The Shawano Folk Music Festival's 2026 Artists
Anne Hills is the Festival’s Honorary Director for 2026. We chose her because her commitment to music, community and collaboration fits with this festival’s values. And because she has one of the most beloved voices in folk music. She keeps busy with live performances, solo and collaborative recording projects, theatrical work, overall artistry and benefit work, creating some of the best music today. Anne is a generous collaborater and inventive songwriter. Her song “Follow That Road” has been called a certified folk classic since the late 1990’s. Whether she’s singing her own songs, the words of six-year-old Opal Whiteley, or her settings of the Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, she puts her whole heart and soul into the moment. She tours extensively, winning over audiences with her warm, lively and humorous performances. Tom Paxton says, “Anne Hills is such an exquisite singer that it’s understandable that people might be swept up in the pure beauty of her voice and thereby overlook her writing. That would be a mistake . . . She is quite simply one of my absolute favorite songwriters.” More at annehills.com
Ilene Weiss is Anne Hills’ Director’s Choice. Ilene and Anne have been friends and colleagues since they met in Chicago in 1979 before Ilene (a Philadelphia native) moved back east to New York City in 1981. She was a contributor to the first Fast Folk Musical Magazine. Ilene has created songs for two Oxford University Press Global English Language Teaching series. Other gigs include working in pediatric medical environments as Dr Noodle with Healthy Humor, Inc. She served many summers as clown/musical goofball “Noodle” at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford CT, founded in by Paul Newman as a safe, normalizing summertime refuge for kids living with chronic and life-threatening diagnoses. We welcome Ilene to her first time in Shawano.
Steve March-Torme has an extraordinary voice that electrifies audiences across the United States and around the world. He grew up in a musical family and dreamed of becoming a New York Yankee. He was a devoted fan who listened to games on the radio. Following every game, he’d switch to the Top 40 music stations and sing along with such artists as The Four Seasons, Nat King Cole, The Temptations, Ricky Nelson, and Gene Pitney. By the time he was 12, music and performance took over. At 13 he earned his first paycheck fronting his own band, beginning a career of singing, acting and songwriting, international tours, TV shows and collaborations with other artists including his father, Mel Torme. Honing his craft, Steve worked as an actor, and spent three years as the featured vocalist on ABC-TV’s $100,000 Name That Tune. He is a versatile performer, with styles that include jazz, pop standards, country and rock. His latest CD, inside/out, takes him back to his roots as a singer/songwriter. Steve is also the weekday afternoon host on 91.1 FM The Avenue in Green Bay and Northeastern Wisconsin. Welcome Steve’s to his first time in Shawano. Find more at stevemarchtorme.com
Ellis, Cohen and Ellis. Three blues legends take us on a tour of the Delta, the Piedmont and the Paramount blues catalog of the 20’s and 30s. Eleanor Ellis is “a celebrated master of country and Piedmont blues, one of the most significant women in the acoustic genre” (Living Blues). Her influences include Memphis Minnie, and Skip James. Andy Cohen is a virtuoso finger-style guitarist and “a walking, talking folk-blues-roots music encyclopedia.” He offers the well-known, the obscure and the weirdly wonderful. During the Sixties folk revival, he got hooked on blues luminaries, from Big Bill Broonzy to the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. His life changed when he found blues/gospel icon Rev. Gary Davis. He studies, performs and promotes blues and folk music of the pre-World War II era. William Lee Ellis (no relation) is a roots music fingerpicking guitarist who’s been called a “wizard on steel strings” (Blues Revue) and “one of our finest contemporary songwriters” (Living Blues). He comes from a musical family: His father is bluegrass legend Tony Ellis, who played banjo
with Bill Monroe. So it’s no surprise that Ellis’ music is infused with the DNA of American songwriting, from Delta Blues to Appalachian folk to Southern gospel to bluegrass. With a master’s degree in classical guitar, he met Rev. Gary Davis and the rest is history. He holds a PhD in ethnomusicology and is Professor of Music at Saint Michael’s College and chair of the Fine Arts Department. Go to andycohenmusic.com.
