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

The Sugar Maple Music Festival is pleased to sponsor the Simply Folk 2018 Shindig!

Wisconsin Public Radio is taking the show Simply Folk on the road for an evening of music featuring three great Wisconsin bands: Art Stevenson & High Water , Joseph Huber and Nickel&Rose.

Great live music, food, drink and a lively dance floor combine for a festive evening celebrating music and community in Wisconsin.

Hosted by WPR’s Dan Robinson, the show will be recorded for later statewide broadcast.

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.

Enjoy a stellar lineup of bluegrass bands, while making Dane County a better place for all!

The Sugar Maple Music Festival is proud to support the 17th Annual United Way Bluegrass Benefit at the Barrymore Theatre, Sunday February 11th.

Six bands and performers are volunteering their time and talents with all proceeds going to United Way of Dane County.

Here’s the line-up:

Cork ‘n Bottle String Band 12:45 p.m.
Sparetime Bluegrass 1:30 p.m.
Dave Landau The King of Kids Music 2:15 p.m.
Oak Street Ramblers 2:45 p.m.
MadFiddle 3:30 p.m.
Old Tin Can String Band 4:30 p.m.

And while you’re sitting back enjoying the music, be sure to get in on the raffle! Purchase your tickets between 1-3:30 pm and five lucky winners will score a pair of tickets to see more amazingly talented artists perform at our upcoming concert series shows or weekend passes to the 15^th annual Sugar Maple Music Festival!

Raffle proceeds will be split between the Sugar Maple Music Festival and the United Way.

Circus No.9

Based out of East Tennessee, Circus No.9 is a new progressive acoustic group that embraces the influence of Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock, and more. The group has appeared on stage alongside artists including David Grisman, Bryan Sutton, Larry Keel, and more. With awarded musicians Matthew Davis (2016 National Banjo Champion, 2017 Rockygrass Banjo Champion), Thomas Cassell (2016 Rockygrass Mandolin Champion), bassist Vince Ilagan, and guitarist Jed Clark, Circus No.9 is taking the new acoustic scene by force.  Catch them at North Street Cabaret Friday, January 19 at 8 pm as part of the Sugar Maple Concert Series.

And don’t miss Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn at the Capitol Theater Friday February 16.   Béla Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Abigail Washburn a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds.  Echo in the Valley is the follow-up to Béla and Abigail’s acclaimed, self-titled debut that earned the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album. This time around, the mission was to take their double banjo combination of three finger and clawhammer styles “to the next level and find things to do together that we had not done before,” says Béla. “We’re expressing different emotions through past techniques and going to deeper places.” The results are fascinating, especially considering their strict rules for recording: all sounds must be created by the two of them, the only instruments used are banjos (they have seven between them, ranging from a ukulele to an upright bass banjo), and they must be able to perform every recorded song live.

Both events sponsored by Sugar Maple Music Festival

Exploring American Roots Music