THE NEW PIONEERS
2015-08-13 19:00 - 21:00, 2015-09-10 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
This five piece bluegrass ball of fire featuring vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin appears here regularly on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Its various members have been involved with traditional music locally, regionally, and nationally for many years.
The Pioneer’s lead singer and guitarist, Jerry Wicentowski, has been described by country music historian Bill Malone as “One of the finest singers in bluegrass music”. Jerry has also performed and recorded with such bluegrass greats as Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, Byron Berline, Tony Trischka and others. Mike Schmidt of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is the group’s banjo player. This former French horn player has been a Nashville session musician and member of the popular Wisconsin-based bluegrass bands, Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ and the Piper Road Spring Band. He also performs occasionally with his wife Lori. Bruce King of Art Stevenson and High Water – also formerly of Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ – is on mandolin. Bruce and Mike are veterans of the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival in Mole Lake, WI – performing there every year from 1977 to 1982. Fiddle player Paul Kienitz is a member in good standing of regional bluegrass favorites, The Nob Hill Boys. Bass player John Jirak also has played banjo with various folks in the northeastern WI and Madison areas, most notably with the Green Bay based Fox River Flyer. As a bass player, he’s performed shows with the Chicago Bluegrass Band, Miltown Ramblers, Krause Family, Old Cool, Spare Time Bluegrass Band, Bob Steeno and The Old Truck, and Down From the Hills, and currently Madison’s newest, Kettle Moraine.
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MATTHEW FRANCIS ANDERSEN/ JOSH HARTY
2015-08-14 20:30 - 23:00
MATTHEW FRANCIS ANDERSEN is a Chicago native. His experience as a fishing guide in the northwoods allows him to seamlessly bridge the traffic and taverns of the city with the pines and prairies of the open Midwest. Matthew is currently touring in support of his cd Blue Line. He is the winner of American Songwriter Magazine’s 2012 lyric contest.
JOSH HARTY is a singer/ songwriter originally from Fargo, ND, though now he calls Madison home. He grew up singing and later playing guitar with his dad from the age of 6, touring the Midwest performing at senior centers, churches and small-town festivals. These days he still spends most of the year on the road, touring throughout the US and Europe (spending less time in Wisconsin than he’d like). Currently working on his fourth solo album and planning more tours for 2016, Harty shows no signs of slowing down. His live shows prove that good story telling combined with journeyman musicianship is as American as music gets.
“A work of extreme intensity, with beautiful voice, warm and strong.”-Lonestar Times of Italy
“There is a dignity to this music making that leaves us feeling enriched for the experience.” – John Davy, No Depression
.”Josh, Josh – where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you”- Americana UK
“There’s a tangible raw honesty evident in Josh Harty’s classy county-influenced songwriting.” -R2 Magazine, UK
“An honest voice and fingers that seem to catch fire.”-The Atlanta Music Guide, Atlanta GA
“….one of the brightest new things in the country blues genre.” “… a singer/songwriter prodigy. ”
The Guardian, Nenagh, County Tipperary Ireland

BILL STAINES
2015-08-15 20:30 - 23:00
Anyone not familiar with the music of Bill Staines is in for a special treat.
Singing mostly his own songs, he has become one of the most popular and durable singers on the folk music scene today, performing nearly 200 concerts a year and driving over 65,000 miles annually. He weaves a blend of gentle wit and humor into his performances and one reviewer wrote, “He has a sense of timing to match the best standup comic.”
Bill’s music is a slice of Americana, reflecting with the same ease his feelings about the prairie people of the Midwest or the adventurers of the Yukon, the on-the-road truckers, or the everyday workers that make up this land.
Many of Bill’s songs have appeared in grade school music books, church hymnals, and scouting campfire songbooks; he is one of only a few songwriters to have eight songs published in the classic song collection, Rise up Singing. Composer David Amram recently described Bill as “a modern day Stephen Foster…his songs will be around 100 years from now.”
Over the decades, you have heard Bill singing on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, HBO’s award winning series Deadwood, and Public Radio’s Mountain Stage. Additionally, his music has been used in a number of films including Off and Running, with Cyndi Lauper, and The Return of the Secaucus Seven, John Sayles’ debut as a writer- director.
In 1975, Bill won National Yodeling Championship in Kerrville Texas. Another important recognition was given to him in 2007. Presented by the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association, The Jerry Christen Award recognized Bill’s contribution to New England folk music.
Currently, Bill has recorded 26 albums; The Happy Wanderer and One More River were winners of the prestigious Parents’ Choice Award, taking a gold medal and silver medal respectively. His songs have been recorded by many artists including Peter, Paul, and Mary, Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, The Highwaymen, Mason Williams, Grandpa Jones, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nanci Griffith, Glen Yarborough and others.
“Folk music is rich in the human spirit and experience. I’ve always wanted to bring something of value to people through my songs.” With these thoughts, Bill continues to drive the highways and back roads of the country year after year, bringing his music to listeners, young and old.
“Bill Staines has been my hero since 1977. He carries on where Woody left off-carrying on the tradition of stories and characters you wish you knew.” – Nanci Griffith
“Staines is one of the best songwriters in folk music today, penning lyrics that evoke a sense of place and a generous spirit to go along with his pretty melodies. – Associated Press
“Staines is one of folk music’s best songwriters and entertainers.” – Milwaukee Journal
“There is no better writer of instantly memorable singalong choruses in this genre of music!” – The Boston Globe
“His gentle lilting voice, spacious melodies and common-chord lyrics give his songs a homespun grace that often belies his mastery of the folk form. He is such a pure pleasure too, people forget to notice how damn good at the job of singer-songwritering he really is.” – New England Folk Almanac
“Folk singer Bill Staines’ compositions recall the paintings of Grandma Moses – simple, literal and evocative of a bucolic tranquility that modern times have almost erased.” – Hartford Courant

