By: Stacey Roou

A cabin in the woods

“Write meaningful lyrics to a song and it might come true!” That’s the spirit that songwriter and guitarist Lou Shields brought to his song, Cabin in the Woods. At that time, Lou was a rambler, touring in his van across the United States and Europe. He saved as much money as possible from each gig, dreaming of a homesteading life. When the opportunity presented itself, he paid cash for a cabin on 15 acres and planted his roots in southwest Wisconsin.

Lou didn’t know it then, but he’s not alone; the back hollows and twisting roads of Wisconsin’s Driftless Region are home to a surprising number of talented musicians, many of whom live semi-off grid on rugged homesteads that hearken to a simpler time. Hold on to your hats to hear stories of talented folks who live off the beaten path but find friendship through a common dedication to rural life filled with music.

With his scruffy face, signature hat, and long curly hair, Lou often elicits a double-take. But what makes him unusual is not his style or looks, but his passion for music and homesteading. Lou is an artist and teacher by trade but a musician and homesteader by heart. He plays guitar, banjo, and harmonica. “It is not every day that we meet a talented purveyor of fine traditional music who is also a gifted artist,” says a friend and neighbor, Rick Redfield. “Lou gets your feet stomping with the lively rhythms. His paintings, like his music, hark back to a simpler time in America when live music was everything.”

When Lou and I met we had an instant kindred connection to the past, old souls, “maybe the 1930’s” we’d say. Ironically, we met in the high-tech world of social media, brought together by hashtags.

Lou is from the Chicago area but had spent a lot of time as a child where he now calls home. The cabin is made from reclaimed wood and filled with antiques, the barn was built by the Amish and the outbuildings resemble our favorite vacation spot ─ Shack Up Inn in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The latest addition to our homestead is an 1800’s hand-hewn log home that was dismantled and moved to our land, and which we’re rebuilding over the next year.

Life on the homestead has its own gentle pace. We are off-grid with a simple solar panel structure connected to a battery bank. I love lying on my 1940’s forest-found Murphy bed and listening to my favorite vinyl powered by the sun. Lou carries fresh spring water from the lower portion of the land to cook, clean, and water the garden. With four springs, a waterfall, and a creek that leads to the Kickapoo River, it feels like a wonderland to us both. No wonder, when we were married last year, we chose the homestead as the rightful place to do it.

Soon Lou plans to have running water from the well or a spring-fed ram pump, a better solar array, and rainwater catchment for the garden. In the distant future we plan to add animals: goats to control the brush growth and give milk and cheese, chickens for eggs, and maybe a donkey at the request of the kids, Nova & Vada. We still travel extensively for work so animals are last on our homestead checklist. For now, our pasture consists of a few cows and horses from our Amish neighbors.

Even without these dreams, the homestead is a haven for us both. “As soon as we reach our land and walk into the pine forest we’re able to breathe in the air of this sacred place and leave all trappings of the 21st century behind,” says Lou. His favorite pastime is to work hard all day, take an outdoor cool down in the creek and then play guitar or banjo on the cabin front porch. Often the Amish walk by and wave hello while he is filling the neighborhood with music closely resembling front porch styles of the past.

Kindred spirits

The Driftless Region is a natural wonderland. My sister describes the region as resembling Jurassic Park, and that’s no coincidence: Glaciers never scraped the mountains here, so they remain in the form of ancient, deep valleys and high rock-faced bluffs.

When we moved here three years ago, we soon discovered a quaint town called Viroqua, about half way between Madison and La Crosse. It’s a magnet for families visiting and relocating from regional cities like Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul. It’s a town known for music (as well as food), thanks to the adventurous spirit of entrepreneur Eddy Nix and his vision for Driftless Books and Music.

Eddy’s store is in an 1800’s brick tobacco warehouse with enormously high timber-framed ceilings, vintage furniture, and unusually cool art work. Most people are in awe of the environment and slow to take it in as they enter. Eddy is not only a bookseller, but a music promoter, slowly growing his schedule from an early show with the popular Minneapolis band, Cloud Cult, to five shows a week of local and touring bands.

