Tent Show Radio

Tent Show Radio

First broadcast in 1994, Tent Show Radio, hosted New York Times best-selling author Michael Perry, is a weekly one-hour radio program showcasing the best live recordings from acclaimed music acts and entertainers who grace the Big Top Chautauqua stage each summer in beautiful Bayfield, WI.

Episodes

June 9, 2023 59 mins
Since 2002 the combined talents of Jim Curry and his band have brought John Denver's Music back to thousands upon thousands of people. As a life-long fan, Curry has dedicated himself to continuing John Denver’s legacy of songs and his message of love and caring for our planet to future generations. Take Me Home: The Music of John Denver is the ultimate tribute experience. Curry's heartfelt delivery envelops the crowd as multi-...

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Edgy. Classic. Country. A defining voice of music and a modern-day legend, GRAMMY award winner, Tanya Tucker is known for some of country music’s biggest hits such as" "Soon," "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane," "It's a Little Too Late," "Trouble," "Texas (When I Die)," "If It Don't Come Easy" and "Strong Enough To Bend." Since the auspicious start of her career at the age of 13 when she released the classic county hit, "Delta Dawn" in ...

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May 27, 2023 59 mins

Oklahoma City brothers Lil' Mike and Funny Bone, together known as Mike Bone, travel the world as motivational speakers, dancers, and rappers. Though both brothers stand a little over 4 feet tall, what they lack in height they more than make up for with their talent and determination. Through their powerful & inspiring music the Pawnee nation brothers strive to be positive influences for youth, promoting that a positive attitude an...

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May 20, 2023 59 mins

Warren Nelson began his entertainment career playing folk music with various groups he had formed in his hometown of Fairmont, MN in the early 1960's. His first professional experience came when his my group Nellie’s Folk played a 10-week stand in the Burning Hills Amphitheater in Medora, ND. In 1968, as they became more and more successful the group's name was changed to The 10th Story Window. The folk group performed pop tunes of...

May 20, 2023 59 mins

Minnesota’s Cloud Cult has a rich eleven-album history of bucking the mainstream music industry in favor of independently releasing music via their environmentally conscious record label Earthology Records. Hailed as one of the Top 10 Green Bands by Rolling Stone, the band’s philosophical lyrics and alternative-orchestral-folk-rock sound has been lauded by critics as "insane genius" (Pitchfork) and "an invocation of the lifeforce" ...

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May 5, 2023 59 mins

If you’re “fishing” for a good time and want to “reel” with “lunker” laughs, this knee slappin’ musical written by Warren Nelson is sure to do the trick. Energetic musical numbers, hearty fishing songs, mirthful interludes, and classic bits and skits makeup Big Top Chautauqua's musical comedy revue Riverpants. Returning to the tent in 2022 after more than a decade, stars of the Blue Canvas Orchestra delighted audiences in this belo...

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April 28, 2023 59 mins

Born of the stark beauty and bittersweet desolation of the high desert, California trio Heavy Gus blurs the lines between grungy garage band fare, hazy surf, and dreamy indie rock on their captivating full-length debut, Notions. Bristling with live-wire electricity, the collection is lean and spare, fueled by distorted guitars and a driving rhythm section, and the performances are loose and organic to match, captured spontaneously ...

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April 21, 2023 59 mins

Created and Produced by Donnie Kehr, best known for his originated roles in Broadway's Jersey Boys and Billy Elliot, The Greatest Piano Men is an electrifying production that celebrates the world’s greatest piano icons and showmen in music history - from the 50s and 60s hits of Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Ray Charles to the 70s and 80s hits of Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Billy Joel - and even the legendary works of Beet...

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April 14, 2023 59 mins

For more than 30 years, rust belt blues shouter and guitar slinger Larry McCray's greatness has been hiding in plain sight. A native of Magnolia, Arkansas, Larry McCray discovered his love of music at a young age through his sister Clara, who introduced him to the guitar and the transformative music of Blues legends like B.B. King. After moving to Michigan at 12, he spent his teen years harnessing his guitar skills, adding rock rif...

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Led by Molly Otis & Ed Willet, the Blue Canvas Orchestra take on the work of John Prine and Nanci Griffith in this Big Top original show. John Prine and Nanci Griffith were both humble masters of the story. They dug deep into the places where we were afraid to go. Emotional depth, keen observations and wry humor brought their music to life and hit an emotional bone. These are the writers who gave us “Angel from Montgomery,” “Sam St...