THE SUITCASE JUNKET
2015-08-18 19:00 - 21:30
Back so soon after wowing us all in May, but we don’t mind. Don’t miss the amazing MATT LORENZ as the SUITCASE JUNKET.
THE SUITCASE JUNKET is a one-man tour de force out of Western Massachusetts. Matt has been road dogging for three years, solo and with his band Rusty Belle, touring with Chris Smithers, David Wax Museum, and Peter Mulvey. He’s got a powerful new CD out called Make Time.
Matt plays a collection of leather satchels, baby shoes, oil cans, cast-iron kettles, sticks, bones, and a ragged guitar he had pulled out of someone’s trash. At first the novelty is mesmerizing, then the music is. Suitcase finds extreme sounds — the wicked grind of a guitar, the vintage buzz of an old mic, the wild insect drone in the throes throat singing — and uses them to forward his restless skinny road-dog blues-playing big-hair cause. The boy has stories to tell.
Peter Mulvey and many others sing Matt’s praises on a collection of various media, including in-person speech, echo chambers, telephone, shouting from the mountain tops and social media.
Matt is a Vermont born musician, visual artist and tinkerer, and a professional showoff. “I aim to write good songs and sing them honestly” says Lorenz. He does that and more. The Suitcase Junket’s artistic vision is one of salvaged and repurposed objects, images and emotions. His innovative junk-percussion constructions, original album art featuring inanimate objects with wings, and the high craft of his songwriting all combine to create a unique and engaging entity with a force and style all its own. Lorenz’s self-taught throat-singing adds a fascinating edge to the overall sound. “I’m interested in the hidden voices that reside within things: the songs stuck inside instruments, the story behind the object, the mysterious weight of a word, the harmonic sequence that’s in every note waiting to be broken as light through a prism.”
Lorenz tours The Suitcase Junket nationally playing on festival stages and city street corners, in concert halls and dive bars, in living rooms and listening rooms. The sound isn’t easy to pin into a genre, but The Suitcase Junket is often likened to Tom Waits, The Black Keys and Andrew Bird. Lorenz’s songwriting is unexpected, powerful and poignant, drawing from the deep well of the American musical traditions of folk, rock, blues and storytelling, all sharpened with a keen pop sensibility. With masterful command over instruments of his own creation, he silences a room with the first notes of his throat singing and holds the crowd until the final chords of his guitar. When he plays you get the sense that he is truly playing and that he’d be doing it just as joyfully with or without an audience.
The Suitcase Junket has self-released two albums: Sever and Lift (2009) and Knock It Down. (2011) The third album, Make Time, came out on January 6, 2015. “The band” is built around a resurrected dumpster-diamond guitar, an old oversized suitcase, a hi-hat, a gas-can baby-shoe foot-drum, a cookpot-soupcan-tambourine foot-drum, a circular-saw-blade bell and a box of bones and silverware that operate much like a hi-hat. He pounds out rhythms with his feet and his twang-and-buzz guitar growls through a couple of old tube amps. On top of all this is the ethereal edge of his overtone throat-singing. This act is unique and not to be missed.”Make Time truly travels to various destinations of musical fortitude and emotion[…]It’s one hell of a ride that holds its resonance well after the record has stopped spinning.” – No Depression.
“If croons could kill, this one-man band would be a bounty hunter. Armed with a unique, self-sufficient approach to raw instrumentation, The Suitcase Junket is an artisan of song, bending, forging and sharpening each piece into an emotional tool.” -Performer Magazine.
“His songs have a sense of beauty about them and are delivered with such forceful sound you can’t believe you aren’t listening to a full band.” – Greenfield Recorder
Please call to reserve.

BILL CAMPLIN BAND IN FRACTION
2015-08-21 20:30 - 23:00
(Fraction because guitarist Jason Klagstad will be missing.)

DAVE RAMONT
2015-08-28 20:30 - 23:00
David Alan Ramont was born in Illinois one muggy, August Tuesday with a song stuck in his head. The doctors couldn’t get it out. (He was also left-handed but they couldn’t fix that either.) He grew into a little kid and began listening to lots of vinyl- Simon & Garfunkel, Stones, Guess Who, Dylan, Gary Puckett. Soundtracks from “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” & “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Other hobbies included ruminating and kicking stuff down the street. Then he growed up more, or at least he got taller…
He picked up guitar early on (11?), perhaps to get that damn song out of his head, and whacked away in various bands through high school. Not long after that he started teaching guitar and bass at a little music school outside of Chicago, where he taught hundreds of people “Stairway To Heaven” and what an Aeolian minor scale was for. He began writing songs and playing gigs around the Chicago area –solo, full band, and everything in between. Through the years he also played in the pit for theatre productions, did recording session work, hid out in cover bands, and did plenty of ditch digging, paint scraping and weed pulling.
After releasing his first CD “Toaster Reflection” he moved to Austin, TX for a time and soaked up the thriving indy music scene –playing open mics, songwriter showcases, and driving a bakery truck. His songs began receiving some airplay. The Austin Chronicle said “The world could always use another quality singer-songwriter with meaty lyrics, gritty vocals and a tight back-up band.”
Dave returned North with a tad more twang (and a helluva hangover) and recorded the rootsy, darker “Scofflaws”. The Illinois Entertainer said “…unlike many simplistic roots-revivalists, Ramont isn’t afraid to mix things up…gorgeously unexpected accordions and cellos pop up on this wonderfully produced CD.” He continued playing gigs and teaching. And digging ditches.
In 2000 he released “Scrawny” and began receiving more widespread airplay in the US (mostly on public and college radio) and Europe. Richard Milne of WXRT in Chicago called it “a delicious collection of distinctly American music.” Mark Guarino of Chicago’s Daily Herald said it was “…the finest collection of songwriting I’ve heard in a long time.” Once again the guitar, bass & drums core was surrounded by accordion, cello, piano, Dobro, mandolin, dulcimer, crowbar, lap steel, horns, etc. He toured more extensively- Midwest, East, South, Southeast- and became, well, sleepier…
He borrowed a banjo and co-founded the swamp-billy band Dick Smith with some musical pals. They recorded 4 CDs and developed a hardcore little following, playing around the Chicago regions and the Midwest. Acoustic Guitar Magazine picked their record “Smoke Damage” (2002) as one of the top 3 indy releases of the year. Dave then stepped away from music for a few years. But a feller never stops thinking about new songs, nope –even if he wants to…
At the end of 2009 -flying in the face of recession- Ramont released a sprawling double CD called “Taw”, polished his 1967 Gibson J-50 and started playing out again. His (old) song “I Wanna Marry A Waitress” was chosen to appear on “Blooming-Tunes 2010″, a songwriter compilation released out of Bloomington, IN. He had 2 songs featured on the 2011 record “Made In Aurora”, a compilation of Chicago area songwriters/bands (1st pressing sold out).

OPEN STAGE
2015-09-05 19:30 - 22:00

TRICIA ALEXANDER/ BILL CAMPLIN/ ALPHA STEWART/ opener Pete Christensen
2015-09-11 20:30 - 23:00
Comedian Pete Christensen opens.
TRICIA ALEXANDER and BILL CAMPLIN will swap songs, and percussionist ALPHA STEWART will accompany them.
Joy-filled, uplifting and inspiring are some of the words used to describe Tricia’s music and performance – which ranges from soothing and deeply spiritual to social commentary and humor. She moves between jazz, blues and folk, spoken word & music, original compositions re-interpreted cover tunes – and she does it all with seamless grace.
Bill has been known to do some quick pivots between a few genres himself. Join the genre-jumpin’ fun.

BRETT NEWSKI
2015-09-12 20:30 - 23:00
BRETT NEWSKI
“I’m Brett Newski. I write heaps of songs and tour my face off in an effort to keep my anxiety under control. There are two people who refer to my style as, “American Folk Armageddon,” which happens to be the name of my new record. Other people tell me I sound like the Violent Femmes, Frank Turner, Jake Bugg and Ben Kweller.
In 2011, I was job-less, girl-less and band-less so I bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok and wandered around for six months, recording in dirt-floored makeshift studios in the hills of Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Lost, I moved to Saigon, Vietnam on a $100 motor-scooter. I soon found myself writing music for tampon ads for Saatchi and Saatchi where the creative director called me “The Vagina King of Vietnam.”
Back in ‘Nam, I wrote nearly 100 power-folk songs. After two years and two albums, I choked down my final bowl of pig ear soup and boarded a flight to America. Since then, I have graduated from my parents’ basement and spend my time touring the world 200+ dates per year, including Europe, Australia and South Africa.
This bizarro odyssey inspired songs about sweet victory, crushing defeat, fleeting freedom, losing my friend and saving my ass. I know there is light at the end of the tunnel…but then again….sometimes that light at the end of the tunnel is a train.”
“Newski rocks in the grand tradition of Billy Bragg (and, more recently, Frank Turner), blending the sound of driving folk into songs that have the spirit (and occasionally the sound) of punk.
-AV Club
“Newski’s solid Midwestern roots anchor songs with super catchy melodies and melancholy lyrics with subtle wit.”
-Guitar World
“Loudest acoustic act ever.”
-Eon Hare, Daytrotter Engineer
” (American Folk Armageddon is) a superb acoustic punk album. Part Frank Turner, part Billy Bragg, the ten songs that make up this record are often witty and always charming.
-BLURT Magazine
“Can’t wait for the full record. Having toured the world, Brett has a unique story to tell, and his music reflects those experiences.”
–Kevin Leahy, NPR
“Oh my god, so he fucking travels all over the world couch surfing and plays for people in their homes and calls it a show. That’s not a tour. That’s called being a bum.
-Bonnie No How, Hater

