In January, several Madison concert venues are hosting the 10th annual Wisconsin Fest, a celebration of local musicians. The event will spotlight nine different music genres across four nights, with Metal Fest, Bluegrass Fest, Folk Fest and more, featuring a diverse group of performers — both musically and personally.
“Metal in general is sort of a polarizing word,” says Ty Christian, the singer of Lords of the Trident. “I think this show presents an opportunity for somebody who might not initially be into metal to have a little smorgasbord of all the really interesting sub-genres.”
After forming their group about 15 years ago in the dorms at University of Wisconsin–Madison, they weren’t sure their band would continue past college graduation. But for their third show, they sold out The Frequency, a former music venue.
“We were just sitting flabbergasted looking at each other going, ‘Well, I guess we keep going after the show.’” Christian says.
Since then, Lords of the Trident has traveled the world, including the United States, Europe and just recently, Japan. Christian says they are excited to perform at Metal Fest and connect with the music community.
Them Coulee Boys is a folk rock group founded when Soren Staff and Beau Janke met as counselors at a summer bible camp in Northern Wisconsin. When Staff’s younger brother Jens joined in 2013, they started writing their own music.
Since their founding, bass player Neil Krause and drummer Stas Hable have joined the group. Staff says their music focuses on engaging the audience with powerful lyrics and “kinetic” sounds — music that gets the audience moving. Staff says Bluegrass Fest will highlight a broad range of music, from progressive, fast-picking rhythms to old-timey sounding tunes.
“It’s a really powerful and awesome experience,” Staff says. “You’re gonna feel the full spectrum of emotion at these shows — I guarantee it.”
The Jimmys is a blues group led by Jimmy Voegli. Outside of music, Voegli helps with his family dairy farm in Monticello. His style is guided by his tendency to play by ear, rather than by reading music traditionally.
Though this habit got him in trouble with his high school band teacher, they have since become good friends. His success in the blues scene has allowed him to pursue his musical career and collaborate with Grammy-nominated musician Marcia Ball.
Sarah Vos and Daniel Wolff met in 2010 and started playing together, in part to help Vos manage a difficult time in her life. Their Milwaukee-based band, Dead Horses, focuses on emotional folk music. Vos acknowledges that January can be a tough time for mental health, and encourages people to attend Folk Fest as a way to cope.
“For me, music has always functioned as a way to express and safely feel a lot of the emotions that can seem pretty scary otherwise…I think this show is going to be like medicine,” Vos says.
Nur-D, a hip hop artist who entered the music scene in 2018, quickly realized music was his calling. His name is inspired by the act of taking something people used to call him — nerdy — and making it his own. Nur-D’s music is influenced by artists like Lupe Fiasco and Chance the Rapper.
Mama Digdown’s Brass Band is celebrating their 30th year in 2023. When band leader Roc Ohly was introduced to brass band music by his college friend Erik Jacobson, it changed Ohly’s musical identity. In 1993, they crashed Art Fair on the Square — before they officially had music stages — and Mama Digdown got its start.
Ohly wants to spread the energetic, New Orleans brass band style to a broader audience. Coming out of the pandemic, Ohly says events like Wisconsin Fest are the kinds of experiences people will remember.
“We need to be with people, we need to be together. And one of the things that brings us together is concerts…go see some music,” Ohly says.
