella
  Come one, come all. Get started or keep on dancing with master flatfoot dancer Becky Hill. Live band!
• 1-2pm | Clawhammer Banjo: Variations on A Tune  – Cathy Fink
  There are over 18 different ways to play the first note of Cripple Creek! By teaching these variations, Cathy will lead the group into an exploration of how to create variations tunes one phrase at a time.
  Level: Intermediate and up
• 1-2pm | Old Time Guitar Bass Runs w/ Ann Porcella
  The guitar player holds down the band for rhythm and decorates and often drives that rhythm with bass runs- single notes on bass.  Learn bass runs in 3 keys, 3 chords each, to power your rhythm guitar playing. Keys of G, D and A.
• 2.30-3.30pm | Fiddle w/ Malia Furtado
  Calling all fiddlers! Want to hone your rhythm skills? This fiddle workshop will focus on shuffle patterns and bowing technique to help you find your fiddle groove. During this workshop, we will take a few common tunes and explore how we can integrate different bowing patterns to create that classic fiddle “feel” that will help you lock in with others, fiddle for dances, and support your improvising.
  Level: intermediate
• 4-5pm | Clawhammer Banjo w/ Meghan Mette
  Meghan will teach the 3 part version of “Cumberland Gap” in the key of D, using double C tuning on the banjo. Participants will learn the tune and some alternate ways of playing all three parts. If there’s time, we’ll squeeze in another popular tune, Needlecase.
• 2:30-3:30pm  | Flatfoot Choreography w/ Becky Hill
  Becky will take you through the steps of creating flatfoot choreography to match up note by note- step by step- beat by beat, a fiddle tune.

ACTIVITIES (Free with your ticket!)

• 10-11am | SINGALONG | Theater | Hazel & Alice Songs
  Cathy Fink, Marcy Marxer, and Ann Porcella lead a singalong of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard’s repertoire. Lyrics and chords provided so you can play along by watching the big screen.
• 11:00 – 11:30 | Patterson Theater |Don’t Put Her Down
  Don’t Put Her Down explores the life and songs of Hazel Dickens, one of the first women to front a bluegrass band. This film takes its title from Hazel Dickens’ powerful anthem Don’t Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There, and explores how she, along with her musical partner Alice Gerard, became the first women to front a bluegrass band and reflects on the role of women in bluegrass today. The film covers Hazel’s migration to Baltimore from coal country West Virginia, her activism for coal miners and working people, and the impact her upbringing had on her songwriting. Lifelong collaborators and up-and-coming musicians share what it means to have bluegrass songs written from a woman’s point of view and keep Hazel’s memory alive. Throughout the film, scenes from Hazel’s life play out on a crankie, a hand-scrolled panorama featuring cut paper and shadow puppetry. Since my film is a story about the past that looks towards the future, I was drawn to using this archaic form of storytelling and presenting it in a digital way.
• 11:30am-12:30pm | Marquee Lounge | Influenced by Tradition – Song Swap w/ Amythyst Kiah, Sarah Kate Morgan, Cathy Fink | Moderator: Lillian Werbin
  These women are taking the roots of old time music to new places, sometimes applying old songs to new ideas, sometimes applying their old-time music skills to completely new songs. Hear examples and talk about the evolution of new music coming from old.
• 11:45-12:30 | Patterson Theater | Carter Family Singalong
  Celebrate the Carter family legacy with Malia Furtado.
• 1-2pm | Marquee Lounge | Black Roots of Old Time Music Discussion & Music w/ Lillian Werbin & Dena Jennings
  Dena Jennings is a banjo builder, music historian and runs the Affrolachian On-Time Music Gathering. Lillian Werbin is the co-director of The Banjo Gathering and of the Roots Revival Black Stringband Symposium. There will be an awesome discussion about the black roots of old time music and some sampling of both live and recorded music.
• 1-2pm | FILM | Theater | “I’ve Endured: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed”
  With a voice born in the mountains and shaped by the hard times she lived and saw, Ola Belle Reed established herself as an influential musician, singer, and songwriter of old-time mountain music.  The  documentary, “I’ve Endured:” The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed”, explores the life of  this  remarkable musician, singer and songwriter whose contributions have left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape.  In 1986 Ola Belle received a NEA National Heritage Fellowship. The Library of Congress added her 1973 album Ola Belle Reed to the National Recording Registry in 2019. Her best known songs are “High on a Mountain,” “I’ve Endured” and “Tear Down the Fences.”
• 2:30-3:15pm | Ola Belle Reed Songs & Stories
  Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer celebrate the music and stories of Ola Belle Reed.
• 2:30-3:30pm | CONCERT | Marquee Lounge | Favorite Kentucky Songs & Tunes w/ Sarah Kate Morgan
• All Day | Gourd Banjo Building Demonstration w/ Dena Ross Jennings
  Help Dena make a gourd banjo that will be auctioned off Saturday evening!
  
• PLUS, Open Jam Sessions throughout the day!