About us
Sweeten the Third is a new collaboration between banjoist Cameron DeWhitt (they/them) and percussive dancer Afton Coombs (they/them). They play, dance, and sing traditional American string band music utilizing two of its most archaic techniques, clawhammer and flatfooting, while stretching and breaking the genre’s boundaries and semiotics in ways that only two trans folk mover-musicians can.
Cameron DeWhitt
Cameron DeWhitt is a clawhammer banjoist, Old Time musician, and drag performer from Portland, Oregon. In addition to Sweeten the Third, they play banjo and sing in Tall Poppy String Band and perform as Doreen Ditties in their drag act and old time quintet Tradwife. Cameron is also the host of Get Up in the Cool, a weekly old time music and interview podcast, featuring conversations and musical collaborations with today’s most influential traditional musicians. When they’re not performing, podcasting, teaching, or playing music for pleasure, they’re usually at home cooking for their family, roasting coffee, and reading Marxist theory.
Afton Coombs
Afton Coombs is a dancer, singer, flute player, and technical worker based in Los Angeles, California. As a dancer, their background is in tap, flatfoot, and house, and they perform as a duo with Sweeten the Third, locally in Los Angeles with Irish trad band The Praties, and on occasion with Santa Barabara-based bluegrass quartet The Honeysuckle Possums. In addition to dance, they have an educational background in linguistics and computer science, and they are lucky to be able to use their technical skills in service of nonprofits.
