Cafe Carpe

CHRISTY HAYS
2019-10-24 20:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago)
“Like Lucinda Williams in a Carhartt jacket, CHRISTY HAYS works rugged metaphors into emotionally charged country folk.” (Austin Chronicle).
“River Swimmer, Hays’ remarkable third LP, wrings the emotional depth of Mary Gauthier, outsider narratives of Lucinda Williams, and sharp melodies of Kathleen Edwards.“– Doug Freeman The Austin Chronicle
Christy Hays’ music has folk and country tinges, thoughtfully penned stories and a full band sound that is both driving alt country and moody folk rock. Compared to Brandi Carlile, Lucinda Williams, Rhett Miller, Kathleen Edwards and Patty Griffin, Hays has a sound uniquely her own.
Born in rural central Illinois, Christy Hays never really aspired to be a working songwriter. Hays grew up somewhat surrounded by music, her father, a luthier and guitar player showed her the major chords on her old Gibson. There was no pressure to play but music was a centerpiece. “I left Illinois in my early 20’s, directly after college. I graduated in December and moved to Haines, Alaska in April.” says Hays, squinting into the sun on a bright spring day in Texas. “I was really disillusioned buy our society and wanted to go live in the woods.”
Living seasonally, traveling in the US as well as abroad in the winters Hays essentially spent the better part of her 20’s in an alternative lifestyle where she came to the conclusion science was not her calling, rather music was. “I reached a point where songwriting and the art of self expression surrounding the craft were more important than the wilderness. I moved briefly to Memphis, then to Nashville in 2007.” explains Hays. Nashville was an awakening, a crash course in music business and performance. One she was not prepared for as city living depressed her and stage fright consumed her.
After two years in Nashville the decision was made to move to Austin, TX. “Austin felt more my speed and my vibe. I loved the country music and songwriters that were coming out of here in the late 2000’s. I felt at home shortly after I got here, I grew up musically and found a great community to collaborate with.” recalls Hays.
Hays has shared the stage with Hayes Carll, Sturgil Simpson, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis and Jeffery Foucault to name a few. Bruce Robison cut her song “Lake of Fire” and released it on his newest album Bruce Robison and the Back Porch Band.
Hays now spends portions of the summer in Montana, gigging in the Northwest, writing and returning to her beloved wilderness. Hays dreams of creating an artist retreat out of that house for people just like her who need to escape the city, disappear and create.
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve seats.

THE EMMYLOUS/ JASON LYNK & FRIENDS
2019-10-19 20:30 - 23:00
First forming in 2014, THE EMMYLOUS broke into the Madison, Wisconsin music scene as a trio of female acoustic folk/rock musicians. Their acoustic, singer-songwriter vibe quickly gave them a home at area wine bars and coffee houses in and around the area. With three layers of vocal harmonies on a backdrop of acoustic guitars, keyboard, and accordion, band members Katie Lowery, Ryn Thoen, Kristi Blitz, and Ed Boswell (referred to jokingly as the “Lou” of the Emmylous) create tiered blends to songs both well-known and self-written. The Emmylous’, self-titled, debut album, released in June of 2019, is a careful arrangement and collaboration of points of view by this Madison-based group. The album spans themes of despair, redemption, gratitude, and unrepentance.
JASON LYNK is a contemporary folk singer whose clear, driving vocals lend themselves to modern reinterpretations of various music styles, from classic rock to pop, folk, and country-western. Jason hung up his guitar for the better part of a decade to experience the joys of climbing the corporate ladder, but he has tuned up his strings and is ready to share his music with you. Jason will be joined by STEVE TESMEr on Dobro. Steve is an accomplished Dobro player and is a member of the popular local groups Three Thin Dimes and Jill and the JAX. Though their musical styles are diverse, Steve and Jason have found a perfect harmony to showcase exciting renditions of many of your favorite songs. Other friends may join in.
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve seats.

WHAT'S HIS NAME & the OTHER GUY
2019-10-18 20:30 - 23:00
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What’s His Name & the Other Guy are Greg Valde & Brian “Looper” Lucas. They are the only surviving members of “Dr. Rhythm & the Harmless Heterosexuals,” the critically ignored and marginally musical 1990s blues rock band.
Originally led by Dan “My Way” Haney (soulful vocalizing) and Dave “the Psycho” Griff (too loud guitar), they missed practices and argued like children. Dan, previously of the Platteville Singers, toured nationally when his family visited U.S. historical markers during the summer of ‘68. Found dead in his apartment in 1996, his career lagged. Dave, discovering he had no mojo, entered the Al Gore Clinic for the Charismatically Impaired, where he is used as a teaching tool for psychotherapists.
Greg “not cool enough for a nickname” Valde (guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals) joined the group after they played at Happy Acres Home for the Emotionally Challenged, where he was “visiting.” Previously in the trio “Peter, Greg, & Mary,” Greg was unceremoniously ousted by Mary after she had an extended fling with the flashier Paul. Left homeless, Greg took work as an itinerant preacher until joining Jimmy Swaggert’s Holy Rollers, where he began his song-writing career, penning such evangelical classics as “God is Broke,” “Send Us Your Pension” & “Even Jesus Don’t Love You.”
Brian “Looper” Lucas (harmonica, bass, guitar, mandolin, vocals) was born into status and wealth in London. The son of a shipping magnate and mining heiress he traveled to Chicago to study cello. Moving to Milwaukee to study brewing, then to Oshkosh to study alcohol consumption, he steadily worked his way down. Left without a harmonica player when Dan died suddenly, the band was desperate. Brian’s big break came when his summer job mowing lawns branched out into raking and bagging.
The rest, as they say, is history.

