2024 Midsummer Musician Bios

Meet the 2024 Midsummer Musicians!

Daniel Kenneth Libby: Daniel Kenneth Libby, a Colorado native with deep midwestern roots, is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and traditional folk musician. Daniel was a founding member of the acclaimed folk duo, The Floorbirds and has appeared at the 2007 & 2008 Tanned Tin Festival in Spain, the 2008 SXSW festival in Austin, TX, and at the 2008 & 2009 Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion in TN/VA.

Raised in blue-collar working class family in Minnesota, he was later involved in the vibrant Dinkytown, West Bank, and Northeast folk music scenes. Daniel currently resides in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and is performing solo, as well as with The Firesides and the High Street Revelers.

Daniel’s music is featured in the films Cowboys: A Documentary Portrait, and A Short Distance, a film about the Tanned Tin Music Festival. Daniel’s music was also featured in an award-winning series of commercials for Cavender's.

Doug Brown/ Maureen McCarty Duo: Doug Brown and Maureen McCarty have performed together at American Players Theatre since the early years of the theatre, when there were live musicians on staff. Both continue playing and teaching in the Madison area and beyond.

KG & The Ranger: Celebrating 35 years performing Classic Cowboy Music together, KG & The Ranger continue their mission to keep vintage cowboy songs alive!

"They sing with charm and style, yodel spectacularly, choose great material" (Ranger Doug, Riders in the Sky). Awarded "Outstanding Entertainer-Duo" by the Western Music Association, and three-time harmony yodeling champions, they will take you on a musical journey back to the days of the Silver Screen heroes like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers. KG & The Ranger will bring back memories - but also make you feel that you are hearing these songs for the first time!

Mark Browning Milner: Mark Browning Milner is a pop-jazz-rock-oldtime-r&b-blues-folk-American-songbook singer-guitarist-bon vivant who takes classy and mellow songs from the 20s through the 70s and makes them his own. His repertoire includes material from Arthur Godfrey, Leonard Cohen, Bing Crosby,
Taj Mahal, The Beatles, Rodgers & Hart, Dean Martin, Nick Lowe, Frank Sinatra, The Smothers Brothers, Peggy Lee, The Doors, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Buffett, Guy Lombardo, Steely Dan, Peter, Paul & Mary, The Gershwin Brothers, Don McLean, Homer & Jethro, Little Feat, Rickie Lee Jones, The Weavers, Howlin’ Wolf, Louis Armstrong, The Grateful Dead, Irving Berlin, Joni Mitchell, Bobby Dylan, Bobby Darin, Bobby Troup, Bobby Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, and Britney Spears. (And Groucho Marx - no kidding!). When MBM hits the stage, anything can happen. Come see for yourself.

Nath Dresser: Nath Dresser has been writing songs and performing since back when he lived in the Carolinas. For the past twenty-some years he’s been living in Wisconsin, playing in venues ranging from cafes and house concerts to the Sh*tty Barn, a summer music venue in Spring Green. Nath’s original works are mostly finger-picked story-songs in the folk or Americana vein; he also covers tunes by songwriters such as Richard Thompson, David Olney, and Warren Zevon. These days he lives in Spring Green with his wife, son, and three cats. You can learn more about his work as both a singer-songwriter and photographer at www.nathdresser.com.

Paul and Doug: Paul Bentzen and Doug Lloyd have been making music together for over twenty years. They play a combination of traditional and modern bluegrass, old-time country, and old string band tunes from the Southern mountains. With Paul on 5-string banjo and vocals and Doug on guitar, they strive to keep alive that fine old summer tradition of front porch pickin' and singin'.

Still Strummin': John Haarbauer, Ned Hodgson and Mark Hubanks make up the group Still Strummin'. Their music is acoustic folk-rock, covering songs from the '60s and '70s.

The Firesides: The Firesides perform a variety of Appalachian & Midwestern instrumentals, cowboy and ragtime songs and originals. Meghan and Daniel, who live in Mineral Point, play for barn dances, libraries, senior centers, coffee shops, private parties or any other type of performance across southwestern WI. They love being a small part of keeping these musical traditions alive and passed down.

Tom Waselchuk: Tom Waselchuk is a veteran performer who draws on years of experience in multiple genres. His solo guitar work includes jazz and swing standards and improvisations on folk and pop songs. As a vocalist he covers material from country, jazz, folk, bluegrass, blues, Americana, and original songs. Tom traveled nationally and internationally with the Gypsy swing ensemble Harmonious Wail (2001-2011), leads the MAMA award-winning band The Dang-Its, and co-founded his new group, The Honey Pies, in 2017.

Westerlies: Mike Crossley, Charlene Adzima, and Bob Newton are three-quarters of a quartet called West Wind; as duos or trios, they are The Westerlies. Featuring Charlene Adzima on fiddle and vocals; Mike Crossley on flute, tenor banjo, and Irish pipes; and Bob Newton on octave mandola and mandocello. They have been playing traditional Irish music together for years.