Singer-songwriter Tim O’Brien has an uncanny intersection of traditional and contemporary elements in his music, as well as the array of instruments he utilizes, and the diversity of the artists who preform his songs, such as the Dixie Chicks, Nickel Creek, and Seldom Scene. O’Brien, in addition to collaborating with Steve Martin and the Chieftains, among others, has most recently been performing with Mark Knopfler’s band. Knopfler describes O’Brien as “a master of American folk music, Irish music, Scottish music….”

O’Brien’s musical journey began in his native West Virginia, where he was surrounded by classic country and bluegrass, by taking up the guitar and banjo, adding fiddle and mandolin to his repertoire later on. By 1990, after several bands, such as Hot Rize and Ophelia Swing Band, O’Brien established himself as a solo artist and recently released his 13th album, Chicken & Egg. Mixing O’Brien originals, collaborations, and a handful of outside compositions, Chicken & Egg is an illuminating, engaging, and ultimately life-affirming meditation on the art of living. “This stuff reflects what goes on in the life of someone my age,” O’Brien reflects. “I’m 56 years old. I’m not the young kid on the scene – and I’m happy about that. I’m at a strange point in my life: my kids are growing up, while my parents and teachers are passing on. There’s a lot happening – but it’s just life, and that’s what this album is about. There’s a little love song action here and there, but mostly it’s about living life.”

O’Brien listens to bluegrass and hears the music’s roots in modal Irish ballads and vintage swing. He insightfully re-examines and reconstructs those styles, and many others, in his own music, throwing off new sparks by reawakening the tension and interplay of the colliding components at the heart of American music. “Over the years,” he explains, “my music has become a certain thing. Each time I go into the studio to make a new album, I could make an Irish record, or a bluegrass record, or a country record…but it seems artificial to sift anything out. I feel like I’d be leaving out something important. In the end, I just try to make it round…”

Tim plays two sets at 2pm and 7:30pm on Saturday. He will also take part in the Fiddlers In The Round workshop at 3pm, Saturday.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Ginny and Tracy met in 1988 when both were on staff at the Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camp near Woodstock, NY. They soon discovered that, despite their differing childhoods, they shared a deep understanding of and love for the music of the rural south. It was Ginny’s birthright and Tracy’s lifetime devotion. Ginny’s father, Ben Hawker, was her mentor growing up. Together, they taught the beautiful old singing of his Primitive Baptist Church for ten years at the Augusta Heritage Workshops in Elkins, WV. He went with her to the Smithsonian, the Chicago Folk Festival and the Vancouver Folk Festival where their family harmony left an indelible memory with their listeners. Ben also introduced her to early Bluegrass harmony through the oral tradition. For the past 15 years, Ginny and Tracy have appeared in concerts and festivals throughout the United States, Canada, and England. Their harmonies are hair-raising and representative of the finest American traditional music. In addition to performances, each summer they teach southern traditional singing at several music camps. Recently they have started teaching students in their West Virginia home.

Ginny and Tracy play at 4:30pm on Saturday. Tracy also plays the Old-Time dance on Friday night and will take part in the Fiddlers In The Round workshop at 3pm, Saturday.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Liz Carroll won the Senior All-Ireland Championship on fiddle when she was 18 and has since become one of the more sought after traditional music performers. Her first solo album, Liz Carroll released in 1988, was chosen as a select record of American folk music by the Library of Congress. Liz was also named Traditional Performer of the Year in 2000 by the “Irish Echo”. Although she plays Irish traditional dance tunes, her records also feature original compositions that highlight the traditional styles. Carroll is a huge draw for traditional music conniseurs and the general public alike, as indicated by her draw and awards. In 1994, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Liz a National Heritage Fellowship for her great influence on Irish music in America, as a performer and a composer. More recently, her 2009 duet album Double Play with John Doyle, was nominated for a 2010 Grammy for Best Traditional World Music Album, and she and John were invited to play for President Obama at the White house.

Dáithí Sproule of Derry, is one of Irish music’s most respected guitar accompanists, and one of the first guitarists to develop DADGAD tuning for Irish music. He is also a fine singer in English and Irish. Sproule’s original compositions have been recorded by Skara Brae, the Bothy Band, Altan, Trian, Liz Carroll, Aoife Clancy, the RTE Concert Orchestra and others. He is also known for his innovative arrangements of traditional songs, and in 1995 he released his first solo album, A Heart Made of Glass, with songs in English and Irish. In 2008 he released an instrumental guitar album, The Crow In the Sun, featuring thirteen original compositions. In addition to performing and recording, Dáithí is a sought-after teacher and lecturer in subjects ranging from guitar styles and song accompaniment to Irish traditional music, language and literature. He is a 2009 Bush Artist Fellow, awarded by the Minnesota based Archibald Bush Foundation.

