The festival is held at the Mondeaux Dam Lodge in the scenic Chequamegon National Forest. This year’s band lineup includes Archie, Jim & friends, Big Daddy and the Feather Pickers, The Lang Bothers, Staff Infection, Mountain Sky & Friends, Prairie Smoke, Northern Comfort, the Mad City Jug Band, and Dick, Goldie & Mark.

Admission is free (no carry ins allowed) Food and beverages will be available on site. Bring your lawn chairs.

Mondeaux Dam Lodge is located in North Central Wisconsin in the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest just 20 miles north west of Medford. The lodge offers a full lunch and dinner menu, boat, canoe, paddleboat & pontoon rentals, a shower area for campers and a small camp store.

Family-friendly activities highlight the Gandy Dancer Festival, which is presented by the Mid-Continent Railway Museum and the Village of Mazomanie.  New this year is a “History Detectives” activity organized by Bobbie Malone of the Wisconsin Historical Society.  Children will have the opportunity to learn about riding and working on trains by interacting with a panel of old-timers who actually did it.  There will be music especially for kids by Dave Landau at noon and 2:30, a real-life gandy dancer demonstration by Dave Lee and incidental juggling by Jacob Mills.  Horse-drawn wagon rides, the mini-train for kids and historical displays at the public library (former Milwaukee Road depot), the Mazomanie Historical Museum and the Mazomanie Regional Heritage Center will round out the day.  Food and beverages will be readily available from local civic groups and businesses,

This event is supported by the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the American Girl’s Fund for Children, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, and the Overture Foundation.

Gandy Dancer Festival

Westland Promenade (Brodhead Street at the railroad tracks), Mazomanie, Wisconsin

Saturday, August 21, 2010 – 11:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m., rain or shine

Admission is free – contributions to Mid-Continent Railway Museum are warmly appreciated.

11:00 a.m.        Queens of Harmony, African-American Gospel

12:30 p.m.        Above the Town, Bluegrass

2:00 p.m.          The DitchLilies, American roots music

3:30 p.m.          Cork’n Bottle String Band, Bluegrass

5:00 p.m.          Harmonious Wail, Gypsy swing and jazz

6:30 p.m.          Lonesome River Band, Bluegrass

Further information is available at http://midcontinent.org.

Shooting any video of your own this festival season? Don’t forget to let us know about it at swbmai@gmail.com!

Audie has enjoyed a long career in bluegrass music, and has received a multitude of honors and awards including: Male Vocalist nomination; IBMA Instrumental Group of the Year; a Grammy® nomination for “Best Bluegrass Album” and an IBMA nomination for Recorded Event of the Year for “A Tribute to Jimmy Martin: The King of Bluegrass.”

The rest of this year’s lineup features an exciting mix of great local and regional bluegrass bands.  Friday night’s lineup will include the Mecan River Ramblers and the Bluegrass Tribute Band.  On Saturday the music starts in the afternoon with Oak Street Ramblers.  The Ramblers are followed by the Old Tin Can String Band, the Pike Creek, the Spare Time Bluegrass Band, Truman’s Ridge, and headliner Audie Blaylock & Redline.

New this year, the Festival will host a Sunday morning Gospel lineup featuring Jerry Wicentowski & Lucky Break.  Also playing sets on Sunday are the Krause Family Band and the James Creek Road.

Once again, rough camping is available with a campfire jam, in our beautiful 15 acre Legion Park. The Festival is a short 20 minute drive south of Madison.  To learn more about the Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival please visit www.brooklynbluegrassfestival.com.
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“I was extremely proud to represent Wisconsin as I accepted my award,” Sherman told SWBMAI shortly after the awards ceremony. “My heart has never left Wisconsin and I truly miss and adore my Bluegrass family there!”

“I founded and still direct the East Troy Bluegrass Festival 17 years ago,” Sherman said. “I have been writing music since I was 16. Since living with my partner Doug and having this wonderfully talented band Hard Ryde in my life, I have finally found the right group to make my songs come alive!  As a family we live the Bluegrass life. We have 5 family festivals here in Canada , along with my festival in East Troy. We host a winter series in the spring from Feb-April and produce the Bluegrass awards for Central Ontario. Hard Ryde is on the road constantly playing festivals both in the US and Canada.”