DARDEN SMITH
2015-09-13 19:00 - 21:30
DARDEN SMITH has long transcended traditional singer-songwriter boundaries, and his varied, fascinating musical legacy continues to evolve. Following unexpected paths has been a constant force in his 28-year career as a musician, and his work of the last 15 years has led him both further afield than ever, and also brought him full circle to where he began.
Musically, Smith weaves together folk and Americana influences with rock, pop, and the musical roots of his home state of Texas, to create a sound that is uniquely his own. He has recorded fourteen critically acclaimed albums in locations ranging from Austin, New York, and Nashville to London and Los Angeles. All Music Guide has praised Smith as “a singer-songwriter blessed with an uncommon degree of intelligence, depth, and compassion.” Likened to songwriters such as Nick Drake, John Hiatt, Leonard Cohen and Elvis Costello, Smith is one of contemporary music’s most winning and gifted artistic treasures whose consistent creative excellence keeps blossoming.
LOVE CALLING, Smith’s latest album and his first with Compass Records, was recorded in Nashville with co-producers Jon Randall Stewart and Gary Paczosa. Capturing the sweep of its artist’s prolific career, the album’s lyrics reflect the depth and resonance of a veteran songwriter, while its melodies and production style recall the purity of Smith’s early work. “No machines, and acoustic instruments whenever possible. Fewer instruments, organic arrangements–I wanted to move in a direction I hadn’t gone in a long, long time.”
“Blessed with a seemingly effortless melodic gift and one of the warmest, most penetrating vocal deliveries in American music” — No Depression
“His burnished, smooth vocals are perfect…especially over a warm cup of cappuccino on a Sunday morning.” — American Songwriter
“Smith is an Austin-based singer-songwriter who continually redefines what it means to be a musician. With a thirteen critically acclaimed albums in his 28-year career, Smith is an expert in the craft of songwriting.” — KRUU Fairfield, IN
Please call to reserve.

HARMONIOUS WAIL
2015-09-18 20:30 - 23:00
Smoldering vocals laced among the jazzy mandolin and guitar; an infectious blend of continental jazz, swing, gypsy music and melodic vocals …how DOES one describe the sound of HARMONIOUS WAIL? The Wail has caught numerous listeners by total surprise during its more than 20-year history. Of all the venues and stages that these ‘NPR regulars’ have graced, it’s the PAC’s, festivals and showcase clubs that bring the most enthusiastic audience response!
MAMA AWARDS INCLUDE:
Best Jazz CD – Bohemian Tango 2014, Vegan Zombie’s Lament 2011
Best Jazz Song – Bohemian Tango
Best Jazz Performer
Best Ensemble Vocalists of the Year
Favorite Jazz Band – Isthmus Readers Poll
Best World Artist and Best World Song
Best Instrumentalist

SUZZY ROCHE and LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE
2015-09-19 20:30 - 23:00
So excited!
After a lifetime of performing and recording, these days SUZZY ROCHE enjoys singing on the road with her daughter LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE (half-sister to Rufus and Marth Wainwright, daughter of Loudon).
Lucy & Suzzy recorded their first CD Fairytale and Myth which won the popular vote for best singer/songwriter album of the year for the Independent Music Awards 2014. Suzzy is also currently performing with The Wooster Group (thewoostergroup.org) in: Early Shaker Spirituals ~ a record album interpretation ~ Cry Trojans! ~ based on Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, and The Room by Harold Pinter.
Suzzy is a founding member of the singing group The Roches, which included her sisters Terre and Maggie.
She has written two books; a novel Wayward Saints, and a children’s book Want To Be in a Band?
In addition to recording numerous albums with The Roches, Suzzy has recorded two solo albums, and an unusual collection of musical prayers, Zero Church (with Maggie Roche), which was developed at the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard University.
Suzzy has taught performance at NYU graduate and undergraduate schools and at Princeton University in the Atelier Program.
The fruit has not fallen far from either family tree, and LUCY has been making quite a name for herself in the singer-songwriter world.
PLEASE CALL TO RESERVE.

MARTHA SCANLAN w/ Jon Neufeld
2015-09-25 20:30 - 23:00
Excited we are to have Martha make her first appearance at the Carpe with Jon Neufeld.
MARTHA SCANLAN’s long-awaited third release, The Shape Of Things Gone Missing, The Shape Of Things To Come, is already being heralded as her best work yet. Given the beloved status of her first two records, that’s a tall order to fill.
Martha will be appearing here as a duo with JON NEUFELD– sometimes of Black Prairie (a side band of many of the Decemberists), Jackstraw, and Dolorean.
Her first solo album, The West Was Burning, featuring production by gifted multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell and spirited performances by Levon Helm (of The Band) and Amy Helm, was met with critical acclaim:
“A revelation, an instant classic and one of those rare albums that defies genre and generation. Scanlan evokes western landscapes as effectively as Georgia O’Keefe did on canvass.” – Dirty Linen
Martha Scanlan first gained national recognition for her songwriting at the prestigious Chris Austin songwriting contest at Merlefest in 2004, where she won awards in two categories. With the Reeltime Travelers, she was featured on the soundtrack for the film Cold Mountain, produced by Grammy Award winner T-Bone Burnett. Since then she has collaborated and shared the stage with a variety of roots musicians including Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Ollabelle, Black Prairie, Ralph Stanley and Norman and Nancy Blake.
Her song “Little Bird Of Heaven”, was the centerpiece of celebrated American novelist Joyce Carol Oates’ book by the same name.
The Shape Of Things Gone Missing, The Shape Of Things To Come is the result of a relative hiatus from the road; five years spent immersed in working and living on a 120 year-old small family cattle ranch in a remote corner of Southeastern Montana. Tongue River Stories was recorded on location there four years ago.
“I thought I was stepping back from music and writing,” says Scanlan, “but when these songs came together I realized that I have been writing them all along. There’s a beautiful congruence in music and working with cattle and horses- it’s all about the flow, finding the current in things. I was curious about how that would translate in the studio, how the landscape would come through.”
She couldn’t have found better company for such an endeavor; producer and long-time musical collaborator Jon Neufeld brought fellow members of Black Prairie and the Decemberists, Dolorean and Amy Helm together into the studio for four short days. The record was mixed and mastered within ten.
“We wanted it to be a live, improvisational and collaborative process, to really let the current of the songs be the guide.”
The result is stunning.
The gift of a great storyteller is the bringing of the listener into the story, and the story into the listener. It’s not just the words of the songs that provide that rare lasting transformative alchemy that has become so characteristic of Martha Scanlan’s work, and earned her the small loyal cult following that seems to be steadily growing. It’s the space between the words, the current of things, the sound of the place itself.
Recorded at Type Foundry Studios in Portland, Oregon, The Shape Of Things Gone Missing, The Shape Of Things To Come was just released in April 2015.