Thanks in part to the bookstore, we soon began to meet other homesteaders who also play music. Where have these people been all my life, I remember wondering? It’s a surreal experience choosing to get away from the grind of the city but also have the craving for a community.

It was at the bookstore that we met musicians Nikki Grossman and Joe Hart. Joe had the presence of a man who walked right out of the late 1920’s. His style is always put together from vintage attire and his demeanor is cool and calm. He’s a great storyteller and someone you could talk with for hours. Nikki has an infectious laugh and a voice so soothing you’d swear it wasn’t from this century. They joined forces to form the band Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers. The couple tour extensively, often leaving their beautiful garden up to Mother Nature for watering and nourishment. When they return from a run down south, their seven acres, adorable A-Frame cabin, and 1954 trailer is waiting for them. A spring-fed creek runs through their valley surrounded by high bluffs. They share the land with Joe’s sister, who has plans for a bus or tiny house.

We love visiting each other’s homesteads while trading stories of touring mishaps or the last bit of knowledge we’ve learned about live-trapping pesky groundhogs. Often will have a sit down homemade meal, cooked by Joe, and we’ll share wine and tell travel stories or discuss the next album.

Joe and Nikki both grew up in Minnesota and relocated to the Driftless region when they discovered the beautiful landscape and the opportunity to homestead. Joe grew up in a homesteading family and always dreamed of returning to the lifestyle. He plays a 1930’s Gibson guitar and has handles the PR for the band. Nikki plays the sweetest fiddle and spends certain weekdays supplementing their income at a local organic farm, picking and packing for a CSA. They both have the DIY punk ethic in their blood, and homesteading is definitely an extension of that.

They’ve been working extra hard this year (in addition to raising their 1.5 year old daughter Neva Rose and Joe’s 11 year old daughter Molly) and it’s paying off. They’ve had an official showcase at SXSW in Austin, TX and a nomination for “Best Country Band” by WAMI. They’ve appeared on Public radio shows in Wisconsin and Minnesota as well as Wisconsin Public Television. Their friend and neighbor Rick Redfield describes them as “two talented and fascinating people who found happiness together and a synergistic melding of music that just has to be heard. Nikki’s outstanding fiddle playing and singing merges with Joe’s vocals and guitar to bring joy to all who listen.”

Liz Voz and Jesse Downs, of the band Kickapoo Joy Juice (remember that old soda pop?) are the quintessential adorable farmer’s market couple. The live a simple life on a beautiful 13-acre homestead just down the road from us. Their straw and stucco home looks plucked from a fairytale, albeit one powered by solar electric. Their successful market farm includes several beautiful acres of vegetables, free-range chickens, and two “high tunnel” greenhouses where they grow peaches. Yes, peach trees in Wisconsin! They are so delicious that my youngest daughter devoured both peaches by the time we were barely out of the driveway. Recently they expanded their homestead to add 10 acres for an apple orchard and pasture for their mule.

They have an antique wringer washing machine on the porch to clean the children’s clothes and enjoy hosting get-togethers where folks play music and the children play. The couple relocated from Minnesota over a decade ago. I would have assumed Jesse had an agriculture degree but learned he’s a micro-biology major.

Like many farmers and homesteaders, Liz and Jesse have learned a lot from the back-to-the-landers who migrated to the area in the 1970’s. After all, the headquarters of Organic Valley is just a town away, so the organic farming mindset is prevalent in the area. Liz and Jesse have jobs outside their homestead to supplement their incomes – Liz plays guitar, fiddle and piano & is a cook at the fast-growing Kickapoo Coffee establishment in Viroqua and Jesse plays guitar, banjo, fiddle and accordion plus works at a tomato farm.

Neighbor Rick Redfield calls them “an energetic couple who have built a dream life of farming and producing fine food. But it is when Jesse takes up his fiddle and Liz her guitar that the fun really begins. Jesse is a musical historian with an extensive repertoire of fine, old-time folk tunes, played with great finesse on the fiddle, accompanied by Liz’s fine guitar playing. Their singing harmonies round out the experience”, says Rick.

