Four fantastic musicians who seek out the hidden gems in the nooks and crannies of old time music, vintage jazz, ragtime, and blues, and bring them to new life – that’s what the Freight has going tonight!

Berkeley’s Suzy Thompson is one of the rare musicians today who has mastered the acoustic blues violin, following in the footsteps of Lonnie Chatmon, Clifford Hayes, and Eddie Anthony. She’s a powerful singer, an award-winning fiddler, and an accomplished accordion player who, over the past three decades, has been a leading force in such influential roots music groups as the California Cajun Orchestra, the Blue Flame String Band, Klezmorim, the Any Old Time String Band, the Aux Cajunals, and the Bluegrass Intentions, as well as in her down-home collaborations with Eric Thompson.

The magazine Downbeat calls Portland's Mary Flower “a world class fingerstyle guitarist and lap slide player.” The website Living Blues says that her music “marries acoustic blues with touches of ragtime, folk, and jazz” and that “the interplay is always interesting, often provocative, and sometimes breathtaking.” In the words of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, “There are few musicians in the genre bringing as much creative spark and low-key mojo to this century-old music.” Renowned for her warm contralto and her uniquely personal vision of roots music that blends ragtime, acoustic blues, and folk, Mary has recorded nine dazzling albums, including her latest, Misery Loves Company, which Downbeat voted one of the best of 2012.

Craig Ventresco, a native of Maine transplanted to San Francisco, is a virtuoso guitarist whose music combines rural blues, early jazz, vaudeville, and string band influences. “I love all kinds of music from the turn of the century – ragtime, waltzes, marches,” he says. Acoustic Guitar Magazine calls his playing “remarkable,” “amazing,” and “uniquely powerful and passionate,” and it has been featured in the documentary Crumb and the feature film Ghost World. He has been performing and recording for the past few years with Meredith Axelrod.

Meredith is a guitarist and singer of early jazz and pre-1930s American pop. She has performed with Dan Hicks, Maria Muldaur, the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and R. Crumb, as well as with Craig. The website Jazz Lives calls her “an unusual combination of demure and passionate” – and calls Craig “the poet of archaic music that should never be forgotten.” Together, the two play with great depth, richness, and charm.

Visit Suzy Thompson's website

Visit Mary Flower's website

Visit Craig Ventresco's website

Vist Meredith Axelrod's website