The award-winning Corn Likkers are an old-time family string band that plays hard-driving fiddle tunes and haunting songs rooted in western North Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains. Steeped in tradition, the Corn Likkers bring an exciting new sound by infusing flatfooting (percussive dance), flat-picked guitar, non-traditional arrangements, and chord-based second fiddling with traditional old-time instrumentation and powerful singing. This gives the band a full, traditional sound with a modern edge.
Based in San Jose, the Chen family has spent 20 years at The Swannanoa Gathering, where their children, Eleanor and Elijah, “caught” the music. There, they met Lael Sigal, who suggested they form a band and compete at the Berkeley Old-Time Music Convention (BOTMC) in 2019, where they won 2nd place in the band competition and were invited to perform in the BOTMC Spring Situation at the Freight and Salvage the next year. They have since competed at the Santa Barbara Old-Time Fiddler’s Festival (where they won 1st place) and Clifftop (the prestigious Appalachian String Band Music Festival), where they placed 3rd in the Neo-Traditional Band Competition.
Ray Chen leads the band with Tommy Jarrell-style fiddling learned in over a decade of study with John Engle, an acknowledged expert in Tommy’s fiddling. Lael Sigal adds to the sound with harmony vocals and a chord-based approach to second fiddling that she learned from Tricia Spencer. Eleanor Chen brings banjo, flatfooting, and vocals to the mix – her playing and singing–mentored by Sheila Kay Adams, a 7th-generation Appalachian ballad singer and NEA Heritage Award winner. Elijah Chen’s Tony Rice-style guitar–learned from Jason Keiser, who studied with Tony’s brother, Wyatt– contributes to the band’s edgy sound. Elijah also leads Bay Area Special and is a member of the New Acoustic Collective. Lauren Graves anchors the band with the steady rhythm of the upright bass.
The Corn Likkers have performed at the San Francisco Free Folk Festival and played on Vern’s Stage. They also give local concerts, play for Bay Area contra dances regularly, and are fresh from the studio with an upcoming release! You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram and reach us at cornlikkers@gmail.com.