2023 Festival Schedule
Schedule & Acts Subject to Change
Thursday, July 27th
Opening Night Performances
Outdoor Main and Side Stages or Inside Cozy Cove
Spaghetti Dinner Starts at 5:15 PM
For Artists' Pics & Bios, click plus (+) sign to the right on their time/listing box.
Inside Cozy Cove
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Inside Cozy Cove
The Driftless Revelers have been known to pleasure a crowd with plectral banjo tones, the mournful wailing of resophonic steel guitars, and the up-right bass bellows of an era that can't quite be defined, but revels in the timeless ephemera of weird old-time American music.
With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.
A Driftless Revelers show will lure you in with their joy--keep you dancing with their search for the cosmic groove in the confines of stringed instruments--and will send you on your way with flashbacks of the Driftless Revelery found only in the essence of the intangible reaches of notes once played-- that then fall silent.
The Driftless Revelers formed in the second spring of the first global pandemic of the 21st century, with one ear turned toward the shellac platters and Victrola virtuosos of the early to mid 20th century, and the other ear glued to the soundscapes of the 1960's & 1970's American freak-folk scene.
Band leader, Matt Sayles, returns to the Manitowish Waters stage after winning fans over in 2003 with his band, Frostbitten Grass, Bluegrass Grown From The Cold, Cold Ground. Fellow songwriters Ben Nelson and Jerod Kaszynski, will accompany him at this year’s MidSummer Bluegrass Festival.
Inside Cozy Cove
Hembree's band combines powerful vocals and hot picking to bring a new sound to the bluegrass stage. Of Mr Hembree’s many distinctions as a bluegrass performer over several decades, his tenure as a veteran band member of Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Co-founder of the Nashville Bluegrass Band brings a special credibility to any Bluegrass Festival he performs at.
Outdoor Main Stage
The Driftless Revelers have been known to pleasure a crowd with plectral banjo tones, the mournful wailing of resophonic steel guitars, and the up-right bass bellows of an era that can't quite be defined, but revels in the timeless ephemera of weird old-time American music.
With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.
A Driftless Revelers show will lure you in with their joy--keep you dancing with their search for the cosmic groove in the confines of stringed instruments--and will send you on your way with flashbacks of the Driftless Revelery found only in the essence of the intangible reaches of notes once played-- that then fall silent.
The Driftless Revelers formed in the second spring of the first global pandemic of the 21st century, with one ear turned toward the shellac platters and Victrola virtuosos of the early to mid 20th century, and the other ear glued to the soundscapes of the 1960's & 1970's American freak-folk scene.
Band leader, Matt Sayles, returns to the Manitowish Waters stage after winning fans over in 2003 with his band, Frostbitten Grass, Bluegrass Grown From The Cold, Cold Ground. Fellow songwriters Ben Nelson and Jerod Kaszynski, will accompany him at this year’s MidSummer Bluegrass Festival.
Outdoor Main Stage
Hembree's band combines powerful vocals and hot picking to bring a new sound to the bluegrass stage. Of Mr Hembree’s many distinctions as a bluegrass performer over several decades, his tenure as a veteran band member of Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Co-founder of the Nashville Bluegrass Band brings a special credibility to any Bluegrass Festival he performs at.
Outdoor Side Stage
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Inside Cozy Cove
The Driftless Revelers have been known to pleasure a crowd with plectral banjo tones, the mournful wailing of resophonic steel guitars, and the up-right bass bellows of an era that can't quite be defined, but revels in the timeless ephemera of weird old-time American music.
With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.
A Driftless Revelers show will lure you in with their joy--keep you dancing with their search for the cosmic groove in the confines of stringed instruments--and will send you on your way with flashbacks of the Driftless Revelery found only in the essence of the intangible reaches of notes once played-- that then fall silent.
The Driftless Revelers formed in the second spring of the first global pandemic of the 21st century, with one ear turned toward the shellac platters and Victrola virtuosos of the early to mid 20th century, and the other ear glued to the soundscapes of the 1960's & 1970's American freak-folk scene.
Band leader, Matt Sayles, returns to the Manitowish Waters stage after winning fans over in 2003 with his band, Frostbitten Grass, Bluegrass Grown From The Cold, Cold Ground. Fellow songwriters Ben Nelson and Jerod Kaszynski, will accompany him at this year’s MidSummer Bluegrass Festival.
