The Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective (FLTMC) is a non-profit organization which not only produces the Sugar Maple Music Festival and Sugar Maple Concert Series but also supports the art of traditional music and dance throughout the greater Madison community. FLTMC provides educational and performance opportunities that bring together people of all ages to celebrate diverse musical traditions.

In holding with our mission, FLTMC is proud to sponsor Music con Brio’s Summer Workshop.  The workshop is a chance to spend a whole day making music with Music con Brio and an amazing guest artist, culminating in a side-by-side performance!  This year’s workshop is August 4 and will feature 2019 Sugar Maple Fest mainstage artists the Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio! 

Danny Barnes (the Bad Livers, Dave Matthews Band), roots music legend and recent winner of Steve Martins’ Prize for Excellence in Banjo, is teaming up with two young creative voices of the acoustic world: Mandolinist Joe K. Walsh (the Gibson Brothers, Mr. Sun) and guitarist Grant Gordy (David Grisman Quintet).  Come spend the day hanging with the guys honing your bluegrass style and jamming together in concert!

Open to ALL musicians age 10 and up with at least two years of experience on their instrument.  

The workshop will be held at the Goodman Community Center. $40 per workshop for current Music con Brio students, $60 per workshop for others. Lunch, snack and t-shirt included! Register online at: www.musicconbrio.org

Special thanks to our event sponsors: the Sugar Maple Music Festival, Total Administrative Services Corporation (TASC), and the Goodman Community Center.

The 2019 Sugar Maple Music Festival is proud to feature Austin-based Wood & Wire to close out its Friday lineup.  Fresh off their 2019 Grammy-nominated album “North Of Despair,” and having made an indelible impression in their native Texas and the Southeast US, Wood & Wire are ready to bring their signature sound to the Upper Midwest for the first time.  Expect an unforgettable melding of powerful, evocative songwriting and supercharged bluegrass instrumentation, with songs about hard times, family, the beauty and ferocity of nature, and the hard work and solid people that embody the heart of America.

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.

~written by Brad Wolbert

Three of the most influential and dynamic acoustic musicians in modern American music join forces as the Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio.  Banjo legend Danny Barnes, winner of the 2015 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo, has been a creative force in modern bluegrass and related genres since his days as a founding member and frontman of the Bad Livers in the 1990s. Through his innovative collaborations with Bill Frisell, Dave Matthews and many others, his infectiously good-humored songwriting, and his distinctive solo work, he has cemented his place as one of the groundbreaking artists of his generation.

Here he teams up with guitarist Grant Gordy and mandolinist Joe K. Walsh, acclaimed masters emerging out of the newer blossoming of American roots music.  Gordy has performed worldwide as a member of the David Grisman Quintet, and has appeared in settings as diverse as Carnegie Hall, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, and Bonnaroo. Walsh, a founder of progressive string band Joy Kills Sorrow and a member of the Gibson Brothers and (with Gordy) Mr. Sun, draws on deep rural roots in his singing, playing and songwriting. 

Together, the Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio creates the kind of energy and inspiration that can only come from the happy confluence of three groundbreaking artists exploring musical possibilities and pushing each other to new heights. Catch the trio at the Sugar Maple Music Festival on Saturday, August 3, 2019.

–written by Brad Wolbert

Larry Sparks is as close to Bluegrass royalty as it’s possible to get. With a pedigree that includes a stint as the guitarist for the Stanley Brothers and the lead vocalist for Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, many appearances at the Grand Ole Opry, a place in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and a even a line of guitar strings that bear his name, Larry, along with his band, the Lonesome Ramblers, is one of the leading exemplars of the true bluegrass sound and tradition. It doesn’t get any more authentic than Larry Sparks. His straight-ahead, soulful vocal style, inspired songwriting and impeccable musicianship has won him a bumper crop of awards and secured his place as a living musical legend.

—written by Brad Wolbert

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