ERIN MCKEOWN
2015-09-26 20:30 - 23:00
We are excited to have internationally-known multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and producer ERIN MCKEOWN play here. With 9 full length albums, 2 EPs, and numerous soundtracks to her credit, she has spent the last 15 years crafting a reputation as an original musical voice and compelling live performer.
An active voice on social justice issues and culture, Erin was a 2011-12 fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Recently, she’s also added radio to her resume- blogging and hosting for WNYC New York Public Radio. A former board member of the Future of Music Coalition, McKeown also works closely with Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) on immigration issues.
2015 finds McKeown in high demand as a teacher with a full studio of private students, and she has three records for other artists in production. She is currently writing an original musical with Tony & Pulitzer winner Quiara Alegria Hudes for the world renowned La Jolla Playhouse. Fingers crossed for a new solo record in 2016. Meantime, read about her latest record, MANIFESTRA.

FUN FACT: She has written a song via text message with her friend Rachel Maddow.
FUN FACT: Since her debut album Distillation dropped in 2000, Erin has sold over 100,000 albums.
FUN FACT: Erin has made 6 episodes of her acclaimed “Cabin Fever” series of live webcasts streamed from her house in rural western Massachusetts. Described as “Wayne’s World meets the Judy Garland Show”, the series has garnered considerable attention for its entertaining exploration of the intersections of art, technology, and commerce. You can watch the whole series here.
“Her operative mood is effortless grace” – LA Weekly
“That’s McKeown’s genius: her ability to take what is, twist it into something more relevant and maintain whatever it is about the music that makes it work. Smarter pop? Seductive commentary? REALLY? Yes.” – Paste Magazine
“In several distinctive ways- voice, dynamic subtlety, and sheer songwriting ability- Erin McKeown is in a class of her own.” – Sunday Times (UK)
“Her playing is so muscular, her arrangements so well conceived that she succeeds brilliantly. As with all truly great guitarists, the wonder is less in her chops than her choices” – Boston Globe
****- Q Magazine for “Hundreds of Lions” (2009).
“Her clear mezzo-soprano sounds perpetually optimistic, and so do the syncopated electric guitar parts she picks and plucks through the sparsely arranged but fully realized songs. A degree in ethnomusicology, and African undercurrents, separate her from more rhythmically earth-bound folk-rockers.” – Jon Pareles, New York Times for “We Will Become Like Birds” (2005).
She has performed with: Amos Lee, Anais Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird, Ben Sollee, Carrie Rodriguez, Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive, Mike Doughty, and The Mountain Goats.
She has appeared at: Bonnaroo, Newport Folk, Glastonbury, Oxegen, Winnipeg, Strawberry. Beacon Theater, Olympia Theater, Royal Festival Hall. Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Later with Jools Holland, NPR, BBC.
She has had songs placed: “Bunheads”, “Desperate Housewives”, “Awkward”, “Gilmore Girls”, “The L Word”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Roswell” , Tesco, Google, Ferraro Praline, Bose.

ROD PICOTT
2015-09-30 19:30 - 22:00
It’s been 15 years since ROD PICOTT laid down his work belt, picked up an acoustic guitar and put a permanent end to his gig as a sheet rock hanger. He’d been writing music in private for years, but it was 2001’s Tiger Tom Dixon’s Blues — a debut album that bridged the gap between between folk and Americana — that officially introduced him as a singer/songwriter, kick starting one of the more acclaimed careers in modern-day roots music. Since then, he’s focused on a different kind of construction: building a catalog of songs that spin stories of hard work, heartache and the human condition.
On Fortune, he turns his focus inward, using himself — not the people around him — as the album’s main character. It’s his seventh solo release, written and recorded after years of heavy touring. Looking to make a record that could serve as a raw, authentic document of his live show, Picott recorded Fortune quickly, cutting six songs during his first day in the studio and finishing the entire album within a week and a half.
From No Depression’s review: “Rod Picott is a seriously gifted lyricist – a writer of words and phrases that resonate and lead to reflection. On Fortune, his new release, out August 14 on Welding Records, he presents songs about heartache and revision, with a voice that is seductive and breathy, a la Leonard Cohen. There’s also a ramshackle quirkiness in some of the arrangements that is somewhat reminiscent of Tom Waits.”
“I wanted to make a record where we captured performances, as opposed to imitating performances,” says Picott, who grew up in rural New England before relocating to Nashville. “Technology makes it so easy to do an imitation of what your best performance would sound like, but that’s not a real performance. That’s just what you would want yourself to sound like. I didn’t want to do that. For better or worse, Fortune is what I actually sound like.”
Musicians like Slaid Cleaves, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Fred Eaglesmith would claim it’s for the better. All three have recorded Picott’s songs, showing their support for a self-sufficient songwriter who plays most of his shows alone, relying on his voice and acoustic guitar to pack a punch. Fortune gave him a chance to put together a small band, though, with Will Kimbrough (Steve Earle, Guy Clark) handling the electric guitar parts and producer Neilson Hubbard (The Apache Relay, Matthew Ryan) doubling as the group’s drummer. With Lex Price joining in on bass, the group kept things as real and raw as possible. They just plugged in and played.
“A lot of these songs explore a sense of chance, of what might happen with your life,” Picott says. “Jeremiah” is the story of a soldier who doesn’t home from Iraq, “Uncle John” is a wry look at family dysfunction, and “Alicia” is a naked telling of a romantic break. The songs come from his life, and the details tell a vivid story. “There’s a sense of luck, and how things might unfold for someone. I thought that calling it Fortune would put a positive spin on that idea of chance and circumstance. It helps wrap up the feeling that runs through the record.”
Decades ago, during his sheet rock days, Picott promised himself that he wouldn’t release an album until he figured out who he was as a writer. Having a good voice wasn’t enough; he needed an opinion, a perspective, an ability to turn the world around him into music. With Fortune, he shines a light on himself, strips bare what he found rattling around in his heart and invites the listener to follow a deeper and more intimate journey.