Modern day pioneers

Writing old-time music inspired by styles from the past or performing traditional folk and country tunes are their first love, homesteading and connecting to nature and an old-fashioned life, with a twist are the commonalities that bring us and these amazing folks together. We are lucky to have found a place that we can finally feel at home and follow our passions. Meeting friends and neighbors who share our longing to live a simpler life surrounding by music is the dream I can’t fully snap out of. I appreciate the life we have all built and that our paths crossed in this beautiful place.

Stacey Roou enjoys exploring the Driftless region and telling stories through her camera. She is a seasoned marketing professional and loves working with web and graphics. She travels extensively with her husband Lou, two children and a cute German Wire-Haired Pointer named Watson. She started @driftlessadventures on Instagram where she’s able to carry out her creativity.

Weber Center for the Performing Arts announces: Almost Sunrise A feature documentary by Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco

Weber Center for the Performing Arts announces that tickets are available now for “Almost Sunrise A feature documentary by Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco”. The film will be shown at the Weber Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7:30 pm. Following the film, one of the films two main characters Anthony Anderson will be speaking about the journey, moral injury, and the impact campaign surrounding the film. Tickets are general admission seating and are free. A ticket must be reserved in order to be admitted.

Almost Sunrise tells the inspiring story of two young men, Tom Voss and Anthony Anderson, who, in an attempt to put their haunting Iraq combat experiences behind them, embark on an extraordinary journey – a 2,700-mile trek on foot across America. Will this epic pilgrimage be enough to release them from their self-destructive impulses and give them the chance to begin life anew? While the film exposes some of the brutality of war, it doesn’t dwell there. It’s ultimately a story of hope and potential solutions. Most importantly, the film reveals the promise of holistic practices for healing. When Tom signs up for a special breathing workshop for veterans, he must confront his deepest spiritual identity. He encounters Father Thomas Keating, a renowned Trappist monk who has counseled veterans for decades, who gently illuminates the need to turn inward to achieve true peace – and gives guidance that culminates in a remarkable inner transformation rarely depicted on screen. Where the stereotypes of “the broken veteran” or “homecoming hero” leave off, the film continues onward, offering an unprecedented portrait of those who return from war; rich, complex, far more hopeful. Almost Sunrise allows us to connect with a universal human aspiration for happiness and through Tom and Anthony’s genuine search for it, be reminded of our common soaring possibilities. The film also acts as an urgent call for communities to better understand these deep-seated psychic wounds, and for the government to acknowledge and finally treat moral pain by using methods other than pills. Almost Sunrise deftly and movingly demonstrates the promise of holistic healing practices is on the horizon in a way that we cannot afford to ignore.

Tickets are free and may be reserved over the phone or at www.webercenterarts.org. For questions or tickets, please call the box office at 608-784-9292 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Weber Center for the Performing Arts is a collaborative venue supporting the missions of La Crosse Community Theatre and Viterbo University. It serves as a performance and administrative center for La Crosse Community Theatre, providing opportunities for creativity and personal growth. It serves as a performance and learning center, expanding and advancing Viterbo’s regional and national arts reputation. It provides a beautiful community asset for events through cooperation and sustainability.

FAST FACTS

WHO: Weber Center for the Performing Arts

WHAT: Almost Sunrise A feature documentary by Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco

WHERE: Lyche Theatre, Weber Center for the Performing Arts, 428 Front Street South, Downtown La Crosse

WHEN: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 7:30 pm

PRICES: General Admission: FREE

BOX OFFICE HOURS:
11: 00 a.m. to 5: 00 p.m., Monday-Friday

RESOURCES:
Film Trailer
Film Website

MEDIA CONTACT
Dillon McArdle
Executive Director
608-784-9292, ext. 4

The UW-La Crosse Department of Music will host the 2018 La Crosse New Music Festival Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 6-8.

The Nov. 6 and 8 concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m.in Annett Recital Hall, Center for the Arts, 333 N. 16th St. The Wednesday, Nov. 7, concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 111 N. 9th St. All concerts are free and open to the public.

This year the festival guest ensemble is Heartland Marimba. Other performers include the La Crosse Chamber Choral, Craig Hultgren, Jeri-Mae Astolfi, Derek Clark, Jonathan Borja and others.

