Sometimes the pursuit of our greater humanity involves jumping into life head first. That’s what McKain Lakey does. You can tell by her songs. 

Armed with George the trusty road cat, a carful of instruments, and all the fight of a rambling, rural-raised, queer femme wanderer, McKain Lakey is one to be reckoned with. She’s the rare human who feels as comfortable wielding a chisel as she does a guitar, who can be as often spotted behind the soundboard in a crowded venue as discussing the intersections of race and gender in old time music with a classroom full of 5th graders. 

Described by What’s Up Magazine as “a time capsule unearthed, fine-tuned and re-imagined”, Lakey draws creative inspiration from far corners of the American music tradition, tracing the lines of musical lineage that connect Old Time to Rockabilly, Country to Cajun to Dixieland. She’s a dedicated student of tradition, but at once unafraid to stare down convention through the modern lens of her lived experience. Her 2021 album, Somewhere, blurs lines of old and new, referencing musical textures of past eras while unabashedly exploring topics of mental health, family separation, rural identity and queer love.

“My introduction to American folk music was so rooted in the knowledge that I am a part of living tradition, a web connected across time and distance, and built by generations of creative and resilient people.” -McKain Lakey

Tickets $10 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.

Light flickers in even the darkest of spaces and smallest cracks. Similarly, The Empty Pockets ignite a bright flame of their own by harnessing a joyful friction between Americana, folk, and rock ‘n’ roll spiked with roots soul. The Chicago quartet—Josh Solomon [guitar, vocals], Erika Brett [keyboards, vocals], Nate Bellon [bass, vocals], and Adam Balasco [drums]—lean on an unspoken, yet airtight musical dialogue honed by countless miles on the road, performances alongside the likes of Kenny Loggins, a procession of fan favorite releases (including a #1 debut), and a wealth of memories together. 

The Empty Pockets continue to pave a path of their own. They’ve honed their signature style across albums such as The Ten Cent Tour [2015], Voices [2017], Snow Day [2018], Tanglewoods [2019], and Live In Seattle [2019]. After bowing in the Top 10 of the Heatseekers Albums Chart and Americana/Folk Chart, they delivered their first #1 when Outside Spectrum toppled the Billboard Blues Albums Chart in 2022. Along the way, they not only backed the likes of Al Stewart, Gary Wright, and Simon Kirke (with whom they made a record with to boot), but they also appeared on PBS Soundstage with Loggins. During 2022, Pollstar touted them among its Top International Livestreamers. Touching down on multiple continents, they’ve supported comedy legend George Lopez, alternative phenomenon Portugal. The Man, and many more. 

Tickets $15 in advance/$20 at the door

Zakk Jones is an Ohio based guitarist, bandleader, composer and educator. Currently, he is the Coordinator of Guitar Studies at Truman State University, and a faculty mentor for Sonora Guitar Intensive. He is a member of Doc Robinson, the Tony Monaco Trio, and Third Shore Collective. Zakk has also played with The Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Maria Schneider, Lou Marini Jr, Ryan Keberle, John Fedchock, Jaleel Shaw, Dwight Adams, Jon Irabagon, and Bobby Floyd. He has multiple records under his own name, and can be heard as a sideman on over a dozen acclaimed projects. Zakk has been a featured artist at the Rocky Mountain Archtop Guitar Festival, Columbus Jazz & Ribs Festival, the Denison Jazz Guitar Festival, and the Rochester International Jazz Festival, among others. As a composer, he has won multiple grants and participated in residency programs in Florida and New Hampshire. Most recently, he is a 2024 recipient of the Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council for his outstanding accomplishments in music composition. As an educator Zakk was previously the Head of Jazz Studies in the Conservatory of Music at his alma mater, Capital University. In this role, he led one of the nation’s oldest collegiate jazz programs. Other faculty appointments include Mt. Vernon Nazarene University and Bowling Green State University. Outside of his busy gigging and teaching schedule, Zakk is an avid composer/arranger, writes educational articles for JazzGuitarToday.com and hosts the podcast "Beyond The Frets". 

Zakk proudly endorses Eastman Guitars and Kopp String Instruments.

Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door

Join us for a night of Halloween fun with live music, costume contest, and more!

Playing a mix of funk, soul and rock 'n roll, Sugar Mama and the Rent Check are a Spring Green-based band featuring Laura Burbaugh on vocals, Ellie Barta-Moran on vocals, killer tambourine and guitar, Todd Miller on lead guitar, John Christensen on vocals and keyboard, Tim Gittings on bass and harmonica, and Rob Steffen on drums.

