ELLEN AUDLEY - Mandolin, Guitar, Vocals
A certified soccer mom, Ellen owns Acoustic Music Service in Ft. Collins, where she shares her love of music by teaching all ages and interests. She plays gypsy music and blues in Backstreet, and plays guitar, mandolin, and the mighty but tiny Papoose guitar. She loves all things musical, from anywhere in the known universe.

LIZ BARNEZ - Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
One of our newest MoFos, Liz moved to Colorado from New Orleans in 1987. Soon after, she formed the Liz Barnez Band, which in 1993, earned the title of Northern Colorado's Favorite Band. She has also played the Winter Park Jazz Festival twice and the prestigeous New Orleans Jazz Festival (with Pamela) in '97 and '98. Since 1992, Liz has released two self-produced CDs.

JEAN HARRISON - Violin, Accordion, Percussion
This is Jean's fourth year with the Mother Folkers. In real life, she performs with the Celtic-Folk band Colcannon and teaches fiddle in the Denver area, keeping her classical chops up as a freelance classical violinist. Jean is the proud owner of the MoFo accordion but avers that Deborah is the only one who really plays it. She spent the winter and spring on Colcannon's latest release, St. Bartholemew's Feast.

JULIE HOEST - Guitar, Resophonic Guitar, Vocals
Julie is a folk and blues musician who has been performing in the Denver/Boulder area since 1987 and touring nationally for the past 3 years. Julie and her husband Tim live in Dacono (which some people think is in Kansas), where they devote every waking hour to making the lives of their three cats, Sydney, Mel and Sherlock, absolutely purrfect.

ELLEN KLAVER - Guitar. Banjo. Percussion
Ellen has played a wide variety of musical styles with various groups, and also walks onstage without an instrument as a square-dance caller. Solo, she plays traditional and contemporary music of the Americas, including her own songs, which have been recorded by musicians throughout the country. In addition, she works as a radio producer and Spanish/English interpreter/translator for cultural events. Her third recording of all-original material, Promise of Spring, will be available later this year.

REBECCA LEONARD "REBOP" - Diatonic and Chromatic Harmonica, Vocals
Rebecca performed in Detroit blues clubs before moving to Denver in the '70s. Here, she has added rock, country, and reggae music to her repertoire. In recent past, Rebecca, as REBOP Presents, booked and promoted some of Colorado's best female musicians and represented a local record label. She designs insurance plans for small business groups and individuals who are self-employed. As an insurance agent, she wants to remind you: Harmonicas are NOT toys!

SUZY NELSON - Vocals, Percussion
Suzy has been active in commercial and TV promotional voice-overs and music recording for over 20 years. She has sung with orchestras and jazz and rock bands, and is currently with Moment's Notice and Charm School Dropouts, a female acappella group. Suzy's first recording, Busman's Holiday, was released last fall. She lives in the foothills with her husband, Paul Vastola, and their son Andrew.

EILEEN NIEHOUSE - Guitar, Vocals
Eileen will go down in history as the person who thought of our name. For the last 18 years, she has played her guitar in DADGAD tuning and teaches others about it when she can. Though not one to tour (she gets nervous if she's more than 5 miles from home), she does make a yearly trek to play a Celtic Festival outside D.C., where she is surrounded by other Irish music maniacs.

PAMELA ROBINSON - Saxophones, Guitar, Percussion, Vocals
Pamela, affectionately known as "Pamela," has played everything from Bach to Irish to Rock on any or all of her saxes, and still finds the time to play guitar and piano and write her own songs. Pamela is currently working with the Liz Barnez Band and her acoustic trio, The Mudheads, and is in great demand in the studio. Expect her solo CD to be released this summer.

DEBORAH SCHMIT-LOBIS - Keyboards, Accordion, Vocals
Deborah grew up playing Mozart and Beethoven and still performs "that classical stuff" with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Central City Opera, and a lot of solo Gershwin for his 100th Birthday. As if that weren't enough, she plays everything from bluegrass to jazz in the acoustic trio, "Upsidasium." We all know that music soothes the soul...Deborah is now exploring sound healing and practicing it on us.

MARY STRIBLING - Bass, Vocals
Mary is a founding Mother Folker and has emceed all our shows. As a songwriter, she is known for tackling such overlooked topics as chocolate, found love, mammals and reptiles. Mary teaches at the Swallow Hill Music School, works as a freelance bassist and performs with her band, The Combo Amazo. Mary has just released her newest recording, Combo Amazo. In her next life, Mary hopes to play an instrument more along the lines of, say, a piccolo.

Kathi DeFrancis, a founding MoFo, returns with all the gusto and wisecracks we have sorely missed. And she brought her daughter, Angie, the first Daughter Folker. When her other daughter returns from Europe, they all plan to sing and play together.

Vicki Taylor, a longtime favorite blues woman, appeared this spring as one of the "Blues Divas" (w/other FO MOs Mollie O'Brien and Mary Flower) at the Swallow Hill Blues Festival. She teaches at the Swallow Hill Music School, and her first recording, Dark Side of the Street was released last year.

Bonnie Phipps has made her living performing for over 16 years. She won the 1982/83 National Autoharp Championship, and has toured as a member of The Groucho Sisters and the Colorado Folk Ensemble. She now performs for young audiences with The Elastic Band. She has written two books, and two of her recordings earned national awards.