Mark and Sally became friends in 1970 after meeting around a campfire at a bluegrass festival.  A few years later, they married and settled in Winston-Salem, raising a family there and continuing to play music for fun with area bands and for the local contra dances.

Sally grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, where she studied banjo with bluegrass legend Ted Lundy.  She played at Sunset Park in nearby West Grove, Pennsylvania, appearing as a guest on stage with the New River Boys.  She later helped form one of the first all-female bluegrass groups, Bluegrass Liberation.

Meanwhile, Mark was in Charlotte, North Carolina, learning to play music with some neighborhood friends, eventually forming the bluegrass band Chicken Hot Rod and playing colleges all over the eastern states.

Their daughter Sarah Siskind’s songwriting prompted them to move to Nashville in 1996, where they connected with the music community, playing for dances, participating in the local bluegrass and acoustic music scene, and doing instrument demonstrations at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Sally joined with four other women to form the bluegrass group Tennessee Heartstrings.  Mark played in the acoustic trio Kindling Stone, mixing original music with songs from the shape note and Shaker traditions.

Since relocating to Brevard, NC, in 2015, Sally and Mark participate in the local old-time jams and play for the occasional square dance.  They also play with Marc Brown as The Likely Stories and with John Carter and John Austin as the Blue Ridge Bakery Band.

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We are also hosting a community potluck this evening and every Monday from 6–8 pm. Please bring a dish to share and your own non-disposable place setting. If you cannot bring food, for any reason, we are happy to feed you. We look forward to sharing a meal together.