Photo: rabphotography.com
Sassafras Stomp is a high-energy, dance-band duo with one foot in mid-coast Maine
and one foot in western Montana. Weaving together diverse fiddle traditions
with a strong rhythmic sensibility, fiddler Johanna Davis and guitarist
Adam Nordell build a rich, dynamic contradance sound marked by driving
foot percussion and sweet harmony vocals.
Davis and Nordell's collaboration began during a month-long musical residency in
a tiny Montana town a stone's throw away from the continental divide.
After a debut performance at Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival, the duo
established themselves as a regular band at dances across Montana.
In 2010, they relocated to Davis' home-state of Maine to start an organic farm
and participate in the New England contradance community.
They have since performed for a widening circle of dances, concerts and
festivals across the northern tier of the country -
Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Montana,
as well as southern Canada.