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

Making their first-ever Sugar Maple appearance, Saturday’s headliners The Travelin’ McCourys bring an unmatched pedigree and an effervescent, adventurous spirit to the festival stage.  Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) spent 20 years on the road with their father, the bluegrass legend Del McCoury.  Together with Jason Carter (fiddle), Alan Bartram (bass), and Cody Kilby (guitar), they are artfully bending their mastery of traditional bluegrass stylings toward exciting new combinations of old and young, traditional and inventive.

The Travelin’ McCourys have collaborated with the Allman Brothers Band, Phish, Dierks Bentley and Keller Williams, among others, yet they always manage to maintain the tight, sometimes joyful, sometimes high and lonesome vernacular that is the essence of bluegrass.  It helps that each of the five band members have been recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Association as the best at their instrument, with bassist Alan Bartram winning the award most recently in 2018.

For a taste of the Travelin’ McCourys’ unique approach to a bluegrass standard, listen to their blistering version of “John Henry” from DelFest 2016…

…or how they can slow it down and adapt nontraditional material with their soulful take on the Grateful Dead’s “Loser”:

Expect the best of traditional bluegrass, and a healthy dose of the unexpected, with the Travelin’ McCourys at this year’s Sugar Maple Festival.

–written by Brad Wolbert

The Sugar Maple Music Festival is pleased to welcome the Tri-State BlueGrass Fest, Friday April 20th at The Big Secret at City Hall in Platteville.

Don’t miss this chance to see The Fever River String Band, The High Street Revelers, The Driftless Sisters, Miles Over Mountains, WheelHouse and Them Coulee Boys and support the first ever Tri-State BlueGrass fest.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door; available here.

Award-winning Cincinnati favorites The Tillers return to the Sugar Maple Festival in 2018, bringing Southern Wisconsin another hard-driving dose of punk- and bluegrass-infused traditional American music.  Their first ten years as a band have taken them all over North America and Europe, as well as a feature appearance on Tom Brokaw’s documentary on US Highway 50, and have yielded five albums of increasingly innovative takes on familiar string band music that range from high-energy rockers to tender harmonic ballads.

The band’s latest album, The Tillers (2018), is fresh out of the studio.  Check out this track and video.

The Tillers keep adding new songs and sonic ideas to their repertoire, but at the end of the day their wheelhouse is the classic American folk song, with a melody older than their grandparents, but with a thump and twang all their own.

–written by Brad Wolbert

Preparations for the fifteenth annual Sugar Maple Music Festival are in full swing and the lineup is sure to be one for the record books. In addition to the main event in August, music lovers should mark their calendars for three events being organized as part of the Sugar Maple Concert Series. The prelude will draw in some legendary groups including the Claire Lynch Band, April Verch Band, and Freddy & Francine. Tickets are available for all three shows now via Brown Paper Tickets (search for Sugar Maple Presents.) A portion of the proceeds will help produce the annual festival, which is organized by the nonprofit Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective and staged entirely by volunteers.

Claire Lynch Band, whose accolades include three Grammy nominations, six International Bluegrass Music Association awards, and the prestigious United States Artists Walker Fellowship, will be at the Bos Meadery on March 22 at 7:30 p.m.. “Lynch is the perfect mix of that famed trio Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton. She’s got the interpretive skills of Ronstadt, the clear and pure voice of Harris and the bluegrass soul of Parton … but she deserves all the accolades we can toss her way.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Tickets here!

The second concert will feature April Verch Band taking the stage at the North St. Cabaret on April 3 at 7:00 p.m.. April is an award winning fiddler, singer, and step dancer who has performed around the world, including festival, theatre and performing arts center appearances. “It’s about joining together to celebrate everyday life, through music.  We’re all in this together.” Verch said. Tickets here!

Bringing it home on April 19 at 8:00 p.m., Freddy & Francine will play at the North St. Cabaret. An Americana-Soul duo comprised of Bianca Caruso and Lee Ferris,  with voices reminiscent of Aretha Franklin and Van Morrison, their songs blend Soul, R&B, Folk, and Americana with a modern, yet timeless appeal to all ages. Tickets here!