Last night I saw the 4 band lineup for the Wisconsin Bluegrass Festival at the Sylvee in Madison. The music far exceeded what I was expecting, so I want to share some of the bands here in case you happen to see them in a festival lineup in your neck of the woods.
The show kicked off with Art Stevenson and High Water, who played solid traditional bluegrass. They paid homage to Bill Monroe and covered many standards well. From there things got quite a bit more rambunctious...
From this first note they played it was clear that were were in for a treat. The video above is not from the show I saw (they didn't play Psycho Killer) but its a good taste if what this band can do. Hold on for the second half of the video, where they go into full jam-band mode. They covered I know You Rider, which was fantastic, but their original material was outstanding. It was also the first time I've ever seen a violin played with a wah pedal, and it was eyeopening.
These guys are from Appleton, which blew my mind. Perhaps you recall Balki Bartokomous from the 80's? I was unaware of anything cool coming out of Appleton... like ever... I was wrong.
These guys are so great that the best brewery in Wisconsin has been making a beer named after them for years (like the band, the beer is excellent).
These guys are less a band than an organism. I found the above video if them from 2015 at First Ave in Minneapolis, and I can assure you that in the ensuing 10 years they have only gotten better. What really truck me is that they played the whole show in a bunched huddle in the center of the stage moving in and out depending on who's turn is was to go wild at the particular time. Really fun.
Looks like it was a fun evening! Midwest bluegrass is definitely a thing. Lots of the top bands are from Michigan and Minnesota, so no surprise Wisconsin has its own scene.
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