Two brothers who grew up playing for contra dances met this bluegrass-loving jazz saxophonist... why not? We fell in love with The Faux Paws at our 2019 festival, and at our 2022 festival they rocked both the Dance Hall and the Main Stage. We are thrilled to welcome them for a full weekend of dance and music.

The music of The Faux Paws would be hard to pin down with standard genre descriptions. These three close friends (two of whom happen to be brothers) feel a musical kinship that transcends any stylistic limitations.

Brothers Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand grew up playing contra dance music with their musician mother in the band Great Bear. Chris Miller was enamoured with bluegrass and studied jazz before going on to play with GRAMMY nominated Cajun-country band The Revelers. They have enjoyed playing together for ten years, onstage and off, but only recently have been able to make The Faux Paws a priority.

Now, with an experimental but cohesive vision, and a debut recording under their belt, the trio brings together seemingly unrelated musical elements into one joyful and distinctive collection, deeply rooted in the raw humanity of folk dance and music traditions.

with caller Caroline Barnes

Caroline Barnes is a caller and organizer from the D.C. area. She has called for events as varied as Youth Dance Weekend, the Glen Echo Park contra dances, the D.C. Square Dance, and evenings of ceilidh dancing at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. She believes wholeheartedly that participatory dance is a social good, and she is committed to facilitating a joyful synthesis of music, movement, and community from the microphone.

As an organizer, Caroline is vice-president of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, the past president of the Friday Night Dancers, and a former committee member for the Chesapeake Dance Weekend. When she is not putting together a social dance, you can find Caroline dancing with her rapper team, Sligo Creek Sword, or her clogging group, Just in Time.