Inside Cozy Cove
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Inside Cozy Cove
Hembree's band combines powerful vocals and hot picking to bring a new sound to the bluegrass stage. Of Mr Hembree’s many distinctions as a bluegrass performer over several decades, his tenure as a veteran band member of Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Co-founder of the Nashville Bluegrass Band brings a special credibility to any Bluegrass Festival he performs at.
Inside Cozy Cove
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Friday, July 28th
Outdoor Main Stage
The Driftless Revelers have been known to pleasure a crowd with plectral banjo tones, the mournful wailing of resophonic steel guitars, and the up-right bass bellows of an era that can't quite be defined, but revels in the timeless ephemera of weird old-time American music.
With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.
A Driftless Revelers show will lure you in with their joy--keep you dancing with their search for the cosmic groove in the confines of stringed instruments--and will send you on your way with flashbacks of the Driftless Revelery found only in the essence of the intangible reaches of notes once played-- that then fall silent.
The Driftless Revelers formed in the second spring of the first global pandemic of the 21st century, with one ear turned toward the shellac platters and Victrola virtuosos of the early to mid 20th century, and the other ear glued to the soundscapes of the 1960's & 1970's American freak-folk scene.
Band leader, Matt Sayles, returns to the Manitowish Waters stage after winning fans over in 2003 with his band, Frostbitten Grass, Bluegrass Grown From The Cold, Cold Ground. Fellow songwriters Ben Nelson and Jerod Kaszynski, will accompany him at this year’s MidSummer Bluegrass Festival.
Outdoor Main Stage
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
12 PM Noon Bluegrass Institute of the Northwoods Intermission
Patrick Downing, leader of the Down From The Hills band, has been known throughout his long history of performances at the MidSummer Bluegrass Festival, to recruit and train audience members to become part of his band's performances. If you don't have an instrument along, Patrick will train you on spoons or the washboard, that goes particularly well while playing Cajun tune renditions. So, whether you decide to be a participant or curious onlooker, get yourself ready to enjoy some: "Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!"
Outdoor Main Stage
Hembree's band combines powerful vocals and hot picking to bring a new sound to the bluegrass stage. Of Mr Hembree’s many distinctions as a bluegrass performer over several decades, his tenure as a veteran band member of Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Co-founder of the Nashville Bluegrass Band brings a special credibility to any Bluegrass Festival he performs at.
Outdoor Main Stage
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Outdoor Main Stage
The Driftless Revelers have been known to pleasure a crowd with plectral banjo tones, the mournful wailing of resophonic steel guitars, and the up-right bass bellows of an era that can't quite be defined, but revels in the timeless ephemera of weird old-time American music.
With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.
A Driftless Revelers show will lure you in with their joy--keep you dancing with their search for the cosmic groove in the confines of stringed instruments--and will send you on your way with flashbacks of the Driftless Revelery found only in the essence of the intangible reaches of notes once played-- that then fall silent.
The Driftless Revelers formed in the second spring of the first global pandemic of the 21st century, with one ear turned toward the shellac platters and Victrola virtuosos of the early to mid 20th century, and the other ear glued to the soundscapes of the 1960's & 1970's American freak-folk scene.
Band leader, Matt Sayles, returns to the Manitowish Waters stage after winning fans over in 2003 with his band, Frostbitten Grass, Bluegrass Grown From The Cold, Cold Ground. Fellow songwriters Ben Nelson and Jerod Kaszynski, will accompany him at this year’s MidSummer Bluegrass Festival.
Outdoor Main Stage
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
5 PM Bluegrass Institute of the Northwoods Intermission
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, Meet & Greet Q & A
(Please have your thought-out questions ready and/or email them ahead of time)
With each band member a graduate of East Tennessee State University majoring in Bluegrass or the Bluegrass, Old-Time, Celtic and Country Music Studies program, there in itself spans enough material for a year’s worth of Meet & Greets Q & A’s. Nevertheless, it may be intriguing to ask them about their annual January Bluegrass Cruise to the Bahamas.
Outdoor Side Stage
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Outdoor Main Stage
Hembree's band combines powerful vocals and hot picking to bring a new sound to the bluegrass stage. Of Mr Hembree’s many distinctions as a bluegrass performer over several decades, his tenure as a veteran band member of Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Co-founder of the Nashville Bluegrass Band brings a special credibility to any Bluegrass Festival he performs at.
