NOTE: Due to the Coronavirus emergency, this event has been postponed and will be staged at a later date. Stay tuned for more information
“Andy could very well carry on the traditions when all of us old guys are gone. I’d feel assured in knowing the music of our great American West was in good hands.” — Don Edwards
Join cowboy sonsgter and poet Andy Hedges as well as Mineral Point traditional musicians, Daniel Libby and Meghan Dudle of The Firesides for a special evening of cowboy music, poetry, and more!
Andy Hedges is a songster, reciter, storyteller, guitarist, and collector of cowboy songs and poems. The son of an Italian schoolteacher and a rodeo cowboy turned preacher, Andy was born in Lubbock, Texas, in the spring of 1980. He grew up in the small community of Tokio, Texas, where his family paid rent on an old farmhouse by looking after a few head of cattle. It was there that Andy fell in love with traditional music by listening to his fathers cassettes of cowboy songs.
Andy’s vast and varied repertoire includes classic cowboy poetry recitations, obscure cowboy songs, dust bowl ballads, and blues. He also hosts a podcast, Cowboy Crossroads which features in-depth interviews with fellow musicians and poets. Andy has performed many times with folk legend Ramblin Jack Elliott and the duos performance at the 60th Newport Folk Festival was named one of the 10 Best Things We Saw by Rolling Stone.
The Firesides are an old time duo based out of Mineral Point, Wisconsin. They sing and play Appalachian & Midwestern instrumentals, sage cowboy songs, originals, and traditional song-gems.
Meghan and Daniel, who play fiddle and guitar moved to southwest Wisconsin from the Twin Cities where they played separately in the bands, The Floorbirds and The Ditchlilies.
Daniel and Meghan’s music is currently featured in the film Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait, and they have both performed on numerous festival stages across the US and Europe, on radio programs far and wide, and for countless barn dances right here is Southwest Wisconsin!