Maybe you think you've heard all you need to know about next weekend's National Folk Festival. But do you know what instrument is needed for a kulintang ensemble? Any idea who is traveling the farthest for this final part of a three-year Richmond stint for the NFF? Which artist shared a stage with Van Morrison on one of his rare tours last year? You'll find those answers below. Though all of the artists merit at least a few minutes of attention, we've culled some of the more uncommon people and instruments that might be worth your time.

MOST UNUSUAL INSTRUMENT FOR THE GENRE:

Jeff Little comes from the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains: Boone, N.C. His Appalachian music is a warm blend of fleet-fingered melody, its notes compounded to sound like several instruments.

So he's a guitarist, right?

Try pianist.

Growing up around the music store run by his family in Boone, Little became an early friend and fan of Doc Watson, a bluegrass and folk legend who was a frequent patron of Little's Music Store. Watson taught Little to embrace all types of music, and the resulting sound that Little concocts is something like ragtime at the motor speedway, a two-handed piano attack of bluegrass, rockabilly, blues and rock - with nary a string in sight.

ARTIST MOST FAMILIAR WITH VAN MORRISON'S PROFILE:

When Van Morrison toured the United States for a handful of dates last fall, Cindy Cashdollar earned a plum spot on stage with the gruff Irishman, playing in his shadow all night. Known in the industry as the First Lady of Steel Guitar, Cashdollar (you can't make up a name like that) dominated Morrison's band with her soulful playing, a sharp-and-sweet resuscitation of western swing.

A five-time Grammy Award winner with the Austin, Texas, band Asleep at the Wheel, Cashdollar has worked with everyone from Dolly Parton to Rod Stewart to Ryan Adams. Watch her tear it up next weekend with fellow western-swinging Austin-ite, Elana James.

Listen to a music clip by clicking on Elana James & Cindy Cashdollar

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS YOU PROBABLY NEVER HEARD OF:

1. When you hear the word tamburitza, the inclination is to respond with gesundheit. But it's not a sneeze. It's a form of string band music native to Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and other regions of the former Yugoslavia featuring instruments that are fretted, steel-stringed acoustics in the lute family. The Jerry Grcevich Tamburitza Orchestra hails from North Huntingdon, Pa. Grcevich, who, as a young man trekked to Yugoslavia to study with a prominent tamburitza player, is a master of all five instruments that make up the ensemble. The prim (PREEM) is used for melody and harmony; the bra (BRAATCH) is twice the size of the prim and also used for melody and harmony; the c'elo (CHE-low) is for counter melody and held like a guitar; the bugarija (boo-GA-ree-ya) provides rhythmic chording; and the berda (BEAR-dah) is a fretted bass played with a pick.

2. The Persian hammered dulcimer is known to natives as a santur, and Manoochehr Sadeghi is regarded as a master performer of Persian classical music using the instrument. The santur is a 72-stringed, three-octave wooden hammered dulcimer played with two wooden mallets, and is thought to have ties to instruments including the Eastern European cimbalom, an early version of the piano. Sadeghi emigrated from Iran to Los Angeles in 1964.

3. When the Filipino gong orchestra Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble arrives from San Francisco, it will be with five instruments in tow. The kulintang is a row of eight pot gongs arranged horizontally in order of pitch and played with soft wooden sticks. The babendil produces a sharp clanging sound and is used as the timekeeper gong, while the dabakan is a kettle-shaped wooden drum played with rattan sticks. Rubber-covered sticks are typically used for the vertical-hanging agung, which can be played by two musicians, while the four gandingan gongs are known as "talking gongs" because they mimic the intonations of human speech.

Listen to music clips

PERFORMER TRAVELING THE FARTHEST:

Beating Ireland's Karan Casey Band by about 430 miles is acclaimed British puppeteer John Styles, who is zipping across the Atlantic from Kent, England, for a one-way total of a fraction above 3,800 miles.

The man behind (inside?) hand puppets Punch and Judy has been a "Professor" of the two for more than 50 years, displaying his cynical, wisecracking pair for the British royal family, the Monty Python-inspired film "Time Bandits" and even the recent HBO series "Band of Brothers." Though puppets are thought to be for children, Styles presents the "grotesque"-looking Punch as a mirror for the "best and worst of human nature," allowing him to dish out insults and grapple with his temper.

Along with the renowned P&J, Styles' cast will include their baby, the Crocodile, Toby the dog and a policeman named . . . Bobby.

PROOF THAT FOLK MUSIC DOESN'T MEAN "A MIGHTY WIND"

Bring us your bluegrass, your rockabilly, your gospel and your Chinese melodies.

Now bring us some hip-hop, too.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the breakthrough film "Wild Style," some of the innovative rappers behind the movie, which explored the early roots of the movement, from music to DJ-ing to break dancing, will be on hand for a hip-hop celebration.

Look for DJ Grandmaster Caz, GrandWizzard Theodore, MC Chief Rocker Busy Bee and break-dancers Kwikstep and Rokafella to explain the cultural emergence of hip-hop that began in New York City in the'70s. Also check out VH1 and VH1 Soul at 10 p.m. tomorrow for the "VH1 Hip Hop Honors" awards show to see the guys being honored for their contributions to the genre.

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or mruggieri@timesdispatch.com.