https://www.noahwotherspoon.com/

Noah Wotherspoon is a phenomenal and captivating musician, who found his calling at a young age, and made a name for himself as one of the leading musicians, and blues guitarists, to rein from Dayton, Ohio. 

Noah first began playing guitar at the age of 11, and by 15 he was fronting his own band, Noah and the Stratocats. Only a year after their incarnation, the band quickly picked up speed, and they found themselves performing in front of thousands at the prestigious, Chicago Blues Fest, where they would continue to appear for the next 8 years. After their debut at the CBF, Noah and band were asked back to perform again the following morning, where Noah would be discovered by Jimmy D. Lane (son of blues legend and Muddy Waters’ guitarist Jimmy Rogers), leading to the recording and release of his debut album on APO Records “Buzz Me”, which featured the legendary Hubert Sumlin (guitarist for Howlin’ Wolf) on two tracks. 

Since then, Noah has lived multiple musical lives, exploring various styles and earning a reputation also as a prolific and compelling songwriter. Over the years, he’s shared bills with icons such as Chris Issak, Leon Russel, Bob Scaggs, Savoy Brown, John Hammond, Joe Bonamassa, Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Sheperd, and has performed, and/or recorded with, a wide range of his heroes, including Bobby Blue Bland, Hiram Bullock, and Will Lee, to name a few. Wotherspoon and his band have backed two of the late Muddy Waters’ sons, Big Bill Morganfield at the East Tawas Blues Festival inn 2014 as well Mud Morganfield (the eldest son of Muddy Waters) at the Cincinnati Blues Fest in 2026. 

In 2015, Noah received the Albert King award for best guitarist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, and the Noah Wotherspoon Band (with Brian Aylor and Rob Thaxton) placed 2nd overall. Shortly after, the band (with varied members) began performing at venues and festivals around the world, touring Eastern Europe multiple times, performing in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and Austria, as well as headlining both the Reykjavik Blues Festival in Iceland and the Salva Jazz & Blues Festival in Salvatierra, Mexico.

The NWB has released 2 studio albums, ‘Mystic Mud’ and ‘Mobile Juke House Theater'. The current NWB line-up features Da’Rosa Richardson on keyboards, Tom Rastikis on bass, and Brian Aylor on drums.

As you listen to Noah, there is an undeniable outpouring of soul and feeling. It many times has people curious, what musical influences have inspired him over the years. “...within the first few years of playing I became immersed in the music of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. By way of guidance from Dayton musicians Tim Arnold and Shake ‘n Dave Hussong, I dug deeper into learning about the blues, and fell in love with classic Texas/Chicago blues artists such as Otis Rush, Albert King, Magic Sam, as well as Dayton’s own musical legends like Robert Ward. I’ve also always drawn inspiration from the Beatles and great songwriters in the realm of Bob Dylan, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and Doyle Bramhall II. Reading Jack Kerouac as a teenager was a big eye-opener and got into a lot of my writing. I also love world music, and listen to a lot of artists from India especially.” 

In May of 2026, Noah was inducted into the Southwestern Ohio Blues Hall of Fame. Most recently, Noah garnered an official endorsement with the legendary Maton Guitar company, based in Australia (est. 1946) and known for their handmade and high-quality instruments. 

- Contributing writer Khrys Blank 

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Shannon Varner discovered Lindy Hop while living in New York City ages ago. Since then she has been fortunate to live in Lindy Hop-centric cities ever since. Whether Washington DC, Chicago, or Columbus, OH, they all have provided rich opportunities to hone her dance skills, and influence her dance styles. She enjoys sharing her passion for these dances with others and truly believes dancing is for everyone.

Shannon has won numerous awards, placing in such competitions as the American Lindy Hop Championships, Beantown Dance Camp, Nevermore Jazz Ball, SwingIN, Southern Swing Challenge, and Midsummer Night Swing in NYC.

Shannon also co-founded the award-winning competitive dance team SwingColumbus and served as co-choreographer.

Swing Dance America - Lexington | Facebook page

Aaron began dancing Lindy Hop and Blues in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky in early 2010's thanks to Lexington Lindy Hop and Balboa legends Mike and Mary Richardson (Hepcats! Website). Since 2017, Aaron has served our community as the President and Lead Instructor for Swing Dance America Lexington. He gets around our region quite a bit to dance, teach, and learn. Keep your eyes peeled and you may catch him at a dance in your local scene! 

Formerly based in San Francisco, Jay now proudly represents Chicago's South Side, where they study contemporary Black American dance forms, including House and Chicago Steppin’, in local community studios.

In the summer of 2025, Jay joined the teaching team at Traffic Jam! Swing and has been fortunate to train with John Holmstrom, Kerry Kapaku, Bob Bednarz, and the entire Traffic Jam! Swing team. Jay also teaches with the Fizz and Bluetopia teams and is proud to call the Chicago Lindy Hop community home.

