Autumn Acoustics Music Festival

Saturday, October 5 2024 12 pm – 6 pm

The virtuosic duo of Luke Cerny and Ryan Ogburn open the festival at the intimate Sugarbush House Stage, surrounded by trees and open air. Bluegrass, blues, folk, and country western are all on the table as Cerny & Ogburn play among crackling firepits and the towering maple forest. Luke Cerny is a guitarist and composer influenced by his deep study of American Roots music, spurring audiences to rediscover traditional American guitar stylings. Musician and songwriter Ryan Ogburn is known widely in the local music scene, both for his solo performing and for lending his mandolin as part of Milwaukee-based band Chicken Wire Empire and the nationally acclaimed folk group Dead Horses.

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Huber opens our main stage! Joseph Huber is known for his lyricism, subtlety, and introspection. His music blends elements of rock and folk, rollicking between the feelings of freedom and severity, wit and earnestness. Whether it’s irresistible, fiddle-driven dancing tunes or honest, heart-wrenching songwriter songs, Huber spans the spectrum of Roots music. Huber has been featured on NPR’s Live Music Sessions and has toured through the United States and Europe. His newest album Blasthouse Sessions, packed with stage-favorite tracks, came out in June of 2024.

Bear in the Forest is a singer-songwriter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The tracks on his powerful self-titled album Bear In The Forest “howl with spiritualism, built around folk music in the oldest, barest sense: joy and pain and a guitar coming together to produce sounds that resonate with ancestral memory.” Bear performs with nuance and sensitivity, with a voice that evokes both the haunting and the joyful. Hear Bear in the Forest’s stunning set at the Sugarbush House against a woodland backdrop of birdsong.

Long Mama’s debut album Poor Pretender, released October 2022, is described as such: “embracing a rich spectrum of light and shadow, heat and cold. The palette of country, folk, indie rock, and punk reflects its makers’ coming-of-age in the rustbelt crossroads of north, south, east, and west.” Country Music People Magazine heralds the collection as “A winner all the way” and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calls it, “Gently crafted perfection.” Long Mama’s music has been described as “misfit country” and “the wild, weird West.” Discover them at the Main Yard Stage!

As the sun gets lower in the sky, hear Forrest Jackson’s set at the Sugarbush House while the light filters gently through the trees. Forrest is a pianist, vocalist, a (sometimes) trombonist, and recording artist based out of Milwaukee. Growing up in a music-loving family, Forrest has always been surrounded by different genres and soundscapes and brings all of these influences to his playing, from rock to jazz, EDM to rap. Experience the richness of wide influences brought together in the cohesive sound of this young, exciting artist.

Called a “blues dynamo” by Blues Blast Magazine, The Stephen Hull Experience “brings the blues to the people.” As a twice semifinalist at the Wilson Center Guitar Competition by the age of 16, frontman Stephen Hull has garnered national acclaim for his attention to detail and guitar solo style that evokes that of Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stephen is this year’s recipient of the King of the Blues Award from the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation.  Head to the Main Yard to watch The Stephen Hull Experience set the stage ablaze with the blues.

We close our the festival with The MilBillies, a 5-piece string band slinging high-energy bluegrass! Their many accolades include a New Artist of the Year nomination from the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (2020), being named an International Bluegrass Music Association Showcase Artist (2021), and winning the John Hartford Memorial Festival Band Contest (2022). Their latest album, Capital B, was reviewed by Bluegrass Unlimited as “shot through with humor, rowdiness, wild times and angst […] with relentless energy.” The MilBillies project a veritable wall of sound, starting with an intentional focus on melodic lyricism in songwriting and finishing with an unparalleled, action-packed live performance.

As for most of our large events, ample parking will be available at Firemen’s Park in Newburg. A shuttle will then take you to the festival fun and back throughout the day!

There will be limited parking available in the Visitor Center lots for VIPs, those with accessibility needs, and those with young children. Parking attendants will be able to direct you to a space if you need to park at the Visitor Center.

If you’re interested in reserving one of the Access Ability Wisconsin outdoor wheelchairs that we host on site for the event, please click here.

A chair or blanket in case provided seating is full.

Cash for some of the food trucks who may not be able to take a card.

Outdoor clothing suitable for the (fingers crossed for beautiful!) weather.

Not at all! We encourage you to enjoy the short, beautiful woodland hike between our two stages. The start times for all acts are staggered so that you can catch a portion of every single set if you so choose!

All that information can be found by clicking here!

We’d love to get in touch! Please contact our Event Coordinator, Hannah Sedgwick, at [email protected]