RICHARD SHINDELL
2019-10-17 20:00 - 22:30
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Originally from New York, now dividing his time between Buenos Aires, Argentina and New York’s Hudson Valley, RICHARD SHINDELL is a writer whose songs paint pictures, tell stories, juxtapose ideas and images, inhabit characters, vividly evoking entire worlds along the way and expanding our sense of just what it is a song may be. From his first record, Sparrow’s Point (1992) to his current release, Careless (September 2016), Shindell has explored the possibilities offered by this most elastic and variable of cultural confections: the song.
The path that led him to songwriting was both circuitous and direct. Taking up the guitar at the age of eight, he spent his formative years learning the instrument – first acoustic, then electric. And he listened: Beatles, Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Motown, Bowie, Hunter-Garcia, King-Goffin, Paul Simon, Bill Monroe, Rogers & Hammerstein. Their songs gave the impression of having always been there, so solid and self-evident were their melodies, hooks, grooves, and lyrics. Listening to WNEW or WLIR in 1970s NY felt like a kind of anamnesis. So it seemed completely out of the question to imagine that a song could be written – by anyone, anywhere, anytime, about absolutely anything. If he sang, it was just to sing along, or harmonise to the hymns in church.
On the other hand, a good song seemed like such a simple little thing. A voice in the back of his head kept whispering that surely it must be possible to write one. He would make his first attempts at it during college, where he studied Philosophy. According to him, these early songs were “abysmal: pointless, self-indulgent drivel. It’s a wonder I ever allowed myself to try again.”
After college and a nine month stint in a Zen Buddhist community in Upstate New York, he headed to Europe with his guitar, finding something not approaching a livelihood performing in the Paris Metro, where his repertoire consisted of Fahey-tinged fingerpicking, Blakian flatpicking and “endless droning along in open tunings.” Evincing an early inclination toward self-imposed commercial exile, he sought out the less-travelled corners of the Metro. “I loved the acoustics in those tunnels, but only when they were empty.”
Upon running out of money, and despite being an atheist, he applied to and was accepted by Union Theological Seminary (NY), beginning his studies in 1986. Three years in an M.Div. program did nothing to cure him of his atheism, however it did provide him (thanks to a friendly sexton) with late-night access to the neo-gothic expanses of Union’s St. James Chapel, whose celestial acoustics inspired his first “keeper”: On a Sea of Fleur de Lis. Ostensibly a paean to the Virgin Mary, the song marked his rupture from the church and the beginning of his creative life. Its underlying themes – immanence and transcendence, human love and divine love, the particular and the general – have continued to resonate through subsequent work, right up to the present. In many ways, his new album Careless, though in no way a concept record, represents a further exploration of those ideas.
More songs followed. He began frequenting a well-known songwriters circle on Houston Street in New York City. Hosted by the late Jack Hardy, every Thursday night writers would gather to debut new songs, give and receive constructive criticism, take the songs back to the drawing board to try again the next week. It was a tough crowd, but also a supportive one. And beyond the concrete benefit to one’s craft, those gatherings offered the fledgling writer a sense of community, and thus identity. He began to think of himself as a songwriter, abandoning his theological studies.
It was right about then that Shanachie Records called with an offer for a three record deal.
That deal resulted in Sparrows Point (1992), Blue Divide (1994), and Reunion Hill(1997). The latter, produced by multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell (credits too numerous to mention here), won the AFIM (NAIRD) award for “Best Contemporary Folk Album” in 1998. Its title track was covered (along with two other of Shindell’s songs) by Joan Baez on her 1997 release, Gone From Danger. In 1998, Shindell joined forces with his friends Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky to make CryCryCry (Razor and Tie), a collection of covers by writers such as Robert Earl Keen, Michael Stipe, Ron Sexsmith, Greg Brown, Julie Miller, and James Keelaghan. Over the course of two years, the group toured in support of this highly acclaimed (and eponymously titled) album, leaving audiences spellbound by their gorgeous three-part harmonies.
By then Shindell was beginning to stretch out as a harmony singer, guitarist and performer. With each successive record he toured relentlessly, building a solid following of loyal fans. He also became an adept bandleader, as reflected in his 1999 release, Courier (Signature Sounds), a live album, recorded and mixed by Ben Wisch, and featuring long-time cohorts Lincoln Schleifer, John Putnam, Dennis McDermott, as well as Lucy Kaplansky and Larry Campbell.
The year 2000 brought the release of a new collection of originals, one of Shindell’s most popular albums, Somewhere Near Paterson (Signature Sounds), produced by Campbell. That year also saw a major life-change: with his Argentine wife and their two small children, Shindell moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Taking a few years to get acclimated and learn the language, in 2004 he followed up with Vuelta (Koch Records), joining with Puente Celeste, an eclectic and much beloved group of virtuoso Argentine musicians. The decade’s next was release was a collection of covers, South of Delia(2007), Shindell’s first foray into production. More than simply a cover record, the song-selections and performances of South of Delia were that of an expatriate looking back at the country and culture he moved away from, and featured guest appearances by artists such as Viktor Krauss, Richard Thompson, Tony Trischka, and Eliza Gilkyson. His next collection of original songs, Not Far Now, was released by Signature Sounds in 2009. For 13 Songs You May or May Not Have Heard Before, which The Telegraph (UK) called “a stunningly good record”, Shindell revisited some of his earlier material, giving fresh interpretations to old favourites.
In 2015 he joined forces again with Lucy Kaplansky to record another collection of covers, Tomorrow You’re Going (Signature Sounds), also produced by Larry Campbell. Consisting mostly of love songs, or love lost songs, it provided Shindell and Kaplansky an occasion to revel in their distinctive, two-part harmony with the backing of a top-notch band (Byron Isaacs, Dennis McDermott, Bill Payne, and Campbell) – all thanks to the participation of a committed community of fans who financed the project via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. The campaign more than doubled its funding goal in less than 48 hours.
Shindell continues to tour nationally in the United States, with the occasional forays into Canada, the UK, and Europe. Although known primarily as songwriter, Shindell takes a more holistic view of his career. Producer, writer, singer, guitarist, interpreter: it all adds up to a life in music.