LIAM O'BRIEN
2015-10-02 20:30 - 23:00
LIAM O’BRIEN, of Liam O’Brien’s Faithless Followers, will be appearing here solo.
Liam O’Brien is a Wisconsinite dabbling in an eclectic blend of styles for various venues from street corner to concert hall. Throughout a variety of approaches, his lyrical integrity is ever-present, penning original musings on the inner-workings of the human psyche. His songs can turn from wry and sardonic to heartfelt and compassionate within a matter of verses. This penchant for dynamic lyricism is equally matched in the music as it flows from near whisper to ruckus sometimes in the course of a single song.
When not touring with steel guitar in hand, he works with Mike Noyce (of Bon Iver) as one half of an audio engineering team, performs with garbage folk collective Holy Sheboygan! and plays saxophone in experimental noise-rock group Tonbi Claw.
Liam’s latest album was created at the Wormfarm Institute, an artist residency and vegetable farm just outside Reedsburg, WI. During the month of January, “EYE” was performed and recorded entirely by Liam while farm-sitting in near isolation keeping good company with chickens, cats and a dog named Trouser.
“Whistling, ships, beautiful simple background voices, mandolin, viola…and there goes my heart, sailing off on the seas with Liam’s voice…” ~ The Folk Hive
“[Liam’s] sound is original and interesting” ~ Stephanie Elkins, Simply Folk (WPR)

KAIA FOWLER w/ Steve Tesmer
2015-10-03 20:00 - 22:30
Kaia Fowler’s music is a cross-blend of folk, blues, rock and Americana. Through supple, strong vocals and guitar work that ranges from delicate finger style to rhythmic strumming, Kaia shares songs that explore life’s longings, struggles and celebrations. Rooted in nature, Kaia’s songs resonate with strength and vulnerability, seeking to bring light even when approaching some of the darkest moments in life.
This will be a CD release party for her new EP All The Way. This album is in loving memory of Kaia’s husband Scott R. Jaeger who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 44 in July, 2013. The proceeds of sales are to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Samples of the upcoming album are available at soundcloud.com/kaiafowler.
Performing at folk clubs, house concerts and venues that include the Froth House in Madison, Kaia shares originals and select covers that include songs by John Prine, Patty Griffin, Tracy Chapman and Susan Tedeschi. Kaia’s songwriting has been compared to Joni Mitchell’s for its lyrical metaphors, rich melodies and creative harmonies.
Kaia released her first album, Seams of My Heart in 2010. With Kaia on guitar and vocals, the album also features Randy Sabien on violin and mandolin, Paul Bast on dobro, Sam Steffke on piano, and Jeremy Reutebuch on percussion.
From the Americana Gazette album review: “Each song is very well written, with a true authenticity of life. You can picture yourself or someone you know in each story line.” He continues, “Fowler is a tremendous lyricist. Her lyrics paint pictures and her musical notes add the color…” (Aug.-Sept. 2010 issue)
Following the release of Seams of My Heart, Kaia was invited to play her song “Who Are You?” as a guest at Michelle Shocked’s concert at the High Noon Saloon in Madison, Wisconsin. Singles from the debut album received airplay on Women of Substance online radio.
Kaia will be joined by Steve Tesmer on dobro.
Please call to reserve, and come on out to hear some great music and support a worthy cause.

RAY BONNEVILLE
2015-10-04 19:30 - 22:00
Every now and then, you run across someone with a library’s worth of stories to tell. But unlike the raconteurs who regale friends with well-embellished versions of their exploits, these storytellers have lived so much, they reveal chapters of their hard-won wisdom slowly, carefully, like layers peeled from an onion.
RAY BONNEVILLE didn’t even open his storybook until his early 40s, some 20 years after he started performing. But with a style that sometimes draws comparisons to JJ Cale and Daniel Lanois, this blues-influenced, New Orleans-inspired “song and groove man,” as he’s been so aptly described, luckily found his rightful calling.
On his fourth Red House Records album, Easy Gone, Bonneville delivers 10 reasons why patience pays off. In each, his guitarwork shimmers like stars emerging at dusk. His voice carries the rich, natural timbre of time, though underneath that pearl-like smoothness, one hears its gritty core. His harmonica rhythms add even more texture to his sound.
Produced by Bonneville and Justin Douglas, Easy Gone wears the faded denim of a man who knew when he “said I do to a highway,” as he sings in “Who Do Call the Shots,” that it wasn’t going to be an easy marriage. But he also knew divorce was not an option, and affirms his vows in soulful lyrics that balance thoughtful observation, impassioned emotion and the restless soul of a wanderer.
Bonneville’s highway life began, more or less, at 12, when his parents moved their nine French-speaking children from Quebec to Boston. He learned to play a little piano, then guitar, but language and cultural challenges made school uninviting. But before getting expelled, he played weekend in New England with a young band that travelled in a 57 Cadillac ambulance.
At 17, he joined the Marines, mainly to escape his devoutly religious, oppressively authoritarian father. That was just before Vietnam began showing up on the nightly news. He wound up there for more than a year. Post-discharge, he discovered Howlin’ Wolf, Paul Butterfield, James Cotton and other bluesmen, and taught himself to play harmonica in-between fares while driving a cab in Boston.
Bonneville spent the ‘70s in Boulder, Colo., where he formed the Ray Bonneville Blues Band, an electric five-piece, and got over his fear of flying by earning a commercial pilot’s license. “I was hooked bad right from the start,” he says. “When I was flying, I felt completely at home, like the plane’s wings were part of my body.”
He headed to the Pacific Northwest — first Alaska, then Seattle — flying wherever he could and playing rowdy rooms where listeners wanted to get their groove on, which helped him evolve a delivery that covered all bases. “My thumb became my bass player and my index finger became my lead guitar and rhythm player,” he explains. “My feet became my drums and with my harmonica and my vocal, made for a four-piece blues band.”
In Seattle, he got hooked on something else: his old friend, cocaine. Escaping to Paris, where he knew the language and could avoid temptation, he busked and played for boozy late-night revelers, but for the first time, Bonneville also encountered audiences who sat in silence, truly listening.
“It scared me,” he admits. “I realized that you’d better have something to say if you’re going to play in front of this kind of crowd.”
Returning stateside in ’83, he moved to New Orleans. Training pilots by day and playing at night, he was stirred by the city’s hypnotic undercurrent of mystery and magic, which hangs in the humid air like a voodoo spell. In his six years there, it seeped into his sound — and still ripples through it today.
His post-Katrina ode, “I am the Big Easy,” was folk radio’s No. 1 song of 2008 and earned the International Folk Alliance’s 2009 Song of the Year Award, but Bonneville wasn’t yet ready to write in New Orleans. That would take more living.
The romantic notion of becoming a bush pilot took him to northern Quebec’s wilderness, where he shuttled sportsmen via seaplane and played Montreal clubs in the off-season. That is, until, flying in fog, he almost hit a power line, and with no fuel left, barely found water to land on. After a nerve-calming whiskey, he decided his bush-pilot days were done. At 41, he moved to Montreal and began to write. He also began touring and recording; his 1999 album, Gust of Wind, won a Juno Award.
In 2003, Bonneville moved again, this time to Arkansas, where the fly-fishing was good. He began recording for Red House Records, and adding his talents to albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard and other prominent artists. Bonneville also has shared songwriting credits with Tim O’Brien, Phil Roy and Morlix, among others. Slaid Cleaves placed Bonneville’s “Run Jolee Run” on his lauded 2009 album, Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away.
Bonneville headed to Austin in 2006, and released Goin’ By Feel, his second Red House album. Allmusic.com gave it four stars, the same as Gust of Wind, Roll It Down and Bad Man’s Blood — which it calls his “magnum opus,” noting, “With darkness and light fighting for dominance … he’s stripped away every musical excess to let the songs speak for themselves.”
“I have roughly 12 lines to make a story, so every one has to trigger the listener’s imagination,” he explains. “I want my songs to be believed, so I work on them until I believe them myself.”
On Easy Gone, songs like “When I Get to New York,” “Mile Marker 41” and “Love is Wicked” percolate with hints of something sinister and sexy. In the bluesy “Wicked,” you can almost hear the finger-poppers lurking in the club’s corners — the ones who might get a little wicked themselves later on. Even the album’s lone cover, of Hank Williams’ classic, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” carries a groove and momentum that’s Bonneville’s alone. It’s haunting, like many of his songs. He populates a lot of them with society’s fringes: the desperate and dangerous, damaged and vulnerable.
“I like the criminals and the lost people,” he says. “That’s why I love Flannery O’Connor and those kind of writers. ’Cause I’m lost myself.”
Whether that’s true or not, he knows how hard it can be for our internal compasses to lock on the direction in which we might need to go. That’s the subject of “Where Has My Easy Gone,” written with drummer Geoff Arsenault. In it, he sings, In the heart of a seeker a needle swings/homing on some elusive thing/I looked in the endless sky down along the sea/I could not find my easy.
With just a few simple words, Bonneville clearly expresses his thoughts, while allowing space for multiple interpretations. Which, of course, is the essence of great songwriting, the kind that earned him an International Blues Challenge solo/duet win in 2012. He doesn’t pretend to understand how he finds that essence, however.
“The whole songwriting thing, to me, is mysterious, and I want to keep it that way,” Bonneville says.
Ultimately, what matters is knowing how to translate the mystery into music, and that, he understands perfectly.

