Our GA-uests!- Filk Programming

Vixy and Tony photo by Beckett Gladney

Guests of Honor, Michelle Dockrey & Tony Fabris
Seattle filk duo Vixy & Tony each got into filk separately, Tony at California filk and sci-fi conventions, and Michelle at house filks and conventions in Washington. Disguised by day as Michelle Dockrey, mild-mannered officemouse, and Tony Fabris, mild-mannered codemonkey, they spend their evenings and weekends in a secret underground lair known as Monkey Brains Studios, plotting world domination through audio recording. Or playing Rock Band. Whichever. If they'd both stayed home, they might never have met, but, being wandering souls, they met in the middle at Orycon in Portland, Oregon. After a couple of successive Orycons spent listening to one another, they came together by chance in concert at one fateful Baycon in 2005 ("Wanna sing with me?" "Sure, why not?") and have been performing together ever since.

Singer and songwriter Vixy is formerly of the filk group Escape Key, originally formed with her husband Matthew on guitar and their friend Audrey Eschright on flute. Their 2001 album, Shadowbeast, contains the Pegasus Award-winning song "The Girl That's Never Been".

As luck would have it, just as Matthew decided to quit guitar in order to spend more time on mad science and wilderness adventures, Tony relocated to Seattle. He brought with him a guitar, a golden ear, and a dream of producing an album, and the duo of Vixy & Tony was born. The first tangible result of this union, Thirteen, released in April 2008, and met with glowing reviews, as well as another Pegasus for the song "Emerald Green". Thirteen also contains the long-awaited studio rendition of the popular Firefly anthem "Mal's Song", a brilliant blending of the TV show's theme song with new verses written by Vixy.

In addition to performing at filk and sci-fi conventions, Vixy & Tony can be found playing at coffee shops, bookstores, and other venues in the Pacific Northwest, frequently joined onstage by cellist Betsy Tinney and violinist Sunnie Larsen. Their easygoing style, catchy songs, accessible lyrics, and energetic performances can be enjoyed by both sci-fi fans and mainstream music fans alike, all of which earned them the Best Performer Pegasus Award in 2008.

LATE BREAKING NEWS! Just in! Cellist and songwriter extraordinaire Betsy Tinney will be accompanying Vixy and Tony at GAFilk! (We all turn hand springs and dance!)
  • More about Vixy and Tony on their website, vixyandtony.com
  • Photo by Beckett Gladney

 

 
Toastmaster, W. Scott Snyder
W. Scott Snyder, better known in filk circles as the Bardic Lug, has been making music most of his adult life. He's a travelin' man, roaming from California to Victoria, Canada creating and engineering music for video game companies. He's finally landed in Austin, Texas, a place where his accent fits his smokin' hot country and bluegrass licks. Scott has a rich baritone voice as well, and a talent for crafting a lyric that lights up the joint. He's received Pegasus nominations as Best Performer in 2000 and 2002, His song, Feygrass, was nominated as Best Sword and Sorcery Song in 2005 and A Little Bit Country Song in 2009. Scott has a wide and diverse repertoire, a passel of stories, and an charming (though humble) personality. If we're lucky, he'll be travelin' with his beautiful and talented wife, Amanda, and their two wonderful kids, Zöe and Will. We're oh so very happy to have him on the GAFilk main stage.

Scott Snyder

Our Interfilk Guests, Pug & Shaya Pug (who is Swiss) and Shaya (who is German and, since 2009, also Swiss) first met at Funacon, a filk-friendly German sf/fantasy con. In 1996 they started performing music together, involving a growing number of harps, a piano, an accordion, two voices, and several recorders. (They started doing other things together, too — like marriage and the raising two lively boys. "No dirty thoughts there, please!")

Their music, based on German songwriting tradition, Breton folk music, and the poetry of rock ballads, is often about Mother Nature (and sometimes, human nature.) They have attended several music workshops in Bretagne, France to learn Breton music and dances. Pug and Shaya are regulars at Filkcontinental, the German filkcon (the only filkcon in a real castle!), and they have visited the UK filkcon several times. The couple now resides in Switzerland. And those two sons? They've started joining in their parent's music, and enjoy going to filkcons, too. In "ordinary" life, Pug works as a physics and mathematics teacher, and Shaya is a physician in her own practice — a simple space doctor, in the outer country.

Shaya at harp, Pug at piano

Plus our SUPER SECRET GA-UEST(S)!  Once again, GAFilk is bringing in another special surprise guest(s). This someone (or someones) contributed in a mighty way to the sf/fantasy world, loves the filk community, and rarely gets an opportunity to attend a convention without the pressures heaped upon "pros". We want to give this person (or persons) the opportunity to simply enjoy the convention and have a good time.

  • This Year's Super Secret GA-uest
  • Previous Super Secret GA-uests....
  • GAFilk GA-uest History
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