Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite contains some of the most beloved and familiar melodies in the Western world. Mr Sun has seized upon the inspiration of Duke Ellington’s brilliant, sly, & urbane re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Suite as an opportunity to salute and re-invent this wildly multi-faceted work anew through the lens of the American String Band, a musical form which contains myriad styles and is presently engaged in a marathon upheaval of innovation and expansion.
On Mr Sun's new recording, the pieces of the Suite range from close interpretations of Billy Strayhorn’s original charts to intense extrapolations based on the spirit of the material.
On the recording, Mr Sun generally played original improvised solos, though some crucial musical statements by giants such as Johnny Hodges and Paul Gonsalves were transcribed directly and played in their spirit.  Most of Strayhorn’s startling original horn voicings have been preserved in bowed strings, with multi-mandolin parts adding a punchy edge. 
There is one new additional piece, drawn directly from Tchaikovsky's Ballet, setting three themes in classic “Dawg Music” format. The Russian Dance is now hilariously full-on Bluegrass with banjo guest Alison Brown while still using the spy-movie intros, outros, and background lines of Strayhorn's original. Dobro King Jerry Douglas interprets an iconic Lawrence Brown trombone solo on Dance Of The Floreadores, now re-titled “(don’t) Walk On The Flowers”.

Now the band is touring nationally, recreating the sounds of the album – their core quartet is joined by additional regional string players to re-create a full orchestra of sound. 

mrsunband.com

TICKETS: $25

For seventeen years The New Standards and friends have been dazzling audiences with their soulful, funny and spectacular Holiday Show. Chan Poling (The Suburbs), John Munson (Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic) and Steve Roehm act as ringleaders for a merry troupe of musicians, dancers and an all-star lineup of surprise special guests featuring a deep roster of music pals. Expect the unexpected at what will surely become your new holiday tradition.

thenewstandards.com

TICKETS: $30

NEW YORK TIMES:
“Immaculately tailored… Sometimes his songs run right up to the edge of the grandiose and hold still, and that's when he's best… Close to perfection”

DON HENLEY:
“Jeffrey Foucault… clocks modern culture about as good as I've ever heard anybody clock it”

THE NEW YORKER:
“Jeffrey Foucault sings stark, literate songs that are as wide open as the landscape of his native Midwest”
In two decades on the road Jeffrey Foucault has become one of the most distinctive voices in American music, refining a sound instantly recognizable for its simplicity and emotional power. With a string of critically acclaimed studio albums– “Stark, literate songs that are as wide open as the landscape of his native Midwest” (The New Yorker), "Beat-up troubadour folk whittled to dolorous perfection” (Uncut), “Songwriting Brilliance,” (Irish Times)– he’s built a brick-and-mortar international touring career and a devoted following, one that includes luminaries like Van Dyke Parks, Greil Marcus, and Don Henley. In September of 2024 Jeffrey Foucault will release The Universal Fire (Fluff & Gravy, 9/6/24), his first album of entirely new material since 2018.

A series of high-voltage performances cut live in one room, the album is both a working wake– Foucault lost his best friend and drummer Billy Conway, to cancer in 2021– and a meditation on the nature of beauty, artifact, and loss. Augmenting Foucault's all-star band with members of Calexico and Bon Iver (drummer John Convertino and producer/saxophonist Mike Lewis) THE UNIVERSAL FIRE sets Conway’s death against the massive 2008 fire at the Universal Studios lot in California that destroyed the master recordings of some of our bedrock American music, to interrogate ideas about mortality, legacy, meaning, and calling.

jeffreyfoucault.com

TICKETS: $30

Come celebrate the community in the spirit of the Christmas season. Both the Festival Choir and the Stoughton City Band will dazzle with a variety of sacred music, plus a carol sing-along. A wonderful tradition for the whole family!

www.stoughtonfestivalchoir.wordpress.com

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“Always an impressive songwriter, Werner continues to compose sharp, funny, compassionate lyrics, a gift rare enough to set her apart” -Washington Post

“Susan Werner, a clever songwriter and an engaging performer, brings literacy and wit back to popular song” –The New Yorker

Susan Werner composes skillful songs that effortlessly slide between folk, jazz, and pop, all delivered with sassy wit and classic Midwestern charm. Throughout her expansive career, boundless versatility has emerged as a hallmark of Werner’s talent, and has proven to be a quintessential ingredient of her engrossing musical personae. Known for her engaging and energetic live show, Susan Werner continues her reign as one of the most bold and creative forces on the acoustic music scene today. Dubbed by NPR as the "Empress of the Unexpected", Werner's album projects cover the genres of folk, rock, pop, gospel, blues and Americana.

susanwerner.com

Singer-songwriter and pianist Anne Heaton has captured audience imaginations for over fifteen years with her songs that are, by turns, "tender, barbed and spiritual" (Washington Post). She's been featured by the New York Times Popcast, played numerous times on NPR and shared the stage with artists such as Jewel, Sarah McLachlan and jazz drummer Max Roach. She teaches at Berklee College of Music Summer Programs and is the founder of Soul Songs School, an online songwriting program. Anne is currently earning her Master’s in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she hopes to research the outcomes of songwriting as a social emotional learning tool for teenagers. Anne lives in Milwaukee where she enjoys coffee, Lake Michigan and being a mom to two freethinking daughters.

anneheaton.com

TICKETS: $25

One December, not long after Over the Rhine began recording and touring, we were invited to perform some seasonal songs on a public radio station in Cincinnati. It was Christmastime and apparently they thought we were up to the task. We worked up a few carols and traditional tunes and Karin even read a poem by Thomas Hardy called, The Oxen. It actually felt really good and conjured up an unusual mix of feelings from childhood: innocence, loss, wonder, joy, sadness. I think we were surprised. People must have tuned into the radio broadcast, because we began receiving inquiries as to whether we had recorded any of our Christmas songs. I don’t think we had considered it at the time, but any young, struggling songwriter is open to the suggestions of the marketplace, and people were persistent.

In December of 1996 – can it really be over 25 years ago? – we recorded and released our first song cycle of some of the Christmas carols that still haunted us. We included a few original tunes and called our wintry mix The Darkest Night Of The Year. We played a special “darkest night” release concert on winter solstice in an old 1300-seat theater in Cincinnati. Every last seat was full. Folks began snatching up copies and seemed to agree that they hadn’t heard anything quite like it. 

We began playing concerts around the Midwest every December and found that the rooms were usually packed full of people who had bundled in out of the cold with prized compatriots. Hats and scarves abounded. If you stepped outside during intermission, you could make ghosts with your breath in the crisp night air. And it was dark – oh so dark: a time of year with its own music.

A decade later, in 2006, we released our first full collection of original Christmas/holiday songs called Snow Angels. What is it about Christmas music and the undeniable gravitational pull it exerts on some songwriters? So many Christmas songs have already been written. I think we are genuinely curious about the ones that haven't yet been written.

We continued to tour every December and these special year-winding-down concerts began to feel like an annual tradition – gatherings of extended musical family, without whom, we’d be homeless.

By the time we released our third holiday album of original songs, Blood Oranges In The Snow, in December of 2014, Karin suggested we had discovered a new genre of music: Reality Christmas.

It’s true: if you’ve buried a loved one, or lost a job, or battled a chronic illness, that stuff doesn’t go away during the holidays. It can be a complicated season for many of us. 

