Curated and Hosted by Stone Room Concerts Founder David Holiday

“Sam Reider, composer, musician and band leader of a compact acoustic big band, is for me the 21st Century’s folk Duke Ellington.”   – Northern Sky Magazine

Hill Center is thrilled to launch its new concert series this year in partnership with Stone Room Concerts
and its founder, David Holiday.

Sam Reider & the Human Hands are on a mission to break the boundaries of contemporary, instrumental
folk music. Irresistible melodies, fiery improvisation and otherworldly sounds collide in what Songlines
Magazine has dubbed a “mash-up of the the Klezmatics, Quintette du Hot Club de France and the Punch
Brothers.”  The New York Times calls it “modern folk music with saxophone and accordion.” The Human
Hands got their start playing regular late night sessions at well-known dives and venues like Brooklyn’s
Barbes and Sunny’s, and Manhattan’s Rockwood Music Hall. Led by Latin GRAMMY-nominated
accordionist, pianist, and composer Sam Reider, the Human Hands features some of the brightest names
in bluegrass and jazz. Since the release of their debut record Too Hot to Sleep, Sam Reider & the Human
Hands have toured throughout the US, UK, and Europe appearing at premier venues and festivals like
Jazz at Lincoln Center, Celtic Connections, and SFJAZZ. Their concerts have aired on PBS and the BBC.
The Human Hands EP, released in early 2020, featured six live video recordings, captured on analogue
tape in Brooklyn. They are currently at work on a new full length album, due for release in 2024.

About David Holiday: David Holiday — a lifelong music aficionado who in his youth performed with
the Grammy-winning Texas Boys Choir and numerous youth orchestras and ensembles — founded Stone Room Concerts together with his wife in 2012 to bring  intimate, high-quality performances by local, national and international independent musicians to the DMV area.

He has hosted more than 200 shows over the past decade in homes, churches and other eclectic venues, including for several years at Bikenetic , a full service bicycle shop in Falls Church. Stone Room Concerts also serves as the fiscal agent for  Niñas Arriba , a charitable project of Latin Grammy-nominee Gina Chavez and their wife Jodi
Granado, which they set up to support the college education of young women in El Salvador and Central
America.  In keeping with his long standing professional involvement with Central America, Holiday is part of a team supporting the Maya Kaqchikel musician Sara Curruchich.  In 2023, he had the privilege of serving as tour manager for Curruchich’s first-ever US tour, including major venues and festivals in New York, California, Colorado and Illinois.