Ivan Barias is a music producer, songwriter, engineer and one half of the produc- tion/songwriting team Carvin & Ivan. He has received numerous awards and ac- colades for his songwriting and production and has been nominated three times for a GRAMMY in the Best R&B Song category. For his production work he has received an additional 19 GRAMMY nominations and has been recognized by ASCAP for his work as a songwriter. He has produced and written music for artists such as Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Jazmine Sullivan, Justin Timberlake, Phony Ppl, Meg Thee Stallion, Chrisette Michele, Keyshia Cole, 2 Pac, Chris Brown, Mario, Mary J. Blige, Estelle, Raheem Devaughn, Ledisi, Jaheim, Faith Evans, Freeway, Ace Hood, Rick Ross and many others. Ivan is the former pres- ident of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy (’12-’15), and also served on the Academy’s Board of Trustees (’12-’20). He’s currently the Co-Chair of the Producers & Engineers Wing. In 2011 he was selected as a Creative Am- bassador for the city of Philadelphia as part of the city’s GPTMC program and is also an Ambassador for the Philadelphia 76ers community Basketball League La Liga del Barrio. In addition to Ivan's musical achievements he helped establish a non-profit educational initiative called D.A.S.H. (Destined to Achieve Successful Heights) to teach high school students music production and songwriting in a partnership with Philadelphia School District. Ivan believes it is critical to give back by to the next generation of music creators and future executives by getting involved in their lives and playing a part in their development. As a speaker, he has shared his music business experience at many industry related events and has been a guest speaker on several music industry panels (SXSW, Future of Music Coalition, The Recording Academy, ASCAP)..

One of the country's pre-eminent singer-songwriters, Rosanne Cash has released 15 albums of extraordinary songs that have earned four Grammy Awards and 12 nominations, as well as 21 top-40 hits, including 11 chart-topping singles. She Remembers Everything—her latest release—is a poetic,
lush, and soulful collection of songs that reckon with a flawed and intricate world. It follows her triple Grammy-winning 2014 album The River & the Thread and marks a return to more personal songwriting after a trio of albums that explored her southern roots and family heritage.

Cash is also an author whose four books include the best-selling memoir Composed, which the Chicago Tribune called “one of the best accounts of an American life you’ll likely ever read.” Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Oxford American, The Nation, and many more print
and online publications. A new book, Bird on a Blade, was recently published by UT Press, combining images by acclaimed artist Dan Rizzie with strands of lyrics from a variety of Cash’s songs. In addition to regular touring, Cash has partnered in programming collaborations with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, SFJAZZ, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Library of Congress.


Cash was awarded the SAG/AFTRA Lifetime Achievement Award for Sound Recordings in 2012 and received the 2014 Smithsonian Ingenuity Award in the Performing Arts. She was a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist in the 2015–2016 season and also served as a 2015 artist-in-residence at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. That same year, she was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2017–2018, she was a resident artistic director at SFJAZZ. Last year, Cash was awarded with the “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech Award by the Americana Music Association and received an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music. She is currently writing the lyrics for a musical, Norma Rae, with composer John Leventhal and book-writer John Weidman..

Tommy Manzi began his career at EMI Records prior to shifting focus to artist development and strategic career management, first as a partner at The Left Bank Organization (Hollywood) followed by joining Gallin Morey & Associates (Beverly Hills). In 2000, Manzi relocated to New York City to form his own boutique management company, The Umbrella Group with the primary focus on a “hands on” management style. Artists that Tommy has worked with (past and present) include Bebel Gilberto, Bee Gees, Blondie, CAKE, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Neneh Cherry, The Cranberries, Duran Duran, Dom La Nena, Grant-Lee Phillips, Grant Lee Buffalo, Lisa Germano, Luther Vandross, John Mellencamp, Meat Loaf, Lisa Stansfield, Richard Marx, and others. Additionally, Tommy is a founding member of the Artist Rights Alliance (formerly the Content Creators Coalition), a non-profit group of musicians and creatives that advocate for the rights of artists.

John McCrea is the primary songwriter, lead vocalist and a founding member of the acclaimed band CAKE. In addition to playing acoustic guitar and piano, John has also taken a hands-on approach in arranging, recording, mixing and producing all CAKE albums, helping to shape the production values that define the band's distinctive sound.

