Blackwillow Starling
Blackwillow Starling are a Milwaukee-based acoustic duo who perform Pagan, folk, and Celtic music. Both Nora and Michael Tinker Tierney have decades of experience in national and international playing and performance.
Since the release of their debut, self-titled album in June of 2024, Blackwillow Starling have appeared at Pagan Spirit Gathering, the International Pagan Music Award ceremony, WinterStar, Paganicon, and Starwood. More festivals and venue dates to be announced.
Their music can be streamed on every major service and has been featured on Pagan/Wiccan media and folk outlets such as International Pagan Radio, The Cauldron, Songs of the Pagan Tribe, CeltCast, Wyldwood Radio, DruidCast with Damh the Bard, Irish and Celtic Music Podcast, Sidvalley Radio Folk Show, Tarottunes, and Pagan Artist Spotlight Podcast. They have also been featured presenters on Full Moon Circle broadcasts with Circle Sanctuary.
Blackwillow Starling released their debut album in June, 2024. The “What the Folk is This?” radio program rated the disc as #13 for folk album of the year. Multiple songs from the release have cracked both the International Pagan Radio top 20 and The Cauldron top 10 with their song “The Answerer Sword” holding the #1 spot for 2 weeks. “Sun King”, “Between Times pt 1”, and their version of “Wild Mountain Thyme” have also placed in The Cauldron top 10 chart. The International Pagan Music Awards have bestowed a nomination for Pagan band of the year for 2025.
Follow us: Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, YouTube: @blackwillowstarling
Contact us: tynkr@sbcglobal.net
Primal Rhythm
In 2002 Burning Sage was created by founding members Lin Sanders and Sue Balaschak. Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, the all-girl power trio has toured the Midwest and Eastern states performing at venues including major music festivals, hard rock clubs, and acoustic houses. They have been seen performing in an array of eclectic styles including hard rock, acoustic, metal, world, and Sue’s “The Primal Rhythm Drum Ensemble.”
Through the magical songwriting of Lin and the Tribalistic ritual style of Sue’s drum arrangements, the song craft of Burning Sage has remained a fluid musing of the heart, striving to produce music for uplifting, deep thinking, love and prayer for the people; with a little heat of the dragon thrown in. Burning Sage has released three CDs, “Purification” in 2003, “Unveiled,” the acoustic CD, in 2005, and “True to Form,” in 2016. Presently, they are working on releasing a new video and record for 2020. The current line-up includes Dawn Fritz Heartsong on Djembe, percussion and Michelle Clark on DunDun, percussion.