And then there’s family. When Karin and I make the annual holiday pilgrimage home to visit family and pull into the driveway and turn off the car, one of us inevitably looks over at the other and says, “Tie a rope around my waist, I’m goin’ in.”

In 2024, more than 25 years after releasing our first holiday CD, we are still at it. This year, we will be leaning into some harmonies and making an intimate but hopefully holy ruckus. It won’t be all Christmas music: we’ll certainly mix in tunes from many of our records along the way. But hopefully it’s still true: hopefully you haven’t heard anything quite like it. 

Maybe a midnight snow will fall and turn each streetlight into its own private snow globe. Maybe, regardless of whatever reality Christmas brings, we’ll hear a faint echo of a song once rumored to have been sung by angels, a song of peace on earth, goodwill toward all…

We’ve never heard anything quite like it. We hope you’ll join us,

Linford Detweiler

With Karin close by

Nowhere Else

Clinton County, Ohio

overtherhine.com

TICKETS: $35

It’s a matter of time. 50 years to be exact. And in that time Los Lobos have created an unprecedented body of work, a legacy of greatness. The numbers are staggering: 100+ gigs a year for five decades running, crossing millions of miles to rock millions of fans. And that’s just at the live shows. In between they’ve recorded 17 studio albums, 7 live LPs, 3 compilations, 2 EPs, 2 DVDs, and contributed 40+ guest appearances on their friends’ recordings—all garnering 4 Grammys, an Austin City Limits Hall of Fame induction, the ALMA Ritchie Valens Pioneer Award, NEA and Hispanic Heritage Foundation Honors, Congressional recognitions, plus countless “Keys to the City” and “Los Lobos Day” celebrations. And those are just a few of the highlights. But beyond all the hoopla and applause (and the source of it all, really) is the tremendous heart. Rather, hearts. Cinco corazones. Five blood brothers who have dedicated their off-stage time to helping others, working for peace and justice, penning some of the most literate and important music of their time, transforming the hard cries from the East L.A. barrio into songs of hope, tales of common folk finding ways to endure. The young wolves were weaned on late-night radio’s soul, R&B, and doo-wop. Were cured through the African-American currents of the blues, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll. An amalgam. As proud Chicanos, their songs have always glistened with the distillation from their Mexican and Latin American roots—nourished by Norteña and rancheras, buoyed by bolero and cumbias, soaring on the rhythms of son huasteco and son jarocho.

Los Lobos have helped spread the rich diversity of cultures across every continent, throughout the global community. Kids in Antwerp now know about Aztlán. Residents of Luxor and Ghana are crooning Lalo Guerrero. People from Laos and Bulgaria are belting “La Bamba”—all thanks to The Wolves as cultural ambassadors. Talk about a living legacy. Talk about a productive half century. And in the true rebel spirit, they did it all on their own terms, against formula. For the ages. To our delight. Quite simply, they are one of the tightest, one of the best, one of the most prolific bands ever.

www.loslobos.org

TICKETS: $70

It’s a matter of time. 50 years to be exact. And in that time Los Lobos have created an unprecedented body of work, a legacy of greatness. The numbers are staggering: 100+ gigs a year for five decades running, crossing millions of miles to rock millions of fans. And that’s just at the live shows. In between they’ve recorded 17 studio albums, 7 live LPs, 3 compilations, 2 EPs, 2 DVDs, and contributed 40+ guest appearances on their friends’ recordings—all garnering 4 Grammys, an Austin City Limits Hall of Fame induction, the ALMA Ritchie Valens Pioneer Award, NEA and Hispanic Heritage Foundation Honors, Congressional recognitions, plus countless “Keys to the City” and “Los Lobos Day” celebrations. And those are just a few of the highlights. But beyond all the hoopla and applause (and the source of it all, really) is the tremendous heart. Rather, hearts. Cinco corazones. Five blood brothers who have dedicated their off-stage time to helping others, working for peace and justice, penning some of the most literate and important music of their time, transforming the hard cries from the East L.A. barrio into songs of hope, tales of common folk finding ways to endure. The young wolves were weaned on late-night radio’s soul, R&B, and doo-wop. Were cured through the African-American currents of the blues, jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll. An amalgam. As proud Chicanos, their songs have always glistened with the distillation from their Mexican and Latin American roots—nourished by Norteña and rancheras, buoyed by bolero and cumbias, soaring on the rhythms of son huasteco and son jarocho.

Los Lobos have helped spread the rich diversity of cultures across every continent, throughout the global community. Kids in Antwerp now know about Aztlán. Residents of Luxor and Ghana are crooning Lalo Guerrero. People from Laos and Bulgaria are belting “La Bamba”—all thanks to The Wolves as cultural ambassadors. Talk about a living legacy. Talk about a productive half century. And in the true rebel spirit, they did it all on their own terms, against formula. For the ages. To our delight. Quite simply, they are one of the tightest, one of the best, one of the most prolific bands ever.

www.loslobos.org

TICKETS: $70

We’re used to hearing about the power and sonic majesty that comes when two siblings sing in harmony: but what about when they string in harmony? That’s the beautiful alchemy that SistaStrings, the musical duo comprising sisters Chauntee and Monique Ross, create every time they bring their unique blend of classical training, soulful melodies, and contemporary sounds to the stage. With Chauntee on violin and Monique on cello, their virtuoso talents and thrilling live show have found them sharing the stage with Brandi Carlile and Joni Mitchell in just a few years’ time, already making a profound impact on the musical scene that shows no signs of slowing down. Thanks to SistaStrings, you’ll never look at classical instruments the same way again.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Chauntee and Monique discovered their love for music at a young age. Growing up in a musically inclined family, the sisters were exposed to a diverse range of genres and instruments, despite the social imprinting that told them string instruments were within the purview of white people only. Together, they embarked on a remarkable journey, fusing their classical training with their deep-rooted love for R&B, hip-hop, and gospel. They now reside in Nashville, where they are integral members of the musical community and some of the most in-demand players in town.

In one performance, SistaStrings can cover a classical arrangement, create a mashup of beloved pop songs and spin their own surprising originals that defy any easy genre categorization. It’s that fluidity and sheer talent that have secured them spots in Brandi Carlile’s touring band, as well as supporting Ed Sheeran, Maggie Rogers, Margo Price, Allison Russell and Jason Isbell. When they appear on stage, they aren’t just backing players – they become stars of the show.

Recently appearing with the legendary Joni Mitchell at the Grammy Awards, Andrea Bocelli at the 2024 Oscars and with Elton John, Annie Lennox, Garth Brooks, and Charlie Puth at The 2024 Gershwin Honors. SistaStrings have also performed at iconic venues such as Madison Square Garden, The Kennedy Center, Newport Folk Festival, and Saturday Night Live In September, they took home the title of “best instrumentalist” for the Americana Music Association's 2023 honors.

Their eagerly anticipated debut record, produced by friend and collaborator Brandi Carlile, is currently in the works.

www.sistastrings.com

TICKETS: $40

A dazzling array of musical talents will be showcased throughout the season during these hour-long programs, organized by John Beutel and sponsored by the Stoughton Area Senior Center. All Music Appreciation events are free and open to the public.

