That’s right folks. The leaves are budding, birds are chirping, and festival season is approaching! The 4th Annual Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival has announced its lineup for this year. There are several SWBMAI member bands playing, including Jefferson County, Squirrel Hunters (this is their debut festival performance), Liberty Bluegrass Band, the High 48’s (traveling all the way from Minnesota), and Tangled Roots. There will also be several other great bands performing Friday and Saturday. It is a great festival, and we strongly recommend checking it out! It is great to have bluegrass right in our backyard.

This year’s lineup features:
Friday:
7pm - Jefferson County
8pm - The Henhouse Prowlers

Saturday:
10am - Instrument Workshops
11am - Open Mic
1pm - Pick’n Up Speed
2pm - John Fabke and the Lonesome Aces
3pm - (This is the) Squirrel Hunters
4pm - Llama Mamas
5pm - Liberty Bluegrass Band
6pm - The High 48s
7pm - The Kraus Family
8pm - Tangled Roots

Tickets are: $10 Friday eve; $20 all Saturday; $25 both days; 12 yrs and under, no charge; and $7/night camping

Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival is an outdoor, old fashioned bluegrass festival, sponsored by the Village of Brooklyn, with rough camping in a beautiful 15 acre Legion Park. The Festival is located in Brooklyn, Wisconsin, a short 20 minute drive south of Madison’s beltline on Hwy 14 and 2 miles west on Hwy 92. Google Map

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.

‘Twas a mighty fine time at this year’s Jamboree. Even though it was the first beautiful day in what seemed like a century, folks stopped by to enjoy some fine local Bluegrass, pick some tunes (there may have been drinking too, but who’s counting) and chat with their fellow ‘Grassers. Few folks left empty handed as well! There were many fine raffle prizes dished out to the masses. The new format of jaming and four bands was praised by all and will be continued in next year.

Below is some video shot at the Jamboree, as well, there are pictures being posted to the photo section (more arriving soon). And thanks everyone for making this year’s Jamboree a hit. See you next year!

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).

This coming Saturday, Dec. 8th, we at the Southern Wisconsin Bluegrass Music Association, Inc., are having a party. A get-together. A shindig. A soiree. Said affair will be held at the Montrose Town Hall in Paoli (which is in Paoli but has a Belleville address).

We will be serving beer from The Cross Plains Brewery. There will be a Bluegrass jam from 3–5pm, followed by a potluck dinner (5:30-6:30). The evening will highlight a “bluegrass stomp” (contra dance) starting at 7pm and will feature The Ambrosia Dance Band and caller Mike Mossman. (Yes, I said caller, polish up your dancing shoes!).

This event is free for SWBMAI members and non-members are welcomed for a small suggested donation. So please come join us for some holiday fun!

This past Saturday, over 300 folks gathered together in Brooklyn, WI for a potluck dinner and old-time barn dance. Held in the O’Brien family’s refurbished barn, the event was the brainchild of Connie O’Brien and Paul Kienitz. The barn has been used mostly for private functions and weddings but this event was open to the public. Folks and families, near and far showed up to have a bite and scoot a boot!

Click image to play a high quality QuickTime video from the dance! Or see it on YouTube if that’s your thing…

Music was provided by the Ambrosia Dance Band, featuring Paul Kienitz, Chuck Hornemann, Peter Gorman, Dave Batson and caller Mike Mossman. A full night of square and contra dancing from just after 7pm to 11pm. Refreshment was provided by attendees and a feast it was! Two areas in the huge loft space it helped to expedite dishing up the delicious foods. Financial donations helped to defray the expenses for the event.

The property itself was beautifully decorated, parking was ample, a huge bonfire in the back of the barn and straw-bale seating everywhere. Upstairs and down, it was just like you dream about when you think of a barn dance. All ages were well represented. Children of all ages, adults, grandparents and great-grandparents. I overheard many folks talking about how they hoped this would become an annual event!

If you are interested in seeing this wonderful site, it is located at 552 Glenway Rd. in Brooklyn, WI. If you would like to find out more, call Connie O’Brien at 608-455-1860.

Ed: The Ambrosia Dance Band and caller Mike Mossman will be at the SWBMAI Holiday Party on Dec. 8.

Come join in the fun of an Old-time Barn Dance out on the farm at The O’Brien beautifully refurbished barn, 552 Glenway Rd, Brooklyn, WI (about 20 minutes from Madison), Saturday, October 20th. This event is in the spirit of family fun so Come One, Come All! FREE and open to all Ages!

The evening will start off with a Potluck Dinner @ 5:30pm. Come meet some friends and neighbors and bring your favorite dish to share and your beverage of choice. An Old-Time Barn Dance will kick off @ 7pm and will feature fantastic live music performed by the Ambrosia Dance Band. The band includes Chuck Hornemann, Paul Kienitz, Peter Gorman, Dave Batson with dance caller Mike Mossman.

