THE BAND
Jasper Night
// Vocals
Influenced at an early age by the melodic songs of The Carpenters and Peter, Paul, & Mary, Jasper Night finds her heart at home with the messages and melodies of the progressive folk music of the 60’s and 70’s.
Jasper is on an indefinite break from making music with her beloved pedal harp due to chronic tendon injuries. However, she still sings with all the passion in her elven soul. Prayers for healing and recovery are always appreciated with a grateful heart. :)
While performing both solo and with other bands and ensembles, Jasper fell in love with fiddler, Robbie Mann, and together they created their passion project, Sweet Maple Singers.
“I remember we wanted to start making music together as a duet, and we wanted to have a name that captured the essence of the type of music we were making together. While Robbie and I were rehearsing at this beautiful park in West Virginia, I found myself absolutely enamored with the vibrant, autumn colors of a sugar maple tree. Inspired, I shared that I would love to have the word, “Maple,” in our band name. The tree reminded me of the memories I had spending time in Vermont as a child with my family listening to live Bluegrass. Shortly after, Robbie suggested, ‘How about we call ourselves the, Sweet Maple Singers?’”
Robbie Mann
// Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals, & Mandolin
Robbie Mann shares knowledge of the history and content of Appalachia’s musical culture through storytelling, sharing personal experiences, and playing songs and tunes from the hills
and hollers with anyone willing to listen. In addition to passing along what has been learned about music from Appalachia’s past, Robbie will take you on a journey through time by discussing how mountain music developed over the centuries, the influences it had towards and received from other genres of music, and its relevance today.
When Robbie was six years old, his mother asked him if he wanted to study piano or violin. He said,“Violin, because you can’t carry around a piano.” Over two decades later and he hasn’t put the fiddle down since, having built his life around the instrument while holding Old-Time and Traditional Bluegrass
nearest to his heart. Robbie is also fond of Classical, Big Band and Jazz, Blues, and Rock’n’Roll.
Matthew Kerns
// Guitar, Mandolin, & Vocals
Multi-instrumentalist and folklorist, Matt Kerns, first calloused his fingers on the mandolin and guitar in the swampy heat of Savannah, Georgia. A sojourner by trade, Kerns traveled the South and honed his craft along the banks of the Arkansas River and in the hollows of the Ozark Mountains.
Kerns journeyed back across the Appalachians and found himself washed up along the shores of the Susquehanna River where the merry musicians of the Sweet Maple Singers adopted him into the quartet.
Matt Miller
// Upright Bass
Retired astronaut and NBA hall of famer Matt Miller plays bass, because he likes it.
Raised on a diet of wholesome folk music, he now listens to all kinds of traditional & roots music from around the globe, because he likes it. Ranging from punk to jazz to bluegrass and lots in between, he's performed with various projects in Central PA for 25 years, because he likes it.
