Organic Valley, a farmer owned organic dairy cooperative.
1652 Owners Strong
Music Main Stage
Saturday
Viroqua Men's Choir
11:30-12:30
Sweet Grass and Sage
1:00-2:00
Sweet Grass & Sage is a duo of free-style finger picking guitar and the deep rhythmic sound of the djembe. Edward Schultz and Karen Reckinger play original songs that caress the heart for a feeling of reminiscence, and probe the mind stimulating social awareness. Quirky, thoughtful, and heartfelt lyrics sustain the poetic delivery from song to song. Schultz has been a singer songwriter for over thirty years, immersed and tangled in the roots of folk. Reckinger, an old hand at the drum, accompanies with the sustained heartbeat that enlivens the social vocal message with a resonance of awakening.
The Squeezettes
2:30-3:30
“Milwaukee’s only female accordion group” features Sarah (aka Ms Bubbles Galore), Linda (Ms Tiny Bubbles) and Pamela (Ms Big Surprise) on the squeezebox. Sarah runs the lead vocal front of the bunch with the gals doing some swinging background—Meoooooowww, Meoooooows etc. Tuba player Mike C. is a brew master at heart but he knows how to belch out a note or two hundred when the gals say “pretty please”. Mike E., vocalist and percussionist extraordinaire is the newest addition to the band. The band is often joined by local legend Tom Schwark to croon out his 30s radio voice and add his mandolin to the mix.
Corey Hart
4:00-5:00
With his soulful delivery of dynamic vocals reminiscent of the late Jeff Buckley and pulsating guitar that evokes the rhythmic playing of early Neil Young, Wisconsin singer/songwriter Corey Hart creates a brand of folk that "suggests the intensity of real life" (Isthmus). This intensity in Hart's songcraft along with his fiery and passionate live performances earned Hart the title of Songwriter of the Year (2007) in his adopted hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.
Fayme Rochelle & the Waxwings
5:30-6:30
Fayme Rochelle & the Waxwings is a La Crosse based Americana/Roots/Bluegrass band. That’s an overly complicated way of saying they play a little bit of everything and borrow from several different genres of music. Because of that, their sound becomes a pleasant mixture of lively bluegrass, down-home roots, desperate blues and Americana. Equipped with original songs, a second album in production and a first album, Home, already completed they are hitting the live music circuit with a force.
The Soapbox Project
7:00-8:00
Applying everything he's learned from his 6 years as the front man for the genre defying band Hooch, singer/songwriter Derek Ramnarace is currently writing and recording under a new moniker simply titled The SoapBox Project. The SoapBox Project is a collection of music, words, ideas, musicians, locations, eardrums and pulses - an all encompassing pseudonym for singer/songwriter Derek Ramnarace's work. Sometimes performing solo, duo, trio or as a full band, TSBP is a constant work in progress
Miles Nielsen
8:30-9:30
Let it snap, let it roll, hands clap, drums crash, Teletones and solos - somewhere between a bar and the recording studio, Miles Nielsen stirs up his very own brand of Beatle-esque Cosmic Americana. Lilting pop-rock arrangements and sunny melodies hide deeply affecting lyrics and, tucked away between a long forgotten country folk steel guitar, bouncing bass and smooth-as-butter keys lies a little piece of Midwestern bliss.
Sunday
Patchouli
11:00-12:00
Bruce Hecksel and Julie Patchouli, lifelong students of music, are both accomplished multi-instrumentalists. Bruce’s post graduate study of theology and symbology, classical study in piano, guitar and composition coupled with Julie’s studies in ethnobotany, environmental studies and her instrumental range from voice, upright bass, guitar, marimba and percussion allow them to explore, synthesize and contrast world musical styles with deft fluidity and a broad based spiritual undertone.
Performing blazing nuevomenco style pieces on steel string guitars to inspiring power folk mantras, their energy and chemistry leaves the audience uniquely uplifted and transformed. Julie’s smiling voice never leaves the music, leaking right into your soul, while Bruce’s passionate acoustic guitar speaks to your heart.
Tireless touring troubadours, Bruce and Julie have performed over 1800 shows covering enough ground on the road to equal over 25 times around the earth. Patchouli just released their 13th full length album of all original compositions in their 11 years of performing together.
The sound has been described as Roots, Roll n' Soulthough many believe it's hard to sum it up that easily citing obvious influences in reggae, blues, bluegrass, folk and many others.
Eric Nofsinger Band
12:30-1:30
The Eric Nofsinger Band (ENB) is a 5 piece band from southwestern Wisconsin who play a mix of new country, classic country hits, some rock tunes and a few originals. La Farge’s own Eric Nofsinger is no stranger to country music fans in the area; since he was 13 Eric and his fiddle have been rocking county fairs, clubs and festivals throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. Rounding out the band are Kyle Scott of Reedsburg on steel guitar, Mark Gruenenfelder, Blanchardville, vocals and bass, Wally Barger of Blue Mounds on drums, and Mike Hericks, Sparta on vocals and lead guitar. The band has shared a stage with many of country’s luminaries, from Grand Ole Opry legend Bill Anderson to BR549.
Michael Perry and the Longbeds
2:00-3:00
Michael Perry is a humorist and author of the bestselling memoirs Population 495: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time, Truck: A Love Story, and Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting, as well as the essay collection Off Main Street. Perry has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Backpacker, Orion and Salon.com, and is a contributing editor to Men’s Health. He has performed and produced two live audience humor recordings I Got It from the Cows and Never Stand Behind a Sneezing Cow and he performs regularly with his band the Long Beds who released their second CD, Tiny Pilot, in 2010. Michael Perry lives with his family on a small farm in rural Wisconsin, where he remains active with the local volunteer rescue service. He can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com
JJ's Zydeco Paydirt
3:30-4:30
Local musician Joel Johnson is obsessed with Zydeco music and his band, JJ's Zydeco Paydirt, has been playing dance halls, bars and festivals of the Upper Midwest for over 10 years. Zydeco is accordion dance music from the Creole farmers of southwest Louisiana, songs of tractors, dogs, racehorses and love.
JJ's Zydeco Paydirt has opened for Buckwheat Zydeco and Beausoleil, and has performed at the Minnesota State Fair, the Cedar Cultural Center, the Cabooze, the Minneapolis History Center, Grand Old Days (all in the Twin Cities), the Chippewa Falls Oktoberfest and the Lunda Theater in Black River Falls. The band plays regularly at the Half Time Rec in St. Paul, MN.
