Sugar Maple kicks off year five!

Madison, WI (May 1, 2008) - The Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective (FLTMC) has announced a majority of the artistic line-up for its’ annual Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, which returns August 1-2, 2008 to Lake Farm County Park in Madison. According to organizers, the variety of national, regional and local music groups will run the gamut from African folk, to Polka, to Zydeco.

Among the 24-plus hours of music and workshops to be scheduled, the eclectic event welcomes old-time aficianado/multi-instrumentalist/educator Mike Seeger who will appear in a variety settings throughout the weekend. The festival mainstage will reach a fever pitch come Saturday evening with a very special reunion of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys (co-sponsored by the Southern Wisc. Bluesgrass Music Association). Other new faces to this year's line-up include African folk artist Tani Diakite (from Mali), Chirps Smith (old-time master fiddler), and the Goose Island Ramblers well-known around Madison and the world over for their Norwegian polka, early country & western music. The mainstage also welcomes back a few favorites from previous Sugar Maple Fests including Charlie Parr (Piedmont-style blues), Dave Landau (Kid's music), and The Cajun Strangers.

"This is a banner occasion as 2008 marks Sugar Maple's 5th anniversay," explains FLTMC President Evan Murdock. "What began as a group of friends sharing stories about their favorite festivals has become a concerted exploration into the great depth and diversity of traditional music in America today."

The not-for-profit, grass-roots gathering has drawn close to 7000 participants, engaged hundreds of volunteers and donated over $3000 to Dane County Parks in its' first four years. The entertainment critics at the Wisconsin State Journal have mentioned Sugar Maple in their year-end Top 10 list for three years straight, while the Onion touts it as "the summer's most robust and varied weekend of roots music."

Tickets for the event are available May 5 throughout Madison, including earlybird discounted, two-day passes on-sale through June 27. Camping is also available on-site by permit through FLTMC, or Dane County Parks.

The setting at Lake Farm County Park offers 330 acres of green space including foot and bike trails, a boat landing, horseshoe pits, sand volleyball court, and a playground all accessible at the festival site. Throughout weekend a wide range of affordable food and drink options will keep festival-goers stomachs as happy as their ears.

The event is produced by the Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective (FLTMC), a not-for-profit, volunteer group of traditional music and dance enthusiasts. For more information about volunteering and/or sponsoring the 5th Annual Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, email music @ fourlakesmusic.org call 608.227-8685.


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Sugar Maple's 2008 festival kickoff event was held April 19 2008 at the High Noon Saloon with two-time Sugar Maple alums (going all the way back to year one) Devil in a Woodpile and award-winning multi-instrumentalist Colin O’Brien and his Mad-Waukee Stompers (featuring Madison’s Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines). Beside the all-out stompin' and multi-part strummin' attendees got their very first look at the stellar lineup for the 5th annual festival, which returns the first weekend of August to the 330-acre country setting at Lake Farm County Park in Madison.

(Above: Devil in a Woodpile's Rick "Cookin'" Sherry possesses the inaugural Sugar Maple Fest crowd, Aug. 2004. Photo by E. Murdock.)

In January 2008, FLTMC kicked off the new year with gusto, as the Carolina Chocolate Drops fired up the crowd at the best attended Sugar Maple Concert Series event yet! These vivacious Piedmonters had all at the High Noon Saloon whoopin', hollerin', and stompin' to traditional old-time tunes until the wee hours. Iowa City's Guilded Bats led off the show and warmed up the crowd with Four Lakes'first (but surely not last) performance on a washtub bass.

The 2007 Sugar Maple Concert Series ended with a bang October 1st at the High Noon Saloon. Southern Louisianna's Red Stick Ramblers made their Madison debut showcasing original tunes from their new Sugar Hill release, Made In The Shade as well as their mix of Cajun fiddle tunes, Western Swing, and traditional jazz of the 1920s and 1930s. Madison-based cajun group and 2004 Sugar Maple Festival artist, The Cajun Strangers enthisiastically opened the show. This marked the fifth and final Sugar Maple Concert. A portion of each concerts' proceeds helps produce the Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, annually the first weekend of August.

We hooted and hollered, stomped and cheered for all the Sugar Maple Volunteers on August 16, 2007 at the High Noon Saloon. All the way from Asheville, North Carolina arrived the Forge Mountain Diggers in their first Madison appearance. Their infectious and fiery old-time music offered-up the perfect post-festival party. Also in their Madison Debut, the Mill City Grinders from Minneapolis opened the show thier retrospective of traditional Midwestern old-time and Southern Appalachian string band music. Those who stuck it out until the wee hours were treated to a outdoor patio jam session under the summer sky. Once again, thanks to all the 2007 festival volunteers. We'll see you next year!

Hey little birdies! Congrats to all who took advantage of the Early-Bird ticket sale, which came to an end June 28, 2007. You all saved a wings-full of dollars and secured your spot at our 4th annual festival, aimed to tickle traditional music taste-buds for two-days straight. If you're a late riser, not to worry...advance prices ticket are still on the cheap, cheap. We'll see you up at Sugar Maple.

