Sugar Maple Music Festival presents Red, White and Bluegrass at the High Noon Saloon on Sunday July 2.

Celebrate our nation with some local bluegrass music this holiday weekend! The afternoon will feature some of the area’s best traditional bluegrass inside along with an open-jam outside on the patio.

Willie Jones and his Dime Store Posse Country weepers, crooner classics, more…

Sortin’ the Mail  Keepin’ the “ass” in “Bluegrass” since 2012… with:
Bobby Batyko, Alex ‘The Kid’ Genova, Lonesome Willie Jones, Evan Childress and Brad Astor

Milkhouse Radio We’re a Madison area stringband specializing in bluegrass and ringing the rafters with country, blues, and fusion covers of whatever strikes us right.
Milkhouse Radio features Brad Astor on Upright Bass, Scott Baumann on Banjo, Michael Farnsworth on Guitar, Jen Paulson on Fiddle, and Bruce Stein on Mandolin

Down From The Hills plays bluegrass music inspired by the likes of Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs & John Hartford. Our music features both instrumental solos & vocal harmonies. Recently, we’ve added Cajun music to our shows, with Pat on the Cajun button accordion.

Northern Comfort Bluegrass The group Northern Comfort Bluegrass have spent many years playing and singing bluegrass and traditional country music. Their sound comes straight from the heart and features high lonesome vocals and harmonies, a driving beat, and tight instrumental passages.

Doors open at 12 pm with music starting at 1 pm.  $8 cover

Molly Tuttle released her EP “Rise” earlier this month and the songs show Molly’s strength as both a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.  Ron Wray of No Depression reviewed the EP and says, “The young lady has a way of writing songs that are deceptively simple yet musically deep and with provocative picking.”

Molly is on tour this summer showcasing “Rise” and you can catch her on the Sugar Maple fest main stage Saturday August 5.  Molly will also be offering a rhythm guitar workshop on Saturday at the festival’s Roots & Reason stage.  Check back for workshop schedule details.

The Sugar Maple Music Festival is pleased to welcome festival artists Big Sadie  and The Tillers  back to Madison!

Big Sadie is a Chicago-based acoustic band fronted by Elise Bergman (upright bass, vocals) and Collin Moore (guitar, vocals). Defined by rich, intricate harmonies and rustic yet sophisticated instrumental arrangements, Big Sadie takes a modern yet timeless approach to American roots music.

Big Sadie, presented by Madison Music Sessions , will be playing at Maven Vocal Arts on Friday June 16, 2017 at 7 pm.  Tickets and information here.

The Tillers  got their start in August 2007 when they started thumping around with some banjos and guitars and a big wooden bass. Their earliest gigs were for coins and burritos on the city’s famous Ludlow Street in the district of Clifton. The songs they picked were mostly older than their grandparents. Some came from Woody Guthrie, some were southern blues laments, and many were anonymous relics of Appalachian woods, churches, riverboats, railroads, prairies, and coal mines.

Their look didn’t fit the stereotype. They were clearly recovering punk rockers with roots in city’s west side punk rock and hardcore scene. The punk influence gave their sound a distinctive bite, setting them apart from most other folk acts- a hard-driving percussive strum and stomp that brought new pulse and vinegar to some very old songs. But their musical range soon proved itself as they floated from hard-tackle thumping to tender graceful melody, all the while topped by Oberst and Geil’s clear tenor harmonies.

Musically, the band wears many hats. Their sound has proven to be an appropriate fit with a wide range of musical styles- traditional folk, bluegrass, jazz, punk rock and anything else they might run into. They have shared the stage with a broad swath of national touring acts, ranging from renowned folk legends such as Doc Watson, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Guy Clark, Country Joe McDonald, Jerry Douglas, Iris Dement, Pokey LaFarge and The Carolina Chocolate Drops to rambunctious rock daredevils like the Legendary Shack Shakers.

You can catch The Tillers on Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 8 pm at the High Noon Saloon.  Tickets and more info here.

Get ready for some homespun Milwaukee bluegrass! Thistledown Thunders will perform at the 2017 Sugar Maple Music Festival. The band includes Krystal Kuehl (guitar), Johanna Rose (bass), Jack Tell (guitar) and Ernest Brusubardis IV (fiddle). They have been providing toe-tapping bluegrass to Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin since 2014.

Thistledown Thunders honor traditional bluegrass and folk music while adding a modern touch that makes their music more accessible to a wider audience. Some of their influences include Bill Monroe, Punch Brothers, Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, and Steve Earle.

You’ve got plenty of time before Sugar Maple Fest to get to know this Wisconsin band, but why wait? Check out their Facebook page and the video below for a preview right now. Look for upcoming shows to attend. For extra credit, drink a beer and say “Thistledown Thunders” three times really fast!

–Written by Daniel Seifried

The 2017 line-up for Sugar Maple Music Festival keeps getting better and better! We’re thrilled to announce that Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands will be performing at the festival on Saturday, August 5^th.

For decades, California native Laurie Lewis has been one of the most sought after bluegrass and American roots music makers. Lewis is a singer, songwriter, fiddler, guitarist, banjo player, teacher and producer. She took home a Grammy for True Life Blues: The songs of Bill Monroe in 1997 and won the California’s Women’s Fiddling championships—not once—but TWICE! Laurie has also been named Female Vocalist of the year at the International Bluegrass Music Awards in both 1992 and 1994.

“It’s not too much of a stretch to suggest that if the “Americana” format wasn’t invented for her, it should have been.”- Sing Out! Magazine

Laurie’s band, the Right Hands, is loaded with talented and versatile musicians, including Tom Rozum, Chad Manning, Andrew Conklin, Patrick Sauber, Todd Phillips, Craig Smith and Scott Huffman on guitar. Their list of accomplishments is long and impressive, and you can read about them here.

When the band plays Sugar Maple Music Festival this summer, expect to hear tasteful harmonies, the twang of banjo and transcendent fiddle playing—all touched by Laurie’s fresh spirit and West Coast style. Their sound will deliver you to a place where old memories and new dreams live side by side. If you’re familiar with Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, you already know you’re in for a treat. If not, watch the videos linked below, or visit Laurie Lewis for more videos and a full list of performance dates.

Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands – Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow

Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands – The Crooked Miles

“Laurie Lewis’ true songs make this planet a better place. They help us grab what’s important in our lives. Over the years her original voice has consistently carried the torch of tradition, beautifully updating it with a rare care and responsibility.”  —Tim O’Brien

–written by Jennifer Phistry and Daniel Seifried