AFP Guest Artists
Kristie Withers was the youngest guest artist ever to appear at the Arizona Folklore Preserve. She was barely 17 when she performed at the Saturday and Sunday matinees, just before Christmas 2001.
Kristie's show was one in a series that began Thanksgiving weekend of that year, and extended through the end of December, to help Dolan out while he recovered from elbow surgery just before Thanksgiving. Dolan would open each show for the guest artist. By the time of Kristie's show, Dolan was playing guitar again, although it was a 6-string instead of his usual very heavy Guild 12-string.
For the Christmas show, Dolan selected Kristie in particular because she plays a harp—not a folk harp but the full-sized, beautiful harp pictured in the photograph above. Kristie was already a student at the University of Arizona and part of a very special and unusual group there called Harpfusion, consisting of 13 harps.
Kristie's 13-year-old brother, Michael, participated in the program as well, playing his classical guitar. Kristie played several numbers solo, and others with Michael. The program was a mix of Christmas music and classical music, and was a perfect way to get the audience in the holiday mood.
There are two links on this page to more information about Kristie and Harpfusion. Check search engines periodically to learn about Kristie's career as it unfolds.
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