Fresh from the magical digits of Mrs. Allyson Casey, the official 2010 Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival poster is here! And not only can you bask in it’s beauty, but you can download and print high rez PDFs of the poster to hang up and show your Sugar Maple pride! We also have smaller 4-up handouts that you can… well… hand out if you wish.

If you love flat-picking guitar and great musical arrangements, you’re in for a treat. Jim Hurst, two-time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year and member of the Grammy-nominated Claire Lynch Band, comes to Madison January 30 for a guitar workshop and concert.

Jim’s mastery of the guitar and expert vocal harmonies earned him membership in Trisha Yearwood’s band, as well as the opportunity to perform with Sara Evans, Travis Tritt, and the McCarter Sisters. As a popular Nashville studio musician, he’s performed and recorded with John Cowan, Mark Schatz, Tim O’Brien, and Sam Bush. Collaborating with bassist Missy Raines, the duet wowed the bluegrass community and won IBMA Guitar and Bass Player of the year for 2001 and 2002. Jim currently tours with the Claire Lynch Band not only as a wizard on the guitar, but also as a remarkable frailing banjoist.

Jim’s skill as a vocal and guitar instructor makes him highly sought-after. He teaches at guitar workshops, clinics, and music camps around the country. So take advantage of this opportunity to learn from and enjoy a concert by this maestro! For more information about Jim, go to www.jimhurst.com.

“There’s not a more inventive, talented guitar player in the bluegrass business than Jim Hurst. He brings a world of experience in so many different kinds of music and formats to everything he does.” – Tim Stafford

The workshop will be held at the Wil-Mar Center, Jan 30th, 1-4pm. The cost for the workshop is $60.

The concert will be held at Mother Fool’s Coffee House, Jan 30th, 8pm. Cost for the concert is $10.

For workshop registration or more information, call Julie Cherney at 608-244-2184, or email cherney [AT] uwalumni [DOT] com

So yah hey… the Sugar Maple Concert Series is a year-round celebration of the past, present and future of the annual summer Sugar Maple Festival. This year’s series kicks off this Thursday (Dec. 10th) with two fantastic bands: Mountain Heart and The Hot Seats. Technically, this will be both of these bands first Sugar Maple experience but both bands have already have deep ties to the fest. To that end here’s what may be the first of many installments of the Six Degrees of SugarMaple…

Mountain Heart’s bass player Jason Moore has recorded for Michael Cleveland’s solo albums, and toured extensively with James King. (Michael appeared with Audie Blaylock and Redline at the 2006 Sugar Maple Fest; James King appeared for the Sugar maple Concert Series March 2009.)

Aaron Ramsey, mandolinist for Mountain Heart, won the 2002 MerleFest mandolin competition at age 17. in March of 2006, he became a member of Randy Kohrs’ band, the Lites, playing bass then mandolin and recorded mandolin and bass on several cuts of Randy’s two most recent recordings, I’m Torn and Old Photographs. (Randy Kohrs appeared on the mainstage artist Jim Lauderdale and workshop artist Randy Sabien during 2007 Sugar Maple Fest.)

The Hot Seats have recorded and/or shared stage with Adam Tanner (2008 SugarMaple Fest); Hunger Mountain Boys (2006 Fest); everybodyfields (ibid); FoghornStringband (2005 Fest and 2006 Sugar Maple Concert Series); Karl Shiflett (2004 Fest); Carolina Chocolate Drops (2008 Concert Series); The Wilders (2005 and 2006 Concert Series); Forge Mountain Diggers (2007 Concert Series).

And the list goes on…

Some looked forward to 2009 as the year of change, while others argue it’s the same-old, same-old. Ironically, the two themes will fuse December 10 when the Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective presents two innovatively charged, traditional music groups at the High Noon Saloon in Madison.

Mountain Heart (from Nashville, TN) and The Hot Seats (from Richmond, VA) simultaneously illustrate their own breakthroughs in traditional music, while reaching deep into the genre’s roots. Perhaps each groups’ sound is not your average pick-and-grin, but rather the echo each others holler across the wide
gorge from which they came.

Both bands make their Madison debut as part of the 2009/10 Sugar Maple Concert Series. Advance tickets are available for $12 at www.high-noon.com, or at the door for $15. Ages 21 and over only.

Sugar Maple Fest Alumns Bob Black (banjo) and Paul Kienitz (fiddle) will be playing two shows featuring all of the tunes from the classic album Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe,” which has been called “one of the best bluegrass records of all time.” Black was the banjo player on the original recording. The band will play a variety of songs and tunes as well in the second set.

