Ray Bonneville is a hard driving, blues dipped, song and groove man writing about the people on the fringe of society. Ray’s vibe is loose and soulful, with a greasy guitar style, horn-like harmonica, smoky vocals and pulsing foot percussion. In 1999 he won the Juno award (Canada’s Grammy) and was nominated twice more. Ray’s song “I am the Big Easy” was the most played song by American folk DJs, and won “Song of the Year” in 2009. Ray won the International Blues Challenge in 2012 in Memphis.

Ray played the Sugar Maple Concert Series in 2019 and captivated the room with his songs and stories. You can catch Ray at the 2021 Sugar Maple Music Festival on Saturday, August 7.

The border country of Texas is a rich tableau for multicultural traditional music.  Belen Escobedo grew up in San Antonio listening to a savory stew of Norteño, Tejano, mariachi and classic Texas country music.  The old songs left an impression in her mind as she learned violin in school and the local traditional fiddle styles on the side.  Many of the songs she plays are an eclectic mix of waltzes, polkas and other traditional forms brought by early German and East European settlers to Texas, in which the fiddle playing the melody lines came to be replaced in more conventional versions of this music by the accordion. 

Today, Belen is one of the few remaining practitioners of authentic fiddle-based Conjunto music, and Sugar Maple is excited to present her and her band, Panfilo’s Güera, for their first appearance in the Upper Midwest.  Belen was presented the Master of Texas Fiddling Award at the 2017 Festival of Texas Fiddling in recognition of her significance in maintaining this distinctive Texas musical style.  She and her band were recently featured in concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.  Panfilo’s Güera includes Ramon Gutierrez on tololoche (bass) and Virginio Castillo on bajo sexto.  Their new self-titled live album showcases 17 traditional songs of the Texas borderlands.

~written by Brad Wolbert

We’re excited to bring the Amythyst Kiah Trio to the stage for their very first Sugar Maple Music Festival performance. Born in Chattanooga and based in Johnson City, Amythyst Kiah’s commanding stage presence is matched by her raw and powerful vocals—a deeply moving, hypnotic sound that stirs echoes of a distant and restless past.

Accompanied interchangeably with banjo, acoustic guitar, or a full band, her eclectic influences span decades, finding inspiration in old time music, alternative rock, folk, country, and blues.

Our Native Daughters, her recent collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell (Birds of Chicago), has delivered a full-length album produced by Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell, Songs of Our Native Daughters (out now on Smithsonian Folkways). The opening track, “Black Myself”, written by Amythyst, was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, Aug. 1 when the Amythst Kiah Trio takes to the 17h Annual Sugar Maple Music Festival stage.

~written by Kimberly Schmitt

Fronted by banjoist, singer and songwriter Gina Furtado, the Gina Furtado Project lays heavy emphasis on catchy, relatable, original material that spans the gamut from bluegrass to swing to gypsy jazz and beyond. 

Twice nominated for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Banjo Player of the Year, Gina began touring up and down the east coast in her tween years with her siblings, earning countless ribbons from fiddlers conventions, a strong reputation in the regional bluegrass scene, and a stamp from Bluegrass Today as “absurdly talented”. 

Her debut album, True Colors, was released in September 2017 and debuted at #13 on Bluegrass Billboard Charts, and boasts two #1 songs on Bluegrass Today Charts. Never one to drop the ball, she followed quickly with a second album, “I Hope You Have a Good Life”,  which was released in September 2019 and debuted at #6 on Bluegrass Billboard Charts. No Depression promptly declared the project to be “fun, energetic and riveting.”

Don’t miss the Gina Furtado Project at the 2020 Sugar Maple Music Festival on Saturday, Aug. 1. 

~written by Kimberly Schmitt

The Sugar Maple Music Festival is pleased to present long-time festival friend Charlie Parr at the Majestic Friday, October 25, 2019! Charlie played the festival in 2005, 2008 and 2011 and we’re thrilled every time he makes it back to Madison. Tickets and details here.

CHARLIE PARR is the eponymous new album by the Minnesota-based folk blues artist the same name. The album is a collection of new songs and new studio versions of classics/audience favorites from throughout Charlie’s career and will be released August 30 (UK/EU/AUS) and September 27 (North America, rest of the world) on Red House Records. Recorded at the legendary Pachyderm Studio in Canon Falls, MN, CHARLIE PARR features Charlie’s trademark resonator guitar and 12-string with co-producer Liz Draper on bass, longtime collaborator Mikkel Beckmen on percussion, Jeff Mitchell on electric guitar, accordion, organ, backing vocals, and Dave Hundrieser on harmonica. The album is an honest and raw recording of Charlie reflecting on himself and his career up to this point. It’s a musical reckoning that came after a freak accident less than a year ago that forced him to relearn how to play guitar, causing him to take stock of the songs he’s written over his lifetime. CHARLIE PARR is a stunning folk record that will surely stand the test of time, just like the man himself.