As a switch dancer, Jay enjoys exploring the unique dynamics that switching roles brings to both the social dance floor and the classroom. Their movement is deeply informed by extensive solo training and the groove, musicality, and cultural roots of House dance and House music.

https://www.flybungeefitness.com/ 

Rachel started dancing at the very young age of two and a half. She could always dance better than she could walk. Dancing competitively in styles like jazz, ballet, contemporary, and tap, she didn’t find partnered dance until college. 

In 2017 her friend invited her out to the Leapin’ Lizard where she came to find the community and outlet she had been looking for after retiring from competitive dance. She was hooked. Learning as much as she could, she became a fanatic,  sometimes dancing 5 days a week. Rachel eventually got heavily involved in the Blues Dance Cincinnati scene, teaching, djing, and serving on its board. She has also choreographed and competed at Dayton Smackdown with co-choreographer Maggie Disher. 

Rachel loves the conversational aspect of partner dancing and also enjoys playing with rhythms and the different layers of the music. Some of her favorite tunes are those that make you just want to melt on the dance floor. She often describes these songs as “ooey-gooey”. As a teacher, Rachel particularly enjoys bringing out the voice of follows, expanding and enhancing what they bring to the dance and how they communicate with their partners. 

In addition to dance, Rachel is also the studio manager, choreographer, and instructor/trainer for Fly Bungee Fitness in Loveland. Yes. She has already seen the SNL Timothee Chalamet sketch.

Shelby Johnson is a self-proclaimed music snob, who fell in love with jazz at an early age listening to the sounds of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He really fell in love with swing music in the 6th grade thanks to a music appreciation class, and later started playing jazz in the 8th grade after 3 years in a band as a drummer and percussionist.

In high school, Shelby started playing the vibraphone and would transpose his parts for most pieces, as many pieces didn't provide written music. This developed Shelby's ear for music that was a huge catalyst for him catching the swing dance bug in 2011 in Orlando, Florida.

And BOI, what kind of journey that has started! 2 years later, Shelby became one of the premier DJs in the Southeast, being featured at exchanges in Florida and South Carolina. In 2013 Shelby moved to Dallas, TX, where he continued to deliver awesome syncopated tunes for Lindy Hop, Charleston, Balboa and Collegiate Shag.

Shelby's passion for social dancing, teaching and competing landed him the 2016 Frankie Manning Ambassador Scholarship to Herrang Dance Camp where he expanded his knowledge on Jazz Dance and Music History. Now Shelby is in Columbus, OH and continues bringing people groovy and rhythmic tunes to dance their best. 

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SupermurgaNati! 

Hello, everyone! I started my dance career in 2018 as a sub-par Lindy Hopper, but shortly after going to school for Music Education, I discovered a drive to bring Swing Dance to a broader community here in Cincinnati! I believe that through community participation and visibility, the mostly forgotten art of partnered dance can rise anew! I love the idea of celebrating tradition by adding a modern twist to it - making these spaces inclusive for and of all different music genres, perspectives, creeds, and ability levels, and so I hope to aid in this cause by working within the SupermurgaNati brand to introduce as many people as possible to the culture and work with existing dancers to create enriching opportunities.

SupermurgaNati! 

Joel has been teaching, performing, community building, and producing events in the Swing Dance community all over the Eastern United States since 1997. His current project (since 2023) is SupermurgaNati!, a partnership with Delaan Sumler based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

SupermurgaJoel is a former Virginia State Open Jitterbug Champion and Southwestern Regional Lindy Hop Champion. He has served as Competition Coordinator and/or Head Judge for the American Lindy Hop Championships (Stamford, CT), Lindy Focus (Asheville, NC), and Beantown Dance Camp (Boston, MA) multiple times. Joel has taught classes at many events.

Joel is a founding and honorary lifetime member of the Piedmont Swing Dance Society in Greensboro/Winston-Salem, North Carolina and was a founding member and first president of the Atlanta Swing Era Dance Association. He has founded and directed three different Swing Dance Troupes: Bums and Bombshells (Greensboro, NC), Heavens to Murgatroid! (Atlanta, GA), and The Cinci SnapShots (Cincinnati, OH).

Joel has been fortunate to have performed to live music from The George Gee Jump Jive and Wailers, The Cab Calloway Orchestra, Martha and the Moodswingers, Jet Set Six, Nappy Brown, and John Zappa's Rich Uncle Skeleton among others. Joel's first swing dance performance was choreographed by Richard Badu in Durham, NC. Richard taught and guided Joel at the beginning of his swing dance journey.

In Cincinnati, among other things, Joel served as a co-producer of SwinGallery (Cincinnati’s longest running weekly swing dance event) from 2006-2016. He still tries to be there every Thursday that he can, DJing and/or teaching almost every month.

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Daniel fell in love with swing dancing over a decade ago, mesmerized by the healing power of dance. The more time he spent on the dance floor, the greater his curiosity grew about the music that drives the movement. As that exploration deepened, Daniel began djaying with a focus on making each playlist a unique experience. His sets feature a solid foundation in the original jazz of the 20s and 30s, paired with a healthy dose of current artists, complete with a surprise or two.