Outdoor Main Stage
"When you sing something, it kind of sneaks in, in that music is a powerful medium," O'Brien said. "It's a language that's mysterious on its own – it tugs on the emotions. It grabs people's attention in a certain way and prepares them to hear things, and music kind of draws people together." Even given the elegantly spoken insight, there are not enough words to accurately describe the quality of Tim O’Brien’s vocals, musicianship and showmanship as it is a great honor for the MidSummer Bluegrass Festival to allow you to experience it.
A note of interest is that Shad Cobb, pictured left with his fiddle, performed at the first two Midsummer Festivals with a band composed of precocious, early adolescent musicians called The Cobb Brothers.
Outdoor Main Stage
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Inside Cozy Cove
The Driftless Revelers have been known to pleasure a crowd with plectral banjo tones, the mournful wailing of resophonic steel guitars, and the up-right bass bellows of an era that can't quite be defined, but revels in the timeless ephemera of weird old-time American music.
With influences as varied and eccentric as a proper musty smelling thrift store record collection, the band grooves merrily through early roots blues and jazz music, to hillbilly and string band howlers, all the way into the not-quite folk but not-quite psychedelic realms of their own creation.
A Driftless Revelers show will lure you in with their joy--keep you dancing with their search for the cosmic groove in the confines of stringed instruments--and will send you on your way with flashbacks of the Driftless Revelery found only in the essence of the intangible reaches of notes once played-- that then fall silent.
The Driftless Revelers formed in the second spring of the first global pandemic of the 21st century, with one ear turned toward the shellac platters and Victrola virtuosos of the early to mid 20th century, and the other ear glued to the soundscapes of the 1960's & 1970's American freak-folk scene.
Band leader, Matt Sayles, returns to the Manitowish Waters stage after winning fans over in 2003 with his band, Frostbitten Grass, Bluegrass Grown From The Cold, Cold Ground. Fellow songwriters Ben Nelson and Jerod Kaszynski, will accompany him at this year’s MidSummer Bluegrass Festival.
Outdoor Main Stage
"Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!" Those amongst us who have auditioned at the Down From The Hills' noon workshop, may be invited to perform on stage at this set.
Inside Cozy Cove
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
Outdoor Side Stage
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Inside Cozy Cove
"When you sing something, it kind of sneaks in, in that music is a powerful medium," O'Brien said. "It's a language that's mysterious on its own – it tugs on the emotions. It grabs people's attention in a certain way and prepares them to hear things, and music kind of draws people together." Even given the elegantly spoken insight, there are not enough words to accurately describe the quality of Tim O’Brien’s vocals, musicianship and showmanship as it is a great honor for the MidSummer Bluegrass Festival to allow you to experience it.
A note of interest is that Shad Cobb, pictured left with his fiddle, performed at the first two Midsummer Festivals with a band composed of precocious, early adolescent musicians called The Cobb Brothers.
Outdoor Side Stage
"Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!" Those amongst us who have auditioned at the Down From The Hills' noon workshop, may be invited to perform on stage at this set.
Inside Cozy Cove
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Inside Cozy Cove
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Inside Cozy Cove
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Saturday, July 29th
Outdoor Main Stage
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
Outdoor Main Stage
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
12 PM Noon Bluegrass Institute of the Northwoods Intermission
Patrick Downing, leader of the Down From The Hills band, has been known throughout his long history of performances at the MidSummer Bluegrass Festival, to recruit and train audience members to become part of his band's performances. If you don't have an instrument along, Patrick will train you on spoons or the washboard, that goes particularly well while playing Cajun tune renditions. So, whether you decide to be a participant or curious onlooker, get yourself ready to enjoy some: "Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!"
Outdoor Main Stage
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Outdoor Main Stage
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Outdoor Main Stage
"When you sing something, it kind of sneaks in, in that music is a powerful medium," O'Brien said. "It's a language that's mysterious on its own – it tugs on the emotions. It grabs people's attention in a certain way and prepares them to hear things, and music kind of draws people together." Even given the elegantly spoken insight, there are not enough words to accurately describe the quality of Tim O’Brien’s vocals, musicianship and showmanship as it is a great honor for the MidSummer Bluegrass Festival to allow you to experience it.
A note of interest is that Shad Cobb, pictured left with his fiddle, performed at the first two Midsummer Festivals with a band composed of precocious, early adolescent musicians called The Cobb Brothers.
