Jayme Stone is not just a banjo player. He is a master musician with a diverse vision of what the banjo is and what it can be. He is working on a new project featuring material from the song collector and folklorist Alan Lomax.

Please support his project at http://kck.st/1pCxiDH

Swallow Hill Music's Young Songwriter's contest has brought some really great writers into the spotlight of the Denver music scene. This year the three finalists included the band Red Federation, Jobi Riccio and Thomas Martin. Martin sits down this week with all three groups and talks to them about songwriting.

Andres Cladera is the new director of the school at Swallow Hill Music. Andres is originally from Montevideo, Uruguay but came to the United States to pursue his education in music. He is a classically trained pianist and singer. He started the "Microscopic Opera" with Erica Olden in 2010. 

Heather Browne's music blog "I Am Fuel, You Are Friends" is full of discovery. She is an explorer finding sources of creativity and telling all of us about them. Since moving to Colorado from the San Francisco bay area she has discovered, uncovered, bolstered and cultivated the Colorado music scene. Check out her blog at fuelfriendsblog.com. Enjoy!

Heather Browne's music blog "I Am Fuel, You Are Friends" is full of discovery. She is an explorer finding sources of creativity and telling all of us about them. Since moving to Colorado from the San Francisco bay area she has discovered, uncovered, bolstered and cultivated the Colorado music scene. Check out her blog at fuelfriendsblog.com. Enjoy!

KC Groves has been a staple of the Colorado acoustic music scene for over 10 years. She is a fantastic songwriter, singer and bandleader. As a founding member of the internationally acclaimed old time band, Uncle Earl, She has toured the world, played the Ryman auditorium and performed with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame...and those are just some highlights of her career. Enjoy!

Tim O’brien is a Grammy award winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his innovative songwriting as well for his adaptations and reproductions of traditional folk songs.

His musical journey has taken him from Wheeling, West Virginia, all over the world. He is the lead singer of the famed Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize, which found its beginnings at The Denver Folklore Center.

We are glad to have him with us for the Front Row Podcast.

Kyle James Hauser's bright purple banjo case is a good indicator of his innovative style and taste. He stands out in a world of banjoists and songwriters with a style that is all his own. As a graduate of the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, he definitely shows us all how tradition and a pioneering spirit can lead to great things. Kyle James Hauser is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter now based out of Louisville, Kentucky and has a new record with SonaBLAST records called "You a Thousand Times". Check him out at www.kylejameshauser.com.

Multi-instrumentalist, master musician, songwriter, and music instructor are just a few of the adjectives that describe Ernie Martinez. As a kid, growing up in Denver, Ernie joined a burgeoning acoustic music scene when he abandoned his drums for his banjo. Now Ernie is one of the best known faces in the rocky mountain region's bluegrass and country music communities. Ernie has been a part of Swallow Hill Music's faculty since the school started in 1979. 

For more than thirteen years, Bevan Frost has been building musical instruments. His brand, Big Hollow Guitars, have become known as some of the finest quality small bodied guitars in the country. Originally from Laramie, Wyoming, Bevan Frost has traveled around the world to learn his trade. As a student in Germany he explored his trade, while at the Breedlove Guitar factory he refined his system and now he focuses on his instruments from his shop in Frisco, CO.

His instruments can be seen at www.bighollowguitars.com