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There would be no American folk music without the contribution of African-American artists, some celebrated, others unsung heroes, whose passion for preserving—and reimagining—musical traditions indelibly shapes America’s musical heritage. Rhythms, instruments and vocal styles born of the African diaspora echo in every American roots music genre, while a new generation of artists are bringing the rich and diverse treasures of Black Americana  to the forefront of contemporary sounds. 

Over the years, Sugar Maple Festival fans have had the great fortune to welcome veteran and emerging Black artists to the stage, a tradition that continues this year with the powerful sound of punk-folk artist @Sunny War:

“…her right thumb plunks the bass part while her forefinger upstrokes notes and chords, leaving the other three fingers unused. A banjo technique, it’s also used by acoustic blues guitarists. Her fingers are long and strong – Robert Johnson hands – in jarring contrast to the waif they’re attached to. The walking bass line sounds like a hammer striking piano keys in perfect meter, while the fills are dynamic flurries – like cluster bombs. I haven’t heard a young guitarist this dexterous and ass-kicking in eons.” – Michael Simmons, L.A Weekly

Milwaukee-born musical duo (and Sugar Maple Festival alums) SistaStrings took to the stage this year at the Grammy’s with legend Joni Mitchell during Mitchell’s first-ever Grammy performance at 80 years old.

Sisters Chauntee and Monique Ross, who performed at Sugar Maple in 2021, are now working on a studio album which will be produced by Brandi Carlile. The two will also be featured in an exhibit showcasing current artists at the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum in Nashville.

The Piedmont Bluz acoustic duo (Sugar Maple Festival 2016)  is dedicated to the preservation of Piedmont-style country blues and  keeping this rural, east coast tradition alive by educating audiences about the unique aspects of African American culture through musical entertainment.  Husband and wife Valerie and Ben Turner believe “there are stories to tell, people to remember, and things that must be said” and their music weaves a bit of history into the presentation of each song. The duo are bringing those traditions to The Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival (FWAAMFest) next month, where they will join a lineup of award-winning artists from across North America.  FWAAMFest is the only major city festival of its kind in the United States, Black-led and centered on Black artists reclaiming their place in roots music through preservation and innovation.

In addition to preserving history and cultural traditions, Black music has also inspired and accompanied the freedom struggles and social movements we commemorate this month–from the civil rights struggle to Black Lives Matter. Artist Buffalo Nichols carries this tradition on with songs like  “Another Man,” singing: “When my grandpa was young / He had to hold his tongue / Cause they’d hang you from a bridge downtown / Now they call it stand your ground / Another man is dead.” He was inspired by “Another Man Done Gone,” a traditional song about prison work farms, and wanted to draw a direct line between that history and contemporary police violence. 

Nichols journey led him from Milwaukee’s punk scene to West African Griot music and back to the American Blues tradition he has embraced and introduced to a new generation.

If you can’t make it to FWAAMFest  next month, check out this Playlist featuring up-and-coming voices of Black Folk here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/arts/music/amplifier-newsletter-black-folk-singers.html and look forward to an amazing show when Sunny War takes the stage at Sugar Maple Festival next summer!

(Pony Bradshaw performs at Sugar Maple from 6:15-7:05 p.m. Friday.)

Six days after performing at the 20^th annual Sugar Maple Music Festival in Madison Friday, Aug. 4, Americana star Pony Bradshaw will play for the first time on Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium.

It’s one of many stellar moments during Bradshaw’s yearlong tour to support his acclaimed album, “North Georgia Rounder.” Bradshaw hangs his hat – usually an Atlanta Braves cap, not a cowboy one – on soulful crooning and southern literature influenced lyrics.