Along with the Music Department, the festival is sponsored with support from the College of Liberal Studies’ School of Arts and Communication, along with the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers. 

Programs can be viewed at www.uwlax.edu/music. For more information, contact Christopher Frye at  608.785.6729 or cfrye@uwlax.edu. 

If you go—   

What: The 2018 La Crosse New Music Festival

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 6-8

Where: Nov. 6 and 8 concerts in Annett Recital Hall, Center for the Art, 333 N. 16th St.; Wednesday, Nov. 7, concert at Christ Episcopal Church, 111 N. 9th St.  

Admission: Free.

It’s Deer Hunting Time in Wisconsin!

This year’s Deer Hunt Media Packet and related podcasts can be found online at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Hunt/wildwisconsin.html

The DNR will update the packet as needed leading up to the 9-day gun deer hunt.

In the 2018 deer season media packet, you’ll find the following information:

• 2018 Deer Hunting Forecast [PDF]
• Hunt Wild Wisconsin Mobile App [PDF]
• Wild Wisconsin Web Series and Podcast [PDF]
• What’s new for the 2018 Deer Hunting Seasons? [PDF]
• 2017 Deer Harvest Summary [PDF]
• CWD in Wisconsin [PDF]
• Chronology of Deer Hunting in Wisconsin [PDF]
• 2018 Deer Season Structure [PDF]
• Economic Benefits of Hunting in Wisconsin [PDF]
• How Can You Find a Place to Hunt? [PDF]
• Connect with Wisconsin DNR [PDF]
• Go Wild FAQ [PDF]
• Antlerless Hunting Guide [PDF]
• 2018 Wisconsin Deer Hunting Regulations [PDF]

Also, download the free hunting app – Hunt Wild Wisconsin. From mobile mapping to shooting hours on the go, the DNR put together a helpful tutorial to help you navigate the app.

For more information, and any media inquiries, please contact:

Sawyer Briel
Policy and Communications Coordinator – Fish, Wildlife and Parks Division
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
101 South Webster St., P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707-7921
608-282-5334
sawyer.briel@wisconsin.gov

Metalsmiths from through Wisconsin will show their work in an upcoming UW-La Crosse art exhibition.

“Wisconsin Metal NOW” opens with a reception from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in the University Art Gallery in the Center for the Arts, 333 16th St. N. An artist talk begins at XX  in 116 Center for the Arts. Both events are free.

“Wisconsin Metal NOW” will showcase the range and creativity of metalsmiths and makers teaching on UW campuses and across the state. The field of metalworking covers a diverse range of processes, materials and ideas. The exhibition brings together the work of 12 Wisconsin artists who work with metals and metalsmithing to showcase what is currently being created.

The works reveal that current metalworkers are connected to centuries of tradition, skill and age-old manipulation of materials. The exhibition also shows that contemporary artists explore changing technologies, materials, processes and ideas. The results include sculpture, objects to wear, and undefined new categories that echo the past, address present issues, and reach into the future.

From precious metals to reused plastic bags, the materials used in contemporary metalworking push the definitions of familiar objects, tradition and skill. The results are intriguing, surprising and driven by new ideas and technologies. Together they ask viewers to ponder the ongoing story of how humans and technologies forge the complex world we use, create and share.

David Barnhill, of Green Bay, hopes to “inspire the viewer’s imagination of what might be possible using old, new and invented techniques for metal problems associated with but not limited to: fusing and forming.” Barnhill often begins a project by asking, “Is this possible?” Viewers may find themselves asking the same question of all the art in the exhibition as they explore its range and imagination.

In her work, Whitewater’s Teresa Faris examines how superstition is called upon when fear of the unknown is present. She addresses animals and animal imagery that throughout history has offered hope, order and alarm to unsettled humans. Her questions include how “generations-old beliefs are impenetrable and often left unchallenged.” Faris wants to discover “the root of these habitual beliefs and challenge the way they dictate her response to the world.” The resulting objects are reminiscent of traditional jewelry rooted deeply in beliefs of folklore and superstition, and through each cut and soldered piece Faris aims to move closer to her personal truth.

