Fox Crossing Stringband & Soggy Prairie

 

Fox Crossing Stringband, four women from Chicago that know their brand and don’t shy away from it. They have that charming blend of sweet and strong that draws you in but demands respect. ~ JUNE REEDY, GRATEFUL WEB 2018

This all-female bluegrass group from Chicago has been winning hearts with their beautiful harmonies, original songwriting, and entertaining stage presence ever since forming in November 2016.

Following their debut performance at Winter Roots Festival in February 2017, they’ve gone on to perform at many festivals and events across the Midwest. Traveling east to the John Hartford Memorial Festival, west to Dawn and On Festival in the Quad Cities, north to Door County, and everything in-between. Performing events such as IBMA award-winning Frankfort Bluegrass Festival, Summer Stomp, Shoefest, WanderDown Music Festival, Dawn & On, East Troy Bluegrass Festival, Ladies of Bluegrass Festival, The Illinois State Fair, American Music Festival, and more. They have performed on the WGNTV Morning Show, WGN Roe Conn Radio show, as well as at venues such as the Fitzgerald’s, Schubas, Martyrs, Evanston SPACE, City Winery and Navy Pier.

With their debut album “Box of Memories“ released in February 2019, these Foxes are on the run and coming to a town near you!

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Soggy Prairie has the five-piece instrumentation of a traditional bluegrass band, but don’t call them traditional. With a mix of bluegrass standards, modern takes on country and Americana, and original music, Soggy Prairie puts on a show that demonstrates the versatility and broad appeal of string music.

Formed in 2002 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, the band has developed a confident, high-energy sound and an enthusiastic following. Starting out as high schoolers too young to go to bluegrass jams in bars, they came up with their own interpretations of bluegrass classics. Since then, they’ve become a mainstay of the southern Wisconsin bluegrass scene, playing close to a hundred shows per year at festivals, concerts, fairs and bars.

Originally known as the Soggy Prairie Boys, the band dropped the “boys” from its name with the addition of women on fiddle and banjo in today’s lineup. Kodey Feiner (lead vocals, guitar) commands the stage with a powerful tenor and wry banter. Jim Kvalheim (mandolin, backing vocals) is an animated picker who may or may not have a giant beard at any given time. The Bass Player (bass, backing vocals) provides driving bass and infectious energy. Erin “the Conductor” Barnard (fiddle, vocals) is distinguished as the only member of the band with classical music training, educating other members about advanced concepts like “notes” and “being in tune.” Newest member Emily Jones (banjo) plays Scruggs-style banjo and has heard all your jokes. They’re still bringing the noise, only now with fewer boys.