NEW PIONEERS
2015-10-08 19:00 - 21:00

MADISON MALONE
2015-10-09 20:30 - 23:00
Born in the wonderful Wisconsin city that matches her name, MADISON MALONE was immersed into an obsession with music immediately in her childhood. She traces back her love of music since the days of dancing and singing to The Beatles in her backyard of rolling hills in Portage, WI. Madison started learning the piano at the age of 5, writing music at the age of 12, teaching herself guitar at 17 & is an alum of UW-Madison’s co-ed A cappella group, Redefined. She is also a teacher at Madison’s Girls Rock Camp!

Madison Malone calls her music soul-pop because she believes that by putting her soul into everything, honesty can be emulated in her story-telling & songwriting. The 21-year old believes that music is one of those few mediums of which almost all humans can relate. Whether it be rhythm, the sound waves, lyrics, the movements of the musician, or just the brilliance & comfort it produces while being performed, music can connect the world on some sort of common ground. Madison has a driven passion to use & create music in her community and the world in order to inspire those that she crosses paths with. She wishes to show others that music can be this incredible, spellbinding outlet where we can escape and turn all of our aspirations into reality.

As Madison approached the fall of 2015, she weighed all of her options in what she wanted to do for her musical future. She reached the resolution to take time off from what would be her senior year at UW-Madison. She is using this time to fully immerse herself in the nation’s music scene with tours to Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Los Angeles & Kansas City in hopes that she will continue to spread feel-good vibes while meeting more incredible musicians along the way.

Check her out on Facebook.

SMALL POTATOES
2015-10-10 20:30 - 23:00
The Chicago based folk duo of Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso say it has taken them years of careful indecision to develop a repertoire they describe as “Celtic to Cowboy.” Superb musicianship and showmanship, award-winning songwriting, and a strong sense of tradition has made them, as Dirty Linen Magazine once said, “one of the most polished, inventive, and entertaining shows on the circuit.”
“make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em think”
From the start, they’ve called themselves eclecto-maniacs and described their music as “Celtic to Cowboy”. They say it has taken them “years of careful indecision” to come up with a mix of music that ranges from country, blues, and swing to Irish, with songwriting that touches on all of those styles and more. Their four recordings, Alive!, Waltz of the Wallflowers, Time Flies and Raw demonstrate that “indecision” can be wonderfully entertaining. They both sing, they both play guitars and an array of other instruments. They even yodel.
“Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso combine cleverly witty with powerfully poignant songs, along with well chosen covers to present an unusually entertaining and involving repertoire engagingly delivered. Prezioso’s song “1000 Candles, 1000 Cranes” is one of the most outstanding songs of the past 50 years.” Rich Warren, The Midnight Special – WFMT Radio, Chicago, IL
“They don’t sound like anybody else. I like that. They lay out a blanket and every song is a picnic.” Warren Nelson, Big Top Chautauqua/WI Public Radio, Bayfield, WI
“I’ve never been so fascinated by a singing duo. They’re original, funny, energetic, profound, always respectful of the music but always daring to try new things. When they get their hands on music, rhythmicaly and harmonicaly, it just takes of. The audience here loves them. It’s a stand-up-andshout kind of love.” Phee Sherline San Diego Folk Heritage Society, San Diego, CA
Please call to reserve.

MICHAEL FRACASSO/ Giulia Millanta
2015-10-16 20:30 - 23:00
Upon arriving in Austin, TX in 1990 from New York City, MICHAEL FRACASSO was promptly voted Best New Artist in Music City Texas ‘Insiders’ poll and was able to record his first CD, Love & Trust which features a duet with Lucinda Williams.
He has made two albums with producer/ guitarist Charlie Sexton (World in a Drop of Water and Back to Oklahoma) and also collaborated with Charlie to write and record the music for the movie Monster Hunter.
His 2004 album, Pocketful of Rain featured a duet with Grammy winner Patty Griffin for whom Michael opened her Spring 2006 tour.
He has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe and Japan. His 2007 release, Red Dog Blues went to #1 on the Americana Chart in Europe.
For his seventh CD, Saint Monday (April 26, 2011) Fracasso returned to a harder-hitting sound of a full rock band and “…remains one of Austin’s most distinctive voices.” – Jim Caligiuri – Austin Chronicle.
He was short listed for the Austin Public Library Award for literary achievement in 2011 and was on the “Best of 2011” list for several publications including Third Coast Music, San Antonio Express News and Austin Chronicle.
“Michael Fracasso has the heart-melting potential of Gene Pitney or Don Everly… his voice remains a marvelous instrument throughout.”
— Don McLeese, Rolling Stone
“…transcend(s) the realms of hardcore honky-tonk and folksy excess. Fracasso… gloriously integrated a countrified Texas twang with Beatlesque popisms and rocking enthusiasm.”
— Mitch Myers, New City
Opener GIULIA MILLANTA is a songwriter from Florence, Italy, now based in Austin, TX. She is a traveller. She is a writer. She is a performer who uses her own unique style in combination with various genres to craft music that connects cultures.
She plays guitar, ukulele and she sings in four languages – Italian, English, French and Spanish!
Her curiosity and search for a personal form of expression distinguished her first work, “Giulia and the Dizzyness” (CavernJatt Records 2008).
She performed at the Acoustic Guitar Meeting in Sarzana, where she won the Carisch Award “New Sounds of Acoustic Music”, in May of 2010.
Two years after her first release, Giulia delivered “Dropping Down” (Ugly Cat Music/ Audioglobe 2011) a multivalent musical performance, showing her skills in every aspect of production.  The album is in fact entirely written (except for the cover, Paranoid, by Black Sabbath), arranged, and produced by the singer/songwriter.
In 2012 , after touring Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and US, Giulia moved to Austin, Texas, the “live music capital of the world”, a melting pot where different cultures, genres and musical styles meet and blend. Here, filled with new energy and influences Giulia decided to “give birth” to a new album: “Dust and Desire” (Ugly Cat Music/Audiglobe 2012)
Her fourth studio effort, “The Funambulist” (Ugly Cat Music 2014), is a musical investigation of the art of balancing…people, languages, realities and life in general.