BROOKS WILLIAMS
2019-10-12 20:30 - 23:00
Brooks lives across the pond now, so take this rare opportunity to hear him.
At the crossroads of blues and American roots music you’ll find BROOKS WILLIAMS. “Setting new standards and a fresh direction for the blues,” says Blues In Britain, and creating a “beautiful fusion” (Keys And Chords). Just when you think he can’t sing a blues-ier note, he sings it. Just when you think he can’t strum a deeper groove, he strums it.
Brooks Williams was born in Statesboro, Georgia, USA (the town made famous by the classic song Statesboro Blues), and did his apprenticeship in the small bars and coffeehouses of New York and Boston, following in the footsteps of Chris Smither, Rory Block, Shawn Colvin, Maria Muldaur, David Bromberg and Leo Kottke, all whom he gigged with from time-to-time when he was starting out.
Williams performs hundreds of solo and band shows throughout Europe, North America and the UK each year and regularly collaborates with an impressive list of fellow musicians, including Hans Theessink, Guy Davis, Sally Barker, Boo Hewerdine, Paul Jones, and Rab Noakes.
Ranked in the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists, he’s a mean finger-picker and a stunning slide guitarist. Plus, “he has a beautiful voice,” says AmericanaUK, “that you just melt into.” That voice earned Brooks a nomination for Best Male Vocalist by Spiral Earth, one of the UK’s most respected roots music publications.
He’s no slouch as a songwriter, and has an impeccable ear for a good cover. “Williams’ original songs are typically sophisticated musically, and yet sound immediately familiar – a sign of a skilled songwriter”, writes Down At The Crossroads. His massive repertoire spans classic roots and blues. Check out his version of Dave Alvin’s “King Of California” and follow it with Williams’ instant classic, “Gambling Man.”
Brooks Williams has played all the major stages, like The Birchmere in Virginia, The Guthrie Center in Massachusetts, The Tolbooth in Scotland, The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in England, Meneer Frits in The Netherlands, Harvest Blues in Ireland, The Avalon Theater in Maryland, JazzLand in Austria, The Stables in England, and Blues Au Chateau in France. And he gets invited back.
He’s played the Fairport Cropredy Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, Costa del Folk, Shrewsbury Festival, Celtic Connections and the Glastonbury Festival.
He’s recorded for labels as diverse as Signature Sounds, Green Linnet Records, Reveal Records, Solid Air Records, as well as his own Red Guitar Blue Music. He’s learned the studio trade first-hand working with roots music producers like Colin Linden (Blackie And The Rodeo Kings, Bruce Cockburn) in Toronto and Phil Madeira (Buddy and Julie Miller, Emmylou Harris) in Nashville.
Praised by Blues Matters, fRoots, Rolling Stone, the Boston Globe and Mojo, Williams is at the top of his game. His tour schedule has never been busier. He writes and records at an astonishing pace. He loves it, and that love exudes from every note.
“Stirring up soulful Americana, full-on blues and tasty rootsy grooves, he really rocks.” (fRoots)
“Talent, taste and astonishing technique.” (Blues Revue)
“We called him back for three encores!” (Blues In Britain)
“He’s a lovely player, a lovely singer, and a great writer. The real thing.” (Martin Simpson)
“A fret monster who has to be seen to be believed!” (San Antonio Light)

POETRY OPEN MIC
2019-10-11 18:30 - 20:00
This open mic poetry reading is the final event of the 2019 LORINE NIEDECKER WISCONSIN POETRY FESTIVAL.
Lorine Niedecker (1903-1970) is a twentieth-century, second-wave, Modern American poet often identified with the Objectivists. Living most of her life on the shores of the Rock River near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, she is perhaps best known as a poet of place who wrote about the Blackhawk Island that she loved. Her work, however, ranges from modernist folk poetry (NEW GOOSE, 1946) to haiku-like forms to long poems like “Lake Superior” and “Wintergreen Ridge” (NORTH CENTRAL, 1968). She is admired for the subtlety of her tightly crafted, nuanced and deliciously ironic poems, as well as for her total devotion to her calling.
Amy Lutzke will moderate the reading. Pre-registration is NOT required for this event.
The Café Carpe serves food and drink, we will be gathering around 5 pm for a social hour. Readers can sign up at the Carpe the evening of the reading. Individuals are welcome to bring their own work to read or simply poetry that they enjoy.

