Ella Cummings is a high school senior from Milan, Michigan. She is a multi-instrumentalist, but the guitar holds a special place in her heart. She loves anything and everything to do with music, which she plans to study starting this fall at Eastern Michigan University's School of Music.

Now entering his 7th decade, Tom has been playing guitar since his mid-teens. This will be Tom’s second appearance at the North Star. He has been in a number of bands over the years and enjoys playing acoustic, electric and slide guitar as well as the harmonica, but solo acoustic guitar has always been his passion. In the mid-90’s, Tom met Shari Kane who introduced him to the acoustic blues which began a lifelong journey to learn from the masters of this genre. Some of his influences include Doc Watson, Jorma Kaukonen, Dave Van Ronk and Pat Donohue. For Tom, there’s always been something special about a solo acoustic guitar performance. The great Richard Thompson probably said it best: “To stand up on a stage alone with an acoustic guitar requires bravery, bordering on heroism, bordering on insanity.”

Brian started taking guitar lessons with Shari Kane at the YMCA in February 2013. He enjoys playing fingerstyle folk and blues guitar.