McCrea is a vocal activist for various causes, notably environmental issues, climate change, clean drinking water, world poverty and artist rights. John is a founding member of the Artist Rights Alliance and a member of the board of directors of HeadCount, a non-profit organization that works closely with musicians to promote voter registration and participation in democracy.

CAKE originally formed as a somewhat antagonistic answer to grunge. The band’s autonomous processes, defiant self-reliance, and lucid inventive music has made them a nation-state unto themselves, with no obvious peers, belonging to no school. In addition to writing, arranging, producing, and performing their own music, the band engineers their recording projects in their own solar-powered studio, which generates more power than is needed to run it, causing the building’s electrical meter to run in reverse.

CAKE’s most recent album, Showroom of Compassion, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and was touted as “deadpan brilliance” by the New Yorker. The band is currently at work on their ninth album due for release during 2021..

Tift Merritt is a Grammy-nominated songwriter who wanted to be a writer until her father taught her guitar chords and Percy Sledge songs. The New Yorker has called Tift Merritt “the bearer of a proud tradition of distaff country soul that reaches back to artists like Dusty Springfield and Bobbie Gentry.” The Washington Post writes, "Tift Merritt is working in the tradition of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Leonard Cohen." Don Henley, with help from Mick Jagger, kicks of his album Cass County with a cover of her song Bramble Rose. With nearly twenty years of recording and touring under her belt, Tift is also a regular contributor to the Oxford American. Tift lives and writes in North Carolina with her young daughter..

Award-winning guitarist and pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar, Matthew Montfort has over 40 years of experience in the music industry. He became involved in the movement for artist rights in the digital age early through his role as a class representative for independent musicians in the Napster court case.

He is the leader of the world fusion music ensemble Ancient Future and has released two solo CDs: Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar and Sympathetic Serenade. Montfort is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com, a curated "best of" site, along with such luminaries as Michael Hedges and Joni Mitchell. He is also known for his work on electric guitar, flamenco guitar, sitar, ukulele, charango, mandolin, and gamelan and has recorded with legendary world music figures such as tabla master Zakir Hussain. He has performed concerts worldwide including at the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain near Barcelona, the Mumbai Festival at the Gateway of India in Bombay, and live on national radio and TV shows such as the Echoes Living Room Concerts on Public Radio International, and the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. 

Montfort holds a B.A. in World Music and Composition and an M.A. in Artist and Media Technology from Antioch University. He has studied with the master musicians of many world music traditions, including spending three months in intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. Montfort wrote the book Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India, which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills. Montfort teaches all styles of guitar, ukulele, bass, charango, sitar, and mandolin as well as music theory for all instruments and rhythm classes based on his book at his studio in San Rafael, California, and online via Skype. Additionally, he has taught masterclasses at many universities and music camps, and was on the faculty of Blue Bear School of Music in San Francisco for over two decades..

Maggie Vail started her career in 1994, when she was just 19 years old, at the preeminent independent label Kill Rock Stars. She oversaw the radio, publicity, and advertising departments for years, booked tours, and project managed releases. She also signed numerous groundbreaking bands, including Mika Miko, Erase Errata, Grass Widow and New Bloods. Rising from mail order to vice president by the end of her tenure, Maggie worked on literally hundreds of records by artists such as Bikini Kill, Elliott Smith, The Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, Deerhoof, and Gossip in the 17 years she was with the label.

She joined the board of nonprofit CASH Music in 2007. CASH’s mission is to empower artists to become sustainable in the digital age. To that end, they build free, open source digital tools and pair with them with educational resources for artists. Maggie left Kill Rock Stars in July of 2011 to move into a full time partnership with CASH founder Jesse von Doom as co-executive directors. Together they worked on projects with hundreds of artists and labels including Run The Jewels, De La Soul, Boyz II Men, TLC, The Lumineers, Mom & Pop, and Polyvinyl. When von Doom left in June 2017 she remained on as the sole executive director.

Maggie is the label manager of Bikini Kill Records, bass player of the band Hurry Up, DJ Magic Beans, and part of the all-women DJ troupe Strange Babes, who have a radio show on XRAY.fm. She was one of the organizers of the first Ladyfest in 2000. Maggie has also been in dozens of bands over the past 30 years, most notably Bangs from 1997-2003. Maggie is serving her second year as a governor with the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs®).