NEW PIONEERS
2019-10-10 19:00 - 21:30, 2019-09-12 19:00 - 21:30
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- except when they don’t. 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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DAVID HUCKFELT of the PINES
2019-10-05 20:30 - 23:00
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DAVID HUCKFELT will be appearing here solo, celebrating his new album “Stranger Angels”.
In the fall of 2017, David Huckfelt left behind the familiar—the comfort of his home in Minneapolis; the camaraderie of his critically acclaimed band, The Pines; the luxuries of heat, hot water, and electricity—and relocated to Isle Royale, America’s most remote and least visited national park in mighty Lake Superior. Six hours by boat off the Michigan coast, Isle Royale is the largest island in the world’s largest freshwater lake, an isolated stretch of wilderness seemingly forgotten by the 20th century (to say nothing of the 21st). There, as an Artist In Residence selected by the National Park Service, Huckfelt spent ten hours a day for two straight weeks writing in solitude, channeling the mysterious and lonesome island’s spirits into his stunning debut solo album, ‘Stranger Angels.’
“The island is surrounded by 300 smaller islands, decrepit lighthouses and abandoned mines, lined with shipwrecks, ghosts, and the stories of the northern Ojibway, fisherman, and early settlers,” Huckfelt reflects. “I brought a mountain of notebooks and poetry and history books with me”, says Huckfelt, “and for the first time in nearly a decade, I found the solitude, depth, range, danger, beauty, and inspiration to go all kinds of places in my writing that I hadn’t had the space to visit before. With a sense of place so strong, it was less like an anchor and more like a launching pad to free up and access all kinds of places from throughout my life. It’s easy to travel anywhere in your mind in that kind of solitude, your whole experience rises up from the deep.”
Indeed, the music is both transportive and reflective, focused inwards even as it draws on an abundance of outside influence. Hypnotic banjo and gentle acoustic guitar meet trippy public domain samples and shimmering soundscapes underneath Huckfelt’s stark, raw vocals as he wrestles with questions of fate and faith, responsibility and independence, connection and loss. A thread of deep ecology runs through these songs, but not the cute bumper sticker kind, the gritty, “what-comes-next-if-we-don’t-change-our-ways” kind. “Isle Royale used to have fifty wolves in five packs…” Huckfelt says, “now there’s only one left. Cycles are cycles but it’s the height of pride to think we’re (humans) aren’t the major player.” The title track “Stranger Angels” brings this point home strongest, with the narrator longing for a place “where (he) won’t make the greedy richer”, and the fierce grip of climate change manifests in lyrics like “Wild mustangs starve in the hills outside Las Vegas… and the West is burning like a lake of fire.”
But above and beyond conservation, “Stranger Angels” is a record about “thin places”, those spiritually charged places where heaven and earth seem to meet and the veil between the world we see and the mystical world beyond becomes transparent. On the rollicking blues-carnival track “As Below, So Above” Huckfelt pays touching to tribute to his late grandmother who helped raise him in Iowa, not by writing about her, but to her, as a defiant elegy against death. A former theology student who once wrote and preached sermons in Cook County Jail in Chicago, Huckfelt has gone through the fire of the niceties and dogma of “heaven” and “god” and come out the other end with a worldview fiercely present, concrete and expansive. “Stranger Angels as a title, to me, has a thousand references to what’s left after life and death and experience and loss and love burns off all the easy answers…” says Huckfelt. “The idea of god or spirit being hidden under the opposite of what we think we know, of ancestors and spirits visiting us, screaming in our ears all day long, but we miss it because it’s different, stranger than we expected… And the kindness we give and receive from strangers, the least, last and lost among us. Our cities are overflowing with strange angels, it’s such a mistake when we think we know which or who can offer us something, and which can’t. Every spirit has something to give. Then, when I saw the night camera footage of the moose and wolves on Isle Royale, dancing in the moonlight and gracing the forest with their presence, I thought “stranger angels” indeed.”
The record also draws on deep wells of Native American tradition and spirituality, a life-long anchor for Huckfelt which has developed more fully through working with Native songwriters and poets like John Trudell, Quiltman, Keith Secola, Tom LaBlanc and more. References to the healing and prophetic prayer-visions of indigenous thought and voices are everywhere on this record, including the chilling, epic, cosmic pow-wow closing track “Star Nation”, with the authoritative voice of American Indian Movement activist & singer Floyd Red Crow Westerman leading the way. Artfully weaving the historical, the ecological, and the personal into an elegant lyrical web, these songs contain layers of surprise and richness, as in the track “Everywind” with Huckfelt turning an imagining of the life of a woman named Everywind from a vintage photograph into a ballad in celebration of all women. The elegant “Still And Still Moving” sparkles like sunlight off the waters of Lake Superior as it ponders mortality and the impermanence of everything around us. “False True Lover Blues” stands as a gut punch at the precise place where a broken heart starts to mend, while “You Get Got” starts with notes Huckfelt took of his grandparents talking in bed after sixty-four years of marriage, and travels in a country-waltz fashion into the political and the universal with some help from guest vocalist Erik Koskinen.
When it was time to record the songs from Isle Royale, Huckfelt again sought geographic isolation, working out of a 110-year-old farmhouse studio in Menomonie, Wisconsin. This time, however, he chose to surround himself with fellow artists, assembling a dream team of musicians including drummer/co-producer J.T. Bates (Andrew Bird, Mason Jennings), bassist Darin Gray (Tweedy, William Tyler), and guitarists Michael Rossetto, Erik Koskinen, and Jeremy Ylvisaker, cutting sixteen songs in just three days. Very special guests rallied to Huckfelt’s side, including spectacular performances by Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath on “Heart, Wherever”, “Everywind” and “Stranger Angels”, Trampled By Turtles’ Dave Simonett singing harmony vocals on multiple tracks. Recorded and mixed by engineer-extraordinaire Adam Krinsky (Bellows Studio) the album captures the magic and spontaneity of a gifted band discovering the beauty and brilliance of the songs and each other all at once. Other stellar appearances include gospel-blues master Phil Cook on Hammond organ, while electronic musician and sample wizard Andrew Broder (Fog) haunts the tracks with the sparse, mercurial public domain samples of old-world Americana, as if these songs were coming through a Ham radio in an old ghost town.
‘Stranger Angels’ follows Huckfelt’s latest album with The Pines, 2016’s ‘Above The Prairie.’ Hailed by No Depression as “dazzling,” drawing the attention of Rolling Stone’s David Fricke who called The Pines “poignant stark country” and earning high praise in both the US and Europe, with Mojo calling it “their most beautiful yet” and Minnesota NPR station The Current raving that it “hits so close to the gut that it reminds us that they are truly a singular band”.

