Don’t miss out! Buy your early bird tickets before June 1 and save

To mark its 15th year, the Sugar Maple Music Festival will offer even more family-friendly fun, plus a stellar line-up of diverse and talented musicians you won’t hear on the same stage anywhere else.

Held Aug. 3-4 at Lake Farm County Park in Madison, the festival showcases American roots music including Americana, bluegrass, Blues, Cajun, cowboy music, Old Time and more. The interactive event also includes jams for beginners and experienced musicians alike and a stage devoted entirely to interviews and workshops with and by musicians.

This year’s family-friendly activities include festival favorites like Madison’s popular children’s musician Dave Landau, the Little Fiddlers workshop, and creative fun with the Wild Rumpus Circus.

But for the 15th year there will be even more fun. A climbing wall for all ages and a make-an-instrument workshop for kids will add to the excitement. There will even be youth performances when students from local groups MadFiddle and Music con Brio take to both stages to show their stuff on Saturday.

We are also we are working on having the option of “assisted listening” available at this year’s festival.

And there’s more.

In addition to the popular Saturday morning Bloody Mary jam, this year Sarah Driscoll of the Awful Purdies, an eclectic all-woman band from Iowa, will lead a Vinyasa flow yoga session for all levels and body types. And, of course you won’t want to miss our stellar musical line up, culminating in a Saturday evening performance by The Travelin’ McCourysthat will make you want to kick up your heels.

What are you waiting for? Buy your tickets now, before the price goes up June 1!

What if you could combine the instrumental artistry and youthful vigor of the Punch Brothers, Crooked Still and the Dave Rawlings Machine?  Turns out it would sound like Hawktail, the acoustic instrumental supergroup featuring four of the most influential and talented musicians in bluegrass and roots music today.  Brittany Haas (fiddle), Jordan Tice (guitar), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), and Madison native Paul Kowert (bass) have established knockout reputations as bandmates, collaborators, songwriters and and performers in the uppermost echelons of the acoustic music world.

The previous version of the band, Haas Kowert Tice, became Hawktail with the addition of mandolin virtuoso Leslie late last year, and their first album as a quartet, this year’s Unless, is already receiving rave reviews.  Read more at No Depression, The Journal of Roots Music. You will be hearing about this band and these musicians for years to come—and one of their first stops will be at the Sugar Maple festival this year!

–written by Brad Wolbert

Tuneful melodies, eloquent lyrics telling arresting stories, powerful guitar work and a clear, honest voice – these are the building block of the best Americana, and one of the most dazzling practitioners of the art form working today is Sam Broussard.  The Sugar Maple Festival is excited to welcome Sam to the stage this year, to share with us the same magic that defines his acclaimed solo albums and his impossibly long list of credits with roots legends Sonny Landreth, Michael Doucet, T-Mamou, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, along with Linda Ronstadt, Michael Murphey, April Verch and many others.

Sam conjures his uniquely inventive open-tuned guitar wizardry from the fertile southern Louisiana French music culture that formed him, refracted through four decades of touring and the countless records (some Grammy-nominated) on which his aggressive Cajun/funk/slide hybrid stylings have been featured.  Sam can do anything on guitar: for just one example, watch his intricate fingerpicking on Vinie Jilie:

–written by Brad Wolbert

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY,  Hubby Jenkins got his start as a professional musician busking around the country playing old-time American music. A talented songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, he plays guitar, mandolin, 5-string banjo, and bones.  During his travels he crossed paths with the Grammy Award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops and officially joined the group in 2010.

His solo performance showcases his passion for and knowledge of old-time traditional American music inspired by artists such as Charley Patton, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blind Blake, and Skip James. To round all this off he shares honest and personal stories that give the audience a glimpse into this music’s rich and complex history as well as candidly highlighting the current political climate and need for social responsibility.

Catch Hubby at the Sugar Maple Music Festival on Saturday, August 4, 2018.

–written by Pam Lockstein and Peggy Lewis

On their sixth full-length studio release, North Carolina-based Nu-Blu delivers a set of songs that range from the melancholy to the exuberant, and at every step they prove they?ve got a knack for finding their way into the deeper parts of you. 

Hailing from Siler City, the textbook definition of a picturesque small southern town, Nu-Blu’s heart and soul is husband-and-wife duo Daniel and Carolyn Routh. Carolyn’s caramel-coated soprano is one of the band’s defining traits, at times a tender lullaby, at times a freight train headed straight for you, but always unwinding a surprising tale. Daniel is the group’s backbone, a multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist who also runs the band’s business. Calder Baker on vocals and banjo, and Justin Harrison on mandolin and fiddle round out the quartet’s warm, layered, Appalachian sound. Together they deliver upbeat, blazing-fingers pick work just as well as gentle, heartwarming ballads, and they do it all with a natural togetherness that can’t be faked, forged over hundreds of shows on the road.

North Street Cabaret
Thursday, May 24, 2018 at 8 pm

General Admission
Advance $10
Day of show $15