The special live tribute will be performed Friday, November 6th at Mother Fool’s Coffehouse in Madison and Saturday, November 7th at the Richland Auditorium.

Bob Black is a master of the five string banjo and a veteran of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. He has also performed with Ricky Skaggs, The Whites, Emmylou Harris, Norman Blake and Rhonda Vincent and played the Grand Ole Opry. Paul Kienitz is one of the finest traditional bluegrass fiddle players in the upper Midwest. Paul has been a long standing member of the award-winning Nob Hill Boys and was a featured performer with a reunion of Blue Grass Boys at the 2008 Sugar Maple Festival.

Bob and Paul will be joined by Mark Hembree on bass (veteran of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys as well, and also the Nashville Bluegrass Band and the Dreadful Snakes with Bela’ Fleck and Jerry Douglas). Brian Ray on mandolin ((This is the) Squirrel Hunters) and John Fabke on guitar (Nob Hill Boys) will complete the line-up for this special Tribute.

Friday, November 6, Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse, 1101 Williamson St., Madison, WI, 8pm – Admission: $10.

Saturday, November 7, Richland Center City Auditorium, 182 N. Central Ave., Richland Center, WI., 7:30pm.

Advanced Tickets: Auditorium Antiques, 182 N. Central Ave., Richland Center, WI Info: 608-649-3456.
*A portion of the proceeds goes to RCPAC (Richland County Performing Arts Council) to fund the Auditorium Rehabilitation Project.*
Tickets: $10.

Listen to Bob Black talk about the show on WRCO! (starts about 6:15)

A quick video clip from last night’s Volunteer Holler featuring Frank Solivan II and Dirty Kitchen.

Saturday, October 3rd at 7pm. Sugar Maple Alumni Mike Compton and David Grier will take the stage at the Wil-Mar Center, 953 Jenifer Street on Madison’s near east side. Advance tickets are available online for only $14.99 or on the day of the show for $20.

If you haven’t heard these two wonderful artists together in concert, prepare to be dazzled! John Hartford once said that Mike Compton knows more about Bill Monroe style mandolin than the Father of Bluegrass himself. We have been fortunate to have Mike in Madison a few times over the past four years, but he always leaves us wanting more. David Grier, athree-time IBMA guitar player of the year, is partnering with Mike on a long overdue reunion tour. Their duet album, “Climbing the Walls”,set the bar for mandolin-guitar duets. Now 20 years have come and gone… Mike has played with the Nashville Bluegrass Band, John Hartford and he won a Grammy award for the “O Brother Where Art Thou” album. David has appeared on two Grammy- winning recordings: “True Life Blues-A Tribute to Bill Monroe” and “The Great Dobro Sessions.” They have both made an indelible mark in acoustic music and we are more than lucky to find Madison on their tour schedule.

This is a show that cannot be missed, but seating at the Wil-Mar is limited, so advanced tickets are strongly recommended.

The Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective will be kicking off the Sugar Maple Concert Series with our 3rd annual Volunteer Holler, Wednesday, September 23rd at the High-Noon Saloon! The concert series as a year-round celebration of the past, present and future of the annual summer Sugar Maple Festival. While the event is open to the public, it offers special nod to more than 100 volunteers who power the non-profit organization and it’s annual summer festival. These volunteers are welcome to attend the event for free.

Headlining the show is former member of the prestigious US Navy Country Current band, Frank Solivan II. Bluegrass Unlimited calls Solivan is “a major talent,” while Bluegrass Breakdown writes, “It would be relatively simple to describe Frank using standard marketing jargon and cliché terms of praise, but his creativity and unparalleled artistry seem to begin where those descriptions leave off” (Bluegrass Breakdown). A multi-instrumental master, Solivan sings with power and passion, writes articulate songs that go straight to the heart, and combines the pure, hard drive of classic bluegrass with twenty-first century sophistication. His quartet Dirty Kitchen, features a venerable line-up of nationally-connected pickers like banjo player Mike Munford, who has toured the world with top notch bluegrass artist like Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, the Rice Brothers
and Lynn Morris.

The show starts at 8pm with Kristy Larson Honky Tonk Trio. Country music historian, author, musician and WORT radio host Bill Malone describes Kristy Larson as “one of the shining lights of Madison roots music”. Her light burns even brighter as she joins forces with husband and multi-instrumentalist Mark Roeder. Together, they’re a midwestern Rawlins and Welch.