BILL CAMPLIN BAND
2019-10-04 20:30 - 23:00
A command performance- someone requested that the band play on this date.

SONG CIRCLE w/ TRICIA ALEXANDER
2019-10-03 18:30 - 21:00
Round robin song circle led by TRICIA ALEXANDER– (performer, poet, healer, “with a voice, music and lyrics that resonate the heart”) done informally, not from the stage, no microphones. This is a lovely gathering of singers, songwriters, musicians and music appreciators, poets, and storytellers held regularly on the last Thursday of each month (except sometimes, when there are 5 Thursdays in October, and a traveling performer needed the last week in September date, so we went to this 1st Thursday. There will be another on the last Thursday of October).

Traditional Round Robin protocol applies – everyone is part of the circle and has an opportunity to: play, pass or request a song from someone in particular or from anyone in the circle.
Everyone is welcome to attend. $5 cover for musicians and audience. Come early and have a bite to eat- therein lies our sustenance.

OPEN STAGE
2019-09-28 18:30 - 21:00

DANNY SCHMIDT
2019-09-26 20:00 - 22:30
Named to the Chicago Tribune’s list of the “50 Most Significant Songwriters in the Last 50 Years,” Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter DANNY SCHMIDT has amassed a cult following for his poetic, poignant lyrics. With a craftsmanship and emotional depth drawing comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Townes Van Zandt, and with fantastical narratives reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Salman Rushdie, Schmidt is considered a preeminent writer.
Sing Out Magazine proclaimed that: “Schmidt is a force of nature: a blue moon, a hundred-year flood, an avalanche of a singer-songwriter. His songs are a flood of poetry, mythology, folk wisdom, and surprise. He is perhaps the best new songwriter we’ve heard in the last 15 years.”
Performing solo most often, armed with just his voice, his acoustic guitar, and his acute insight and commentary, Schmidt’s an authentic timeless troubadour, one man sharing his truth in the form of songs, in unadorned and intimate fashion. The understated effect can be powerful. As songwriter Jeffrey Foucault put it: “Everything about the man is gentle, except for his capacity for insight, which is crushing.”

AN EVENING w/ LUCY KAPLANSKY
2019-09-22 19:30 - 21:30
Note- We do serve food when we are open for shows on Sunday. We will be open at 5:00, and serving food until 7:30. Remember to come early if you wish to have dinner before the show.
Seats are assigned, as always for busier shows.
Tickets will be sold through BROWN PAPER TICKETS. Click on the Buy tickets link and get yourself some.

LUCY KAPLANSKY is a rare vocal talent, “a truly gifted performer…full of enchanting songs” (New York Times). Blending country, folk and pop styles, she has the unique ability to make every song sound fresh, whether singing her own sweet originals, covering country classics by June Carter Cash and Gram Parsons or singing pop favorites by Lennon/McCartney and Nick Lowe. Lucy’s iconic voice has has been featured in film and on television, including commercials like Chevrolet’s iconic “Heartbeat of America” jingle. A Billboard-charting singer and one of the top-selling artists on Red House Records, she has topped the folk and Americana radio charts and has been featured on shows throughout the world from NPR’s Weekend and Morning Editions to BBC Radio to CBS Sunday Morning. One of the most in-demand harmony singers, Lucy has sung on countless records, performing with Suzanne Vega, Bryan Ferry, Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin.

Raised by a piano-playing mathematician and a homemaker in Chicago, Lucy began singing in bars when she was still a teenager, even traveling to Norway to perform as a country singer. When she was just out of high school, she took off for New York City, where she became part of the renaissance of the Greenwich Village folk scene centered around Folk City and the Fast Folk recordings. Her compatriots included Suzanne Vega, The Roches, Steve Forbert and John Gorka as well as her frequent duo partner Shawn Colvin. The New York Times said it was “easy to predict stardom for her,” but instead, Lucy got a doctorate in psychology and started a private practice.
Eventually Shawn Colvin lured Lucy back to music, producing her debut album The Tide (1994). Red House founder Bob Feldman was blown away by the release and signed her right away. Since then, she has released six solo albums with Red House and released radio-charting albums with the folk supergroups Red Horse (with Eliza Gilkyson and John Gorka) and Cry Cry Cry (with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell).

Lucy continues to perform all over the world. When not performing, she lives in New York City, where she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter.

LURAY
2019-09-21 20:30 - 23:00
Richmond-based LURAY is coming home to Wisconsin to share songs from their new album, ‘Dig’, out now on 6131 Records. Led by SHANNON CAREY, Luray is indie folk, featuring strange and lovely banjo and ambient sounds. Luray’s sophomore album ‘Dig’ was produced by Shannon’s brother Sean Carey (of S.Carey & Bon Iver). The album’s single, ‘Dig’ was featured on the New York Times New Music Playlist.
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve seats.

