Wisconsin's Civil Wars?

Hey last night I had the chance to see Willy Porter with Carmen Nickerson, and while Willy always sells out at the Pump House because he is an incredible guitar player, a good storyteller, and just a fun guy to listen to his songs... He's up'd his game seriously adding Carmen on vocals.  Maybe it was the black dress that Joy Williams was consistently in... maybe it was the eye contact, the sultry dancing while she waited her part... all I can say is that I don't plan to miss the next show.

So it you are lonely for the Civil Wars, if you can take better guitar playing.. look these two up.

Free Fest Mix

Sorry I haven't been as diligent posting to this blog; caught up in the pace of summer and add to that work has kept me hopping and being on the Great River Folk Fest committee has been a hoot and of course another time demand.  Let's bring you up to speed quick.

Worked on getting all of our artist (except Dar and I don't blame her, it's her agents that have been silent) into contributing to a FREE Mix of music available in Noisetrade.com  My blog readers know I find many new artists there including SHEL.  Now here's the link to the free mix.

All the things I wrote about it:

The 38th Annual Great River Folk Fest has an outstanding line up, and we change as we grow, like sharing our first Mix before the fest. Dar Williams starts our fest on Friday, and as of the first post of this mix her people haven't talked to our people, but oh feast on the fest of the rest. Willy Porter an outstanding instrumentalist who will leave your eyes tearing from envy and laughter. Claudia Schmidt, proving a folky person can be dragged into social media with her tremendous wit and energy. Barbara Jean the winner of the Big Top Songwriter Contest and such a charmer with a banjo and fiddle. SHEL an incredible 4 pc sister group from Fort Collins who have their own Noisetrade site. Our mix includes a rare unreleased track of Moonshine Hill. Don Harvey of Ultrasonics and his great songwriting... love his Technology Blues. Finally the wonderful groove of the gypsy band Harmonious Wail. They too have an unique Noisetrade page; look them up.

August 23-25 in La Crosse Wisconsin on the UW L campus... all tips go to the fest which is a non-profit, and the artists will be passed your emails. This mix includes some rare songs like the unreleased SHEL "Moonshine Hill" to Claudia Schmidt's 1979 first cut on her vinyl "Drinking Buddy". Please feel generous to tip the fest, our volunteers are working hard to bring cool acoustic music to the lovers of music everywhere. La Crosse used to be advertised by a famous beer company as "God's Country", and it truly is... everyone who gets a chance to visit us is impressed and leaves with comments like "it's as beautiful as the Rhine river valley in Germany" or "wow cheese curds... incredible". Add to the list one of the friendliest festivals you will run into for all your travels; and now you can preview the artists.

Thanks to all the artists and agents who allowed this to happen. The 38th Annual Great River Folk Fest has an outstanding line up, and we change as we grow, like sharing our first Mix before the fest. Dar Williams starts our fest on Friday, and as of the first post of this mix her people haven't talked to our people, but oh feast on the fest of the rest. Willy Porter an outstanding instrumentalist who will leave your eyes tearing from envy and laughter. Claudia Schmidt, proving a folky person can be dragged into social media with her tremendous wit and energy. Barbara Jean the winner of the Big Top Songwriter Contest and such a charmer with a banjo and fiddle. SHEL an incredible 4 pc sister group from Fort Collins who have their own Noisetrade site. Our mix includes a rare unreleased track of Moonshine Hill. Don Harvey of Ultrasonics and his great songwriting... love his Technology Blues. Finally the wonderful groove of the gypsy band Harmonious Wail. They too have an unique Noisetrade page; look them up. Ok one more... Mike Munson is playing a Blues workshop during the day and has contributed a great original blues song to the mix.

And finally... Lori and I have gotten out on dates a few times this year.  We went to Lanesbero MN to bike ride, and we were lucky to get SHEL into LaCrosse when they had an open date on a trip to BlissFest in upper Michigan.  I took a lousy picture, but someone got some great videos when the hit the imfamous Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson.  Here they are playing "Moonshine Hil" which will be on their next cd, but it is FREE on the Mix above because of the generosity of these fine women.  My goodness, my wife Lori was sure I liked them only because they are pretty.  She was impressed, talented and most importantly to her... friendly both during the show and after.

Music Lineup - Great River Folk Fest 2013

The Great River Folk Fest will be held in La Crosse on August 23-25, on the UWL campus, this year with Dar Williams as the Friday night concert, Willy Porter as the Saturday headliner, and Claudia Schmidt as the closer on Sunday, Harmonious Wail that gypsy swing band, Barbara Jean the Big Top songwriter winner from the Twin Cities, The May North eclectic new grass sound, The Ultrasonics a new bluegrass group, and introducing SHEL a four sister act that has a fast rise in the Folk/Pop scene. It is their "On My Way" played in the background.

Great River Folk Fest 2013 Line up

Dar Williams, Willy Porter, Claudia Schmidt, The May North, Barbara Jean, Harmonious Wail, and of course my favorite SHEL!

Oh my this will be a great weekend.

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