Masako Onodera, Menomonie, ponders how objects exist for decades, centuries or even millennia and transform over time in the meaning they create and how they are used. Despite their inanimate existence, “objects are loaded with their stories and functions, as well as the trace of hands that have touched them,” explains Onodera. “My work is the means to awake the viewers and wearer of the objects. It aims to make them conscious of their own bodies and the evanescence of time.”

Whitewater’s Erica Meier’s piece, “Necessary Tension,” explores “the study of disability and ableism, mental illness and addiction, and defining the disabled maker.” She says the role of the dysfunctional tool in her practice is a constant protagonist. Meier wants to “understand addictive behaviors and suicide is a persistent obligation; the piece simplifies the mechanism of a pulley and serpentine belt to an indicator of reliance and co-dependence.”

The complete list of artists in the exhibition includes:

Green Bay

David Barnhill

Andrew Redington

Madison

Lisa Gralnick

Jeffrey Clancy

Menomonie

Aric Verrastro

Masako Onodera

Vincent Pontillo-Verrastro

Milwaukee

Michael Bernard

Yevgeniya Kaganovich

Chad Bridgewater

Whitewater

Teresa Faris

Erica Meier

The exhibit runs through Tuesday, Nov. 20. Regular gallery hours are noon-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and during events in Toland Theatre. Exhibitions are free. Refer questions or arrange gallery appointments to the Art Department at 608.785.8230.

Metals artist to speak, hold workshop

In conjunction with the Wisconsin Metals Now Exhibition, Michael Bernard gives an artist talk from 5-6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, in 116 Center for the Arts. He will discuss his personal creative research, approach to making pieces, experiences and influences. Bernard will also conduct an intensive, hands-on workshop to UWL art students on Saturday, covering small-scale powder coating techniques for metal artists and makers.

Bernard, a metals artist and educator at UW-Milwaukee, received an MFA in metalsmithing from California State University, Long Beach in 2007. The 13 years that he spent in the Los Angeles art scene clearly influenced his highly stylized artwork. The dynamic forms of urban architecture and the vibrant colors used by street artists are both visible in his jewelry. Salvaged materials, welded trellis forms, and colorful powder coated elements combine to create his lively pieces.

If you go—

What: Wisconsin Metal NOW

When: Opening reception from 4-6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2. Runs through Nov. 20.Regular gallery hours are noon-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, noon-5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and during events in Toland Theatre.

Where: University Art Gallery, 333 16th St. N., La Crosse    

Admission: Free

Media contact: Deborah-Eve Plumb, Art – 608.785.8230

A refuge naturalist will be available at the Brownsville Overlook on Saturdays and Sundays from November 3 – November 18, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., to share information about migrating water birds. The Brownsville Overlook is one of the best places along the Upper Mississippi River to view tundra swans, diving and puddle ducks, bald eagles, and other birds. The Brownsville Overlook is located about three miles south of Brownsville, Minnesota along Highway 26.

Please note that shifts may be cancelled or shortened without notice due to inclement weather or illness. The Shady Maple Overlook will not be staffed this year.

For more information, contact the La Crosse District Office at (608) 779-2399 or stop by the visitor center, located at N5727 County Road Z, Onalaska, WI. Visitor center hours are Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (February-November). The Visitor Center will be closed on Saturdays in December and January. Additional information may be found on the Refuge’s website: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/upper_mississippi_river/.

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the most visited refuge in the United States. The refuge extends 261 miles along the Upper Mississippi River from Wabasha, Minn. to Rock Island, Ill., protecting and preserving habitat for migratory birds, fish, and a variety of other wildlife.

In addition to being the most visited refuge in the country, the “Upper Miss” Refuge has the added complexity of a major navigation system, including 11 locks and dams, within its boundary.

It is also a world-class fish and wildlife area which harbors 306 species of birds; 119 species of fish; more than 300 active bald eagle nests; thousands of heron and egret nests; spectacular concentrations of canvasback ducks, tundra swans, and white pelicans; and several threatened or endangered species.

Check out our Events Calendar!

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