Jack Klatt with special guests Sweet William

Jack Klatt

Musical missionary and tireless troubadour Jack Klatt isn’t one to be easily categorized or relegated to a narrow niche. He comes across as a young man with a wizened and worldly perspective, an artist who possesses a timeless sensibility of both place and purpose. Yet, his artistic integrity extends to more than simply his songs. It embodies both execution and intent. The way he’s mastered his deft finger-picking technique and used that sturdy approach to bring his material an authenticity reminiscent of the most revered musicians and storytellers.

A product of the nation’s heartland, Klatt was born and bred in the twin cities. He dropped out of college before spending the next six years pursuing his wanderlust and hitch hiking across the country with nothing but a backpack and a Martin guitar. He eventually made his way overseas, where he slept under the stars, traded songs for spending money and enjoyed a life typical of one who’s a drifter and bohemian. All the while, he made it his mission to proffer the songs of the American masters, from Woody Guthrie and Eddie Cochrane to Hank Williams and Marty Robbins. In the process, he found himself captivated by the full gamut of archetypical American music — a singular style that encompasses folk, blues, rock, rockabilly, R&B, and arcane country — and began to refashion it to suit his own style.

As Americana Roots UK stated so succinctly, “Jack doesn’t rely on other writers for his diversity. He can write in pretty much any musical style of his choosing.”  

”When I was very young and first becoming obsessed with music I got into punk rock and early rock n roll music, started forming bands with friends in junior high,” Klatt recalls.  “All I really wanted to do was play like Scotty Moore, or Eddie Cochrane.  I was always looking for who such and such a band was influenced by.  The 14 year old me loved Rancid, which led me to the Clash, which, in turn, led me to Bob Marley and Woody Guthrie.  Social Distortion helped me discover Country Music.  As I followed the threads of American music backwards, I wound up at the beginning of recorded music and the sounds of country blues, jug band music, ragtime, early jazz, and folk Music.  I stuck around there for a long time, and learned how to play guitar. but eventually I began to get thirsty for something new and started to crawl out of my purist country blues corner… ”

As he continued to temper his technique, he began writing his own material. Once he returned home to Minneapolis, he put together a band and began playing venues and festivals throughout the Midwest.

Sweet William

Sweet William is a folk ballad duo based in Dayton, Ohio centered around the evocative vocals of Jake Book and Eileen O’Connor. Since 2021 they have been blending their passion for the English, Irish and Appalachian traditions. They will soon be releasing their first recording together. 

Growing up in Iowa, Jake first learned of traditional music from his mother, an old style banjo player from Kentucky. This led him back to the music of the Isles and the descendant forms that flourished in Appalachia. 

For the last decade, Jake has toured first as a solo singer/songwriter/guitarist before becoming a documentarian and singer and player of the old songs and tunes, adding fiddle, banjo, and Irish whistle and drum to his prodigious talents. His passion for preserving the heartwood of this tradition has precipitated into a reputation as a rising star in the traditional community, winning several competitions, and garnering collaborations with Dom Flemons, JD Wilkes, Sarah Wood, Matt Kinman and Clifton Hicks.

When Eileen’s younger brother was one, her mother took him to the doctor to see if he was okay because he was “not singing yet.” So she can safely say that she has been singing almost her whole life. It wasn’t until a re-enacting party in 2017 that she began to sing in front of people. Though her interest encompasses a wide range of traditional music, her love of the old ballads has won her a reputation for being a “sweet sad singer of sweet sad songs.”

In 2019 Eileen decided she was going to do something about the banjo that she bought in 2008, and attended Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, which changed her life. She plunged into learning the banjo with her typical zeal, studying with Carla Gover, Montana Hobbs, Sue Massek, John Haywood, and Jesse Wells. In 2021 she added fiddle to her repertoire and is studying with John Harrod.