Art Stevenson and High Water has been playing music in Wisconsin and surrounding states since 1993. They play hard-driving traditional bluegrass, while also working with other musical styles. High Water takes their music from many sources: the bluegrass classics of Bill Monroe and the Stanley Brothers, early country music, mountain songs, and new material. That mix earns them high praise from bluegrass lovers and from people who say, “I don’t usually like bluegrass, but I really like High Water!” Guitarist, singer, and harmonicist Art Stevenson organized High Water in 1993. He sings lead and plays rhythm guitar and harmonica. Dale Reichert sings baritone and bass vocals, and plays banjo and Dobro. Bruce King plays mandolin with a hard drive and keeps the rhythm going. An excellent harmony singer, Bruce can sing lead, tenor, or baritone. Bruce Royal King, the mandolin player’s son, came on board in 2021 as bass player. Bruce Royal sings lead and harmony. More at www.highwatermusic.com
Tom Pease has an infectious sense of fun. With movement, sign language, humor and joy, he creates community, leaving us laughing, singing and thinking. He describes his work this way: “My philosophy on singing with kids and their families is I want to help that group find the feeling of community with song and laughter … I savor the spontaneity of a situation. In fact, it’s the life blood of my performances.” He’s been a frequent performer here, because he reminds us how good it is to sing, laugh and play together. Many audience members first met Tom when they were children - and it was unforgettable. He’s just as much fun now that we’re grown. When Tom is on stage, we move, we sing, we laugh. More at tompease.com
Patty & Craig bring gorgeous harmonies, impeccable musicianship, humor and original songs to our stages. Patty says, “I try for magic – nothing less! For the place that opens hearts and will move an audience to tears or smiles.” Patty Stevenson and Craig Siemson started out as solo folk artists. They met at a folk festival, married, and eventually started performing as a duo. Since then, they’ve traveled the Midwest singing songs of love, life and people they’ve met. Patty is a classically trained pianist and guitarist, while Craig taught himself to play guitar by ear because he wanted to play like B.B.King. Together, they’re Milwaukee’s favorite folk duo. This is their first time performing in Shawano. More at pattyandcraig.com
Wiley and Wilson features original and traditional music in an “old time” style. Individually, Pat Wiley and John Wilson are familiar faces here in Shawano. They’re both multi-instrumentalists (guitar, fiddle, clawhammer banjo, octave mandolin, tenor banjo, fiddlesticks, bones, jaw harp, washboard and spoons). They’re both vocalists, dance callers/teachers and storytellers. Pat is a songwriter, while John does buckdancing and clogging. Both were members of the original Raiders of the Lost Barn string band. Separately, Pat and John are delightful. Together, they’re unforgettable. You can find them on stage and at the Festival Dance on Sunday. More at patwileymusic.com
Cigar Box Scott takes traditional folk songs and roots music and gives them new life on his cigar box guitar and his homemade boot stompbox. Coming from Dayton, Ohio, Scott Atkinson combines melodies and rhythms for old-time, bluegrass, blues and folk, and comes up with something like “banjo meets delta blues guitar.” Old songs get new rhythms, chords, and sometimes completely new melodies. The Columbus Blues Alliance says, “He wowed the crowd with his gritty, soulful mastery of the cigar box guitar. He brought a raw, rootsy energy that electrified the room!” This is Scott’s first time in Shawano. More at cigarboxscott.com
Anything You Want is a folk-rock band with just the right amount of jangle. In the summer of 2024, frontwoman and singer-songwriter Lena Nine met three of Minneapolis’ most talented musicians (Anna Villalon, Nolan Juusola and Aaron Goar). A flash of lightning struck the earth, an angel wept, and Anything You Want was born. Their fast friendship and shared influences are palpable onstage. Their energy is infectious and electric, their sound a loving homage to American folk, British pop, and vintage psychedelia. The band released their debut album on September 13, 2025, exactly one year after their first show. Regular festival attendees may recognize Lena Nine as Lena Simon, who frequently sang on our stages with her sister Emma and her father Dean. We welcome her new band. More at anythinguwant.com
Wattle and Daub, an acoustic folk duo from northern Illinois features husband-and-wife singersongwriters Tim and Susan Mocarski. Rooted in the storytelling tradition of American folk music, the pair combines authentic vocals with guitar, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica to deliver songs that range from lighthearted and playful to thoughtful reflections on the human experience. Since forming in 2014, they have become a fixture of the Midwest folk scene, performing at festivals, coffeehouses, and folk venues across the region and even busking at the Newport Folk Festival in 2021. Their original songs—heard on their albums Struggles and Love (2017), Middle of the Road (2020), Trees in the Breeze (2023) and Patch of Blue (2025)—blend traditional influences with contemporary themes, inviting audiences not just to listen, but to sing along and share in the communal spirit of folk music. Find their music at wattledaubmusic.com.
Schwenke and Srubas have appeared on our stages separately, but this time they're joining forces. Paul Srubas is the instrumentalist of the duo and Pat Schwenke brings the vocals. Pat and Paul play a little of this and a little of that Most of their music is out of American and European folk traditions. Every now and then they’ll throw in a touch of something else. Join them for some daytime fun.
Pinolio returns to the Festival! John Guarrine’s Silent Clown will delight festival-goers with his clowning, juggling and balloon animals – all without saying a word. Look for him roaming through Mielke Park during the day.