Suggested donation $5-10 at the door

An evening of standup comedy, a silent auction, raffle, food from Tortilleria Zepeda and amazing drinks from Slowpoke for purchase, all to raise money for vulnerable street dogs in Mexico.  Dog For Life is operated by Julian Zepeda's (owner of Tortilleria Zepeda) parents and a few other amazing volunteers.  They have dedicated their lives to rehabilitating, rescuing, providing medical care, food and finding new homes for the most vulnerable dogs living in the streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Tonight is a night to support the non-profit, Dog For Life so they can continue this amazing work.  

Get ready to laugh with three unique local comedians.  Heidi Zepeda will host the comedy show, featuring one of our favorite local comedians, Shawn Vasquez of Madison and your headlining comedian, Charlie Kojis. Based in Madison WI, Charlie performs throughout the Midwest. He has opened for comedians who include Tig Notaro, Nate Bargatze, and Michael Che and was the winner of Madison's Funniest Comic Competition at Comedy on State in 2016.   

After the comedy show, there will be food for purchase, a silent auction and raffle.

Tickets $25

On their second album, Leaving, Fran finds us at a crossroads of loss and possibility, borne  from the grief of isolation and the existential drama of a warming planet. In spite of this grief,  songwriter Maria Jacobson took the solitude of the past few years to commit to seeing reality  clearly. Jacobson was inspired by Alan Watts’ Wisdom of Insecurity, which examines the  difference between belief and faith: the former inviting constriction and holding on; the latter,  presence and letting go. Jacobson sought to let go of the roles and ambitions that had  previously defined her. 

Tickets $10 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.

Adem Tesfaye is a Madison, WI. native, emcee/songwriter, Hip-hop guitarist, a music producer whose music style has deep roots in Hip-Hop, funk, reggae, and blues. Adem draws his inspiration from artists like Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Tribe Called Quest, Gang Star, and the Roots. His craftsmanship of storytelling is unique and rhythmically hypnotic. Adem’s stature on stage and baritone voice ooze with sexy richness, heartfelt warmth, life wisdom, and command. Having lived in Seattle and NYC his sound is an elixir of grit, instrumentation, big stage performance, and Broadway lights. Adem released two solo albums, D-iZ-lll “the Sickness” and “Athedage” with producer Rick Flowers, Mannie Sanchez and Matt Mueller and shared stage with acts like Red Man, Method Man, De la soul, Pharside, Ben Harper, Spearhead, and Jazzmatazz. His latest Release "Pressure"! released March 11th, 2022 with his new crew. Adem Tesfaye Band is a Soul Funk Rock band with a Hip-Hop edge.

$10 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us for an evening of Strange Country and Cosmic Folk featuring Luke Callen and the Band.

At the intersection of Harry Smith’s Old Weird America – the songs of heartworn highways – and the tumult of today you can find the music of Luke Callen.  The songs – equal parts tragic comedy and hopeless reverie – paint a picture of the places and people that make up his earthly home.  A poet – a player – a folk singer – Luke has traversed his country unraveling tall tales – short tunes and all that’s hidden underneath. 

Originally from the river town of La Crosse, Wisconsin – the heart of the Driftless Region on the Mississippi River – and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota by way of Colorado  Luke brings his humble sense of humor and humanity wherever he may go.  His last two albums below your knows (2019) and Hard Sardine (2021) – reach from the ethereal to the eternally real – whimsical walks in the out of doors to hopelessness and heartache and all the in betweens.  He is currently working on his third studio album with Erik Koskinen – set to be released in 2022.

We’ll start off our show with This is Gary, a four-piece vintage rock and alt country outfit based in Madison, Wisconsin. Taking influences from all over the musical landscape, This is Gary’s natural habitat is your fun uncle’s garage, where Doug Sahm and Pure Prairie League commingle with Badfinger and Son Volt. 

Offering a mix of originals and covers with driving guitars and three-part vocal harmonies, This is Gary is Schlitz foam on a mustache. It is an Aqua Velva night sweat. It is the howling at the coyote moon. It is Gary. This is Gary. 