Liz and Dáithí play at 6pm on Saturday. Liz will also be included in the Fiddlers In The Round workshop at 3pm, Saturday.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

For our Saturday evening dance, and the festival closer, we are lucky to have Dennis Stroughmatt and the Creole Spirit. Stroughmatt is an Illinois native who was first introduced to American French culture as a teenager near Old Mines, Missouri. He then spent two and a half intensive years recording, observing, and learning many of the Creole French traditions still alive in “Upper Louisiana”. The knowledge that he gained there included a centuries old French Creole fiddling style, fluency in Illinois-Missouri Creole French, and a wealth of stories and songs from story tellers and singers; all of which have been handed down generation to generation in Missouri and Illinois for nearly 300 years.

Dennis went on to live and work in southwest Louisiana as an assistant curator at the Vermilionville Folklife Center in Lafayette, LA and also became fluent in “Lower Louisiana” Creole Music and Cajun/Creole French and quickly grasped old-style Cajun and African Creole fiddling with fervor.  After earning a Masters Degree of History at Southern Illinois University and eventually a certificate of Quebecois Studies and Language at the University of Quebec, since 1999 Dennis has been a touring French Creole musician and speaker working across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Spirit host a jam on Saturday at 4:30pm and then play the dance that night at 9pm.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sugar Maple alumni Chirps Smith and Dot Kent will be back again this year to play and call for the Friday night Old-Time Dance. This year, they will be joined by Tracy Schwarz.

Schwarz first came to love country music from radio broadcasts of the late ’40s, which inspired him to learn the banjo and guitar. While in college, Schwarz also mastered the mandolin and the bass fiddle. He soon began playing in assorted bluegrass bands around Washington, D.C. During the early ’60s, Schwarz enlisted in the Army for two years and during that time learned to play the fiddle. He began working with the New Lost City Ramblers as a replacement for Tom Paley in 1962, and eventually became a full-time member for ten years; his involvement in the band later tapered off as he became more interested in spending time on his Pennsylvania farm. He continued to appear with other bands, most notably the Strange Creek Singers through the 1970s. He continues to perform and explore new areas of traditional music, most notably with Ginny Hawker.

Chirps Smith is a veteran of fiddle contests and playing for dances, at which he frequently plays backup to the fiddle on the mandolin and related mandolin family instruments, as well as four and five string banjos. While a part of the band Indian Creek Delta Boys, named after a stream in his native Illinois, Smith earned the nickname “Chirps” due to the “chirping” quality to his mandolin style. Chirps enjoys playing many types of tunes, from hoedowns/reels and waltzes to schottisches, polkas, two-steps, and perhaps one or two mazurkas or hambos. At dances, he is commonly joined by his wife and clog-dancer Dot Kent, also a veteran dance caller.

Dave Landau, twice voted as the Best Children’s Musician by Madison Magazine, has performed at every Sugar Maple Traditional Festival since it began in 2004. Although billed as a performer for children, Landau is entertaining to audiences of all ages. As a former first grade teacher in Verona, Wisconsin, Landau has a love for teaching, in addition to music. He travels to elementary schools, preschools, and libraries to perform musical programs that are educational, entertaining, and motivating, which include storytelling and music. Landau’s programs are an extension of his favorite part of teaching, which is helping children understand themselves and the world around them. Come and see him at the Roots and Reason stage, where you will witness children of all ages jumping, clapping, and singing.

Joel Paterson has played the Sugar Maple Fest under many monikers: The Western Elstons, Devil in a Woodpile and… well… as just Joel Paterson. Anyone who has seen him would know why; he’s just that good. 2010 will see Joel return with his newest band The Modern Sounds. This big little band is dedicated to performing traditional American music; specializing in rockabilly, hot jazz, western swing, classic blues and everything in between.

Based out of Chicago, the Modern Sounds features Joel Paterson on guitar and vocals, Beau Sample on string bass and vocals, and Alex Hall on drums and vocals. Since Paterson moved to Chicago, he performed with various bands, such as Jimmy Sutton’s Four Charms and Kelly Hogan’s Wooden Leg. Another Chicago import, slap bass virtuoso Beau Sample, toured the U.S. And world while fronting his former band Cave Catt Sammy and backing up Elana James. In addition to being a talented drummer, Chicago native Alex Hall is a recording engineer as well, as highlighted in Ventrlla Records.

The trio founded Ventrella Records in 2008, releasing three CDs since then, including “A Chicago Session” featuring boogie-woogie piano master Carl Sonny Leyland and “Steel is Real” showcasing Paterson on pedal steel guitar.

Modern Sounds plays Friday, 7:30pm.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Son Mudanza, of Madison, WI, is a group of friends and activists that have come together sharing their passion for music, cultural autonomy, movement and community. The group, deeply influenced and trained by Son del Centro, a Chicano son group, dedicating its efforts to activism through Son Jarocho music, was created to disseminate culture as a form of resistance. Son Jarocho, originally found in the state and region of Veracruz, on the gulf coast of Mexico, has been practiced for the past 200 years. It is a mixture of Indigenous, African, and Spanish elements, each influenced by various forms of political, economical, and social expressions, leading to manifestations of societal and ideological struggles. Son Mudanza, consisting primarily of graduate students at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, strives to use music as a form of resistance, while simultaneously providing entertainment, education, and an opportunity to dance. In addition to performing music, several of the members also dance.

Son Mudanza plays Saturday, 1pm and hosts a workshop at 2pm.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.