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KRISTIN ANDREASSEN
Kristin Andreassen has songwriting credits on two albums with 2024 GRAMMY nominations – Mighty Poplar’s self-titled debut (up for Best Bluegrass Album) and Andrew & Polly’s Ahhhh! (Kristin co-wrote the title track on this candidate for Best Children’s Album). Her own most recent release was The Bright Siders’ A Mind of Your Own (Smithsonian Folkways), which is for kids, about emotions, and was created and co-produced with psychiatrist Dr. Kari Groff and Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers). Chosen as one of 2020’s top three children’s releases by the American Library Association, this album followed up on Kristin’s first #1 kids’ radio hit – a song called “Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color for Your Eyes.” In the world of “grown-up music”, Kristin has toured and recorded with the stringband Uncle Earl, the vocal trio Sometymes Why, the percussive dance company Footworks (as a clogger), and with NYC’s anti-folk superhero Jeffrey Lewis. She’s had the honor of recording with producers John Paul Jones, Dirk Powell, Mark Schatz, José Ayerve, Robin MacMillan, and Shane Leonard (coming soon, I promise!). One favorite MoM-inspired collaboration is this video — created by Anna Roberts-Gevalt — which uses shadow puppets and body percussion to illustrate “How the Water Walks.” Kristin studied community development at Montreal’s McGill University and in rural Canada, and she’s noticed herself thinking about that learning a lot in her current work at Miles of Music. She lives in Nashville.
Clara Baker
Clara Baker is an audio engineer/producer/musician from Portland, OR. She records, produces, and mixes music at several full-service recording studios in the Portland area as well as her home studio, The Bakery. Clara is passionate about helping songwriters and musicians record their music in a unique and authentic way that captures the emotional essence of each song. As both a singer-songwriter and an audio professional, Clara brings a unique perspective to the recording process. She is a member of The Recording Academy, SoundGirls, and Omni Sound Project. This will be her sixth year on the island!
Lauren Balthrop
Lauren Balthrop is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter born and raised in Alabama where her family gatherings always included sing-alongs of the Everly Brothers, the Andrew Sisters, the Louvin Brothers, and the Beatles. After 10 years making her way in NYC, she heard the siren call of Nashville where she now calls home. Lauren released her 2nd album Things Will Be Different in August of 2022 on Olivia Records. She is also the director of the Nashville branch of Blue Balloon Songwriting School, the NYC originated music school that teaches kids and adults instrument instruction through songwriting. Her big folk-rock band and "small town" with her brother called Balthrop, Alabama toured all across the states to a cultish following. Her 60's inspired girl group, The Bandana Splits, has released two records with songs landing on shows such as HBO's 'Bored to Death' and the re-boot of ‘Magnum P.I.’ She's also toured extensively as a multi-instrumentalist for Elizabeth & the Catapult, Kevin Morby, Michaela Anne and Ximena Sariñana. Lauren is a knitter and tap dancer too. She’s currently working on songs for her 3rd album.
Isa Burke
Isa Burke is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer based in Portland, Maine. Whether singing harmony vocals, playing traditional fiddle tunes, or crafting spiky yet atmospheric electric guitar sounds, she brings a voracious musical appetite and a spirit of collaboration to a vast array of projects. Raised in a musical family in Maine, Isa soon found her way to Boston, where she studied fiddle and songwriting at Berklee College of Music and dove headfirst into the area's thriving music scene. In 2014 she co-founded the indie-folk band Lula Wiles, which released three albums on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and toured internationally until 2021. Isa has spent recent years building a reputation as a versatile and in-demand collaborator, a musical Swiss Army knife at home in many styles and contexts. She has been touring with Aoife O'Donovan since fall 2021 (earning a nomination for Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2023 Americana Music Awards), and recently became the newest touring member of cult-favorite indie band the Mountain Goats. She has toured and recorded with many other artists including Jake Blount, Darlingside, Mipso, Rosier, the Brother Brothers, Laura Cortese, Kris Delmhorst, Session Americana, Sam Moss, and Liv Greene (whose debut album Isa produced). Isa is also an experienced and devoted music educator, and a longtime member of the Miles of Music community.
Allie Chip
Allie Chip is a Brooklyn-based folk singer-songwriter, cofounder of the Imperfectionist Song Society (ISS), and a registered vinyasa yoga teacher. She loves oat milk matchas, comedy, wildflowers, and making up silly songs with her friends. Poses are cool, but Allie's real intention is to help you laugh, take deep breaths, and love on yourself during yoga class... no matter what your body's doing. Allie teaches from a warm, relatable place and welcomes folks of all levels. Yoga will be real, chill, explorative, and fun. Come hang!
Abigale Clapham
Abigale "Abby" Clapham has been a part of the Miles of Music Croo since 2019, but is a life-long "islander". She has been coming to Three Mile Island during the regular summer season since her childhood, later working on the summer Croo from 2012-2015. Originally from West Virginia, she currently resides in the piedmont of South Carolina as a healthcare professional by day and artist by night. Abby is inspired by her time living in Appalachia and her summers on Lake Winnipesaukee. She works in several types of mediums , but fell in love with watercolors the summer of 2020. She is drawn to their vibrancy, immediacy, and ephemeral nature.
Among other things, she is known for doodling on the dock and leading paper crafts during the Holiday Art Shares. This will be her first time teaching at Miles of Music Camp!
Wila Frank
Wila Frank makes music that’s searching, cinematic, and introspective with scalpel-like precision. Her songs can clear the air, putting to music emotions that are deeply felt but only rarely spoken. With her debut album Black Cloud, the Nashville-based songwriter immediately sets a mesmerizing mood that showcases her evocative lyricism as well as her tasteful ear as a multi-instrumentalist and producer.
Frank was raised on a farm in a rural bohemian community near the Oregon coast, where she formed a passion for classical and folk music. She is a talented multi-instrumentalist trained on the violin, piano, mandolin, cello, and guitar.
Amy Helfand
Amy Helfand is a visual artist and convener who grew up collecting beach glass on the shores of Lake Michigan. Her work has always been rooted in the study of landscape(s) and an effort to create a sense of place, whether through sculpture and installation, drawing, ceramics, or textiles. She is a collector at heart; of images, forms, and colors, as well as rocks, sticks, and other ephemera.
Amy has her hands in many things other than clay and dirt, including the non-profit arts and food justice worlds. She lives at the House of Love, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and has hosted concerts in the living room, often featuring MoM friends, since her first year at camp in 2012.
Lauren Horbal
Lauren Horbal is a singer/ songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville, TN. She is the drummer and music director for 6 piece queer indie pop band Fame & Fiction. She relocated to Nashville from Connecticut in 2012 and has since had the privilege of working with incredible artists such as Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon), Morgan Jahnig (Old Crow Medicine Show), Tania Elizabeth (The Avett Brothers), Jobi Riccio, Rachel Baiman, and Liv Greene. Lauren has been teaching private drum lessons since 2003.
Because of her background as not only a drummer but a songwriter and guitar player as well, Horbal’s approach to teaching drums is from a songwriting and song building perspective. Lauren’s mission as a creator, performer, and teacher is to inspire women and girls to start drumming and to empower them to succeed in a male dominated industry.