This is Gary is: Brian Knapp (guitars, vocals), Kyle Motor (guitars, vocals), Nick Brown (bass, vocals), and Ben Wolf (drums, cowbell)

Tickets $15 in advance, $20 at the door

Join Nashville-based country music star Trey Taylor and 14th Senate District candidate Sarah Keyeski for a night of music, camaraderie, and support for a first time candidate! With the theme of "Rural Roots Rising" the focus of the evening is on uplifting our small towns in our politics and in music. Come out for an acoustic set from Trey and to hear from Sarah about this important campaign!

Trey Taylor is a singer, composer, public speaker, philanthropist, multi-instrumentalist (He plays over nine instruments) and a true entrepreneur in entertainment.

Sarah Keyeski is a mental health counselor and Democratic candidate for Wisconsin's 14th Senate District. This district (which includes Spring Green!) is one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the state under the newly redistricted maps.

Come to mingle at 6pm, and the music will start around 6:45pm.

Tickets starting at $25, you can purchase ahead of time at this link.

Louka is an imaginative singer-songwriter, talented guitarist, producer and teacher (University of Wisconsin – Madison). Testing Your Patience is his debut album as Louka and his latest release since The Very Best of the Fingers (2012  Layered) and The Optimistic (2008  Layered).

In his latest project, he is joined by Jason Kutz from Mr. Chair and Elena Ross from Panchromatic Steel, and John Christensen

Tickets $10 in advance/$15 at the door

Jambidextrous is a 5 piece jazz group of recent vintage, but comprised of 5 veteran musicians from the Spring Green area.  A history of jazz is presented from the original masters of Count Basie, Miles, Monk, Coltrane... through the progressive jazz, funk, and rock  era of Herbie Hancock, Traffic and Santana.  The group is led by keyboardist, Ted Frank, a 45 year jazz-rock performer and alumnus of the 1978 UW Madison jazz ensemble led by Richard Davis, with Rob Steffen-drums, Aaron Simays-tenor sax, Dave Saperstein-Bass, and Patrick Michels - percussion.   

No cover, but tips for the performers are welcome and encouraged

The Honey Pies is an exciting collaboration of Madison-based music veterans. Jodi Jean Amble made a major splash in the Chicago scene fronting her eponymous band—nominally jazz, but equally at home with, pop, country, and more—and as a member of the highly eclectic ensemble Jenny Dragon. Tom Waselchuk leads the MAMA Award-winning Americana band The Dang-Its and has performed for more than twenty years in a free-swinging guitar duo with multi-instrumentalist Doug Brown. Doug has long been among the most in-demand freelance sidemen on the Madison music scene in a variety of genres, as well as being a band-leader, composer, and arranger. Matt Rodgers is among southern Wisconsin’s busiest bass players, equally at home in most any style of music. 

Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door

Steam Machine is a midwest based old time/bluegrass music project fronted by award winning Minneapolis fiddler AJ Srubas and Twin Cities old time music & dance instigator Rina Rossi on guitar. A shortlist of spectacular musicians perform with the band on banjo and bass, and when possible, mandolin.

Originally formed in Minneapolis in 2017, Steam Machine brought to the national stage a midwest influenced string band aesthetic that didn’t draw such hard lines between bluegrass and old time music. Smooth powerful fiddling, driving three finger banjo, front-of-the-beat rhythm backup combined into a “suspiciously entertaining” sound.

Tickets $10 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us for a night of FUNdraising for the American Players Theatre ALFE (Actors Looking for Future Employment) group! Come early for a silent auction including local goods, APT related experiences, and special surprises. At 8:00, join us in the cabaret for the Spring Green premiere of The Broad’s Way - a celebration of musical theatre featuring drag artists and live singers, including members of APT’s core company and hosted by Regina Thorne-DuBois. 

Suggested donation of $10 at the door, please bring cash for the performers. Silent auction winners will be announced at the end of the night.

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.

Celebrating ten years of Americana Jams in 2024, Gin Mill Hollow puts on a high-energy live show every time they take the stage. With an emphasis on strong composition and songwriting, the quartet from Madison, Wisconsin take influence from genres like bluegrass and funk, and brew an eclectic mix of styles together into a musical concoction that is sure to satisfy the soul and get your feet moving at the same time. Nearing six-hundred shows played, Gin Mill Hollow also has two studio albums to their credit and they continue to tour the mid-west and Colorado regularly to growing audiences. No strangers to exploring the unknown the band loves expanding a song into a jam, allowing the rhythm section of drummer Joe Murray and bass player Mark Norman to lay the foundation for melodic interplay from mandolinist Josh Giudice and guitarist Dan Plourde.

$10 in advance, $15 at the door

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.