If you like great bluegrass — and lots of it — then you’d be a darned fool to miss the SWBMAI Bluegrass Music Jamboree, May 16 at the High Noon Saloon.
The event features six hours of live bluegrass from some of the area’s hottest bands, an open jam session as well as a raffle for other valuable prizes. Advance tickets may be purchased on line using most major credit cards: $12 members, $15 non-members, kids under 12 are free.
The day kicks off with a two-hour open jam from noon until 2:00 pm. Players of all abilities are welcome to bring their acoustic instruments and join in. Beginning at 2:00 PM, six SWBMAI member bands will start to take the stage every hour on the hour each performing a 45-minute set of traditional and progressive bluegrass music. Tickets for other raffle prizes will be on sale all day for other prizes.
The band lineup includes some of the best bluegrass in the Upper Midwest:
2:00 pm — Wooden Bridges: With their unique harmony vocals, Wooden Bridges blends traditional bluegrass music with old-time, gospel, Celtic, classic country and original music.
3:00 pm — Truman’s Ridge: This Illinois band plays a fast-paced blend of traditional bluegrass, tradition-based original, and old-time gospel songs.
4:00 pm — Round the Bend: This popular band blends Bluegrass, Old-Timey, and Western Swing in captivating versions of traditional songs that evoke nostalgia, love lost and found, and barn-dancing fun. Country music historian Bill Malone says, “You’re going to love what you hear.”
5:00 pm — Oak Street Ramblers: Dishing up foot-stomping old time classics and tight high-and-lonesome harmonies, the Oak Street Ramblers are an up-and-coming band in Madison’s burgeoning bluegrass scene. The Isthmus writes that the Oak Street Ramblers “seem to put having fun at the top of their priority list.”
6:00 pm — Liberty Bluegrass: Wisconsin Area Music Industry’s 2009 Bluegrass Artists of the Year! Liberty Bluegrass is dedicated to traditional bluegrass music with an edge toward smokey honkytonk country. The band is developing a growing national following and has appeared at festivals around the country.
7:00 pm — Jefferson County: If you enjoy fast-driving, traditional style bluegrass you won’t want to miss Jefferson County’s set! They’ve been a crowd favorite at many festivals through out Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa.