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  • Tent Show Radio
  • Gala
  • Tickets
    • 2020 Season Update
    • COVID-19 Message/ticket page
    • BCO+PASS Performances
    • Online Ticket Ordering Help >
      • Help | Tickets | New Patron Account
      • Help | Tickets | Blue Canvas Club
      • Help | Tickets | Error 403
  • About
    • VIRTUAL CHOIR
    • Venue Info >
      • Plan Your Visit
      • Schedule
      • Free Shuttle
      • Seating Chart
      • Ashwabay Bar & Grill
      • Group Tours
      • Future Planning
      • News Blog
    • Blue Canvas Orchestra >
      • Meet the BCO
      • BCO Show Discounts
    • 2021 Earth Day
    • Contact Us >
      • Contact Us
      • Eblast Sign-up
      • Jobs and Internships
  • Support
    • YEAR END GIVING
    • #GivingTuesday
    • Donate Now
    • Blue Canvas Club
    • Heritage Society
    • The KEEPERS
    • Show Sponsorship
    • Advertising Opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • Supporting Businesses
  • Gift Shop
    • Gift Cards and Passes
    • CDs, DVDs, & Books
    • Apparel
    • Souvenirs
    • SALE!
    • Frequent Questions
  • Tiny Tent Show
  • Tent Show Radio

Tent Show Radio

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First broadcast in 1994, Tent Show Radio is a one-hour weekly radio  program created from the best live recordings from acclaimed musical acts who grace the Big Top Chautauqua stage each summer in beautiful Bayfield, WI.  During intermission, host Michael Perry spins a story “from the backstage dressing room, with the one lonely little light bulb burning."  Topics range from Mike’s battles with trees, to the behavior of rogue chickens, to the search for hope while stoking a wood stove in the darkness. ​ Running 52 weeks a year, Tent Show Radio is broadcast on 31 listener supported radio stations across 6 states and on most podcast streaming platforms. "Tent Show Radio" is also available for streaming at www.tentshowradio.org.e.

Tent Show Radio is independently produced by Big Top Chautauqua and is made available around the country at no cost to public radio stations and around the world to listeners on Google Play, iHeartRadio, iPhone/iPad App, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio.

Latest Tent Show Radio Episode:   The Best of The Sam Bush Band

If joy were a person, he’d bring both peace and frenzy. He’d be full of music, light, and energy that soothes even as it stirs us up. Eyes closed, wire-rim glasses in place, mandolin pressed against his ribs, joy would be Sam Bush on a stage (info from @sambush). 

For this week's Tent Show Radio episode, we bring to you The Best of The Sam Bush Band.  Live from Big Top Chautauqua, this show consists of two acts recorded in July of 2002 and 2006.  Sam Bush is an American Mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music.  He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, a Grammy Nominee and was elected the Mandolin Player of the Year four times in '90, '91, '92 and '07.  Notably, Sam Bush was also voted in as the "Father of Newgrass" by the state of Kentucky in 2010.  Sit Back and enjoy this hour or Tent Show Radio with us!

Next Tent Show Radio Episode, Release date 1/23:   Ruthie Foster 

From houses of worship to houses of blues, Ruthie Foster has always been a rafter-rattler. And with a soul-filled voice honed in Texas churches, she can move audiences to tears or ecstasy – sometimes in a single song. Her two albums, 2009’s The Truth According to Ruthie Foster and 2012’s Let It Burn, moved the Recording Academy to deliver Best Blues Album Grammy nominations. Her latest release, Promise of a Brand New Day on Blue Corn Music, earned her a third Grammy nod in 2015. Ruthie performed at the Big Top, almost blowing the roof off the tent with her amazingly soulful voice and blues artistry.   This episode was recorded on June 24th in both 2011 and 2012. ​

Past Episodes


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For an archive of shows dating back to 2011, please visit the Public Radio Exchange:  HERE
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Who has played on Tent Show Radio?

Bill Monroe                                                        Johnny Cash                      Luther Alison    
Yonder Mountain String Band                         Shooter Jennings              Suzanne Vega
Joan Baez                                                          Steve Earle                         Sarah Watkins
Bonnie Raitt                                                      Gaelic Storm                      Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Garrison Keillor                                                 Bill Miller                            Avett Brothers
Greg Brown                                                       Great Big Sea                     June Carter Cash
Chad Mitchell Trio                                            Willie Nelson                      Smother Brothers
Oak Ridge Boys                                                Nanci Griffith                      Arlo Guthrie
Merle Haggard                                                  Taj Mahal                            Kathy Mattea
Judy Collins                                                       Shawn Colvin                     Richie Havens
B.B. King                                                            Brandi Carlilse                     Tommy Sands                   
Los Lonely Boys                                                Keb’ Mo’                             Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Howard Levy                                                     Chris Isaak                          Pert Near Sandstone
Horseshoes & Hand Grenades                        Todd Snider                        Michael Franti
Buffy Sainte-Marie                                           The Bodeans                      Home Free
Jonny Lang                                                        Rusted Root                       The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Lyle Lovett                                                         Ricky Skaggs                       Don McLean …and many more!
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The Host

Each week Wisconsin’s own award-winning and New York Times bestselling author, humorist Michael Perry takes listeners Backstage at the Big Top. Michael Perry is the author of the bestselling memoir “Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time,” and the essay collection “Off Main Street.” Perry writes a weekly column for and has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Backpacker, Orion, and Salon.com. His essays have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered and Michael Perry is also a contributing editor to Men’s Health.

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Our Mission Statement

Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua provides entertaining and educational cultural activities with an emphasis on  performances that celebrate history and the environment.
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Our primary strategies to accomplish our mission are:
  • Producing original historical musical theater
  • Presenting internationally acclaimed artists
  • Showcasing local and regional performers
  • Producing Tent Show Radio – radio network program
  • Promoting & presenting BTC performances on tour
  • Conducting arts and education outreach programs
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Past Performers (click to expand)

​Big Top Chautauqua has presented over 30 years of outstanding performances! ​Here are just some of the artists who have performed at the Big Top:

Abigail Washburn
America
American Indian Dance Theatre
Amy Helm
Arlo Guthrie
Asleep at the Wheel
Avett Brothers
B.B. King
BeauSoleil Avec Michael Doucet
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Bill Miller
Bill Monroe
Blind Boys of Alabama
Blue Canvas Orchestra
BoDeans
Bonny Raitt
Brandi Carlile
Bruce Cockburn
Brulé & AIRO
Capitol Steps
Carmel Quinn
Chad Mitchell Trio
Chris Thile
Cloud Cult
Corey Carlson
Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues
Cory Chisel
Cowboy Junkies
Cubanismo
Dailey and Vincent
Dar Williams
Dave Mason
David Bromberg & Angel Band
David Grisman Quintet
Del McCoury Band
Della Mae
Different Drums of Ireland
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Doc Watson
Don McLean
Don Williams
Duluth-Superior Chamber Orchestra
Earl Scruggs
Elephant Revival
Emmy Lou Harris & The Nash Ramblers
Freddy Fender
G. Love & Special Sauce
Gaelic Storm
Gale LaJoye
Garnet Rogers
Garrison Keillor
Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie
Glen Cambell
Glenn Yarbrough
Gordon Lightfoot
Gov’t Mule
Great Big Sea
Greensky Bluegrass
Greg Brown
Helen Reddy
Home Free
Hot Rize
Howard Levy
Indigo Girls
Ira Glass
Iris DeMent
Jason Isbell
Jeff Daniels
Jesse Cook
Jim and Jesse & The Virginia Boys
Jim Belushi
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Joan Baez
Joan Osborne
John Gorka
John Hartford
John Hiatt
John McCutcheon
John McEuen
John Prine
John Sebastian
John Stewart
Johnny Cash
Jonathan Edwards
Jonny Lang
Judy Collins
June Carter-Cash
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Kathy Mattea
Keb’ Mo’
Kenny Rogers
Kenny Wayne Sheperd
Kingston Trio
Koerner, Glover & Ray
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Larry Long
Leahy
Lee Murdock
Leftover Salmon
Leo Kottke
Leon Redbone
Leon Russell
Lettermen
Little Feat
Loretta Lynn
Lorie Line
Los Lonely Boys
Lost Nation String Band
Loudon Wainwright III
Lucinda Williams
Lucy Kaplansky
Lura
Luther Allison
Lyle Lovett
Marshall Tucker Band
Martin Sexton
Mason Jennings
Mason Williams
Maura O’Connell
Mavis Staples
Melissa Ethridge
Merle Haggard
Michael Cooney
Michael Feldman
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Michael Johnson
Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Perry
Michael Smith
Minneapolis Gospel
Molly & The Haymakers
Mountain Heart
Myron Floren
Nahko and Medicine for the People
Nanci Griffith
Natalie MacMaster
National Shakespeare Co.
New Christy Minstrels
Nickel Creek
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nnenna Freelon
Oak Ridge Boys
Pam Tillis
Patty Griffin
Patty Larkin
Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans
Paula Poundstone
Perla Batalla
Peter Frampton
Peter Ostroushko & The Mando Boys
Peter Rowan
Peter Yarrow
Phillip Brunelle
R. Carlos Nakai
Radoslov Lorkovic
Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
Randy Sabien & The Fiddlehead Band
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage
Rich Little
Richie Havens
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Riders In the Sky
Rio Nido
Robert Bly
Robert Cray Band
Robert Mirabal
Robert Randolph
Robin & Linda Williams
Ronny Cox
Rory Block
Roy Clark
Rusted Root
Sam Bush
Sara Watkins
Second City National Touring Company
Shawn Colvin
Shooter Jennings
Siegel Schwall Band
Sierra Hull
Smothers Brothers
Sons of Never Wrong
Steve Earle
Suzanne Vega
Tab Benoit
Taj Mahal
Terrance Simien
The Beach Boys
The Charlie Daniels Band
The High Kings
The Mavericks
The Mills Brothers
The Quebe Sister
The Whites
Three Dog Night
Three Redneck Tenors
Tish Hinojosa
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Todd Snider
Tom Paxton
Tomás Kubinek
Tommy Emmanuel
Tommy Sands
Tony Rice
Tony Truschka Band
Trampled By Turtles
Tuck & Patti
Ulali
Vassar Clements
Vic Ferrari
Vince Gill
Wailin’ Jennys
Warren Nelson
Whad’ Ya Know?
Williams & Ree
Willie Nelson
Willy Porter
Yonder Mountain String Band
Ziggy Marley
Our own unique brand of shows feature songs and stories performed by Big Top’s Blue Canvas Orchestra and Singers. Together with a multitude of talented guest artists, our original productions bear the hallmark of exquisite musicianship illustrated by big-screen visuals. In addition to performances at Big Top, the Blue Canvas Orchestra tours throughout the region.
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Big Top also produces the nationally-broadcast radio show “Tent Show Radio” heard on  Wisconsin Public Radio and other listener-supported stations. This weekly one hour program relives the highlights of shows from the previous season at the Big Top stage. It is online and aired on public radio stations throughout the country with its host, Michael Perry. During intermission of each show, Mike spins a story “from the backstage dressing room, with the one lonely little light bulb burning.” Topics range from Mike’s battles with trees, to the behavior of rogue chickens, to the search for hope while stoking a wood stove in the darkness.​ "Tent Show Radio" is also available for streaming at www.tentshowradio.org.

Support big top chautauqua

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Site Map
Main Box Office:
101 W Bayfield St
PO Box 455
Washburn, WI 54891

Tent Venue:
32525 Ski Hill Rd
3 miles South of Bayfield at
​Mt Ashwabay Ski & Recreation Area
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715-373-5552     888-BIG-TENT     info@bigtop.org