Sahada Buckley, violin

Sahada Buckley is a violinist and interdisciplinary artist whose diverse career has led to many meaningful collaborations. A Fairhope native, Sahada has worked with many notable classical musicians including faculty from the University of California; Los Angeles, Michigan State University, and members of the Pro Arte Quartet. Additionally, she has worked closely with acclaimed composers such as David Ludwig, Michael Ippolito, Laura Schwendinger, and Mason Bates. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sahada was a member of the prestigious graduate string quartet, the Marvin Rabin String Quartet; in Georgia, she won first prize at the University of Georgia Concerto Competition performing Édouard Lalo’s Violin Concerto “Symphonie Espagnole'' in 2018. Sahada has participated in numerous summer music festivals, including the Meadowmount School of Music, BUTI Tanglewood, Green Mountain Music Festival, Montecito Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, and Decoda Chamber Music Festival. As a non-classical performer, Sahada has partnered with musicians within the free improvisation community on a national level. In April of 2022, Sahada was invited to perform with her experimental duo, Girls With Hands, at the New York City Electroacoustic Improvisation Summit. Sahada is a graduate from the arts-focused boarding school, Interlochen Arts Academy, and holds dual Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of Georgia in Violin Performance and Music Theory. Recently, Sahada received her Master of Music degree in violin performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a student of Pro Arte Quartet violinist David Perry. Sahada’s principal teachers have included Levon Ambartsumian, Shakhida Azimkhodjaeva, Paul Sonner, and Michael Heald. An avid hiker, she through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2019 with a violin in her backpack.

Kayla Patrick, viola

Kayla Patrick is a violist and active chamber music collaborator in Madison, WI. She earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at The University of Wisconsin-Madison under the guidance of Sally Chisholm and was a member of the Marvin Rabin String Quartet at the Mead Witter School of Music throughout her time there. Additionally, she engages in regular outreach throughout the Midwest, and finds great joy in teaching and performing in a variety of genres. She was a recent finalist in the 2023 University of Wisconsin-Madison Symphony Concerto Competition as well as in the 2021 Mead Witter Viola Competition. 

Kayla received her Bachelor of the Arts degree in Viola Performance under the instruction of Olga Tuzhilkov at Cardinal Stritch University and her subsequent master’s degree and performance diploma in viola performance in the studio of Igor Fedotov at The Chicago College of Performing Arts. She has a distinct passion for chamber music and enjoys the close collaboration and artistic freedom that comes with performing chamber repertoire. Kayla’s favorite dessert is ice cream, a food to which she is mildly allergic (but she eats it anyway).

Trace Johnson, cello

Dr. Trace Johnson is a cellist known for his effortless musicality and fierce commitment to music-making of all styles and genres. He has appeared as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician throughout the United States and internationally. Equally at home teaching in concert performances or teaching in the studio, Trace is a devoted and thoughtful communicator who enjoys a varied career in both worlds. Trace has collaborated in concert with eminent artists Emanuel Ax, Yo-Yo Ma, Garrick Olson, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Augustin Hadelich, and Gil Shaham. He is a member of the cello section in the Sarasota Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Trace has also recently appeared on Masterworks programs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Artosphere Festival Orchestra in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Trace received his Bachelor of Music Performance degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio, and his Master of Music degree from Lynn Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. Trace recently received his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Trace enjoys reading historical fiction, creating/completing lists, and takes great satisfaction from fixing broken household items of all kinds. 

Free-will Donation

Sierra Hull is widely regarded to be a as a master of her instrument; A two-time Grammy Nominated artist and songwriter, recognized for both her most recent projects, 25 Trips (2020) and Weighted Mind (2016), she is also the 4x recipient of IBMA's Mandolin Player of the Year, the first woman to ever receive this distinction. A pioneer for acoustic music throughout her already impressive multi-decade career, she has graced the country's most iconic stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry, and the White House. Her virtuosic abilities have garnered respect from genre-defining trailblazers, friends, and collaborators such as Alison Krauss, Sturgill Simpson, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, and Brandi Carlile. Originally hailing from Byrdstown, Tennessee, her unique sound is rooted in bluegrass, and she is widely considered one of acoustic music's most inventive artists.

Cousin Curtiss brings to the stage a fiery dynamic rarely seen by a solo act and now partnered up with the equally enigmatic and soulfully driven electric guitar prowess of Harrison B, these two road warriors are on a mission to electrify audiences everywhere with their two-man full-band sound. Think, "blues at bluegrass speeds." Imagine, "rock americana with a soulful drip." Experience rapid fire acoustic guitar, incendiary harmonica, fiercely energized solos, all driven by a thunderous kick drum.

sierrahull.com

cousincurtiss.com

TICKETS: $40

During the creative explosion that was country music in the 1990s Suzy Bogguss  sold 4 million records with sparkling radio hits like “Outbound Plane”, “Someday Soon”, “Letting Go”, “Drive South”, and “Hey Cinderella". But you can’t peg Suzy that easily… 

In the midst of her country popularity she took time off to make a duets album with the legendary Chet Atkins. In 2003 she made an album of modern swing music with Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel. An album of original music in 2007 landed her at number 4 on the jazz charts. Her folk music roots show through in her frequent appearances on public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion, in the Grammy she earned for her work on Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen  Foster, and in her critically acclaimed album and book project from 2011, American Folk Songbook. In 2014 she released Lucky, a collection of songs written by Merle Haggard and interpreted through Suzy’s crystal vocals from the female point of view. Her latest offering, Prayin’ For Sunshine, is an Americana tour de force with all songs written by Bogguss.

She continues to tour the world, both on her own and with fellow country radio divas Terri Clark and Pam Tills as  “Chicks With Hits” and more recently, with Kathy Mattea on their Together At Last tour. So yes, you can call her a country singer if you want, but really that’s just the beginning.

suzybogguss.com

TICKETS: $35

“She really is important in reminding people that there is a great tradition of African-American, old-time musicians. I love that she sings in this really rich low vocal range, just straight from the chest, resonant.” — NPR

Produced by Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Weezer) and recorded at his Nashville studio, Amythyst Kiah’s new album Still + Bright explores the vast expanse of her inner world: her deep-rooted affinity for Eastern philosophies and spiritual traditions, a near-mystical connection with the natural world, the life lessons learned in her formative years as a self-described “anime-nerd mall goth.” In dreaming up the backdrop to her revelatory storytelling, Kiah and Walker arrived at a darkly cinematic and exhilarating twist on the rootsy alt-rock of her 2021 breakthrough album Wary + Strange—an LP that landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2021 and drew acclaim from major outlets like Pitchfork. With its sonic palette encompassing everything from fuzzed-out guitars and industrial-leaning beats to gilded pedal steel and Kiah’s exquisitely graceful banjo work, Still + Bright fully affirms her as an artist of both daring originality and uncompromising depth.

