Kathy Kallick has been among the elite of contemporary songwriters and singers since co-founding the internationally-acclaimed band, Good Ol’ Persons, in 1975. In 2001, she received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the California Bluegrass Association for all her contributions.

The Good Ol’ Persons, originally comprising five women including Kathy and Laurie Lewis, tweaked the bluegrass establishment not only with their name and personnel but also by combining contemporary sensibilities with a traditional foundation. Evolving into a unique and influential band, they were among the first musicians to incorporate swing, Latin, Cajun, and other folk musics into bluegrass, and were trailblazers in featuring the songwriting, lead playing, and singing of women. For 20 years, the Good Ol’ Persons were anchored by the luminous, passionate vocals, exemplary rhythm guitar playing, and celebrated original compositions of Kathy Kallick.

These attributes, along with her embracing of eclectic styles while incorporating classic bluegrass, continue to define Kathy’s music. Along the way, she has performed and recorded with the Frank Wakefield Band, produced albums for High Country, won a Grammy for her part on True Life Blues: The Songs Of Bill Monroe, written and recorded award-winning music for children and families, appeared on three high-profile collections of bluegrass songs by women, as well as compilations of bluegrass songs about baseball, family, trains, heartbreak, and Christmas, and has ongoing collaborations with some of the country’s top acoustic musicians.

Her first “solo” album, the highly-regarded Matters Of the Heart, showcased 13 of her original songs in a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, Cajun, rock & roll, and country-folk. Call Me A Taxi, which includes eight of Kathy’s compositions, was a return to a bluegrass orientation, and spent much of 1997 in the National Bluegrass Survey. The Kathy Kallick Band’s Walkin’ In My Shoes was her first band album in a decade, and spent most of 1999 on the bluegrass charts.

After releasing more than 60 of her own compositions, My Mother’s Voice revisited traditional songs she learned from her folksinger mother, recorded in informal, intimate settings. The 2004 release, Reason & Rhyme, features another dozen Kallick originals, plus several compelling covers, presented in a contemporary folk/acoustic Americana setting. Both of these recordings feature performances by some of Kathy’s musical pals like Laurie Lewis, Peter Rowan, Lynn Morris, Ron Stewart, Scott Nygaard, Nina Gerber, GOP mates John Reischman and Sally Van Meter, Herb Pedersen, Carol Elizabeth Jones, James Leva, Jody Stecher, Kate Brislin…as well as members of the Kathy Kallick Band. And what a band…

Tom Bekeny (mandolin, fiddle, harmony vocals) co-founded Done Gone,which also included Don Humphries, was a key part of Laurie Lewis’s Grant Street Stringband, is now in his twelfth year as a member of High Country, and is featured on Laurie’s & Kathy’s album, Together.

An adventurous, blues-based player, Tom brings fresh interpretations of the music, and sparks other band members to new levels of inventive performance. He’s also written a number of memorable tunes, and has finally aged sufficiently to be able to sing bass.

Avram Siegel (banjo, guitar, harmony vocals) has performed or recorded with a variety of top west coast groups, including the Vern Williams Band, Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin , and Due West. He is currently a member of the traditional bluegrass band True Blue, with Del Williams.

Avram is an outstanding traditional player who’s also open to innovation, a strong harmony singer and composer, and an in-demand music instructor and director of the Berkeley Bluegrass Institute. And he’s truly mastered the caffeine/food ratio that enables his groove-y banjo playing.

Amy Stenberg (acoustic bass, harmony & lead vocals) is a founder of Heartland, which spawned Alison Brown, Rob Ickes, and Tony Furtado, and was a frequent member of the Good Ol’ Persons.

She knows ’most every honky-tonk country song ever written, and brilliantly adapts them to bluegrass. A soulful and compelling singer, Amy’s enthusiasm for the music is infectious, and she drives the band to energetic and humorous performances. She has a special fondness for heart songs—likely a reflection of her day job as a cardiac unit nurse.

Brian Wicklund (fiddle, mandolin, harmony vocals) has won fiddle contests throughout the midwest, played for years in Stoney Lonesome with Kate MacKenzie, was a member of the Judith Edelman Band, appeared on over 50 recording sessions and regularly on “A Prairie Home Companion,” and released two solo albums.

The newest member of the band, Brian’s distinctive and always-in-the-pocket playing manages to be simultaneously respectful and irreverent. He’s also a nationally acclaimed teacher, and has produced books, videos, and DVDs of his The American Fiddle Method. Brian changed everything by introducing the KKB to The Chicken Dance.