Folk

  • A guidebook for Bruce Cockburn fans

    Canadian author M.D. Dunn talks with WPR’s “BETA” about his book, “You Get Bigger As You Go: Bruce Cockburn’s Influence and Evolution,” which is more like a guidebook for learning about Cockburn’s music than a biography.

    A guidebook for Bruce Cockburn fans
  • Milwaukee musician Trapper Schoepp draws inspiration from Irish folk in new album

    In 2021, Milwaukee-based musician Trapper Schoepp watched a YouTube video of an Irishman moving his fingers up and down the neck of the guitar using a technique called “open D tuning.” Now Schoepp is out with a new album, “Siren Songs,” focusing on the technique commonly used by early folk and blues musicians. “It basically…

    Milwaukee musician Trapper Schoepp draws inspiration from Irish folk in new album
  • Tubas in Wisconsin: Getting down to brass tacks

    It feels like everyone’s dad in Wisconsin plays the tuba. That was Elizabeth Renner’s impression after she moved to Madison from Chicago a year ago. Her other thought was that people are still very much into polka music. “Shouldn’t that have died out decades ago?” she said. Renner asked several people about tubas and polka,…

    Tubas in Wisconsin: Getting down to brass tacks
  • Summerfest organizers scale back COVID-19 precautions

    Organizers of Milwaukee’s Summerfest music celebration are planning to scale back COVID-19 precautions this year. WTMJ Radio reported that festival organizers say guests won’t need to wear masks, show proof of a negative COVID-19 test or show proof of vaccination to enter the grounds this year. The move comes as COVID-19 cases continue to trend…

    Summerfest organizers scale back COVID-19 precautions
  • Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver To Headline Line 3 Protest Concert In Duluth Wednesday

    Grammy award-winning Eau Claire native Justin Vernon and his band Bon Iver will headline a concert in Duluth Wednesday that seeks to raise money to stop construction of Enbridge’s Line 3 oil pipeline in Minnesota. The event is a fundraising concert for the Indigenous environmental nonprofit organization Honor the Earth, which has been leading protests…

    Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver To Headline Line 3 Protest Concert In Duluth Wednesday
  • Wisconsin Has A New Polka DJ

    When the COVID-19 pandemic undercut Stacy Harbaugh’s 2020 New Year’s Resolution to learn how to put on a music show at a community radio station in Madison, she set her sights on a different goal. Instead of learning how to substitute for the music hosts at WORT-FM where she volunteers, she decided to learn how…

    Wisconsin Has A New Polka DJ
  • Elephant Revival Tune ‘Pasture’ Made To ‘Rock The Earth’

    From its opening notes, “Pasture,” by the band Elephant Revival, dances through the speakers with a percussive melody from a mandolin, followed up by its duet partner, the fiddle. The band shared this wonderful instrumental during a 2013 in-studio performance and interview with “Simply Folk’s” Stephanie Elkins. Originally based in Colorado, the string band was…

    Elephant Revival Tune ‘Pasture’ Made To ‘Rock The Earth’
  • Raye Zaragoza Sings Her Story On ‘Woman In Color’

    Raye Zaragoza named her 2020 album, “Woman in Color,” because she saw it as “a coloring book, and every song was a like a little bit of me coloring in my story, of my past and my present and my future.” “Being a woman of color in America and someone of mixed race, I’ve always…

    Raye Zaragoza Sings Her Story On ‘Woman In Color’
  • Nathans And Ronstadt Premier A New Music Video For ‘Ghost Writer’

    Writing can be a struggle, whether it’s songwriting or penning a novel. The duo of Aaron Nathans and Michael G. Ronstadt recently explored this territory in their song, “Ghost Writer,” the opening track to their 2020 album, “Shadow of the Cyclone.” When they perform, Nathans mainly plays guitar and sings, while Ronstadt (who is the…

    Nathans And Ronstadt Premier A New Music Video For ‘Ghost Writer’
  • ‘Simply Folk’ Hosts Its First Virtual House Band

    Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the miles between them, “Simply Folk” listeners shared their voices and their spirit with each other for the show’s annual singalong to be broadcast on Jan. 3. Invited to record their voices singing along to traditional folk songs, 60 listeners and staff members of Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin…

    ‘Simply Folk’ Hosts Its First Virtual House Band