Although Kiah’s third full-length marks a departure from the anguished emotionality of its predecessor (an album informed by losing her mother to suicide at age 17), Kiah imparts all of Still + Bright with a hypnotic intensity born from boldly stating her convictions. To that end, the LP opens on the stormy grandeur of “Play God and Destroy the World”: an immediately captivating coming-of-age tale featuring guest vocals from Kentucky-bred singer/songwriter S.G. Goodman. With its title taken from a song Kiah penned and performed at a talent show in high school, the hard-charging track dispenses a bit of searing commentary on the hypocrisy she witnessed throughout her childhood—and ultimately speaks to the sense of hope and possibility she discovered in unexpected places (e.g., the humanistic sci-fi of The Matrix). “I grew up in a good neighborhood and had parents with good jobs, but in many respects my family was different,” says Kiah, who was raised in Chattanooga and later moved to Johnson City. “In order to fit in, you had to go to church and have conservative values—and I know that being Black wasn’t doing us any favors either. This song was written for the 15-year-old version of me who suspected that there was a big world out there that allowed for many beliefs and a more connected humanity.”

All throughout Still + Bright, Kiah reveals her rare ability to spin her fascinations into songs uncovering essential truths about human nature. On “I Will Not Go Down,” for instance, she looks back on a barbaric moment in history and unleashes a furiously stomping folk epic, featuring background vocals and nimble guitar work from bluegrass phenomenon Billy Strings. “I read about the Crusades in high school, and I was disgusted at the prospect of coercing people into spilling an unimaginable amount of blood and brainwashing them into believing they were serving their god—when in fact they were simply doing the bidding of warmongers,” says Kiah. “I wrote the chorus in my high school journal, and it became a song about people-pleasing to a fault, then reclaiming your autonomy and finding a balance between serving yourself and serving others.” Meanwhile, on “Silk and Petals,” Ellen Angelico’s feverish guitar tones merge with strangely euphoric grooves in a gothic love song sparked from Kiah’s viewing of the supernatural horror-drama of The Haunting of Bly Manor. “‘Silk and Petals’ was inspired by the story of the Lady in the Lake, the ghost of a woman named Viola Lloyd,” Kiah explains. “After falling ill with tuberculosis, Viola leaves her chest of her finest clothes and jewelry to her daughter, then becomes violent as she witnesses the affection between her husband Arthur and her sister Perdita. While Arthur is away on business, Perdita smothers Viola in her sleep, only to later be strangled to death by Viola’s ghost. The Lady in the Lake then wanders the hallways for centuries searching for her daughter, killing anyone who moves into the house along the way. I wrote ‘Silk and Petals’ thinking about the idea of ghosts being unable to leave this realm because they’re hanging onto something they’ve lost, and the song came from being so intrigued by that very intimate intermingling of love and death.”

For Kiah, the making of Still + Bright involved a careful transformation of the songwriting process she adopted after composing her first song on a Fender acoustic at age 13. The latest turn in a dynamic career that’s included joining Our Native Daughters (an all-women-of-color supergroup also featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell), the album marks her first time opening up her approach and working with co-writers, including punk legend Tim Armstrong, Sadler Vaden (a guitarist/vocalist for Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit), former Pentatonix member Avi Kaplan, and Sean McConnell (a singer/songwriter who’s also written with Brittney Spencer and Bethany Cosentino). “In a way I almost felt like I had to relearn how to write songs, because the experience had changed so much for me after taking better care of my mental and physical wellbeing over the past few years,” she says. “It felt completely different to write from a place of fulfillment and wanting to have fun with what I was creating.”

While Still + Bright undoubtedly finds Kiah pushing into new emotional and musical terrain, the album also makes for a vital new addition to a body of work largely dedicated to exploring the struggle and joy of true self-discovery. “With all of my music, I’d love to leave people with the feeling that it’s okay to go off the beaten path and to structure your life in a way that feels right to you,” says Kiah. “And just like with the last record, I hope that these songs can help people out if they’re going through a difficult time. That’s what I always hope for more than anything: for my music to continue to be a part of the healing process for anyone who might need it.” 

www.amythystkiah.com

TICKETS: $25

A dazzling array of musical talents will be showcased throughout the season during these hour-long programs, organized by John Beutel and sponsored by the Stoughton Area Senior Center. All Music Appreciation events are free and open to the public.

The Rabin Quartet is the Graduate String Quartet at UW-Madison's Mead Witter School of Music. Its members are working towards master's and doctoral degrees and serve as teaching assistants, leading orchestral sectionals, teaching string fundamentals to music education students, and performing as representatives of UW-Madison. The group is funded by generous donors and named in honor of Dr. Marvin Rabin. Dr. Rabin was an internationally acclaimed music educator and Professor Emeritus at UW-Madison who inspired thousands of string educators nationwide. As the father of the youth orchestra movement in the US, his work continues to positively impact countless young musicians to this day.

www.music.wisc.edu/events/rabin-string-quartet

Free-will Donation

“If you’ve never heard Moen on the mic, picture the arresting vocal takes of Brittany Howard, Natalie Maines, and even a pinch of Stevie Nicks, all sounding effortless. Even straightforward lines feel important when sung by Moen, whose vocal delivery punches up details and imbues scenes with rich emotion.”  – No Depression  

“Elizabeth Moen is not afraid to rip right through you, even if it involves shredding herself in the process… Moen’s voice is what separates her from the pack, towering over the listener in an effort to combat the aching vulnerability and heartbreak of her lyrics.” – Paste Magazine 

The first thing that strikes you is that voice. It’s an amalgam of styles and mannerisms from everything from classic rock and country, and as such it manages to be both warmly familiar and tantalizingly new. – NewCity  

From her life to the studio, Elizabeth Moen carries with her a certain kind of street-smart wisdom: She knows when you’re on your bullshit and she is also highly sensitive to when her own actions fall short. This perceptive quality is a gift and a burden. The burden is that she is too smart, too tuned into reality to lie to herself and put on a facade that makes it easier to pass for ok. The gift is that instead of giving in, Moen channels life’s turmoil into a constant process of growth–as a songwriter, an arranger, and powerful lyricist.

Emerging from the introductory stage of her career, Moen is now cementing her commitment to craft: Making Wherever You Aren’t wasn’t just an impassioned way to pass time, it was a calling and an opportunity to reflect life’s lessons into a gripping statement of art.

A self-taught guitarist, Moen wrote her first songs while a student at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. It was a small town in the Heartland but also a culturally dense world of artists, musicians, and writers–a scene whose space limitations meant the traditional songwriters, the alternative rockers, and the avant-garde enthusiasts were playing the same house shows, talking at the same bars, and dancing in the same clubs. That interdisciplinary experience and its overlap of styles shaped Moen's aesthetic scope over her first self-released albums.

She gave up her lease in Iowa City and toured for two years across the USA, the UK, and the EU, eventually making Chicago her homebase. It was during that swirl of migration that she leaned into the project that would become Wherever You Aren’t. The first sparks: A session in Dublin, Ireland in Summer 2019 where she recorded the lead track “Headgear.” Then: Passing through Alabama on her Fall 2019 tour, she laid down the core tracks for “Synthetic Fabrics.” With a long list of songs and just enough money to pay the players and engineers, she guided her band to San Francisco’s Hyde Street Studios to record basics for a full album in early 2020.

Those initial sessions produced 14 songs. As the pandemic took hold, she tracked vocals and overdubs wherever she could–apartments and studios across the States, Canada, and Ireland and finished mixing and mastering in Winter 2021. (She only took a pause to record a satellite set of songs in the midst of the process; those tracks became her haunting Creature of Habit EP.)

Stepping back from those two years of work, Moen reflects: These songs are about mental health, joy, panic attacks, falling in love, falling out of it, and accepting that sometimes it will stay with you forever.

