Evie Ladin is a banjo player, step-dancer, singer, songwriter and square-dance caller with a lifetime of experience in traditional American cultural arts. She grew up in a trad folk scene up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the US, travels the world, and calls the rich arts scene in Oakland, California home. The polyrhythmic heat of her clawhammer banjo, resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Known as a driving force behind San Francisco’s Stairwell Sisters, Evie currently tours with her solo project – duo with Keith Terry, or her band Evil Diane. She has two CDs with the solo project, three with The Stairwell Sisters that feature some of her original songs, and two popular instructional DVDs: Buckdancing for Beginners. Before arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2000, Evie studied dance and choreography at Brown University (BA ’91), and went on to study in New York, Nigeria and Chicago. For ten years she toured nationally with the music and dance ensemble Rhythm In Shoes of Dayton, OH, performing and teaching tap dance, clogging, step dancing, and body percussion. Known as a patient and thorough teacher, Evie is integral to the thriving old-time music scene in the Bay Area, leading rowdy square dances for every age, teaching banjo, harmony singing and dance, and performing in countless festivals, clubs, schools and libraries. In addition to performing in the folk genre, she tours with Keith Terry & Crosspulse, performing rhythm-based multi-cultural music & dance works. www.evieladin.com