First 7 headliners announced for 2025 Montana Folk Festival

The 2025 Montana Folk Festival will be coming back to Uptown Butte July 11th through the 13th and the first 7 headlining acts were announced today.  Here's the first taste of who you will be seeing on the big stage at the Original Mineyard this year.  Bios and photos are courtesy of the Montana Folk Festival.  Click here to make a donation.

MICHAEL CLEVELAND & FLAMEKEEPER

Widely considered the bluegrass fiddler of his generation, Cleveland has been recognized 12 times as the IBMA’s “Fiddler of the Year” and in 2018 was inducted into the National Fiddler’s Hall of Fame. His recording Fiddler’s Dream was nominated in 2018 for a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and in 2019, he won a Grammy for his album Tall Fiddler. In 2019, Cleveland’s amazing life of adversity and achievement was featured in the documentary film Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story.
And in 2022, he was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship.

SHEMEIKA COPELAND

Award-winning blues, soul and Americana singer Shemekia Copeland possesses one of the most instantly recognizable and deeply soulful roots music voices of our time. She is beloved worldwide for the fearlessness, honesty and humor of her revelatory music, as well as for delivering each song she performs with unmatched passion. Copeland — winner of the 2021 Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer of The Year— connects with her audience on an intensely personal level, taking them with her on what The Wall Street Journal calls “a consequential ride” of “bold and timely blues.” NPR Music says Shemekia sings with “punchy defiance and potent conviction.” The Houston Chronicle describes her songs as “resilient pleas for a kinder tomorrow.”

YEISON LANDERO

Yeison Landero’s accordion has not stopped playing, taking cumbia to various stages nationally and internationally, and representing Colombia with its unique sabanero sound. Places like the Kennedy Center in New York and the Lincoln Theater in Washington where, with the help of Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, he has shared the culture of his hometown. From Canada to Chile, passing through the United States and several cities in Mexico. From Europe to Africa, passing through London, Madrid, Vienna, Morocco and landing in Cairo. The list is long, but Yaison continues to spread the joy of cumbia with his accordian.

FABIOLA MENDEZ

Native to Caguas, PR, Fabiola began playing the cuatro, Puerto Rico’s national instrument, at six. She got her early music training at the Antonio Paoli School of Music in Caguas and her Bachelor’s in Music from Berklee College of Music, where in 2018, she made history as the first graduate to play the Puerto Rican cuatro as the principal instrument.

Fabiola’s mission has always been to share and celebrate the cuatro, folk music, and collective story-telling. In doing so, she’s had the honor of performing at venues such as the NPR Tiny Desk, Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, Celebrity Series of Boston, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, among many others. She has also collaborated with many local and international artists, including the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Pedro Capó, Andy Montañez, Danny Rivera, the Chicago Philharmonic, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.

ZAHRA ALZBAIDI

Zahra Alzubaidi is a New York-based singer who performs a variety of Arabic music styles, with a particular focus on Iraqi music. She has taken the stage at prestigious music venues across the United States, including Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Joe’s Pub, Roulette Intermedium, and the Miami BandShell, among others.

ELIZABETH KING

Elizabeth King is a sacred soul and gospel singer from Memphis, Tennessee.  Possessed of a powerful, quaking contralto, she has led church services and performed weekly on gospel radio since the 1960s. King sang from the time she could talk. At age nine, she took seriously ill and her mother literally carried her into the doctor’s office, but they couldn’t diagnose her illness. In bed that evening, feverish, she began singing. Her mother asked her to stop and rest, but she just kept on. The next morning, she climbed out of bed and knew there was a higher power that had intervened on her behalf. Music was the vehicle that carried King through that long night, and it became the joyful expression of her faith. She has sung in church ever since.

In 1969, she was in a serious automobile accident. A drunk driver T-boned her vehicle, causing serious injuries. She spent 17 days in the hospital and was told by attending doctors she would never walk again. She did. King attributed her miraculous healing to God. She signed a deal with the Designer label and began issuing singles, starting with 1969’s “Testify.”

In 1970, she began fronting the all-male Gospel Souls and touring. Gospel DJ, Rev. Juan D. Sipp founded the D-Vine Spirituals label in 1972 to showcase local and regional talent. A year later, King cut the hit “I Heard the Voice” for D-Vine. King cut her first single, “Testify,” on the Designer label in 1969, as well as a few others. She signed to D-Vine Spirituals in 1970 as the frontwoman for the all-male Gospel Souls. The group recorded five singles and an album between 1970 and 1973 Elizabeth King & The Gospel Souls cut five singles for D-Vine Spirituals before King decided to leave the music business to devote her energies to raising her growing family — she bore 15 children in total. She continued to sing in church and on the radio. During her decades away, King was approached with offers from several labels but declined them.

Then, in 2019, Rev, Juan D Shipp contacted her. Rev. Shipp was working with Bible & Tire Recording Company label boss Bruce Watson. In 2019, Watson established the Bible & Tire Recording Company and built a new studio in Memphis. He entered into a working relationship that involved restoring the D-Vine Spirituals master tapes. Watson had become as interested in recording modern-day sacred soul from the mid-South as he was in modern-day Delta blues recordings for Fat Possum decades earlier
Living in the Last Days was issued in April 2021, more than 50 years after the release of King’s first single. In June the following year, King reteamed to the studio, and I Got A Love was released in 2023, King again re-entered Memphis’s Delta Sonic Sound with a star-studded guest list and the result was a ten-song set titled Soul Provider that was released in April 2024.

PAUL BEAUBRUN

Paul Beaubrun is a Haitian singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer. Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, son of the Grammy nominated band Boukman Eksperyans and the grandson of legendary Haitian comedian Languichatte.
Paul has gained recognition locally and internationally for his unique art; at the heart of his music is a captivating sound, a masterful blend of his exceptional guitar playing skill, soulful vocals, and innovative arrangements. Drawing on his rich cultural heritage, he seamlessly weaves together elements of Haitian Creole, French, and English, creating a musical tapestry that reflects the diverse influences that have shaped his artistic vision.

Paul’s talents and versatility as a musician have led him to collaborate and perform with a diverse array of renowned artists. Through these collaborations and performances, Paul has achieved worldwide success and established himself as one of Haiti’s most accomplished and celebrated musical exports.

Paul has been a touring member of the world-renowned band Arcade Fire since 2022, joining them for their “WE” tour. As part of Arcade Fire, Paul has made several high- profile appearances on shows like Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as at major music festivals around the globe. His role in the band has allowed him to showcase his musical talents to a wider audience and further cement his reputation as a versatile and accomplished musician.