Jason Dennie and Nick Schillace 

Jason Dennie grew up around acoustic music. The sound of acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo were pretty common and familiar to his ears by the time he actually had an interest in playing anything himself. Guitar was what he chose and while early influences could be named; Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Stephen Stills and Neil Young, the music that would come from him would always be a unique combination of everything he'd heard.

His main references were from the Bluegrass world, after all, that's what most of his family played. He had a direct link to the heart of Bluegrass with his Grandfather being good friends with the man who had ‘started it all’ Mr. Bill Monroe, and an Uncle who filled the role of banjo player for Monroe's Bluegrass Boys in the early 70's.

After a couple of years of learning his way around the instrument, he discovered Leo Kottke.  Instrumental music was already coming out of his fingers. But realizing it was an art that could stand on it's own was a huge revelation and since then a constantly developing journey of what can be said through music coming out of one guitar.

The music isn't all fingerstyle guitar, or flatpicking...it isn't all folk (as we know it to be), and uses ideas that reach out into jazz, blues, bluegrass, Celtic, rock & roll, and country to create a unique and energetic voice on acoustic guitar.  In 2000 he won the Gamble Rogers Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. His most recent CD "Just Enough," is produced by Pete Huttlinger and featuring performances by Sam Bush on mandolin, among others.

Nick Schillace wrote his Masters Thesis on the music of John Fahey.  On Box Canyon he explores the American Primitive style of acoustic guitar made famous by Fahey.  Like Fahey, his music explores the roots of Americana with a deep fondness for the blues.

Nick performs in an all instrumental group with WDET host Jon Moshier and he also collaborates with Tim Pak in an old time duo called Big Lake Trawler