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.

Two of the country’s most sought-after bluegrass artists will hold public workshops on the Roots and Reasons stage at the 15th Annual Sugar Maple Music Festival.

First, violin virtuoso Brittany Haas, of Hawktail, will lead a fiddle workshop in the evening on Friday, Aug. 3. Called a “a fiercely nimble fiddler” who is “one of the best fiddlers of her generation,” Haas will talk about the influences and techniques that have made her one of the most in-demand fiddle players on the scene today. This workshop is open to fiddle players of all ages and  experience levels, as well as anyone else interested in fiddle music.

Then on Saturday evening, mandolin master Ronnie McCoury, winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association mandolin player of the year for eight consecutive years, will take to the Roots and Reasons stage to demonstrate his unique style, which has become the standard for modern bluegrass mandolin playing. The Travelin’ McCoury’s guitarist Cody Kilby, a former member of Ricky Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder band, will join Ronnie in this session, which is open to all.

These two stellar workshops are among the many interactive and fun activities that will take place during the Sugar Maple Fest.

On Saturday, August 18th, Mazomanie will host some of the hottest and most respected groups in Bluegrass, Folk, and Americana music for this family friendly one-day (11am-8pm) festival celebrating the village’s railway history.

The Kitchen Dwellers headline the festival and the line-up includes The Kevin Prater Band (2013 Sugar Maple Festival performer.)

The Gandy Dancer Festival is an annual event featuring bluegrass, folk, and other roots music along with family-friendly activities (face painting, model trains, and more) with free parking, food vendors, and many other exciting local attractions in close walking distance.

The origin of the term “Gandy Dancer” is unknown but refers to the track crews who put down and maintained America’s vast rail network.

Tickets and details at www.gandydancerfestival.org

Calling ALL musicians: Music con Brio is proud to present a Summer Workshop Series event featuring bluegrass band Circus No. 9! These acoustic freaks of nature feature five-string wonder Matthew Davis, who followed up his 2016 National Banjo Championship win with a crown as champ at the 2017 Rockygrass Festival. The band hails from East Tennessee and puts the “pro” in progressive bluegrass sounds. Come spend the day hanging with the guys pickin’ some tunes, experimenting with bluegrass style, and jamming together in concert! Open to ALL musicians with at least two years experience on their instrument.  Generously sponsored by the Sugar Maple Music Festival and the Goodman Community Center. Date and time: Sunday, July 1, 10am – 5 pm (Free concert at 4 pm featuring Circus No. 9 and all participants) Location: Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St Madison 53704 What you get: 3 workshop sessions and concert with Circus No. 9. Lunch, snack & t-shirt provided. Cost: $60 (need-based scholarships available) Register online at: www.musicconbrio.org

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