Biographical Information

Traveler’s Dream performs a spirited blend of traditional and original music.  The band is comprised of Denise Wilson and Michael Lewis.  Chance Heasty also performs as a regular guest musician.  The diverse backgrounds and talents of each member contribute to the band's distinctive sound, its ability to play music from many cultural traditions, and to the dynamic and spontaneous character of its live performances.  Since it began touring in the year 2001, Traveler’s Dream has released four CDs, the most recent in October of 2009.  The band has shared its music with audiences at many different types of venues including folk concerts, French and Celtic events, state and national historical celebrations, and international festivals. 

Raised in the heart of the Midwest, Lewis and Wilson feel a deep attachment to the landscape and history of the place they call home.  They have a keen sense of their dual roles as inheritors and purveyors of traditional music – particularly the songs and tunes from France and the British Isles which comprised such a large part of the early music of the Midwest. Though they draw deeply from this rich wellspring of traditional material, the members of Traveler’s Dream are actively engaged in the contemporary folk process of creating vibrant arrangements of old songs and writing imaginative tunes and songs of their own.

Denise Wilson
Denise is a musical jack-of-all-trades whose music has been strongly influenced by her family’s Celtic roots, her love of history, and her life-long interest in French language and culture. She contributes to the textured sound of Traveler’s Dream with her exuberant voice, Irish flute and whistles, fife and the concertina.  Denise’s first professional musical experience came during her college years when she sang with a French dance band while studying in Strasbourg, France. After returning to the U.S., Denise earned a solid reputation as a singer and first-rate entertainer with the band Bon Jolais.   She toured with that group for the next fifteen years, solidly establishing herself as one of the region’s finest interpreters of traditional music.   With a B.A. in French and a Ph.D. in American History, Denise has a broad knowledge of the culture and history surrounding the music she plays.  She has developed a variety of programs that use music to “teach” history which are enthusiastically received at schools and colleges, historical organizations, and living history events. 

Michael Lewis
Michael captivates audiences with his powerful voice and innovative guitar, bouzouki, and mandolin playing.  Though his technical skill is impressive, it is the art and emotion in his singing and playing that set him apart from others.  Using a variety of chord voicings, delicate finger-picking, and percussive strumming techniques, Michael is a master at choosing just the right instrument and style to enhance the mood of each song.  His skills as a musical composer, songwriter, and arranger give Traveler’s Dream a sound and style that are uniquely its own. With a poet’s ability to capture what is universal and enduring in human experience, Michael’s songwriting talents were recently recognized by the Indiana Arts Commission who awarded him a grant to research regional traditional music and write four original songs relating to midwestern culture and history.  His original song "The Essex" (music and lyrics) was also featured in the fall 2009 issue of SingOut! Magazine. When not on the road performing, Lewis enjoys producing and recording the music of other regional musicians at his recording studio, Middle Earth.

Chance Heasty
Chance began his musical career at age five when he started fiddle lessons with the well-known midwestern fiddler Ed Layer.  During his early life he was surrounded by  folk and historical music as he traveled with his parents who were members of the ethnic band Bon Jolais and also the Tippecanoe Ancient Fife and Drum Corps.  By the time he was a teenager he was playing regularly with both groups.  Chance is best known for his excellent work on the fiddle as a result of studying with some of the Midwest’s finest Celtic and Old-time fiddlers, but he also shines on the Irish whistle, fife, and didgeridoo.  Though his responsibilities as a new dad to his two-year-old son, Simon, keep him from performing full time with Traveler's Dream, he joins the group whenever possible.