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Girls and boys, ladles & gingerbread men, it's this holiday season’s most festive fellas—Joe Craven and Stanton West! Join California-based artisan and educator, Joe Craven, along with Wisconsin's own Stanton West and a few of their favorite friends in a rollicking, holly-glazed salute of music, spoken word and theater. It’s the celebration of the season, gathering together family, friends, and frostiness as they honor a diversity of traditions while ringing out the year and bringing in the new. It certainly won't be a silent night as they fill the historic Stoughton Opera House with festive fun and lots of surprises.
Meet Joe Craven, perfomer extraordinare: Creativity educator, former museum curator, visual artist, actor/storyteller, event emcee and recipient of the 2009 Folk Alliance Far-West Performer of the Year award. Joe Craven has made music with many folks around the world such as Jerry Garcia, David Lindley Alison Brown and David Grisman. Always looking for the next expression or breath or object with which to make music, Joe Craven’s gift of gab is unprecedented and his musical knowledge is impressive. His openness and expression of gratitude for the gifts he’s been given make it all the more fun for him to share with his audience. joecraven.com
Folksinger Stanton West sees the world from the perspective of a six and a half foot tall, left-handed, freckle-faced, red-head. Realizing he would never quite fit the mold, he embraced his uniqueness, picked up a right-handed guitar and started playing it upside-down. This was his first break from creative structures and limitations. Now into his 20th year of performing, Stanton West is frequently featured on the nationally syndicated WPR show, Simply Folk. In 2015 he co-starred in a film about jug band music with Garrison Keillor from A Prairie Home Companion. He was also a guest on NPR radio show "Car Talk" and his segment was re-played as best-of-show. Stanton's newest studio album, Songbird, was produced by Joe Craven and has taken flight across the Midwest by praise from critics and fans alike.
Stanton has shared the stage with folk heroes Greg Brown, Pieta Brown, Johnsmith, Trampled by Turtles, The Lowest Pair, The Pines & Charlie Parr to name a few. He has is a regular at Shawano Folk Festival, Great River Folk Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, Boats & Bluegrass Festival, The Energy Fair, Folk Alliance International, and hundreds more venues across the US. stantonwest.net