Musically, the record teases sounds from alt. country, contemporary Nashville, and indie soul but mostly settles into the less genre-specific tone of early 20’s weariness. Where 2020’s Creature of Habit etched out a dark, synth-folk vibe, Wherever You Aren’t finds its spirit in guitar twangs and robust rhythms; though something ethereal and haunting is always there in the mix–it’s Moen’s nuanced understanding of space, knowing when to flood a track with catharsis and crescendo and when to let her voice guide us through eerie minimalism. As evidenced across all her catalog, Moen can bend any genre to her unique mix of sorrow, hope, and endurance.

Throughout these songs, Moen confidently exhumes the emotional hangover of our 20s: a turbulent, sometimes euphoric, often fraught time. “Where’s My Bike?” is scorching in its irreverence, annoyance, and downright anger with nothing ever being quite all-together. Like many of her songs, it’s a vignette and metaphor at once–so many young adult anxieties and self-doubts are rolled into one: Ex-lovers, parents, and the inability to financially support oneself even though you’re supposed to be grown up. My friends, she belts out, don’t talk to me much anymore/I don’t blame them/What do I have left to say about shit/That’d be worth listening to? And on “Synthetic Fabrics”, she starkly admits the desire to Spend the day focused on the next one.

Her commitment to this album, to her career, and to continually showing up affirms Moen’s raw and honed ability to see the truth, face it, and send it back into the world as a beautiful song. The album ends with a big-hearted display of empathy. Surrounded by swirling harmonies and ascendant strings, Moen sings that she’ll meet you/us/herself, Wherever you are/Wherever you aren’t/That’s okay.

She understands that past lovers, friends, and family–even in their failures and missteps–are also just people trying to make sense of the world in real-time. And in this admission, Moen stays true to her most succinct statement about the record and her current worldview: This album has shown me that I have the capacity to grow.

elizabethmoen.com

TICKETS: $25

Mariee Sioux Sobonya was born on the Humboldt coast in Arcata, California. When she was two her family moved to the Sierra Nevada foothills in the Yuba River watershed in Northern California, to pursue their dream of farming and living off the land. She was raised on their small farm whose surrounding lands were originally occupied by the Nisenan people before the cultural and environmental decimation that occurred at the hands of expansionist migrants and settlers during the gold rush, and has come to be known as Nevada City (the Nisenan still survive in tragically small numbers and continue to fight for visibility and Federal recognition).

Mariee grew up surrounded and deeply touched by music—going to bluegrass festivals and listening to her father’s bluegrass band—but held no particular personal musical ambitions. However, she taught herself to play the guitar at 18 while volunteering at a school for Mapuche children in Patagonia, Argentina, and wrote her first songs here while taking refuge from the Patagonia winds indoors. She continued finger picking and writing songs and would make two home-recorded albums purely at the urging of friends. In 2007 she released her first studio album, Faces in the Rocks, on which she collaborated with Native American flutist Gentle Thunder and which achieved a dedicated cult following that would propel her career to this day. She began touring Europe as well as North America and has continued ever since.

Mariee Siou has learned to more consciously embrace her role in the ancient and new tradition of healer-singers who have always helped hold the human social fabric together. Through music she attempts to fill a cultural void left by severed connections to her Polish, Hungarian, and Indigenous North American heritages and to thereby address the broader cultural voids felt by Americans today. She does this “with hopes of enticing the sacred work of grief back into our lives from the exile American society has placed it in”—and this is strongly evident in her 2019 release Grief in Exile, as well as in her forthcoming EP Circle of Signs.

The songs continue to come to Mariee Siou, and her approach as a singer continues to mature. The flowing melodies and quivering vibrato of her voice, as well as the poetry itself, continue to locate themselves and their work with a more solidly grounded precision as to just what that work is. Her most recent songs most deeply reflect this clarity of vision and acceptance of both her role as an artist and the endless need for that role in this changing world. Mariee Siou brings us back to the child and the grandmother in ourselves, in a time in which it has never been more needed — and she intends to keep it up as long as she has a voice.

www.marieesiou.com

Donnie CoCo

Lifelong multi-instrumentalist and Philadelphia based singer-songwriter Donnie CoCo fearlessly explores the landscape of grief, modeling a determined and curious effort to grow upward from a place of pain. For fans of Jaala, Nai Palm, and Jeff Buckley—Donnie’s soulful voice and tongue-in-cheek lyrics haunt listeners as potently as their dynamic guitar finger-picking with playful musicality. Donnie CoCo’s debut single ‘Bad Word’ was recorded at Office Ours on Knox in Germantown and released independently in July 2024. It will be followed up with a full length record in 2025.

donniecoco.bandcamp.com

TICKETS: $25

A dazzling array of musical talents will be showcased throughout the season during these hour-long programs, organized by John Beutel and sponsored by the Stoughton Area Senior Center. All Music Appreciation events are free and open to the public.

Iason Giagtzoglou, DMA from UW-Madison, and Angelos Ntais, DMA from UW-Madison, are combining their artistries for this performance of music for solo piano and piano duet. They have been performing as a piano duo for over twelve years, in Europe and in the States. They gained prizes and other distinctions in competitions such as the annual Irvin Shain Beethoven Competition of the Mead Witter School of Music, and the Stecher and Horowitz Two Piano Competition organized by Music Teachers National Association.

Free-will Donation

"Foley continues to cement her place as one of the leading torchbearers of the blues tradition. Male or female." –Nick Cristiano, Rock and Blues Muse

“Sue Foley has a way of making the blues explode from the bandstand, no matter the song or style. She imbues everything she plays with the living truth.”–Bill Bentley, Americana Highways

“Lively it is!...Straight from the hip and from the heart groovaliciousness. Rock on!”–Billy F Gibbons, ZZ TOP

The Canadian blues ingénue, turned Texas axe slinger brings over 35 years of professional talent to the Stoughton Opera House stage.

Sue Foley delivers her own brand of high energy, guitar-driven Texas blues. Foley’s seasoned rhythm section responds to her every move as she sways, rocks, and digs in deep with equal parts ease and intensity.

In May 2024, Foley was awarded the Blues Music Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist (Koko Taylor Award) in Memphis - an award she also won consecutively in 2023, 2022 and 2020. She was also recently honored with Guitarist of the Year and Blues Act of the Year at the 2023 Austin Music Awards, and Guitarist of the Year at the 2023 Maple Blues Awards. Her last album, Pinky’s Blues, took home Best Traditional Blues Album at the 2022 Blues Music Awards.

suefoley.com

TICKETS: $30

Rhonda Vincent is a firecracker of talent that powers one of the hottest bands in any genre of music today. From humble beginnings in the tiny town of Greentop, Missouri, Rhonda’s musical heritage traces back 5 generations of the Vincent family. Her dad would pick her up from school each day, and they would sing and play till dinner. After dinner, friends came over, and they would sing and play till bedtime. She began her professional music career singing in her family’s band The Sally Mountain Show. It was an immediate “on the job training,” as they had a TV show, radio show, and made their first recording when Rhonda was 5 years old. She picked up the mandolin at eight, the fiddle at twelve, and learned a valuable life lesson as a teenager performing with her family at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. While they were playing in the pouring rain to empty seats, and what they thought, no one listening -- a week later they received a call from Hal Durham, general manager of the Grand Ole Opry at the time, and who just happened to be listening with his family around the corner. Mr. Durham loved what he heard and invited the Vincent family to appear on the Opry.

