A Festival for ALL! 2024 Line up
South Street Band
NOON - 1:00pm
South Street Band is a collection of transplanted Viroquans, hailing from the east coast and midwest. Our sound is an instrumental blend of trance groove, jazzadelic epistles mixing obscure standards with lively originals. We employ frank wildingway on upright bass, Evan Blattner on drums, Jeff mIller on Tenor Saxophone, Mark KIng on flugelhorn, Jon Passi on keys and Matt Shortridge on guitar. Two of our members live on South St. thus the name. We love it when people move to our grooves.
Freaks of Nature
1:30 - 3:00pm
Hailing from the heart of the Driftless and the Kickapoo Valley, local legends the Freaks of Nature have had crowds dancing in the groove for over 25 years now. Vibrant horns and harmonies, from global beat to soul and dub, jazz and jams, they bring a kinetic comfort that just makes your heart smile. The infectious joy the Freaks bring to their music is an experience to be shared. The Freaks of Nature are a wild rumpus on a summer day.
Kommuna Lux
3:30 - 5:00pm
People don’t just listen to Kommuna Lux, they fall in love! No one can resist these playful, passionate Ukrainian musicians, who have so much fun on stage that you can’t help but get caught up in their joy. Kommuna Lux brings you the heritage music of their beloved hometown Odesa. Klezmer, Balkan, and Urban Chanson, with a dash of Ukrainian Folk and powered by rocket fuel, Kommuna Lux impacts the crowd with a nostalgic, high-energy Big Band sound from the bygone days of speakeasies and rum runners. Formed in 2014, Kommuna Lux is a group of seven musicians, all proud sons of Odesa, the birthplace of Ukraine’s urban chanson movement. They began with wild performances in the backyards of the Jewish quarter of Odesa and soon surprised residents were reporting “noisy flash mobs of the gangsters making music all around town!” Local success led to national success and since the beginning of the war, donations at all Kommuna Lux concerts have gone to support humanitarian causes. This spectacular concert in the heart of of the Driftless which will both honor and benefit their home country.
Backyard Tire Fire
5:30 - 7:00pm
Making the new sound familiar and the familiar sound new…The rebirth of Backyard Tire Fire springs forth with an undeniable burst of musical energy. Fans will cheer the band’s return the way families celebrate a long-awaited reunion. The Midwestern guitar rock unit is back with “Black Dirt Blue Sky,” their first collection of new recordings in 10 years.
The music radiates a spirit of renewal, like a John Deere tractor turning over a patch of rich soil. And the musicians pack more passion into the material than a team of horses in their prime, eager to work. The recordings show how much bandmates Edward David Anderson, Matt Anderson, Scott Tipping and John Ganser are happy to play new songs together after a decade-long hiatus.
BTF has toured with everyone from Gov’t Mule to Rev Horton Heat and has played high profile festivals like Mountain Jam in NY & High Sierra in CA, which garnered the band critical praise and a national audience. Their timeless music in the early aughts informs the present-day joyous energy…Comparisons to alt rock-country-blues Jay Farrar and Uncle Tupelo abound, BTF will nail you with a scorching ballad, then hammer you with a punk-tinged anthem. Backyard Tire Fire has also been lumped into the Drive By Truckers/Widespread Panic genre, what you might call tasteful Southern rock…and boy, we are in for a real treat!
Davina and the Vagabonds
7:30 - 9:00pm
New spin on an old sound, Davina and The Vagabonds have created a stir on the international music scene with their high-energy live shows and commanding stage presence. Davina Sowers has been compared to Etta James, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday and Betty Boop, but comparisons don't suffice: she is a true original. Bringing you 100 years of American music and Davina's originals, which lend themselves to the American Songbook, the band brings edgy nostalgia to older generations and fresh new music to younger ears. This rollicking quintet is held together by Sowers' keyboard playing, with acoustic bass, drums, and a spicy trumpet and trombone horn section. The group's focused, clean sound and emphasis on acoustic instruments is novel to both blues and jazz worlds, and sets the show closer to New Orleans than to Chicago...right in the heart of the Driftless!
Rensa Fire
At dusk…Rensa Fire is a fire performance trio based out of Viroqua, WI. The troupe sets the daring fire arts ablaze with eclectic and diverse shows.
Rensa Fire delivers visually brilliant, high quality performances for all ages. Spectacular choreography is infused with poi, staff, double staff, dragon staff, buugeng, fans, palms, fingers, parasol, hoop…..and they are always expanding!! Rensa Fire will ignite your summer!