Yahooey! Our April 27, 2007 event at the High Noon could have been our best festival season kick-off concert yet! Close to 200 patrons took in some sweet music, and took home first word of the 2007 festival line-up! Of Sugar Maple past (the 2006 festival to be exact), Mike & Amy Finders strummed and hummed a mid-evening set that perhaps secured their spot in our hearts for years to come. Steppin' In It, in their first (and we bet not last) appearance in Madison as a quartet showed us their full range of diverse trad music and multi-intrumental mastery late into the night. And all felt root-tootin' after Madison's own Dirty Shirts opened the show.

My, oh My...March 16, 2007 made believers out of all who enetered the High Noon Saloon. Cold as hell outside and hotter than Hades inside, the HNS stage became a crossroads where Duluth met the Devil in a blues battle for the ages. The night began with Charlie Parr's sultry, slide blues guitar craftsmanship. Adding a suprise side-kick Mikel on washboards, Charlie showed the evening's early-comers how he became a favorite of the 2005 Sugar Maple Fest. Never to be outdone, Devil In A Woodpile proceeded to light-up the joint with two tumultuous sets of steamy back-porch blues. Tom Ray conpsired on doghouse bass (his first appearance with the Devil in four previous Madison plays), Joel Paterson picked steely strings, and Rick "Cookin'" Sherry played and sang all the stuff in-between.

What a wowser is was Wednesday Jan 24, as the 2007 Sugar Maple Concert Series got underway at the High Noon Saloon. Foghorn Stringband (Sugar Maple Fest 2005), and the kicked-up country music of The Wilders, dueled strings as they did last year about this time. All bid farewell to opener The Honey Buckets in a BIG all-band encore that threw-down a heapin' helpin' of saws, chops, and slaps.

We are thrilled to report that in spite of the weekend's record high temperatures and power outages on Saturday, the 2-day event drew nearly 900 attendees -- some from as far away as Austin, Texas -- to witness "the best Festival yet."

Thanks to all artists, patrons, and volunteers for enduring the record heat during 2006 Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival! Highlights include bluesman Guy Davis who earned two standing ovations Friday evening, then hundreds of 2-steppers moved to the cajun calls of Louisiana's Lost Bayou Ramblers and assurances they felt at home in the heat. On Saturday, the DitchLilies began the day all-acoustic during the power outage, then early country duo Hunger Mountain Boys hollered up a harmonic heatwave of their own, followed by Grammy nominated bluegrass guitarist Audie Blaylock who’s new band Redline (featuring award-winning protege Mike Cleveland on mandolin) reached a fever pitch. Chicago's Devil In A Woodpile closed the two-day affair with a raging ragtime romp in what was their second appearance on the Sugar Maple stage since 2004.

Be sure to enter our Contests for Best 2006 Photo and 2007 Poster Art for your chance to win tickets for the 4th Annual Sugar Maple Music Festival, August 3-4, 2007. Check back often for notices on the 2007 festival and upcoming Sugar Maple Concert Series events.

On Sunday May 28, 2006 the Sugar Maple Concert Series welcomed The Crooked Jades all the way from San Francisco in their Wisconsin debut. Their dark and hypnotic sounds of pre-radio music mixed with haunting harmonies and interesting instrumentation stirred the crowd at the High Noon Saloon well into the night. 2004 Sugar Maple Festival artists, The Redbirds, kicked-off the evening with a hot set fiery fiddle tunes and old-time numbers. We look forward to seeing both bands again real soon!

The first installment of the 2006 Sugar Maple Concert Series was held Thursday January 26, 2006 at the High Noon Saloon. The a foot-stomping double-bill brought back another popular 2005 festival performer, Foghorn Stringband, who’s old-timey, fiddle frenzy brought more than 600 people to their feet at the 2005 festival. The Wilders, with their infectious brand of country honky-tonk tunes, also performed.

Bloodshot Recording artists Jim and Jennie & The Pinetops played Madison October 22, 2005 at the High Noon Saloon This was their first Madison appearance since opening for Neko Case at Luther’s Blues in 2002. Jack Norton, whose catchy brand of rag-time vaudeville music was a hit at the 2005 Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival, opened the show.

On Sunday October 2, 2005, several of Madison's traditional musicians came together to raise money for hurricane victims on the gulf coast. This benefit took place at the Harmony Bar in Madison. Performers included the Cork N Bottle String Band, Harmonious Wail, Jeff Hickey with Moonhouse, Bill and Bobbie Malone and the Blue State Boys, the Nob Hill Boys, the Cajun Strangers, and Cris Plata and Extra Hot. The benefit raised over $2600, all of which was donated to help support the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Thanks to all for a successful 2005 Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival. With so many positive comments surfacing about the event’s artists, volunteers, service vendors, and sponsors, it’s hard to know where to start. Let's just say, Tradition Accomplished! Plans for future festivals, as well as the “Sugar Maple Concert Series” are already in the works. Contact us for more information.