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March 30, 2023 59 mins

Enjoy a nostalgic trip back in time as Joyann Parker beautifully weaves the stories of Patsy Cline’s life and career in and out of the music you know and love. In this powerful tribute performance, Parker and her seasoned band showcase the most popular and best loved of Pasty’s songs. Vintage costumes and ambiance enhance Joyann’s uncanny and authentic channeling of Cline’s classic vocals. Hear Patsy’s iconic songs like “Crazy,” “W...

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March 23, 2023 59 mins

The Foxgloves are an all-female Americana band from the Twin Cities featuring Maura Dunst (Vocals/Fiddles/Mandolin), Liz DeYoe (Guitar), Steph Snow (Vocals/Ukulele/Banjo), Nikki Lemire (Vocals/Harp), Sara Tinklenberg (Vocals/Percussion), and Nyssa Krause (Bass). With songs you won’t be able to stop humming. Their engaging presence, rich instrumentation, compelling storytelling songwriting, four-part harmonies, and creatively reimag...

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March 21, 2023 59 mins

It’s hard to imagine Gaelic Storm coming into its own after 20 years of success, but that’s precisely what makes the group a true anomaly. Founded in 1996, the band’s first major career breakthrough arrived before they had even recorded their first album. Appearing as the "steerage band" entertaining passengers with “An Irish Party in Third Class” in James Cameron's massive 1997 blockbuster Titanic, G...

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March 21, 2023 59 mins

Grammy Award Nominee, Songwriter Hall of Fame Member, and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Don Mclean hit the road to celebrate 50 years since the release of one of the most iconic songs and albums of all time. Since the eight-and-a-half-minute ballad “American Pie” hit number #1 on the billboard charts in 1971, the song has since been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording ...

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March 4, 2023 59 mins

No instruments. No tracks. No fillers. Praised by the likes of American Songwriter, Billboard, and Rolling Stone, award winning a cappella sensation Home Free return for their third appearance on the Big Top stage this September. Their high-energy and electrifying performances fuse Nashville standards with country-dipped pop hits, resulting in a truly unique and incredible sound. Declared “Country Mus...

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February 24, 2023 59 mins

In an evening reminiscent of the VH1 Storytellers television series, Tent Show Radio host Michael Perry is joined onstage by his longtime bandmate and sometimes personal pilot Evan Middlesworth and additional special guests. In addition to the side-splitting laughs and fresh stories fans have come to expect from Perry, he and Middlesworth will perform stripped-down versions of several songs from Perry...

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February 17, 2023 59 mins

Regarded as one of the “most historically significant acts in the history of American music” by Billboard magazine, the GRAMMY award-winning quartet of Ranger Doug, Woody Paul, Too Slim, and Joey the Cowpolka King, have kept the heritage of Western music alive as they have entertained audiences across the world for more than 40 years. Riders In The Sky kick off each performance with their trademark gr...

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February 11, 2023 59 mins

While sitting through COVID lockdowns Chris Castino of Minnesota-based rock'n'roll jam band The Big Wu teamed up with Milwaukee-based bluegrass band Chicken Wire Empire to reimagine some of his catalog into impeccably fitting bluegrass tunes. These songs were transformed and resulted in their collaborative album Fresh Pickles. Fresh Pickles is just the beginning of a heartfelt and fulfilling voyage into bluegrass— it features stomp...

February 4, 2023 59 mins

Take a classic rock song, add Big Top Chautauqua's famed house band the Blue Canvas Orchestra, and the result is something that is sure to move an audience. Led by Molly Otis & Ed Willett, Pickin' on Rock debuted at the tent in the summer of 2022 and immediately became an audience favorite. In this rousing show, classic rock songs are interpreted into the bluegrass and alternative string stylings of the Blue Canvas Orchestra. From ...

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January 27, 2023 59 mins

This week on Tent Show Radio, enjoy a high-voltage hour featuring the rough-neck poetics of troubadour Steve Earle and The Dukes. He has run a lot of roads and run ragged, but the singer-songwriter has never run out of things to say or songs to sing. Over the course of twenty studio albums, Earle has distinguished himself as a master storyteller, and his songs have been recorded by a vast array of artists, including Johnny Cash, Wa...

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