July 19, 2015

On a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon, over 55 guests joined to celebrate MHC's 5th anniversary with a cake, some Nitro coffee from our friends at Strange Coffee, and, most importantly, with powerful music from Laura, Kagey, and Caleb.  What was the Honey Dewdrops with Caleb Stein clearly had become Joy America.  Two hours of fabulous new and familiar music, with each of them taking turns at lead vocal, harmonizing voices and instruments. 

Joy America created joy at Monkey House.

March 2013:

On a cold March evening,53guests from Blacksburg, Natural Bridge, Roanoke, Dublin, and Alta Vista, enjoyed a blend of new Americana and traditional folk music. The Honey Dewdrops (Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish) shared songs that are rooted in the experience and lives of people. Their sound was transcendent; they played a mix of their own songs and some gems from our Appalachian heritage.  No one could ever label them as just another singer-songwriter couple, not when they embed a sparse Appalachian clarity on every song. The songs were filled with energy and emotion, and their performance with a rich experience of tightly layered harmonies.



Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish share more than most couples. As the Honey Dewdrops, they share stages from venues to festivals across North America, stretches of rolling, infinite roadway, and a lot of songs; they share one mic and a hunger to pay attention to what endures. This hunger to explore and document is evident in their 2012 release Silver Lining, a Top Ten record on national Folk and Americana stations.   With tight harmonies and an musical ensemble that includes clawhammer banjo, mandolin and guitars, the effect is to leave listeners with only what matters: the heart of the song and clarity over ornamentation.

After a year and a half of living on the road, Laura and Kagey now call Baltimore, MD home and it's where they wrote and recorded their fourth full-length album, Tangled Country, slated for release in May 2015. The set of songs is raw and engaging, with characters and images from kindred people and places. And like their stage performance, these new songs rock and reel, and then they console you when you come back down.

Laura and Kagey's most recent (third) CD, Silver Lining, made the best of 2012 lists for many Folk-DJs and for Folk Alley.  See two videos: singing their own song--"Hills of My Home" or singing a traditional (on the third album) with another duo in the rotunda at Monticello.  Wow!

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 The BALTIMORE SUN has called Caleb Stine the “lynchpin of the Baltimore folk scene.” And like his Baltimore home, Stine keeps the music honest– hardworking, genuine, and unafraid to tell it like it is.

To date, Stine has released six albums, scored music for films, acted Off-Broadway, shared in classes and workshops, and traveled the country singing his songs.

His sixth album Maybe God Is Lonely Too was released on April 12, 2014. “I call this work a soundtrack for reflection,” Stine says. “Hopefully these songs create a space where someone can step outside noisy, modern life and breathe for a moment.” Hand printed and letter pressed, the disc is available only at shows or through personal contact. Baltimore’s City Paper gave ‘Maybe God Is Lonely Too’ the Best Album distinction of 2014, and listeners have found their own quiet relationship with the songs.





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