Jimmy Sweetwater Presents
The Stairwell Sisters
Loretta Lynch


Devine's Jug Band

San Francisco's all-gal urban old-time teardown, THE STAIRWELL SISTERS have amassed a rowdy repertoire of timeless tunes plus a solid standing of smart, original material that is winning praise on a national level. Trad fans of every generation enjoy their energetic musicianship, tight vocal arrangements and red-hot buckdancing.

In the past year, the gals have appeared on the nationally syndicated A Prairie Home Companion, as well as festival stages from Lincoln Center in NYC to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in SF, Celtic Connections in the UK, and many points in between. They have been featured in fRoots magazine and The Old Time Herald, and garnered rave reviews in the press. In the Spring of 2008 they will release their third CD, produced by Austin's Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks, Waybacks and many more).

With soaring three-part harmonies, powerful rhythm and dreamy slide guitars and more, Loretta Lynch renders stirring songs about love and sex and death bound to reach the shady grove in all of us. Think “O Brother Where Art Thou” meets the Andrews Sisters at a warehouse hoedown.

Loretta Lynch has blazed trails, having played San Francisco's acclaimed Great American Music Hall, live radio performances, a feature at bEASTfest, multiple appearances at England's famed Glastonbury Music Festival, performances on the second stage at the Bay Area's Sleep Train Pavilion and Shoreline Amphitheatre opening for Alabama, and a devoted and rapidly growing local fan base. Loretta Lynch appeared on NPR's 'Marketplace' website ... as one of the “Great Pop Music Artists of Today”.

Devine's Jug Band was conceived and pieced together one night in 2007 by drummer Pete Devine (a member of Gaucho, Mal Sharpe's Jazz Band, and founding member of Bo Grumpus) . The outfit sports an All-star solid gang of four fine musicians: Jimmy Sweetwater (who has appeared with everybody from the jazz great Ella Fitzgerald to the country rocker Johnny Paycheck and plays regularly with Jimbo Trout and the Fish People) on harmonica and vocals, Meredith Axelrod (Craig Ventresco & Meredith Axelrod) on guitar and vocals, Mayumi Urgino (Five Dollar Suit, Toshio Hirano) on fiddle and vocals .Pete Devine plays jug, washboard, Cheek-O-Phone and vocals. Devine's Jug Band recently headlined at the San Francisco Jug Band Festival in Golden Gate Park and received raves from the audience and was featured in the SF Weekly article about the festival. The jug band truly captures the sound and spirit of the great jug bands from the 20's. Based in San Francisco's Mission District, the jug band pulls a lot of its material from the Memphis Jug Band, the Mississippi Sheiks and the Five Harmoniacs. Special guests often include vocalist Emily Anne and clarinet player Ralph Carney.