Rhonda’s life of music evolved into a successful career in bluegrass music; after being discovered by Grand Ole Opry Star “Jim Ed Brown,” and later spending what she calls her musical college years recording for Giant Records; and learning about the music business from Nashville’s best like James Stroud, Jack McFadden, and Stan Barnett.

It was her pivotal bluegrass album Back Home Again that transformed Rhonda Vincent into the All American Bluegrass Girl, and crowned the New Queen of Bluegrass by “The Wall Street Journal” in 2000.

A multi-award winner, with a 2017 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, an Entertainer of the Year 2001, Song of the Year 2004, and unprecedented 7 consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association 2000 – 2006 and an 8th win of IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2015.

Her lifelong dream came true when she was invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 28, 2020. Rhonda waited an unprecedented 345 days and was officially inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 6, 2021.

Her powerful vocal style transcends the boundaries of bluegrass music, as evidenced in her collaboration with Dolly Parton on the Elton John / Bernie Taupin Tribute Project Restoration in 2018.

rhondavincent.com

TICKETS: $45

A dazzling array of musical talents will be showcased throughout the season during these hour-long programs, organized by John Beutel and sponsored by the Stoughton Area Senior Center. All Music Appreciation events are free and open to the public.

UW-Madison lecturer, pianist and composer, Eric Tran returns to perform a piano concert with engaging commentary that will make the works easily understood by all. Tran has performed in Italy, Korea, China, Canada, and in 20 US states. His compositions have been reviewed by the SF Examiner as having “a tendency to thwart the usual expectations… fascinating”. His knack for designing an engaging program with relatable commentary has made him a Music Appreciation favorite. The concert will conclude with a brief Q&A session.

Eric Tran (D.M.A.) is a pianist-composer and teacher. He is a native of the Bay Area, CA, graduating with honors from Stanford University and receiving his MM from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. After his piano duo—infamously known as “Happy Dog Duo”—won 1st prize and the Abild American Music Award at the Ellis Duo Piano Competition, he went on a 2-year performance tour of the US, which included a guest artist performance at the Chautauqua Institution and a historic performance on the Pleyel Double Grand Piano. Tran moved to Madison, earning his DMA with Christopher Taylor at the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he now serves as lecturer.

Tran has performed in Italy, Korea, China, Canada, and in 20 US states. He won multiple awards from the Wideman International Piano Competition, 3rd place from the American Prize, and invitations to the US Chopin National and Virginia Waring International. Tran was selected for a Gilmore Fellowship and has also performed at PianoTexas, Aspen, and Art of the Piano, where he worked with Jonathan Biss, Robert Levin, Leonard Slatkin, and Olga Kern.

Tran’s compositions have been performed across the US, including by the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the Friction Quartet. The SF Examiner reviewed his String Quartet as having “a tendency to thwart the usual expectations… fascinating”. His String Quartet also won the 1st Prize in Composition from the Pacific Musical Society, after which no 1st Prize was awarded for almost a decade. It can be heard on Tran’s album Water along with other original solo/chamber music. In addition to writing concert music, Tran has composed over 100 pedagogical pieces for different levels.

Tran has given masterclasses and workshops for the Jacobs School of Music Young Pianists program, the National Federation of Music Clubs Conference, and for teachers in the Madison area. His scholarly edition of the Chopin Barcarolle Op. 60 has been downloaded more than 3000 times and has been praised by International Chopin winner Kevin Kenner, Juilliard Professor Hung-Kuan Chen, and Van Cliburn Winner Jon Nakamatsu. Tran’s students have won prizes for piano and composition and have gone on to pursue degrees at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Tran has been involved for over 15 years with the US Open Music Competition, a non-profit organization that holds a comprehensive annual competition for over 1,000 young musicians across 100 events. As a youth, he was its record-setting, 29-time gold medalist. He later held posts as composer-in-residence, accompanist, adjudicator, and program director.

 His principal studies were with pianists Sharon Mann, Thomas Schultz, and Christopher Taylor; and with composers Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and Laura Schwendinger. He underwent additional piano studies with Julian Martin, Arie Vardi, and Kevin Kenner. Outside of music, Tran is also a youth chess coach.

www.erictranmusic.com

Free-will Donation

From a source deep, abundant, and pure the river flows. It’s there on the
map, marking place and time. Yet, the river changes as it remains a constant, carving away at the edges, making new pathways, gaining strength as it progresses forward. The Travelin’ McCourys are that river.

The McCoury brothers- Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) - were born into the bluegrass tradition. Talk about a source abundant and pure: their father, Del, is among the most influential and successful musicians in the history of the genre. Years on the road with Dad in the Del McCoury Band honed their knife-edge chops, and encouraged the duo to imagine how traditional bluegrass could cut innovative pathways into 21st century music.

“If you put your mind, your skills, and your ability to it, I think you can make just about anything work on bluegrass instruments,” says Ronnie. “That’s a really fun part of this- figuring the new stuff out and surprising the audience.”

With fiddler Jason Carter, bassist Alan Bartram, and latest recruit Cody Kilby on guitar, they assembled a group that could take what they had in their DNA, take what traditions they learned and heard, and push the music forward.

In fact, the band became the only group to have each of its members recognized with an International Bluegrass Music Association Award for their instrument at least once. There were peers, too, that could see bluegrass as both historic and progressive. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Allman Brothers Band, improv-rock kings Phish, and jamband contemporary Keller Williams were just a few that formed a mutual admiration society with the ensemble.

The band played the Allman’s Wanee Festival, and guitarist Warren Haynes’ Christmas jam- an annual holiday homecoming of Southern music. An early-years jam with the Lee Boys was hailed by many as the highlight of the evening, and with the video catching fire online, earned a legion of new, young fans of their supercharged combination of sacred steel, R&B, and bluegrass.

There were unforgettable collaborations with country smash Dierks Bentley, and onstage magic, jamming with titans String Cheese Incident and Phish, cutting an album with Keller (Pick), and creating the Grateful Ball- a tribute concert-turned-tour bridging bluegrass with the iconic music of the Grateful Dead.

“That’s something that’s part of us being who we are,” says Ronnie. “It comes, too, with us plugging in. It gets louder, for sure. We can’t be another version of our dad’s band. It wouldn’t make any sense for us to do that.”

Their concerts became can’t-miss events, whether headlining historic venues or as festival favorites, drawing the love and respect of a growing fanbase craving their eclectic repertoire. At the 2016 edition of DelFest, an annual gathering of the genre’s best aptly named for the McCoury patriarch, the band delivered the take-away highlight. Rolling Stone called it “a sublime combination of rock and bluegrass, contemporary and classic, old and young.

The best set of the festival…” The river was going new places, getting stronger. It was time to re-draw the map.

“We’ve tried to pick songs we think people are going to enjoy,” says Ronnie. “Something we learned from our dad is that a good song is a good song. It can be done in any way.”

So arrives the long-awaited, self-titled debut album from the quintet. A brilliantly executed set overflowing with inventive style, stellar musicianship, and, of course, plenty of burnin’ grass, the 14-song collection is a true culmination of their decades-long journey. From the headwaters of Bill Monroe and the waves of Jerry Garcia to a sound both rooted and revolutionary, soulful and transcending that belongs only to the Travelin’ McCourys.

