Jennifer Gordon Sattler

Jennifer Gordon Sattler received her BFA in Painting in 1991 from the University of New Hampshire and her MFA from Indiana University, Bloomington, Hope School of Fine Arts in 1994. She worked for several years as a landscape painter and professor of painting and drawing, and is a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Jennifer has exhibited extensively, winning a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1996. She lives with her husband, Paul, and daughters, Mazie and Lilia, at her home in Greenfield, New York, just outside of Saratoga Springs.

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A graduate of Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks, Jamie Savage now lives in Piercefield (about ten miles west of Tupper Lake), and is a professor at the SUNY-ESF Ranger School in Wanakena, NY. With experience in rock and roll, folk, and other types of music during the past twenty years, he has now focused his attention on the traditional music of the Adirondacks.

Through his music, Jamie shares his love of the North Country. Like-minded friends, including Dan Duggan, Peggy Lynn, Celia Evans, Frank Orsini, and many others added their talents to Jamie's first two CDs, and more is on the way.

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Christopher Shaw

A descendant of steamboat pilots, "pathfinders," and other rustic archetypes of the Adirondack region of New York State, Christopher Shaw is steeped in the lore of the American Northeast. He carries forward the tradition of the great troubadour/storytellers who have enlivened parlors, taverns, and roadsides since colonial times.

Chris has several recordings to his credit including his 1988 debut, "Adirondack," which has been entered into the Library of Congress Folk Archives. He has been featured on public television documentaries, including "Songs from the Heart of the Adirondacks," "Christmas in the Adirondacks," and "Adirondack Storytellers."

Chris has been the spokesperson for the I Love NY Adirondack region television commercials. His appearance at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC was simulcast over the internet and is archived by the Kennedy Center.

In 1993, Chris teamed up with Taylor Guitars, whose exquisite handmade guitars have earned the respect of the worldwide musical community. As a Taylor clinician, Chris performs concert/workshops around the USA. His instructional guitar video, "Back Porch Picking," is a popular tool for many of his workshop attendees.

In 1984 Chris married singer/songwriter Bridget Ball Shaw. They have since teamed up for many outstanding performances.

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Note: Christopher Shaw is also featured on albums with his wife, Bridget Ball

Bill Smith

Bill Smith of Colton is an Adirondack storyteller and balladeer whose renown has gone far beyond the North Country. He has worked as a logger, trapper, hunter, fisherman, and guide. Bill received a grant from the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts to study storytelling with an acknowledged master of "big stories," Ham Ferry of nearby Sevey's Corners.

Since that apprenticeship, Bill became well known throughout the Northeast, traveling almost constantly to one place or another to tell Adirondack stories and sing old songs. It's hard to believe that Bill trained at all, because when you meet him, it seems obvious he was a born storyteller.

He has performed in hundreds of schools, town halls, church meeting rooms, and banquet halls, as well as sites as widespread as the National Folk Festival in Lowell, Massachusetts, and the Augusta Heritage Center in West Virginia.

He has appeared in dozens of publications, including National Geographic and Dirty Linen, and has recorded a half-dozen albums of songs and stories. Bill looks the part and lives the part of an Adirondack old-timer, and roars of laughter regularly accompany his shows.

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Hank & Ann Snow

Hank Snow was born and raised in the North Country, returning to his roots after a 30-year career as a highly decorated US Air Force fighter pilot during 3 wars. His love of flying led him to start his own air taxi service, North Country Aviation, Inc., based in Saranac Lake, NY.

Col. Snow starting snapping aerial photos and adding to his collection, which spans three decades and over 5000 pictures. Ann Snow, also a pilot, retired after 25 years as a Registered Nurse based in Saranac Lake, including 12 years as supervisor and director at Uhlein Mercy Center in Lake Placid.

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Sounds of the Northway, aka Kol Derekh Hatzafon, is composed of four very busy women who find the time to come together to share their love of music. These women sing songs about issues important to women and those who love them, such as domestic abuse, parenting, and historic songs from the suffrage movement; folk songs from the traditional to the contemporary by artists such as Julie Gold and John Masefield; and contemporary Jewish, folk and liturgical music featuring songwriters such as Linda Hirshorn, Razel Raphael, and Debbie Friedman.

Originally, KDH came together to sing Jewish folk songs for lifecycle events such as the 135th anniversary of Temple Beth Isreal in Plattsburgh, New York. Then the group expanded their repetoire to include a Women's History Anthology, which entertains the audience with an allegorical slant. Recently, the group expanded their repetoire yet again for shows at the Mayor's Cup festivities and the Kent Delord House "Music at Dusk" series, both in Plattsburgh, New York.

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Bruce Surprenant

Bruce and Liz Surprenant are the proprietors of Surprenant's Berry Farm. Bruce grew up in the Mooers, NY area in northern Clinton County, and though his travels took him around the world, he ended up back in Mooers.

He had long been interested in growing fruit-bearing plants, and in the early 1990s, he made it his business. In 1992, Bruce opened his acres of 33,000 strawberry plants as a "U-Pick" operation. In 1994, he introduced raspberry plants, which eventually became his main crop.

Four years later the Surprenants began to produce and sell jams and jellies. The business grew to include more than 150 varieties of full-sugar, low-sugar, and sugar-free jams. They now produce more than 25,000 jars per year, says Bruce, "all made the old-fashioned way. No steam kettles here. Our best-sellers are the apple pie jams and the pepper jams."

The Surprenants created a unique North Country business with a great product, perfect for snacking and gift-giving.

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