7:30 — Rupert Wates

Rupert Wates was born in London and studied at Oxford University. He has been a full time songwriter since the late 1990s, when he signed a publishing contract with Eaton Music Limited. In London he worked with some of the best performers in the city. Moving in 2001 to Paris, Wates formed his own quartet and began playing live regularly. In fall 2006 he came to the US. He is now based in New York City and Colorado. Since coming to the US, he has won more than 40 songwriting and performing awards.

8:00 — Alex Radus

Alex Radus is hailed as a “versatile crooner” (UMC Nashville) and “master guitarist” (Courier News), but his songwriting takes center stage. Alex pairs whimsical and poignant storytelling with an eclectic mix of Americana, swing, blues, folk and more, leapfrogging genres and blurring the lines between them. John Gorka calls him a “remarkable artist…an excellent guitarist, songwriter and singer…worth going out of your way to hear”. During his early career, Alex was awarded a youth scholarship to the Augusta Heritage Center, where he was first exposed to and learned from some of the nation’s best finger-pickers, who helped influence his unique finger style and respect for traditional music. Most recently, he was selected as a 2024 Falcon Ridge Folk Fest Emerging Artist and voted a “Most Wanted” artist to return to the Main Stage in 2025. Alex’s original repertoire is so broad, he needs three bands to present it! Check out his other projects: Hot4Robot (alt rock / post-punk) and The Christmas Sweaters (irreverent and comical holiday music). Alex hails from Pennsylvania’s artistically rich Lehigh and Delaware River valley region where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

9:00 — The Ukulele Zen

Stu Fuchs is an award winning musician and teaching artist, empowering people of all backgrounds to express themselves through creative play.  A “classically trained, improvisational freed multi-instrumentalist”, Stu blends mindfulness and music at his annual “Ukulele Zen” retreat held at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY.  His YouTube channel “Ukulele Zen” offers holistic ukulele lessons to over 100,000 subscribers.  In 2014 Stuart was awarded a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts for his work bringing healing music to cancer patients at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo NY, where he was a professional artist in residence for eight years. Stu’s Gypsy Jazz band “Babik” performed in concert halls across North America and with symphonic orchestras and he has toured to three continents playing classical guitar and ukulele with the internationally acclaimed new age Kirtan artist Snatam Kaur.  Stuart's meditative guitar playing was featured on Snatam Kaur's Grammy Award nominated Best New Age Album "Beloved."