“The album definitely shows what we’ve evolved into as a band. And, it’s a pretty good representation of what’s happening with the whole genre,” says Rob. “The old bluegrass material is something I love but it’s been done many times. We’re forging ahead with our own sound. That’s what you have to do to make it all work.”

thetravelinmccourys.com

TICKETS: $40

“Intrepid musicians. If you live long enough, you get to hear this (Harp Twins’) version of White Wedding! ~Billy Idol

"Rather than turn their attention to obvious, classically grounded territory, The Harp Twins have made a name for themselves covering the likes of Iron Maiden, offering classics a fascinating new lease on life." ~Metal Hammer Magazine

“Some things in the world are so beautiful and pure attempting to describe them in words would be futile. Such is the case with electric harpists, and identical twins, Camille and Kennerly.” ~HuffPost

You won't want to miss this all-ages concert full of spooky songs, tantalizing tunes, comedy, and classic rock favorites! The Volfgang Twins will join the Harp Twins on double drums for the exciting finale of the concert! Free meet & greet with the twins immediately following the show.

Identical twin harpists Camille and Kennerly Kitt, known as the Harp Twins, have achieved extraordinary success by taking Electric Harps and Concert Grand Harps to unprecedented levels and smashing boundaries between different genres of music. Their stunning live show features virtuoso harp arrangements of classic rock, metal, and their own Nordic Celtic originals with the Harp Twins own exciting, comedic, and interactive performance audiences cannot forget!

www.harptwins.com

TICKETS: $20

“Urban Driftwood is as dizzyingly magnificent as staring up at the night sky on a clear night and seeing the universe unfold before your very eyes.” Laura Stanley – No Depression

“Williams’ music transcends the standard idea of what guitarists should do.” – NPR Music

“When 24-year-old instrumentalist Yasmin Williams plays guitar, she conjures new possibilities and stories from the instrument.” – Rolling Stone

Yasmin Williams sits on her leather couch, her guitar stretched across her lap horizontally with its strings turned to the sky. She taps on the fretboard with her left hand as her right hand plucks a kalimba placed on the guitar’s body. Her feet, clad in tap shoes, keep rhythm on a mic’d wooden board placed under her. Even with all limbs in play, it’s mind boggling that the melodic and percussive sounds that emerge are made by just one musician, playing in real time. With her ambidextrous and pedidextrous, multi-instrumental techniques of her own making and influences ranging from video games to West African griots subverting the predominantly white male canon of fingerstyle guitar, Yasmin Williams is truly a guitarist for the new century. So too is her stunning sophomore release, Urban Driftwood, an album for and of these times. Though the record is instrumental, its songs follow a narrative arc of 2020, illustrating both a personal journey and a national reckoning, through Williams’ evocative, lyrical compositions.

A native of northern Virginia, Williams, now 24, began playing electric guitar in 8th grade, after she beat the video game Guitar Hero 2 on expert level. Initially inspired by Jimi Hendrix and other shredders she was familiar with through the game, she quickly moved on to acoustic guitar, finding that it allowed her to combine fingerstyle techniques with the lap-tapping she had developed through Guitar Hero, as well as perform as a solo artist. By 10th grade, she had released an EP of songs of her own composition. Deriving no lineage from “American primitive” and rejecting the problematic connotations of the term, Williams’ influences include the smooth jazz and R&B she listened to growing up, Hendrix and Nirvana, go-go and hip-hop. Her love for the band Earth, Wind and Fire prompted her to incorporate the kalimba into her songwriting, and more recently, she’s drawn inspiration from other Black women guitarists such as Elizabeth Cotten, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Algia Mae Hinton. On Urban Driftwood, Williams references the music of West African griots through the inclusion of kora (which she recently learned) and by featuring the hand drumming of 150th generation djeli of the Kouyate family, Amadou Kouyate, on the title track.

Since its release in January 2021, Urban Driftwood has been praised by numerous publications such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, NPR Music, No Depression, Paste Magazine, and many others. 

www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com

TICKETS $25

A dazzling array of musical talents will be showcased throughout the season during these hour-long programs, organized by John Beutel and sponsored by the Stoughton Area Senior Center. All Music Appreciation events are free and open to the public.

The Whitewater Brass Quintet (WBQ) is the faculty brass quintet in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Members include Matthew Onstad and Christopher Ramaekers, trumpet; Dafydd Bevil, horn; Carson King-Fournier, trombone; Joshua Biere, tuba. WBQ will also welcome Michael Hackett on trumpet and will feature works by Michael Tilson Thomas, Oskar Böhme, and others. 

Free-will Donation

“…Fussell is the rare contemporary to approach folk in its pure form, shunning self-penned compositions about bummer relationships to concentrate on material handed down from bygone, hardened times.” – The New Yorker 

Reared in Georgia and now settled in North Carolina, Jake Xerxes Fussell has established himself as a devoted listener and contemplative interpreter of a vast array of so-called folk songs, lovingly sourced from a personal store of favorites. On his latest album, When I’m Called—his first LP for Fat Possum, and his first as a parent—Fussell returns to a well of music that holds lifelong sentimental meaning, loosely contemplating the passage of time and the procession of life’s unexpected offerings. 

The album was produced by James Elkington and mixed by Tucker Martine. In addition to Elkington, it features the playing of Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), Joe Westerlund (Bon Iver, Califone), and others. Blake Mills contributes guitars on several tracks. Joan Shelley and Robin Holcomb provide backing vocals.

www.jakexerxesfussell.com

Courtney Hartman is a Colorado-born guitarist, singer, writer and producer best known for her work beneath the surface, writing and recording with artists throughout the folk community. With the release of her newest album, Glade, Courtney takes us with her into a world of her own making, with songs about home and abiding; pulling out the marrow of what makes us good and what makes us kin. Written in the year following her return to a childhood home, the songs emanate from a place of quiet and sifting out. Although she brought in a handful of friends to contribute from a distance, for the most part, Glade was crafted alone in the dark morning hours. Acoustic Guitar Magazine recognizes Courtney as a “distinctive guitar stylist... and a songwriter that delights and disturbs” while PopMatters calls her music “a delicate light glistening softly in the darkness.”

Her debut album, Ready Reckoner, was written amidst a 500-mile walking pilgrimage and features collaborations with Bill Frisell, Anais Mitchell, Shazhad Ismaily and Sam Amidon. In 2014 Courtney received a GRAMMY nomination for her work with folk quintet Della Mae and in 2017 she was nominated for Instrumentalist of the Year by the Americana Music Association.

www.jakexerxesfussell.com

@courtneyhartman on IG

TICKETS: $25

Fareed Haque is a modern guitar virtuoso. Steeped in classical and jazz traditions, his unique command of the guitar and different musical styles inspire his musical ventures with tradition and fearless innovation. Haque has toured and recorded with Joe Zawinul, Billy Cobham, Dave Holland, Paquito D’Rivera, Sting, Zakir Hussain, Bob James, Joe Henderson and many others, in addition to co-leading groups with Tony Monaco, Paul Wertico, Goran Ivanovic, Garaj Mahal, and The Chicago Immigrant Orchestra. Haque has released numerous albums as a leader in jazz, classical, world music and fusion styles, and is the recipient of numerous accolades and awards including Best World Guitarist, Guitar Player Magazine 2009, 2004 Acoustic Album of the Year, 2007 Independent Music Award, and Best New World Music Group in Chicago Reader Poll 2020.