SAM LLANAS (cancelled)
2015-10-17 20:30 - 23:00
SAM LLANAS (formerly of the BoDeans) is an iconic American singer, acoustic guitarist, and songwriter. Best known for his unique and distinctively soulful voice, It was Llanas’ voice that supplied the trademark vocal on Robbie Robertson’s “Somewhere Down the Crazy River.” He will be appearing solo.
In 1997 Llanas founded the band Absinthe. As Absinthe Sam released one album, 1998’s critically acclaimed A Good Day To Die. In 2011 Sam Llanas left the BoDeans and released 4 A.M. (The Way Home) on Inner Knot Records. In 2013 he released the live retrospective 4/5 Live – Vol I.
In 2012 the music from 1998‘s A Good Day To Die was incorporated into a collaboration with playwright Doug Vincent and producer Gary Tanin in the production “A Day for Grace.” By 2013 the play had evolved to include multi-city tours and multi-week runs in New York City.
On November 18th, 2014 Llanas released The Whole Night Thru, an all new studio record produced by longtime collaborator Gary Tanin. It features 9 new Llanas originals. The Whole Night Thru is Llanas’ first studio outing after parting ways with the band he co-fronted for over a quarter century. Shedding new light on a multi-decade career Sam returns to his roots adding a refined rock sound complimented by a full band, all veterans of both studio and live performance. Behind his lone-wolf image and toughness, Llanas continues to hone his skills. A master craftsman that feels most at home in the city he’s always called home, Llanas has set the stage for fans to embrace his new identity.

CLAUDIA RUSSELL & BRUCE KAPLAN w KATIE DAHL & RICH HIGDON
2015-10-21 19:30 - 22:00
CLAUDIA RUSSELL is an outstanding singer and songwriter who has shared stages with Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Loudon Wainwright III, Steve Forbert, Tish Hinojosa, Kris Kristoffersen, Willie Nelson, Darryl Purpose, Peter Rowan, Rosalie Sorrels and Bill Staines, among many others. She is accompanied by husband BRUCE KAPLAN on mandolin, guitar and vocals.
Besides writing evocative songs, Claudia is known for her vocal talent. She is an expressive and versatile singer, as at home on a soulful ballad as a Buddy Holly style romp.
With its memorable melodies and seductive soundscape, her latest album, All Our Luck Is Changing, elicits the classic era of ageless American music. Russell delivers a whimsical melting pot of traditional and contemporary styles, from earnest folk to sweet jug band blues, driven by her deft guitar work and a versatile, expressive voice that tips the hat to artists as diverse as Dolly Parton, Suzanne Vega and Aretha Franklin. Claudia paints her material with emotional depth, looking forward and back at life with both childlike awe and the mature wisdom of a musician with four decades of music under her belt.
Working with three-time Grammy nominee producer Peter Case, Claudia and her husband Bruce Kaplan (guitar, mandolin) cut the majority of the record live with some of LA’s best musicians. Using just a few overdubs, Case created a balance between the immediacy of a live record and the freedom to embellish that the studio experience inspires.
Though they might not carry the trappings of the usual music industry formula for overnight success, self-described ‘late bloomers’ Russell and Kaplan have refined their sound into an eclectic, full-bodied tapestry of unplugged Americana. Giving themselves the time and space to come into their own as people and musicians has allowed for the creation of their definitive album. The duo have dealt themselves a winning hand. Indeed, all you have to do is listen and you too will believe! All Their Luck Is Changing!
KATIE DAHL Wisconsin singer-songwriter Katie has performed her original songs everywhere from the dusty cliff country of Mali, West Africa, to the winding canals of southern France, to the cedar forests of the American northwoods. The depth and power of Katie’s alto voice, the literate candor of her original songs, and the easy humor of her live performances have earned her numerous songwriting awards, as well as the chance to share stages with such luminaries as Dar Williams, Peter Mulvey, Julie Gold, and Cheryl Wheeler. Katie is also a playwright whose musical Victory Farm premiered to high acclaim in 2012 and has since been made into a live cast album.
Mike Fischer of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes that Katie Dahl “combine[s] old-fashioned populism, an abiding love of the land, and wickedly smart love songs, all delivered in a rich and expressive alto.”
“Crowns,” the opening track from “Ordinary Band,” hit number one on the folk radio charts for July 2015. The album “Ordinary Band” was #4 overall. The full rundown is here. Katie performs with sideman RICH HIGDON on bass and washboard.

TALL HEIGHTS
2015-10-23 20:30 - 23:00
It’s been half a decade since TALL HEIGHTS kicked off their career in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, busking for more than 100 days to help fund their very first EP. Paul Wright would play cello, Tim Harrington would strum the acoustic guitar, and both bandmates would sing, their voices cutting through the noise of shoppers and tourists.
Since those days, the duo’s harmony-heavy indie folk has taken Tall Heights from the marketplaces of Massachusetts to stages across the country. They’ve toured America, released critically-acclaimed album, Man of Stone, and earned a spot on the same folk family tree as Simon & Garfunkel and Bon Iver. On 2015’s Holding On, Holding Out, though, the duo widen their reach significantly, beefing up their sound with electronics, synthesizers, drums loops, Casio keyboards, and plenty of shimmer and shine. It’s a record of exploration and expansion, with Tall Heights building something towering on top of their folksy foundation.
NPR calls Tall Heights “Intimate and arresting.” Their brand new EP, “Holding On, Holding Out,” releases today. Check it out on Spotify.
“This record feels like a new birth for us,” says Harrington, a Boston native who grew up singing in the same local choirs as Wright. “We’re sounding different. It’s not because we were bored; it’s because we were street performers who learned how to create beautiful moments as a duo, but then we became a nationally-touring act. We saw the country, we broadened our horizons. Suddenly, we weren’t the artists we were before. But a lot of what we learned on the street still rings true to our approach today, so this record is a growth, rather than a left-hand turn.”
Recorded at Color Study studio in Goshen, Vermont, Holding On, Holding Out was partially inspired by the music that poured out of Tall Heights’ car speakers during the long drives from show to show. The guys found themselves listening to a wide array of sounds as they hurtled across the country, but they zeroed in on Icelandic music, taking influence from the sonic sweep of Sigur R&ocute;s and the electronic percussion of Ásgeir. The music of Iceland’s underground was deep, dark and cinematic, able not only to deliver a melody, but to cast a mood, too. Harrington and Wright were also influenced by their hometown Boston music scene, specifically their friends and peers in Darlingside and the Ballroom Thieves. Months later, while recording their own EP, Tall Heights used all of it as inspiration, and allowed their intimate indie-folk to grow into something bigger and bolder. It was a natural growth — the sound of two musicians amplifying their music to its fullest potential, exploring some new territory along the way.
“We’re singing together more than ever before,” Wright adds. “Throughout all of Holding On, Holding Out, there are only a few places where only one person is singing without the other. There’s a lot of perfect unison, too: just two people singing the same note at the same time, fusing their voices into a sound that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. I think that’s the biggest difference between this project and the last project. We’re not just harmonizing; we’re singing together all the time.”
Holding On, Holding Out also draws a line between humans’ relationships with each other and their environment. It’s a call to be more present and conscious, especially with things we all hold dear — family, love, our planet — are at stake. At its core, though, Holding On, Holding Out is a blast of exploration and electricity from a group that previously did some of its best work unplugged. It’s progressive and propulsive, shining a light not only on where Tall Heights have been before, but where they’re going.
“Intimate and arresting” – NPR
“Tall Heights employ a collection of acoustic guitar, cello, and electronic drums,​ ​reminiscent of contemporary indie folk giants like Justin Vernon and Fleet​ ​Foxes.”​​ – XPN
“In addition to finger-picked guitar, swelling cello and tight,​ ​prismatic vocal harmonies, ‘Spirit Cold’ boasts a bold, airy drum part​ ​that propels the song through the peaks and troughs of the​ ​arrangement.”​ – Wall Street Journal​
“It’s a contemporary sound that is not without its ageless qualities.” – Chicago Sun Times
“Certifiably unclassifiable” – Boston Herald
“There have been many bands in recent years that have employed beautiful close harmonies, but when you add the strings and the great songwriting, Tall Heights is a notch above the pack.” – WBEZ
“Call it simply gorgeous.” – WFUV
Please call to reserve.

