Two fabulous folks are featured at a barn dance this Saturday, May 3, 2008 at Folklore Village. Chirps Smith is one of the best old time fiddlers around and Dot Kent is a terrific dance caller. (Not to mention a fabulous Appalachian clogger).

The night begins with a potluck supper at 6:30 pm followed by music and moves that will get your feet moving and hearts groovin’. Chirps will be bringing some of his musical buddies for the band so get ready for a night filled with fantastic tunes and smiles!

Folklore Village (608-924-4000) is about 40 miles west of Madison and a few miles east of Dodgeville, 1/2 mile south of Hwy 18/151 on County Hwy BB. Google Map

Among the nominees at this year’s WAMI awards for Bluegrass Band of the Year are two SWBMAI member bands. The Liberty Bluegrass Band and Above The Town, join fellow nominees Salt Creek, .357 String Band, and Nob Hill Boys. The award ceremony is being held tonight at the Historic Turner Hall in Milwaukee, WI. The WAMIs, which stands for Wisconsin Area Music Industry, represents WI promoters, bands, venues and other music related professionals. This Grammy-style award show will feature live performances by 9 Wisconsin bands and is followed by a post-show party for all in attendance.

Tickets for the show are available at the Turner Hall box office or on-line.

The Liberty Bluegrass Band are very grateful just to be nominated in a stellar class of nominees. We work extremely hard (28 shows in 07) and are pleased to be recognized as one of the best Bluegrass bands in Wisconsin!

That’s right, folks, SWBMAI is celebrating 25 years of bringing bluegrass to our community. To celebrate, we are sponsoring a special, one-of-a-kind, Bluegrass Boys Reunion Concert at Madison’s very own Sugar Maple Festival at Lake Farm Park. The Bluegrass Boys Reunion will take place on Saturday night, August 2nd. The musicians will include Mark Hembree on bass (from the Nob Hill Boys), Bob Black on banjo, and Tom Ewing on guitar, with special guest Mike Compton on mandolin. It will absolutely be a show not to be missed, and we are so thrilled it is going to take place in Madison!

The 1940’s lineup of Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys has been termed the “original bluegrass band” with Bill on mandolin, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Lester Flatt on guitar, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts on bass. For more than half a century, several highly accomplished musicians played as Bluegrass Boys, and for many of them it was the highlight of their careers. Make sure to come and check out bluegrass in one of its purest forms around today at Sugar Maple.

Mental Detox Week - (formerly TV Turnoff (formerly TV-Free America)) serves as a reminder to cleanse the mental palate. For one week, April 21 to April 27, you are invited to celebrate in the analog world. Unplug, turn off the TVs, computers (Ed. - uh, this is blasphemy!), iPods, Blackberries, and cell phones. You don’t have to go cold turkey, just challenge yourself to cut back a little. In the evening, you watch your favorite show if you have to, but then you switch off, relax, read a book, take a walk, or maybe go for a pint with a friend.

It’s all about mental health. Recent studies have revealed a connection between our increasing use of a wide range of digital devices and growing stress levels and incidence of psychological disorders. Two out of three Americans suffer disconnection anxiety if they’re away from their gadgets even for a few minutes, and The American Journal of Psychiatry has classified excessive gaming, porn surfing, emailing, and text messaging as a compulsive impulse disorder. Unplugging for a week is a non-pharmaceutical method of protecting your sanity and well-being.

To Celebrate for mental detox week, John Fabke, host of “Pastures of Plenty” on WORT 89.9fm, will be doing a special all-live show from Mother Fools (1101 Williamson St, Madison) from 9am to noon on this Tuesday, April 22nd. The show will feature three excellent performers. You can join the fun at the coffeehouse or tune in on the radio. The guests will be:

• 9am-Award winning singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Tracy Jane Comer
• 10am-Midwestern fiddle master Chirps Smith
• 11am-Wisconsin treasures Bruce Bollerud and George Gilbertson (of the Goose Island Ramblers)

Bluegrass and Gambling – now there’s a combination! And if you’re looking for both in a north woods setting, you should mark your calendars for Saturday, April 26th. That’s when Don Rigsby and Midnight Call will be at the LCO Casino in Hayward.

Kicking the show off at 7:00 p.m. will be Hand Picked Bluegrass Band from Tomahawk. Don takes the stage at 8:00 pm. The music then moves to the lounge where Hand Picked will finish the evening (and hopes to talk a few members of the Midnight Call on stage to join them!). For more information, go to www.lcocasino.com

SpareTime Bluegrass Band will accompany Middleton school children in grades 1 though 5 at the Middleton High School for “An Evening of Front Porch Songs”. This is the choir recital, free to the public, and will begin about 6:15 p.m. on Monday April 7, 2008.

Raelynn Bodell, the Middleton Elementary music teacher who is leading the chorus has been emphasizing American folk music this year with the students. SpareTime was asked to come in and provide the musical accompaniment to the tunes. As Jim Robarts of the band said, “It gives us an opportunity to work in the schools and expose the students to acoustic instruments and music. Nothing bad can come of that.”

Middleton High School is at 2100 Bristol St, Middleton, WI

This year’s SWBMAI Bluegrass Jamboree is just around the corner! Saturday, April 19th from 12:30 to 7pm at the High Noon Saloon, the Southern Wisconsin Bluegrass Music Association, Inc. hosts their annual fundraiser show. Come on down and pick a few with fellow members and help support Bluegrass music in Wisconsin. See some pictures from last years Jamboree.

Bring your instruments and jam from 12:30am to 3pm. Then sit back and enjoy some of the best Bluegrass in Wisconsin! This year’s jamboree features:

General Admission $12 ($10 for SWBMAI Members and Students with ID) Children under 12 FREE! The High Noon Saloon 701 E. Washington Ave, Madison, WI

SWBMAI Street Team:
Help spread the word about Bluegrass by printing and handing out a few posters in your neck of the woods! Posting a few at work, your local library, coffee shop, book store, restaurant, etc…. You can download the poster:
PDF (8.5″ x 14″ high quality) or JPEG (6″ x 11″ good quality).

For the past couple of weeks I’ve had the good fortune to be running around Australia with mandolinist Mike Compton. This was especially nice as I missed the last few weeks of snow and cold, and instead, was enjoying Australia’s summer of blue skies and 80˚ weather. I joined Mike onstage for a few numbers each night and was able capture a bit of video from the show in Margaret River, Australia. To say the trip was absolutely fantastic is an almost criminal understatement!

Liz Carroll and John Doyle will be performing Saturday, February 9, at Folklore Village, 7:30 p.m. Liz is an All-Ireland Champion fiddler and a National Hertiage Fellowship recipient. John, is one of the original members of the Irish ensemble Solas, as well as an occasional member of Tim O’Brien’s band. This show is highly recommend, as are reservations (it’s currently almost sold out).

The award winning Nob Hill Boys will be performing at the historic Stoughton Opera House, 381 E. Main Street in Stoughton, WI on Friday, February 22nd at 7:30pm. This will be the first show of their 10th anniversary season! The Stoughton area group, The Llama Mamas will open the evening’s festivities.

Tickets are $12 and $14. To order tickets, call the Stoughton Opera House at (608) 877-4400 or visit the city’s official website, www.cityofstoughton.com