In addition to a busy touring schedule, Haque is Professor Emeritus of jazz and classical guitar at Northern Illinois University, where he taught for 30 years, and has released 13 bestselling video courses through Trufire.

fareed.com

TICKETS: $25

When Burnett was making his new record, he was thinking a lot about “you.”

“I was reading a news story that some shocking percentage of number one hit songs had the word you in the title,” he says, and started contemplating who all those “yous” are and what it means when an artist puts them in a song. He realized that for many years, when he worked on his own solo albums as a singer-songwriter—in between acclaimed stints of coaxing the best work out of a wildly diverse set of artists as a producer or curating singular soundtracks for an equally disparate group of films and series—he had been “tough” on listeners. “I view the purpose of art as creating conscience, so I was constantly appealing to people's consciences,” he says of a solo career that stretches back to the mid- ‘70s, “but I realized when a songwriter uses the word you, he is, of course, in the world of conscience, but he’s also in the world of people's dreams. And when you enter into people's dreams, you have to be very careful with them.”

On the new album, Burnett delves deeply into the myriad genres of American Music, returning to his roots as a singer and songwriter. The love story at the center of the 12-song collection follows the journey of a couple that may no longer be of this plane. Co-produced by Linden, Piersante and Burnett, the album features longtime friends Rosanne Cash and early bandmate Steven Soles, newer artists Lucius and Weyes Blood, and trusted musical companions including Dennis Crouch, Stuart Duncan, Jay Bellerose, and Rory Hoffman.

A deeply personal work, The Other Side features some of the richest vocals and most direct songs of the artist’s long career. Following his dystopic The Invisible Light series, The Other Side reflects a new outlook and approach Burnett didn’t even know he was seeking. While the album includes some songs Burnett had begun composing years earlier, the bulk of the record materialized in a sudden burst of writing after he finally allowed himself to buy some new guitars. “Every time I picked one up, a song would pour out of it,” he recalls of this near-magical spark of creativity. “There were all these songs in these guitars. And they just came out over a three-week period.”

This return to form fits seamlessly in the contemporary cultural landscape shaped so heavily by Burnett’s career in the arts. Working on The Other Side, he sought to care for himself as an artist in the same manner he has helped shepherd so many others in the studio and ended up finding himself in the process.

tboneburnett.com

TICKETS: $65

A dazzling array of musical talents will be showcased throughout the season during these hour-long programs, organized by John Beutel and sponsored by the Stoughton Area Senior Center. All Music Appreciation events are free and open to the public.

Trevor Stephenson–harpsichordist, fortepianist, and pianist–is the Artistic Director and founder of the Madison Bach Musicians. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Historical Performance of 18th-Century Music from Cornell University, where he studied fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson. With his colleague, Norman Sheppard, he has made and refurbished a series of historical keyboard instruments ranging from Italian Renaissance harpsichords to Victorian pianos. He has released sixteen recordings on the Light & Shadow label and tours throughout the United States as performer and lecturer.

 trevorstephenson.com. 

The harpsichord in today’s concert—modeled on a late 17th-century Flemish instrument by Couchet—was made in Madison in 1999 by Norman Sheppard

sheppardkeyboards.com

Free-will Donation

Davina Sowers and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national music scene with their high-energy live shows, level A musicianship, sharp-dressed professionalism, and Sowers’ commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting audiences one show at a time, from Vancouver to Miami and across Europe.

Much like the music, the story spurns era, expectation, and classification. The often unbelievable, sometimes harrowing, and wholly inspiring journey of Davina Sowers gave birth to her eponymous band Davina and The Vagabonds in 2004. As the tale goes, she grew up in the economically depressed Allegheny town of Altoona, PA, which she now describes as “awesome in the industrial era, but horrible for high school.” She was adopted by her much older stepfather when he was in his 80s; he passed away when she was just 13. Through him and his Edison phonograph, she first heard The Ink Spots, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and many others. “Great man. He was my angel and still is,” she says.

 On her own, she vividly recalls hours in front of the record player where she religiously spun Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Simon and Garfunkel records belonging to her folk singer mom.

 To this day, Davina still refers to music as “my first and eternal love.” Despite early dalliances with classical piano and guitar, she developed a heavy drug habit in high school, which morphed into heroin dependency, left her homeless, sent her in and out of jail, and brought on all manner of trouble. Kicking dope on the streets, she “got clean, started the band, and worked [her] ass off every day since.”

 Davina and the Vagabonds shine every time they play. To date, they’ve performed in forty-five states, twelve European countries, and two Canadian provinces. Not to mention, they’ve earned feverish acclaim from the Chicago Tribune, NPR, and more in addition to performing on BBC’s international favorite late-night program Later… With Jools Holland and appearing on PBS’s Bluegrass Underground.

www.davinaandthevagabonds.com

TICKETS: $30

“Castro is one of the brightest stars in the blues soul genre. Voracious blues energy and ultimate soul power...impassioned vocals and pure inventiveness in his stellar guitar solos.” –Blues Music Magazine

“Sizzling, slow-burning, gritty blues and rock...shimmering, swampy, downright funky vibes drenched with Castro’s stinging, pure and crisp lead runs and fluid, jet-fueled solos.” –Living Blues

“Soul-baring, roadhouse-meets-church, Memphis guitar licks...gritty voice...Southern colors and rootsy textures.” –Washington Post

“The hardest thing to do,” says beloved soul-blues rocker Tommy Castro, “is be yourself, take some chances and bring your fans along with you.” Throughout his long, constantly evolving career, guitarist, singer and songwriter Tommy Castro has always remained true to himself, and brought his fans along. Since his solo debut in 1994, he’s made 16 albums, each its own unique chapter in the book of Tommy Castro. Ranging from horn-fueled R&B to piping hot blues to fiery, strippeddown rock ‘n’ roll, each release is solidly built upon Castro’s unshakable musical foundation—a dynamic mix of 1960s guitar-fueled blues, Memphis-soaked, soul and East San Jose funk, driven by Castro’s grab-you-by the-collar vocals and passionate guitar work.

For Castro’s new album, a roots music odyssey entitled TOMMY CASTRO PRESENTS A BLUESMAN CAME TO TOWN, he tells a timeless story. This special project was composed by Castro along with Grammy Award winning producer Tom Hambridge. Through its 13 songs, A BLUESMAN CAME TO TOWN tells the tale of a young man working on his family farm who gets bitten by the blues bug. He masters the guitar and heads out on the road seeking fame and fortune, only to find what he’s left behind is the treasure he’s been looking for. 

Award-winning traditional electric Chicago blues group The Nick Moss Band Featuring Dennis Gruenling are the 2024 winners of the prestigious Blues Music Award for Band Of The Year. With their 2023 Alligator Records album, Get Your Back Into It! Chicago native, guitarist and vocalist Nick Moss and New Jersey native, harmonica player and vocalist Dennis Gruenling – together with Rodrigo Mantovani on bass, Taylor Streiff on keyboards and Pierce Downer on drums – deliver a deeply rooted, timeless blue collar blues album.

www.tommycastro.com

TICKETS: $35