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August 2 - 3
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Just one more week to get your early-bird two day passes to the 16th Annual Sugar Maple Music Festival! On sale here through May 31.
Wood & Wire’s hand-hewn approach to creating and making music reflects vital writing and instrumental contributions from all four band members: guitarist Tony Kamel fashions fierce solo licks to accompany his lead vocals; mandolinist Billy Bright provides a propulsive backbeat and exuberant treble lines; banjo virtuoso Trevor Smith peppers each song with intricate, swirling countermelodies; and bassist Dom Fisher undergirds it all with a joyful playing style that steadies the beat while adding buoyant embellishments in all the right places. Together, through words and music, they find a distinctive sense of place that distinguishes them from other bluegrass and roots bands active today.Catch Wood & Wire at the Sugar Maple Fest Friday, August 2.
If you enjoyed the jam tents at the Sugar Maple Music Festival, then you don’t want to miss the Fall String Gathering!
A weekend of traditional, old-time, bluegrass, Irish, and Cajun music-sharing; organized by musicians, for musicians. Open to all skill levels and acoustic instruments.
Hosted at the Clarion Convention Center in Baraboo, WI, the gathering will feature impromptu jamming as well as several scheduled jams and a washtub bass workshop.
November 16-18, 2018
Friday 6 pm – Sunday 11 am
Friday 7:30 – 9:00 pm Gypsy Jazz Jam – 4th floor
?Sat 10:00 – 11:30 am – Slow/Half Speed Jam – 5th floor
Sat 1:00 – 2:30 pm Irish Session – 4th floor?
Sat 2:00 – 3:00 pm Washtub Bass Workshop – 5th floor?
Sat 3:00 – 4:30 pm Cajun Circle – 5th floor
The String Gathering provides an opportunity for bluegrass and old-time musicians across Wisconsin, its bordering states and beyond, to come together and celebrate their common love of music.
More information at String Gathering
We’re thrilled to welcome Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore to the North Street Cabaret on Thursday, November 8 at 8 pm as part of the on-going Sugar Maple Concert Series.
Grammy Award winner Mollie O’Brien became known to the rest of the world as a singer’s singer when, in 1988, she and her brother Tim released the first of three critically acclaimed albums for Sugar Hill Records (Take Me Back, Remember Me and Away Out on the Mountain). Eventually, Mollie recorded five equally well-received solo albums (Tell It True, Big Red Sun and Things I Gave Away for Sugar Hill Records, and I Never Move Too Soon and Everynight in the Week for Resounding Records). Additionally, she was a regular on the nationally syndicated radio show A Prairie Home Companion from 2001 through 2005. She’s long been known as a singer who doesn’t recognize musical boundaries, and audiences love her fluid ability to make herself at home in any genre while never sacrificing the essence of the song she tackles. O’Brien has primarily focused her efforts on the fading art of interpretation and the end result is a singer at the very top of her game who is not afraid to take risks both vocally and in the material she chooses.
Husband Rich Moore has busied himself in the Colorado music scene for many years. While staying home with the kids when Mollie and Tim toured, he held a day job and continued to perform locally with a variety of Colorado favorites, including Pete Wernick and Celeste Krenz. Not only is Moore known to produce some of the funniest onstage running commentary, he’s also a powerhouse guitar player who can keep up with O’Brien’s twists and turns from blues to traditional folk to jazz to rock and roll. He creates a band with just his guitar and, as a result, theirs is an equal partnership.
Tickets on sale here
Were you at this year’s Sugar Maple Music Festival? Or are you among those who haven’t yet attended?
Either way, check out our new video, shot during our 15th annual festival this past August. You might just see yourself – or you might see what you missed and decide you need to attend next year!
A huge shout-out to Tack Video Production for bringing our fun, family-friendly festival to life. From the stellar musicians to the Roots and Reasons stage workshops to the jam sessions, Tack Video captured it all.
Watch the video to see what makes the Sugar Maple so special, then mark your calendar for August 2 and 3, 2019!
On Sunday, July 1, Tennessee-based bluegrass band Circus No. 9 spent the day with music students in Madison, Wisconsin. Specifically, the band members led a workshop sponsored by the Sugar Maple Music Festival and the Goodman Community Center and organized by Music con Brio, a local nonprofit that gives music lessons to young people, regardless of ability to pay.
As part of Music con Brio’s summer workshop series, Circus No. 9 illustrated the basics of bluegrass tunes, shared the history of the genre, and taught students the basics of bluegrass jamming and improvising.
The day culminated in a free community concert that included the professional musicians and students performing together.
In addition to staging the annual Sugar Maple Music Festival, the Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective (the nonprofit behind the festival) also supports music education for youth and others.