Summer Folk Summit featuring Alexa Rose, Dori Freeman and Viv & Riley

Alexa Rose – Rose was born in the Alleghany Highlands of western Virginia and raised in the tiny railroad town of Clifton Forge. Despite no one in her immediate family playing or singing, she inherited a deep musical legacy. Perhaps following in the steps of her great-grandfather, Rose’s songs feel like oil paint landscapes of her own life in the mountains, often wringing out the beauty in mundanity and exploring timeless topics. Her earnest, well-crafted stylings are a multi-layered merger of old country music and traditional folk songs, colored by rock and roll and mountain soul. A former resident of Boone, Rose won MerleFest’s prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest in 2021.

Dori Freeman -An Appalachian native, Freeman is from the nearby town of Galax, Virginia, where she grew up in a musical family. Her father, Scott Freeman, and grandfather, Willard Gayheart, both play music and their family owns the Front Porch Gallery and Frame Shop, which is part of The Crooked Road, Virginia’s heritage music trail.  Said Freeman, “I’d go to fiddler’s conventions, but I’d also watch my dad play jazz, swing, country, and rock & roll. He was a big fan of singer-songwriters. I think that variety has a lot to do with the way my own songwriting has developed.”

Viv & Riley – Viv & Riley’s sound is old-soul roots music to its core, elegantly combining a traditional backbone with the fresh iconic melodies of future-leaning indie-folk, and the tightly wound vocal harmonies of the old-time and classic country music they came from. Fresh off the 2023 release of their Free Dirt Records album, “Imaginary People,” and their tour with fellow NC folksters, Mipso, Viv & Riley are quickly rising to the top of the Carolina folk crop.