Donations for expenses appreciated

If you would like to help, please print and post a few posters at your work and/or local haunts!

This past weekend was the 10th annual LarryFest in LaFarge, WI. It was a real hoot. The festival sold out the Wednesday before it started, and it’s easy to understand why. Nestled on a beautiful maple farm in the Kickapoo Valley, LarryFest had several great bluegrass, old-time and folk performers on stage. Only 1,000 tickets are sold, making it a wonderful atmosphere to see lots of great music in a beautiful setting without the hassle of a larger festival.

Friday was a great day with cool temperatures and fabulous performances from bands such as New Bad Habits (old-time), Druha Trava (Czech bluegrass band) and the Wilders (old-time country). Friday evening was headlined by Mountain Heart and the crowd really loved their upbeat music. There was a nice bonfire rolling all night and plenty of good pickin’ to be had.

At 8 a.m. on Saturday morning it began to rain and never stopped, but plenty of festival-goers were not deterred. People took shelter underneath the large tents or faced the rain to see great performances by folks such as Jack Lawrence (who often plays with Doc Watson) and String Ties (a regional bluegrass band). There was even a square dance taking place in the mud during the New Bad Habits afternoon show!

Following sunset, the rain fell with increasing intensity, so the show was moved into the large garage behind the main stage. Special Consensus played a fantastic set that had all the mud-covered folks dancing. Thunder was crashing and lightning was striking, so the band had to take a quick break to avoid electricution (in fact, the bass player felt a shock or two and played the rest of the set unplugged). But they kept on playing and the good times kept rolling. The Wilders closed out the night with a high energy set that kept everyone moving and kept them from remembering that the skies had opened upon us, washed out the only road in and out of the fest, and left folks’ cars so stuck in the mud that they had to be towed out by a tractor. All in all, it was a great festival and we will be looking forward to LarryFest 2008.

More than 2,000 people came out on August 12, 2007 to hear music and ride the Wisconsin & Southern’s beautifully refurbished passenger train at the Gandy Dancer Festival in Madison’s Central Park. A nice variety of music and train-related programs, locally prepared food and beverages and seating in the shade of tents helped to create a mellow, family-friendly atmosphere.

For the first few hours of the festival the crowd included a large contingent of parents and grandparents bringing kids to ride the train. Many of them enjoyed music on the main stage while waiting for the train. Jefferson County kicked off the festival at 11:00 a.m. with Round the Bend following at 2:45 p.m. As often happens at outdoor festivals, the kids enjoyed dancing in the open space between the seating area and the stage.

Meanwhile, in the Train Show Tent, Ellis Bauman enjoyed a steady stream of traffic at the SWBMAI table. Informational brochures were available along with a sign-up sheet for people who are interested in learning more about the organization. Tee shirts with the new SWBMAI logo were selling well.

Members of Jefferson County led an enthusiastic Bluegrass jam at 2:45-4:45 p.m. Don Meyer, General Manager of Mid-Continent Railway Museum, co-sponsor of the festival, enjoyed seeing people moving about the festival grounds carrying their instrument cases. Leo Edelstein, emcee in the Train Show Tent, described the jam as “well-attended and lively.”

The festival ended with sets by the Nob Hill Boys and headliners, the Alan Munde Gazette. By this time, Bluegrass fans predominated in the audience, and they responded warmly to both bands.

The festival steering committee would welcome feedback from SWBMAI members while preparing to consider whether there might be a Second Annual Gandy Dancer Festival. Direct your comments to Carolyn Hegeler or Johanna Fabke.

There’s also a nice write-up of the Gandy Dancer fest in the Wisconsin State Journal.

The good folks at the Kickapoo Valley Acoustic Music Association, Inc. (who have an equally long name as we do at SWBMAI!) are hosting their 10th annual LarryFest! The festival is Auguest 17-18th and held on the maple syrup farm in the Kickapoo River Valley (the map is as close as I could figure).

LarryFest is widely known for it’s great entertainment and fantastic late-night jamming. So bring your guitfiddle (or equivilant) and prepare join in the festivities!.

This year’s lineup features…

FRIDAY
3:00 - 3:45 Molly Sternke
4:00 - 4:45 Heartsfield
5:00 - 6:00 New Bad Habits
6:15 - 7:15 Mark Waelti & Larry Crane
7:30 - 8:30 Druha Trava
8:45 - 10:00 Wilders
10:30 - Midnight Mountain Heart

SATURDAY
12:00 - 12:45 In-Laws
1:00 - 1:45 Mike and Amy Finders
2:00 - 3:00 Les Petite Poulet Playboys
3:15 - 4:15 Wilders
4:30 - 5:30 Jack Lawrence
5:45 - 6:45 String Ties
7:00 - 8:00 New Bad Habits
8:30 - 10:00 Special Consensus
10:30 - Midnight Wilders