Greetings from Basket Landing. Our home is Hankins, New York, a small town located in the Upper Delaware River valley. The group’s name is taken from a beautiful spot where the Basket Creek enters the river, and where we've been going to fish and swim since we were kids.
Basket Landing performs a mix of traditional American folk music and songs from the British Isles, Canada, and Australia — sweet Appalachian folk ballads, lilting Irish melodies, seafaring tunes, Ozark Mountain bluegrass, and vibrant spirituals. Our selection is drawn from the repertoire of a group of families who have been getting together every Saturday night for the past 45 years, on a mountaintop farm in Hankins to sing and play music for themselves, their friends, and neighbors. These gatherings started in connection with a small recovery center for alcohol and drug addicts, and the tradition continues to this day. These musical get togethers are all about getting high without drugs, and have been a factor in the recovery of thousands of addicts over the years. For those of us who were brought up in these families as the children of recovered addicts, the weekly sings were a wonderful early experience of the magic of traditional folk music.
Basket Landing is accompanied by the Basket Landing Dancers for many of its performances. The dancers range from ages nine to twenty-two and perform a wide variety of international folk dances, including Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, English, Italian, Bulgarian and American selections.
Basket Landing: History/Bio
Joan Stein - Rhythm Guitar, Lead Vocals
Joan picked up a guitar at age 12 and started performing in her teens. Her older brother invited her to perform with him, starting when she was fourteen. It was from him that she learned to love folk music, and it was in those performances that she really learned to sing. She has been playing guitar and singing for audiences now for seventeen years. In 2003, Joan formed a duo with Nate Zaur (known of course as Joan & Nate) which was the precursor of Basket Landing. In the summer of 2005 Basket Landing was formed, and since then Joan has sung with the five-person band all over the northeast United States and as far south as Texas. Joan lives with her husband and five children in the beautiful Delaware River section of the Catskills.
Nate Zaur - Lead Guitar,Tenor Vocals, Banjo, Piano, String Bass
Nate Zaur brings to the group strong male vocals and a wide range of instrumental expertise. He began playing the piano at age 6, and from there has mastered the guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass fiddle and bass guitar. He currently serves as the music teacher to the group’s younger members. When not teaching, practicing, or performing music, Nate is working in his print shop, Spencer Printery, which he bought in the fall of 2005. Nate lives with his wife Rebecca (who is Amy and John's older sister) and 2 lovely daughters in Hankins, New York. Rebecca often comes along with Basket Landing to play her fiddle.
Amy Smith - Banjo, Backup Vocals
Amy was born into a folk music family. Her father is an avid folk music singer and all of her siblings are musically talented. Amy’s musical career began with the piano and organ, then clarinet, and finally banjo. She plays an open back banjo primarily in the clawhammer style. Her strong vocals blend beautifully with Joan’s voice. In June 2006 Amy married Paul Smith, the group's performance sound engineer. They have a son and recently welcomed a daughter, Irene, in March of 2010.
John Powers - Mandolin, Backup Vocals
John is Amy's younger brother. He started playing the mandolin at age 13, and has studied with Tom Kane of the well-known Irish folk band, Timlin and Kane. Recently he purchased a new mandolin, an Eastman MD 505. He is very excited about the new instrument, preferring it over his original instrument, a Kentucky 250 S . Like his sister Amy, he has folk music in his blood, and has inherited his father's rich voice. John contributes strong support vocals to Basket Landing's sound. In August 2009, John married Stephanie Anderson, Jim's daughter. Recently, they welcomed their son, Ethan, who was born on September 30th, 2010
Jim Anderson - Bass Fiddle
At 46 years old, Jim Anderson is the band's oldest member and has been playing folk music for the past 20 years during gatherings at East Ridge. Rhythmically gifted, Jim is also the newest member of Basket Landing and his rhythm provides a strong backbone to the group. He lives in Hankins, NY with his wife and three of his five children. His daughters Stephanie and Kelly and son Raymond, perform with the dancers and Stephanie also joins Basket Landing for guest performances on her Irish flute and fiddle.