Outdoor Side Stage
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
5 PM Bluegrass Institute of the Northwoods
The Tim O’Brien Band, Meet & Greet Q & A
(Please have your thought-out questions ready and/or email them ahead of time)
To give patrons an outline of what might be discussed in this Meet & Greet session, it proceeds from a quote of Mr. O’Brien’s about a person who provided him great inspiration: "Doc Watson's a great roadmap for anybody, really, because he played all kinds of music and made it sound like Doc Watson music," said O'Brien. "Of course, people put him in a bluegrass-folk music pigeonhole, but he really brought all of it together, and that's kind of what I was interested in." O'Brien found a simpatico musical community in Boulder, Colorado, where he moved in 1974 and became a leading figure in the world of contemporary or progressive bluegrass – most notably in the quartet Hot Rize, which toured nationally over its 40-year tenure and earned a Grammy nomination for its 1989 album "Take it Home." In the mid-'90s, O'Brien decamped to Nashville, where he became a first-call mandolin, guitar, fiddle and banjo player on Music City sessions, and collaborated with artists like Steve Earle, Sturgill Simpson and Dan Auerbach; Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks cut his compositions, and in 2015 he won a Grammy as a member of the bluegrass supergroup the Earls of Leicester, a nice companion for O'Brien's 2005 Best Traditional Folk Grammy for his album “Fiddler’s Green”.
Outdoor Side Stage
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Outdoor Side Stage
"Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!" Those amongst us who have auditioned at the Down From The Hills' noon workshop, may be invited to perform on stage at this set.
Outdoor Main Stage
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Outdoor Main Stage
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Outdoor Main Stage
"When you sing something, it kind of sneaks in, in that music is a powerful medium," O'Brien said. "It's a language that's mysterious on its own – it tugs on the emotions. It grabs people's attention in a certain way and prepares them to hear things, and music kind of draws people together." Even given the elegantly spoken insight, there are not enough words to accurately describe the quality of Tim O’Brien’s vocals, musicianship and showmanship as it is a great honor for the MidSummer Bluegrass Festival to allow you to experience it.
A note of interest is that Shad Cobb, pictured left with his fiddle, performed at the first two Midsummer Festivals with a band composed of precocious, early adolescent musicians called The Cobb Brothers.
Outdoor Main Stage
Feed The Dog known for their high energy performances more reminiscent of jambase, Feed The Dog is a band driven by the unique and progressive approach of each player. This band is hard to peg as imaginative melodies with graceful ambiance are skillfully crafted on the violin, and then move over to be wowed by an acoustic guitar that blends nimble Kottke-like finger picking with the strength of blues and rock. Simply put, Feed The Dog's genre bending, shake-your-hips, instrumental flair is a crowd-pleaser wherever they perform.
Inside Cozy Cove
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
Outdoor Side Stage
"Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!" Those amongst us who have auditioned at the Down From The Hills' noon workshop, may be invited to perform on stage at this set.
Inside Cozy Cove
Seth Mulder & Midnight Run present a high-energy show filled with nostalgic entertainment, tight harmonies, and skillful musicianship, all built around their curated set list of original material and lost covers.
Favorites among bluegrass enthusiasts and non-bluegrass audiences alike; they keep the energy high and the audience on their feet. The band knows when they are on stage; it is not only about the music; it is about connecting with the audience and leaving them with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Inside Cozy Cove
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Inside Cozy Cove
Open to anyone who wants to get on stage.
Sunday, July 30th - Gospel Hours
Outdoor Main Stage
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Outdoor Main Stage
Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.
Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.
Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. This Rolling Stone quote brings a chuckle: “still bringing the noise, with a few less boys.”
Outdoor Main Stage
The 12OzSquirrels captivate audiences with their unique style and stage presence no matter what crowd the boys are in front of. These Squirrels bring it with a large variety of influences and styles ranging from the original and sacred roots of country, bluegrass, folk, and the blues, including the many legendary artists who proceeded them throughout all decades of the 1900s. The Squirrels pull on the emotions of such musical heroes and take pride in bringing these signature, sacred sounds and musical influences to their own original songs. The 12OzSquirrels, a Progressive Bluegrass Band, have nurtured a distinctive touch from their haunts in Western Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota.
Outdoor Main Stage
"Rompin', Stompin' Bluegrass & Cajun Music. Wear yer dancin' shoes!" Those amongst us who have auditioned at the Down From The Hills' noon workshop, may be invited to perform on stage at this set.