MIKE DOWLING
2019-09-20 20:30 - 23:00
MIKE DOWLING
bottleneck blues, vintage swing, ragtime, and more, played with grace, wit and dazzling dexterity
Mike doesn’t come through that often, so don’t miss the opportunity to hear this world-class guitarist.
“Finger-pickin’ good. Self-taught and handy with the improv, Dowling is noted for his subtle phrasing and impeccable sense of timing . . . a brilliant fingerpicker, flatpicker and slide guitarist, as well as an exceptional performer, singer, and songwriter. Guitar buffs can’t miss this one.“- Albuquerque Crosswinds
“Dowling is one of the most relaxed and highly skilled acoustic guitar players of his generation that I have ever heard. Everything he performs appears natural and deceptively effortless, and with a tone, particularly when he plays slide guitar that is very much his own and that very few others can emulate. His vocals have an engaging edge and alongside his consummate guitar skills there was nothing to criticize. After a number of encores a member of the audience spontaneously stood up and gave a heartfelt thanks to Mike for such a wonderful evening.” — October 2003 performance review, Blues in Britain
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve seats.

TRACY GRAMMER- cancelled
2019-09-19 20:00 - 22:30
Tracy is under doctor’s orders to not travel, and regretfully had to cancel this gig. She will reschedule as circumstances allow, maybe next spring.
TRACY GRAMMER is one of contemporary folk music’s most beloved artists. Though she is widely renowned for her springwater-clear alto, perfectly intoned violin, and guitar playing that is by turns percussive and delicate, Grammer’s stories, often described as “incantations,” add a rare mixture of vulnerability, intimacy, and hard-won insight to Grammer’s performances,. As one fan puts it, “With Tracy, it’s never just about the music; it’s a soul journey.”
Tracy rose to acclaim as half of the “postmodern, mythic American folk” duo, Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer. From 1998-2001, the duo released three internationally celebrated, folk chart-topping albums featuring Carter’s mytho-poetic Americana songcraft and in 2002, toured with Joan Baez, both as featured artists and Baez’s band members. Called “the new voice of modern folk music,” the duo was clearly in its ascendancy when in July 2002, Carter suffered a fatal heart attack mid-tour. He was 49; Grammer, 34.
Determined to honor the duo’s journey and bring Carter’s songs, and those of other favorite writers, to broader audiences, Grammer kept to the road, releasing solo recordings and selections from the duo’s archives, including 2012’s LITTLE BLUE EGG (Red House Records), which was not only the #1 most-played album on Folk Radio in 2012, but also landed the duo at the top of the folk charts internationally as the #1 most-played artists with that year’s #1 most-played song.
In addition to touring, Grammer is the director of the Dave Carter Legacy Project. Her publishing company, Tracy Grammer Music, administers licenses for Carter’s catalog of music. She is working on a memoir about her journey with, and beyond, Dave Carter.
“A brilliant artist and unique individual. Her voice is distinctive, as is her mastery over the instruments she plays.” – Joan Baez
“Her pure voice conveys the simple truths of these songs; her gifts as a musician are like that of a painter who is a master of chiaroscuro, offering light and shadow at every turn…. A treasured part of my music collection.” – Mary Chapin Carpenter
“A musician and singer of dazzling versatility… [Flower of Avalon] unfurls as a portrait of an artist coming into her own.” – No Depression
“Tracy Grammer has that elusive quality of being able to speak directly to another person’s heart – instantly bypassing all of the usual infrastructure – the moment she starts singing. She’s great.“ – Richard Shindell
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve.

PETER MULVEY/ PIETA BROWN- SOLD OUT
2019-09-17 20:00 - 22:30
Show seems to have sold out.
Double whammy of a bill-
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“PETER MULVEY is one of the most accomplished guitarists you’re ever likely to hear…utterly original…it is nigh on impossible to explain him to the uninitiated his intelligent and sometimes complex songs engage both hemispheres of the listener’s brain…one of the finest, most complete entertainers…stunning.” – The Irish Examiner
PIETA BROWN Hailed as a self-styled poetess, folk goddess and country waif by the BBC, Pieta Brown first came to international attention with her 2002 self-titled debut. The daughter of Grammy-nominated folk musician Greg Brown, Pieta has since been recognized by NPR for her moody, ethereal songwriting, applauded by The Boston Globe for her mercurial voice, and has continued to gain widespread critical attention for both her singing and songwriting with each release. She has shared stages with artists from Emmylou Harris and JJ Cale to Neko Case and Richard Thompson, in addition to performing at major festivals like Bonnaroo and Mountain Jam. Continually revealing new layers as both a songwriter and performer, Pieta is being recognized as one of modern Americana’s true gems.

TANNAHILL WEAVERS
2019-09-15 19:30 - 22:00
We will be open at 5:00 and serving food. Kitchen will close at showtime.
We are selling tickets through BROWN PAPER TICKETS. Click on the Buy tickets link to get yourself some.

“The music may be pure old time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll.” – Winnipeg Free Press
The TANAHILL WEAVERS are one of Scotland’s premier traditional bands. Now in their 51st year, they have a diverse repertoire that spans the centuries, with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, original ballads and lullabies, and humorous tales of life in Scotland.
“An especially eloquent mixture of the old and the new.” – New York Times
Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland, and named for the town’s historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. For this tour they are joined by piper Mike Katz of Battlefield Band fame, one of the best pipers and biggest personalities in the Scottish piping scene.
In 2018 they released their 18th recording, Òrach (“Golden” in Gaelic) to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
“Formed from a Paisley pub session in 1968, seminal trailblazers the Tannahill Weavers now also rank as national treasures.” -Glasgow Celtic Connections 2018

ROXANNE NEAT
2019-09-14 20:00 - 22:00
Since 1974, ROXANNE has performed traditional and contemporary folk music and ballads, drawing from Appalachian, Scottish, Irish and English traditions. She also performs original songs and those of her favorite singer-songwriters.
She complements her beautiful clear singing voice with guitar, piano, spoons, and bones.
One of the first performers to be featured on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Simply Folk” program, Roxanne was also a “pioneer” Artist-in-Residence for the Wisconsin Arts Board, teaching folk traditions to hundreds of children in K-12 classrooms.
Roxanne was a regular at the Green Dragon Inn and the early Carpe, but put her music on the back burner for a teaching career. She put that on the back burner to retire. She released a wonderful new CD in 2016.
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve.