THE BUZZARDS
2015-10-24 20:00 - 22:30
After a five-year absence from Cafe Carpe, they’re coming home to roost! For The Buzzards—a trio made up of Madison’s Mike and Patty McDougal and Fort Atkinson’s Perry Baird—it all began at Cafe Carpe in August 1995. As solo acts, Mike and Perry split sets on a couple of Carpe shows, but on one fateful night 20 years ago, Patty joined her husband and Perry for a short, final set, and an enduring musical collaboration took flight.
Mike brings his skills as a singer and instrumentalist developed over years performing on the Chicago folk-music scene. Six- and twelve-string guitars are his forte, though he also contributes cello and ukulele to Buzzards shows.
Patty takes turns on harmony and lead vocals and adds harmonica, accordion, and occasional percussion.
Perry, long a stalwart of the Madison Folk Music Society and Carpe open stages, concentrates on vocals and guitar. Expect three-part vocal harmonies and delicate—occasionally raucous—instrumental work on an eclectic variety of selections by contemporary artists such as Tom Waits, Bill Staines, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, John Hartford, Steve Goodman, Patrick Alger, the Rolling Stones and others, plus some traditional songs from America and Great Britain sprinkled throughout. There’s even a Russell Crowe song in the repertoire (Buzzards play Crowe!).
Though in recent years the trio has hovered around Madison area venues, The Buzzards are excited to return to the nest where they hatched!

JP CYR AND HIS RADIO WRANGLERS
2015-10-30 20:30 - 23:00
JP CYR & HIS RADIO WRANGLERS hail from Wisconsin and are heavily influenced by the Western Swing, Honky Tonk, and Hillbilly sounds of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. They strive to encapsulate the sounds of the Western dance hall era and their Honky Tonk singin’ and Western Swingin’ will keep your toe tappin’ all night long! Fronted by J.P. Cyr on Vocals and upright bass, The Radio Wranglers are: Blaine McQuinn on fiddle and vocals, Adam Nero on steel guitar, Danny Tyksinski on lead guitar, and Ed Novak on rhythm guitar, and Ruthie Krause on fiddle and vocals.

BILL CAMPLIN and the SPECTERCLES/ Zach Pietrini
2015-10-31 20:30 - 23:00
It’s that spooky time of year again when BILL CAMPLIN and the Spectercles take over the Carpe stage.
ZACH PIETRINI dares to step into this, opening for the band.
Starting in 2006, Zach’s music career has spanned 9 years, 4 albums, 3 states, multiple band members, countless stages, hopes, and heartache.
His first effort, The Broken Season Turning, released in 2007 emerged as a concept album tracing the path of a broken family and their attempts at redemption.
In early 2009 The Bright and Shining Lights of Anywhere Else was released finding much of its musical inspiration from Ryan Adams and The Snake The Cross The Crown. Many of these songs were written during a time of depression for Pietrini and were his way of working through the pain.
2010. Zach elected to move on from Chicago and came to Milwaukee where he found renewed energy and inspiration. Seizing every opportunity, he quickly was recognized as a force in SE Wisconsin, winning several songwriter awards, battle of the bands, and a nomination for Best Band in Milwaukee in 2014.
Zach charges on with the newest release, Aug 2015, Highways and Heartache. Their sound consistently evolves, but doesn’t stray from its brutally honest, impassioned americana roots. Critics describe his songs as “haunting,” “honest” and “instantly familiar.” Zach continues to write, tour, and record salt-of-the-earth-flavored americana, and was recently featured on NoiseTrade’s New and Notable. He is, as ever, driven by their desire to connect with people through the simple beauty of story and song.
Like Zach Pietrini on Facebook, follow on Twitter, sign up for monthly emails (and get a free song!).

RED TAIL RING
2015-11-06 20:30 - 23:00
OLD-TIMEY ROOTS, NEW-TIMEY SOUNDS
RED TAIL RING is the musical brainchild of two old-time-minded Michiganders – Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo. The collaboration blends the loving attention of revivalist fervor with the playful creativity of starting from scratch. Whether rendering a traditional tune or one of their many original compositions, the duo infuses each song with musical imagination, haunting harmonies and instrumental artistry on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, jawharp, and plain-old foot stomping. “We love pushing the boundaries of what a traditional song can be,” says Beauchamp. “It informs how we write our original songs. There’s a real energy exchange between the old and the new.”
This two-way connection takes center stage with Red Tail Ring’s first pair of recordings released in April 2011 on Earthwork Music, Middlewest Chant and Mountain Shout. The set forms a complete picture of Red Tail Ring’s blending of old with new. Middlewest Chant is comprised of all original songs, while Mountain Shout features Red Tail Ring’s interpretations of Appalachian ballads and melodies. “We tried to weave the music on these two albums together not only with similar musical treatment, but with running lyric lines and shared songforms,” Premo says.
In May 2013, Red Tail Ring released their third full-length album. The Heart’s Swift Foot presents 10 original songs with two acoustic standards that stretch the confines of what two people can create sonically. The duo’s signature style, of layered, intricate instrumental lines over close vocal harmonies, shines on this new collection. “We crafted the recording to be as close to our live performance as possible,” Beauchamp says. “We feel we’re at our best when we’re playing together, listening and reacting as we go along.” As a whole, the lyrics of The Heart’s Swift Foot explore changes that come without warning, and the malleability of relationships and friendships.
In 2014, Premo and Beauchamp collaborated in a wider circle and produced two joint releases. The New Roots Exchange is a vinyl project created with the marvelous bluegrass band Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys. The Right Hands Round is a recording of energetic square dance music with the stringband Bowhunter.
“The very best of the 21st century’s minimalist and highly original folk music . . . a peerless duo.” – American Roots UK
“Red Tail Ring brings to the stage a lively and commanding fusion of string and vocal harmonies. The pair deliver both established ballads and original compositions with a clear, authentic ease that manages to transcend traditional form while honoring its legacy.” – Rob Cole, Grand Rapids Press
“Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp share a reverance for vivid, authentic American art forms. They are both rustic and elegant, and they lift us into their sound.” – Seth Bernard, Earthwork Music
