It’s Big Thaw Time Again!
Sugar Bush performs at Unitarian Church North at the Big Thaw in April 2024
It’s our favorite time of year again: The run-up to our annual Big Thaw spring concert.
We have yet another splendid lineup of local bands to bring the crowds out to the UnitarianChurch North in Mequon on April 12. This year theshow runs from 1 to 5 p.m. and features BiscuitCreek, The Resonators, Plain Grass Folk, KRBluegrass and The MilBillies. There’s surelysomething in there for every type and stripe of bluegrass fan.
And the music is only part of the reason for coming. There will also be food and drink provided by our friends who organize the PioneerVillage Bluegrass Festival and plenty of jam sessions — so be sure to bring your instrument.
As proved to be the case last year, the Big Thaw is an ideal opportunity to reconnect with current members maybe persuade some holdouts to join. We give people who are considering a membership a little monetary incentive.
It’s $25 on April 12 to both become part of theBBMA and attend the Big Thaw. And tickets for current members cost $15. Otherwise, a general admission seat runs $20.
We’re making a lot of changes at the BBMA.Most notably at the moment, we’re giving our website an overhaul. The new design should make it easier for member bands to upload notices of their coming shows and for us to send out newsletters like this one and other timely items directly to members’ emails. Of course, we’re also looking to freshen up the site’s appearance.
We’d love to hear from you about those changes or any other we’ve made or should be making. When we see you at the Big Thaw in April, please come over and say hello. It’s always good to hear from you.
Get To Know Your BBMA Bands
Biscuit Creek
The current lineup of Biscuit Creek is (from left to right) Amanda Lutz, Andy Pagel, Mark Porter, John Packwood, Nathan Peters and Galen Hunt.
The Biscuit Creek band was officially founded in Green Bay by Mark Porter in2020 under the original name of The Packerland String Band.
But the story really began many years before in Columbia Falls, Montana, whereMark was born and raised. His fatherplayed lead guitar alongside his brother in a long-standing popular Montana country band called “Them Guys.”
Growing up, Mark would listen to Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Sr.,Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings and otherCountry singers. By the age of 12, Mark was regularly joining his father’s band on stage as a rhythm guitarist.
Following high school, he moved across the state to attend the University of Montana in Missoula. Serious about his studies, he set his guitar to the side, picking it up infrequently only to play for fun. Years later, with a degree in marketing and business management, Mark would move with some frequency, finally coming to theMidwest in 1996.
He lived in Green Bay for 18 years, then later took a job in Texas and brought his family with him to Fort Worth in 2015. It was there that he started attending bluegrass jams and first heard the mandolin. It didn’t take him long to fall in love with the “little instrument.”
Still in Texas, Mark became a volunteer forthe Dallas area Bluegrass HeritageFoundation, which had recently won anIBMA Lifetime Achievement award. The foundation sponsored The Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival and various concerts featuring stars like Del McCoury, RhondaVincent, Doyle Lawson and Ricky Scaggs.
Mark was elected to the board of directors and, partly through his position there, was eventually able to meet many of his favorite stars. Even today, although he’s back in Wisconsin, he remains on the board and serves as the social media director of the foundation.
Mark moved to the Milwaukee area in 2018and quickly began meeting other bluegrass musicians. He, like many other locals, was a frequenter of the Sunday afternoon bluegrass jam at The Gig, a barin the city’s Riverwest neighborhood.
It was also in Milwaukee that Mark founded the Goodland String Band, which would perform in the city and nearby places untilMark moved back to Green Bay in 2019.There, with the help of some advertising onCraigslist’s pages for bluegrass musicians, he started what would eventually become Biscuit Creek.
What’s more, he provided the connection to Amanda Lutz, a singer and guitar player whom he knew from his church worship team. The group was impressed by her voice, and she was immediately invited to join.
The current six-piece formation of the band came into being in 2024 with the addition of John Packwood on fiddle. Amanda’s husband Paul also runs the sound and occasionally sits in on resonator guitar.
Biscuit Creek was nominated for “Bluegrass Band of the Year” in 2024 and 2025 for a BAMMY (a music award in the Green Bay area) and now has nominations for various WAMI (WisconsinArea Music Industry) awards.
The band performs frequently, adorning the stages of Bluegrass Under The Pines, Manawa Bluegrass Bash, Ferg Fest and Sunflower Fest, among others. Its 6-person lineup packs quite the punch.
This year Bluegrass fans will be able to see the band near Milwaukee at the BBMA’s Big Thaw festival in Mequon on April 12th. It’s a great opportunity to see a band that you’re certain to find enjoyable and entertaining, as they always endeavor to: “Leave em’ smiling.”
BBMA’s History
Linda Sandersen is the emeritus member of the BBMA Board of Directors.
Back in the late 1980s, a group of bluegrass and folk musicians would gather for a monthly jam session at the home of Jim Waller, musician extraordinaire. Jim knew a lot of people around the Milwaukee area and he traveled in many different musical circles.
We’d come together with guitars, banjos, mandolins, harmonicas, an occasional bass or fiddle, as well as some European ethnic instruments. The music was mostly bluegrass, with harmonies being worked out as we sang and learned each others’ songs. It was magic!
It was good sometimes if no one was home when I called so I could just leave a message; otherwise I could end up in a very long, friendly chat. That was fun, but very time-consuming.
I began sending out a short mailing to remind people to come to jam. The group attracted an audience, too — a group of people we could presume could come to bluegrass events if they existed.
I had already begun holding a spring bluegrassFestival with local bands performing at the church on the corner of 19th and Wisconsin in downtown Milwaukee. In 1996 a group of us decided that it was time to become an official organization.
We gathered in Sandersen’s living room and elected officers. Patrick Canney became our treasurer and I was elected president. Our goal was (and is) to help bring bluegrass music to the area.
From a group of 35, we’ve grown to a membership of about 300. We now hold a monthly jam at Dr. Dawg, 6969 N. PortWashington Rd., Glendale, which attracts a good audience and has given us new members.
Our quarterly newsletter, the BBMA news, has grown from a one page listing to a regular 4-page newsletter. We have members from all over Wisconsin and a few surrounding states. Our band numbers have grown from just a handful to over 30 area bands. Life is good! Look what we started!
Recurring Events
- Every Tuesday, Bluegrass Whatevers, 7-9 p.m., Nashville North, 1216 E. Brady St., Milwaukee
- Second Wednesday of the month, Bluegrass Bangarang, 9-11 pm, The Gig, 1132 E. Wright St., Milwaukee
Open Jams
- October through May, the second Sunday of every month, 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., Dr.Dawg, 6969 N. Port Washington Road, Glendale
- Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.at the Gig in Riverwest
- First and third Wednesdays of the month, starting at 6 p.m. at Marty’s Restaurant and Fiesta Hall, 201 W. Main St., Waterford
- First and third Thursday of the month, Bluegrass jam with KR Bluegrass, Route 20Music Bar and Grill, 14001 Washington Ave., Sturtevant
Join The Badgerland Bluegrass Music Association