TRICIA ALEXANDER/ KAIA FOWLER/ DIANA LAFFEY
2019-09-13 20:30 - 22:30
3 AMAZING WOMEN – ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!
Exquisite voices, accomplished musicians, powerful songwriting
TRICIA ALEXANDER
“Joy-filled, uplifting and inspiring” are just some of the words used to describe Tricia Alexander’s musical and spiritual gatherings. An award-winning performing and healing Artist, a vocalist, guitarist, performance poet and percussionist – Tricia has a repertoire that moves through blues, jazz & contemporary folk.
The Folk Music Source Book places her “intelligent contemporary writing” in the same league as: Holly Near, Cheryl Wheeler, Anne Hills and Christine Lavin. Humanities Iowa calls her, “a modern day Aesop.” Tricia’s work with community arts development received awards in America and Britain. Her recent awards include the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Woodstock Folk Festival – and her song, I Will Walk, was one of the finalists in the 2014 World Citizen Artists Song Competition.
KAIA FOWLER
Listeners say Kaia Fowler’s music “speaks to the soul.” Through song, Kaia evokes transcendence and comfort even when witnessing difficult topics like personal loss, social inequality, and our fragile Earth. Her music explores challenges, embraces resilience, and celebrates the joy of being alive, even in times of sorrow. An accomplished finger-style guitarist with a wonderful vocal range, Kaia’s sound ranges from vibrantly melodic tunes reminiscent of artists like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez to blues and roots rock songs with rhythmic strumming and powerful vocals. In concert, Kaia’s warm energy and authenticity invite listeners to transcend the day-to-day in a way that only live music can.
DIANA LAFFEY
is a much loved Chicago-based singer songwriter and performer, with an exquisite voice and the incredible ability to create breath-taking harmonies. She is also a powerhouse guitarist and percussionist. Diana’s been performing since high school, first in musical theater, later in Chicago-area nightclubs and coffeehouses. She plays acoustic folk, blues, rock – and has been part of Chicago’s professional music scene for over 30 years. People still talk about her 20 year duet with Kathy O’Hara, also her very early work with Herb Ramlose and ‘The Folk Next Door’. In addition to doing concerts, Diana is currently a Wiggleworms teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve.

TALBOTT BROTHERS
2019-09-11 20:00 - 22:30
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Tickets will be $12 the day of the show, should any be left.
Blood is thicker than water and there’s nothing like family creating music together to prove it. With contrasting blood-harmonies and left-handed/right-handed guitar playing, singer-songwriter duo THE TALBOTT BROTHERS combine rock, blues and pop with honest storytelling.
A recent review in rolling stone.com:
“The Talbott Brothers, “Run No More”
A pair of harmony-singing siblings who were raised in rural Nebraska, the Talbott Brothers made cinematic folk-rock for open highways, widescreen skies, and the limitless reach of the American heartland. “I don’t wanna run, run, run no more” goes the chorus of this slow-burning anthem, delivered by Tyler and Nick Talbott with the conviction of two road warriors who’ve logged plenty of highway miles.”
Nick and Tyler were born and raised in Imperial, a small town in Southwestern Nebraska, just a stone’s throw from the Colorado border. They began writing and performing together before relocating to their mother’s birthplace of Portland, Oregon. Tyler, the youngest (lead vocals, baritone guitar, harmonica) and Nick, the oldest (backing vocals, lead guitar) discovered their love of music after digging their dad’s old dreadnaught guitar out of the basement and teaching themselves to play along to Johnny Cash, Bob Seger and the Beatles on vinyl.
Following the release of 2017’s GRAY, they found themselves in front of sold out crowds in the US and sharing the stage with ZZ Ward, Johnnyswim and AJR. Ear to the Ground Music dubbed the record as one of the ‘Top 5 Albums of the Year’ stating it as, “equal parts optimistic and captivating, inspiring and hopeful.” Through rigorous touring and over half a million streams on Spotify, they continue to build a strong and loyal fanbase wherever they go.