Watch Hard Ryde perform one of Melissa Sherman’s songs, “Turkeyville Road”

Those interested in helping to keep this great annual event going should contact Nadine at nwalsten@charter.net.

Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective kick off their 2009/10 Sugar Maple Concert Series on September 23 at the High-Noon Saloon.

Headlining the show is former member of the prestigious US Navy Country Current band, Frank Solivan II. Bluegrass Unlimited calls Solivan is “a major talent,” while Bluegrass Breakdown writes, “It would be relatively simple to describe Frank using standard marketing jargon and cliché terms of praise, but his creativity and unparalleled artistry seem to begin where those descriptions leave off” (Bluegrass Breakdown). A multi-instrumental master, Solivan sings with power and passion, writes articulate songs that go straight to the heart, and combines the pure, hard drive of classic bluegrass with twenty-first century sophistication. His quartet Dirty Kitchen, features a venerable line-up of nation­ally-connected pickers like banjo player Mike Munford, who has toured the world with top notch bluegrass artist like Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, the Rice Brothers featuring and Lynn Morris.

The September 23 kick-off is also billed as FLTMC’s 3rd Annual Volunteer Holler. While the event is open to the public, it offers special nod to more than with 100 volunteers who power the non-profit organization and it’s annual summer festival. These volunteers are welcome to attend the event for free.

The show starts at 8pm with Kristy Larson Honky Tonk Trio. Country music historian, author, musician and WORT radio host Bill Malone describes Kristy Larson as “one of the shining lights of Madison roots music”. Her light burns even brighter as she joins forces with husband and multi-instrumentalist Mark Roeder. Together, they’re a midwestern Rawlins and Welch.

A portion of the Sugar Maple Concert Series’ proceeds help produce the annual festival, typically the first full weekend of August at Lake Farm County Park in Madison. Contact www.fourlakesmusic.org or 608/227.8685 for more information.

As I write this article, Grasstowne’s Steve Gulley is belting out a version of The Grand Tour that is all but making me burst into tears. His voice has a range that will make you soar to the heavens then plunge you into despair… all in one verse! His masterful manipulation of tones accompanied by a musically phenomenal band was one of the many treats of the beautiful East Troy Bluegrass Festival.

Held in the town square, the organizers couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather (last year’s festival experienced non-stop torrential rain.) People flocked with their instruments, dogs, fold-up chairs and full attention. Bands came from near and far with the some of the local ones giving stellar performances. Bobby Batyko of Sparetime Bluegrass mesmerized the audience with his rich deep voice. And Dale Ward wowed people with his ability to hold a note for at least 2 minutes!

Julie Cherney poses with Grasstowne

Others included the dapper Liberty Bluegrass Band, a rare out-of-Café Carpe appearance by the New Pioneers featuring Jerry Wicentowski’s high lonesome leads, Cream City and Kentucky’s Charlie Sizemore Band. Part genteel Southern lawyer and part dry-witted band leader, Charlie and his band capped off Saturday night with a set of traditional and catchy original numbers.

As Grasstowne closed out their truly enjoyable and moving set on Sunday, the exquisite dobro player Phil Leadbetter commented that this festival is a rare gem. Gone are the days when entertainment took place in the town squares. Fortunately for us, the hard work of organizers Melissa Sherman, Robin Hudec and the community of East Troy has kept this tradition alive and FREE! A perfect way to say good-bye to summer and festival season, but to also get excited for next year’s event.

The Krüger Brothers will also host an informal 30-minute session earlier in the afternoon where bluegrass players and fans can meet them “up close and personal” and get a taste of their music. On Sunday, August 16 they will lead workshops from 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society, 900 University Bay Drive, Madison. Sessions include Banjo with Jens Krüger, Guitar with Uwe Krüger, Bass with Joel Landsberg and Sound Technology with Phillip Zanon. For more information or to register for a workshop contact Carolyn Hegeler at chegeler@tds.net.
At 7:00 p.m. on Sunday evening the Krüger Brothers will wind up their visit to the Midwest with a performance at the High Noon Saloon, 701 East Washington Avenue, Madison. Concert tickets can be
purchased now at the High Noon Saloon, online at www.high-noon.com, or at the Gandy Dancer
Festival. For the complete schedule and listing of festival events, visit http://midcontinent.org.
The Gandy Dancer Festival is supported by the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the American Girl’s Fund for Children, the Evjue Foundation, the Overture Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.

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