No prior experience is needed for this set of square dances, and you don't need to bring a partner, either! Nancy Mamlin has called square dances throughout the United States, including at dance camps and old-time music events such as Fiddlehead, Swannanoa, and Hoppin' John, in North Carolina; the Coal Country Convention in Pennsylvania; the Augusta Heritage Center's traditional arts weeks in West Virginia; and the Rockbridge Mountain Music and Dance Festival in Virginia. She is one of the founders of the Dare To Be Square dance and calling event, and served on the calling staff for Dare To Be Square - West and Dare To Be Square - Nashville. Mamlin's square dance repertoire concentrates on dances of the Southeast, particularly the mountains of North Carolina, but also includes dances from western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the Western square traditions. She also plays guitar with her husband, fiddler Ron Cole, along with banjo player Terry Burtyk and cellist Kasy Poole Decosimo in the Bull City Quartette. The Smoky Mountaineers feature Allie and Frank Lee Frank Bronson on fiddle and Bradley Adams on bass. Born in southwest Atlanta, Frank Lee has played banjo since he was 18 years old. He toured the bluegrass circuit with a few different bands such as Clearwater, whose album was produced by Rhonda Vincent. He founded the influential old time band The Freight Hoppers in the mid-'90s. Raised in south-central Indiana, Allie has sung since she could talk and taught herself guitar at age 14. She was a founding member of The Whipstitch Sallies in which she honed her lead and harmony vocal chops. She has played with Frank and The Freight Hoppers since 2016. Hailing from Knoxville, TN, Bronson has played fiddle since he was three years old. He has been hired to join countless bands on the stage and in the studio and was most recently a member of the Tennessee Stifflegs. Rounding out the band on upright bass is Bradley Adams, a native of Bryson City who has been performing the music of the Southern Appalachians for two decades. A founding member of regional acts Sawmill Creek and Commonfolk, Adams joined The Freight Hoppers in 2008, touring and performing with the band until 2015.