DAYNA KURTZ
2019-09-07 20:30 - 23:00
DAYNA KURTZ

Always delighted for the chance to hear Dayna.
This New Jersey born, now New Orleans (and seasonal Vermont) resident vocalist/writer/musician/producer has been bestowed with many awards and praises, including being named the Female Songwriter of the Year by the National Academy of Songwriters. Norah Jones and Bonnie Raitt have raved about her in interviews, and she’s performed on such high-profile radio shows as World Cafe, Mountain Stage and NPR’s Morning Edition and Tell Me More. She’s toured and opened for the likes of Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, Mavis Staples, Rufus Wainwright, B.B. King, Dr. John, Richie Havens, Keren Ann, Chris Whitley, and the Blind Boys of Alabama.
“When Kurtz sings, one of two things typically happens. Either she lets out a deep, husky croon that seems to bubble up from her toes, or she unleashes a full-throttle roar that’s more inviting than imposing…There’s no logical reason why Dayna Kurtz is not a full blown star.” – James Reed, Boston Globe
“Kurtz has total mastery of the dynamics of ballad singing. She brings the kind of substance to her vocals characteristic of a great gospel singer.” – John Swenson Offbeat
“Dayna Kurtz is the kind of artist who inspires wild-eyed zealotry among her fans, and there are three reasons for it: One, she’s an artist’s artist, one whose whiskeyed, determined alto often earns her comparisons with Nina Simone; two, while Europeans adore her, she’s obscenely under-appreciated in her own country; and three, her songs, which straddle a difficult space between jazz, rock, and folk, are pure poetry. Her latest release owes its artist instant stardom. If that’s unattainable, it should at least earn her the one descriptor all serious artists strive for: important.” – Tammy La Gorce ALL MUSIC GUIDE
“Dayna Kurtz’s diverse vocals feel both old and new, recalling Nina Simone of yesteryear…hypnotically haunting” – New York Post
“Kurtz’s voice is a potent thing. She projected that voice like a stage actress; the occasional glint of grit made it all the richer.” – Keith Spera, Times-Picayune (Jazzfest 2012 review)
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve.

OPEN STAGE
2019-09-06 20:00 - 22:00
Starting a little later this time around in order not to conflict with an event on the porch.

PORCH closed for a private event 5-9ish
2019-09-06 17:00 - 21:00
Some people will get married.

LONESOME BILL CAMPLIN
2019-08-31 20:30 - 23:00
just got the memo that Bill all by his lonesome had added himself to the calendar for this date.
Please call 920-563-9391 to make sure you get a seat.

JOHN GORKA SOLD OUT
2019-08-30 20:30 - 23:00
Purchase your tickets in advance through Brown Paper Tickets by clicking on the Buy tickets link:

“With a tangle of songs that emotionally connect us all and leave a tender trace, JOHN GORKA stimulates the cerebrum, keeps our smiles agile and fit and reconnects us with what really matters most in music: honesty. His atmosphere allows for the listener to feel his individualized attention, his lyrical tenderness, his care for the guitar and his true presence.” Brian DAmbrosio, Huffington Post
“There are few contemporary songwriters that come anywhere close to the talent of John Gorka. His songs have a way of working on you long after you thought you had it all figured out. I will listen to a song that I know all the words to and can sing a long with and then one day sitting at a traffic light I realize that there was a whole other layer of meaning that I had missed.”

SONG CIRCLE w/ TRICIA ALEXANDER
2019-08-29 18:30 - 21:00
Round robin song circle led by TRICIA ALEXANDER– (performer, poet, healer, “with a voice, music and lyrics that resonate the heart”) done informally, not from the stage, no microphones. This is a lovely gathering of singers, songwriters, musicians and music appreciators, poets, and storytellers held regularly on the last Thursday of each month (except sometimes).

Traditional Round Robin protocol applies – everyone is part of the circle and has an opportunity to: play, pass or request a song from someone in particular or from anyone in the circle.
Everyone is welcome to attend. $5 cover for musicians and audience. Come early and have a bite to eat- therein lies our sustenance.

GEORGIA RAE & GEORGIA RAE FAMILY BAND
2019-08-24 20:30 - 23:00
Fiddle champ GEORGIA RAE has discovered the magic of the loop pedal and opened a treasure trove of original material and a one-woman show. Quirky and catchy, these songs will invade your life if you let them. Watch her build and give flight to song right before your eyes. Inspired by contemporary artists from the Avett Brothers to Mungo Jerry, and a jazzy feel to her bow, with her loop or her band, Georgia Rae’s music and love for life will follow you out the door and into the next day.
GEORGIA RAE and sister lead singer/uke KELLY JO anchor this band from Northern Illinois. The band has always pushed the envelope of traditional music. Their progressive sound is inspired by a mix of Americana, contemporary folk and roots, and a little jazzy swing, all flavored with family harmony and youthful energy. Their original songs are clever and catchy. Georgia Rae and Kelly Jo, are joined by a solid driving rhythm “punk rockin’ momma” on guitar, Joe Burie on bass and Laura Lanza on mandolin. The family has played and traveled together since 2011.
Georgia Rae is the 2016 National Twin Fiddle Champion (NOTFA, ID) and a state grand champion 7 times (IL, WI, MN).
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve.

THE LOWEST PAIR
2019-08-22 20:00 - 22:00
THE LOWEST PAIR is a quirky, old-time roots influenced duet, featuring the high lonesome harmonies of banjo-pickin’ songsters Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee. They perform both traditional and original music, often nestling-in somewhere between. Arkansas-born and homesteading in Olympia Washington, Kendl is a solo artist on indie record label K Records and was one of the founding members of the popular string band The Blackberry Bushes. Palmer hails from Minneapolis, MN and is the front man of high energy festival favorites bluegrass outfit, The Boys n’ the Barrels. The two met in early 2013 and began discussing the idea of collaborating. Shorty thereafter they hit the road with their banjos and an old guitar. A few months after the duet formed they teamed up with Dave Simonette of Trampled By Turtles to record their debut record “36¢” released on Team Love Records. They are road warriors with a city folk front and back porch sentiment. This dynamic banjo duo is turning heads across the country.
Please call 920-563-9391 to reserve seats.
“Now, first thing is to say this:
Much further out than inevitable,
Halloween’s thy game.
Sky King has come and Wilma’s done,
Uncertain as it is uneven.
Give us today hors d’oeuvres in bed,
As we forgive those who have dressed up against us.
And need us not enter inflation,
butter, liver, onions, and potatoes.
For wine is a shingle, and a Moore,
and a story for your Father.
Alright.”
The Lowest Pair
-by John Hartford