Here’s a sampling of a few of his finest lines:

“Oh, we’re shaping little lies
On the tips of our tongues”
“Van Gogh”

“Put me in a ten-by-ten
And let me sit with all my sins”
“10×10”

“Daddy brought me back a bona fide gas mask
All the way home from Desert Storm”
“Safe in the Arms of Vernacular”

“Washed in the blood of the things we kill
Be it time, or man, or that big coal hill”
“Holler Rose”

“She danced a rustic dance, hallelujah on the mountain
Bucking to the rhythm of old Appalachia”
“Foxfire Wine”

“I wiped away the tears like they was flies on the melon”
“Holler Rose”

(The Wildmans perform from 2:45-3:45 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at the 20^th annual Sugar Maple Music Festival at Lake Farm Park in Madison. They’ll also participate in a session on the intimate Roots & Reasons Stage at 4:20 p.m. And then they’ll conclude with an old-time jam in the Jam Tent at 5 p.m.)

Launched by instrumental competitions and access to vintage old-time music, brother-and-sister Eli and Aila Wildman embraced the genre. Growing up in a tiny town tucked in the Appalachian Mountains, they had the fortune of living in Floyd, Virginia, home to FloydFest (a major festival where they had some of their first performances) and a cradle to talented, like-minded performers.

At Sugar Maple, the Wildmans will be joined by a drummer, and they’ll mix a set with favorite cuts from their first two albums as well as tunes from a completed new one, which is expected out later this year. It will launch them as a full-time band with sky’s-the-limit aspirations.

Eli, 22, and Aila, 20, spoke by phone recently.  

Sugar Maple: Your hometown – Floyd, Virginia – is listed as population: 450. How rural is that?

Eli: “It’s about as rural as you can get.”

Aila: “There’s one stoplight in this town. We travel only about seven miles to get to the grocery store, so it’s not bad.

It’s isolated, but it’s an important place for old-time and Appalachian music.

Eli: “It’s a place that exposes you to music of this tradition: Appalachian and string music. We might not have been exposed in the same way if we grew up in a small town that was not a cultural center. There are not too many places like Floyd.”

Were you encouraged at a young age?

Aila: “There’s a lot of encouragement for young kids to play music in Floyd. Eli and I were both part of teaching in the JAM program. It stands for Junior Appalachian Musicians. It’s an afterschool program for Floyd elementary school children.”

Did you get a lot of students?

Eli: “There were a bunch of kids! It’s been done in a few counties. The accessibility of adults to teach this music is here in Floyd. And we were able to get those lessons, too.”

How old were you when you started?

Aila: “We saw and heard so much throughout the town that when I was 5 and Eli was 7, we told our parents that we wanted to play music, and they got us private lessons.”

Was there a time when you changed to play the music that’s popular with your generation?

Aila: “We listen to so many different types of music. But there never was a draw to play a type of music just for the sake of it being popular.”

You’re both students at the prestigious Berklee School Music in Boston?

Eli: “Aila is working on her last semester, and I just graduated. … Berklee is another place we got to experience a lot of different genres. I played electric guitar up there and did country stuff and jam band stuff. Aila, you did that neo-soul band ensemble …”

Aila: “I got a chance to do a really fun R&B band with some experienced players.”

Are Berklee students open to what music you play, or do they snicker at tiny Floyd, Virginia?

Eli: “It’s cool. There is every genre you can imagine there.”  

Aila: “You think of (old-time) music and its tradition, and it has an older generation that’s kept it alive. At Berklee, when I expose my friends to this type of music, I find that it’s received very well.”

Were you always singers?

Aila: “I’ve been singing as long as I can remember in my room with no one listening. It came very natural to me.”

Eli: “I’ve definitely taken to singing in recent years.”

What crowd do you draw?

Eli: “It depends on the venue and what setting. At a festival, you get people of all ages.”

Aila: “In general, our audience is a broad age group. That’s what I like to play for.”

Have you been to Madison before?

Aila: “We haven’t been to Wisconsin.”

It seems so idyllic to travel the country playing old-time music. Is it that fun?

Alia: “It is.”

Eli: “It’s so much fun.”

What’s the best part of it?

Eli: “It’s cool to be on a stage and have new faces in front of you and everyone having a good time over and over.”

Alia: “It’s awesome to go to places you wouldn’t normally visit and connect with people you normally wouldn’t connect with. You get to see the cool pockets of America.”

You guys are so young. Is the momentum there to keep going and to push a new album?

Eli: “We’re ready to go full-time with a band. We’re getting ready to go for it next year.”

Alia: “Absolutely!”