Join us for a special night of jazz and some banned songs as part of Spring Green Lit Fest and their theme of banned books. They'll be playing a mix of jazz standards, fusion and some of their own jazzy interpretations of rock and even disco. There will also be some special guests to keep things interesting. All in the friendly confines of the Slowpoke Lounge with their great staff and tasty beverages. Hope to see you there!

Jambidextrous is a 5 piece jazz group of recent vintage, but comprised of 5 veteran musicians from the Spring Green area.  A history of jazz is presented from the original masters of Count Basie, Miles, Monk, Coltrane... through the progressive jazz, funk, and rock  era of Herbie Hancock, Traffic and Santana.  The group is led by keyboardist, Ted Frank, a 45 year jazz-rock performer and alumnus of the 1978 UW Madison jazz ensemble led by Richard Davis, with Rob Steffen-drums, Aaron Simays-tenor sax, Dave Saperstein-Bass, and Mark Perry - percussion.   

No cover, but tips for the performers are welcome and encouraged

The Honey Pies is an exciting collaboration of Madison-based music veterans. Jodi Jean Amble made a major splash in the Chicago scene fronting her eponymous band—nominally jazz, but equally at home with, pop, country, and more—and as a member of the highly eclectic ensemble Jenny Dragon. Tom Waselchuk leads the MAMA Award-winning Americana band The Dang-Its and has performed for more than twenty years in a free-swinging guitar duo with multi-instrumentalist Doug Brown. Doug has long been among the most in-demand freelance sidemen on the Madison music scene in a variety of genres, as well as being a band-leader, composer, and arranger. Matt Rodgers is among southern Wisconsin’s busiest bass players, equally at home in most any style of music. 

Tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door

Drag Bingo Event to Benefit River Valley ARTS

Have fun and raise money for one of River Valley's most impactful organizations, River Valley ARTS. Over the years River Valley ARTS has granted well over $200,000 to local organizations, schools, and artists, providing funding for countless concerts, art exhibitions, classes, and other performances throughout our community.

On October 10th, there will be a Drag Bingo Fundraiser for River Valley ARTS at the Slowpoke Lounge and Cabaret in Spring Green. The event, hosted by Cynthia Mooseknuckle, will be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy an evening with your friends and neighbors while raising money for arts and culture programs in the River Valley area.

Details: The evening begins at 7pm and will feature five rounds of bingo and a drag performance by Cynthia Mooseknuckle. The price is $20 per person and includes one bingo card. Additional bingo cards can be purchased for $5 each. Drag Bingo tickets can be purchased at www.RiverValleyARTS.org.

In addition, there will also be a raffle with prizes generously donated from local businesses and artists. Tickets for the raffle are $5 each or 5/$20 and will be available day of event.

Proceeds from Drag Bingo and the raffle will go directly to River Valley ARTS.

For more information email contact@rivervalleyarts.org.

Featuring Brenda Cardenas, the current Wisconsin Poet Laureate and James Roberts, celebrated poet and member of the leadership team for the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. The program will showcase banned poetry through time.  They will be joined by American Players Theatre actors Alys Dickerson, David Daniel and Rasell Holt. Together they will take you through a history of poems that have faced banning attempts, including Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem in 2021 and the poetry of today.

This event is the first in a series as part of the Community Read during the month of October that is sponsored by the Spring Green Literary Festival.  This year’s theme is Banned Books.  Doors and the bar open at 6:00 PM. The event is free.

The Community Read is made possible by funds provided by River Valley Arts and the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Slapdash Bluegrass is an old time, country, and bluegrass band that weaves melodic picking with tight vocal harmony. The band plays original music, traditional old time and bluegrass tunes, and folk and country covers. From festival stages to dive bars to fellowship halls, Slapdash Bluegrass draws a crowd with foot-stomping, finger-blazing barn burners, and keeps a crowd with nuanced writing and charm.

$12 in advance / $15 at the door

Join us as Violet Palms celebrates the release of their newest album!

Violet Palms combines early 2000s nostalgia and modern influences to create tight, direct rock music that is honest, occasionally goofy, and - because they can't help themselves - funky.

Birthed from late night songwriting sessions between two longtime friends, the power of the dimly-lit kitchen table inspired Marcus Truschinski and Ben Feiner to share their music with friends, who were naturally added to complement the sound. Long time local music maker and engineer, Michael Mertens hopped back on the kit after years of playing guitar and Tim Gittings, actor and advocate, brought the funk on bass. Craig Benzine, Driftless Pony Club singer/guitarist, YouTube star and Marcus’s best friend from elementary school completed the band by playing off of Ben’s chugging guitar work to create a synchronized and dueling attack.

Pay what you choose. Suggested $10 at the door.

Christo Ruppenthal is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist whose professional music career started in 2003.  He presents a unique mixture of Jazz / Vaudeville era novelty infused hot steel guitar and ukulele playing from the 1920s and 30s "Hawaiian Craze" as well as the swinging sounds of Django Reinhardt’s 1930s and 40s guitar-driven Hot Club jazz. Think “Hot Hawaiian guitar meets Jazz à la Django!” Christo is an avid recording artist and performer with thousands of gigs both across the U.S. and internationally to his credit.

Much of his Novelty Combo's repertoire comes from Christo's “Antique Aloha” series of solo recordings and his all original "Café Alongé" release. They also showcase a wide variety of exciting guitar and steel guitar centered jazz standards. They present that repertoire in high-energy eclectic shows. 

Tickets $12 in advance/$15 at the door

If Automatic Lover is a concept band, the concept is simple: bring together a lifetime of inspiration to make music that moves.

It’s a sound that can change on a dime. Like pulling from a wall full of vinyl, the band slides from deep groove to backbeat, from driving rock to soca, to find music that revels in surprises.

Page through their influences and you’ll hear strands of the Budos Band and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Khruangbin and Deep Sea Diver. They can be as electric as early Police, as funked out as the Brand New Heavies, and as joyful as Manu Chao.  

Tickets $12 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.

Founded in 2014, the Bill Roberts Combo brings a tight, nuanced, and rhythmically powerful presentation to blues-jazz unlike anything you've heard before. Bill Roberts has been voted best electric guitarist in the Madison area, and his award-winning album Blues Rides Shotgun has received critical claim as best blues album of the year. Backing Bill is a band of veteran players who have performed nationally and internationally in such places as France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, and elsewhere. BRC delivers grace, subtlety, power and passion in their unique and mesmerizing take on the jazz-blues tradition every time they take the stage.

Roscoe Foster is an American blues and blues rock singer from Minneapolis whose deep melodies and thrilling intensity transcend boundaries and enthrall audiences. In the music business, Foster has made a name for himself with his distinctive fusion of modern rock and traditional blues.

$12 in advance/$15 at the door

Every diva has a story; Barbara was discovered singing in Greenwich Village, Audrey stole the show in Monte Carlo Baby, even Beyoncé use to sing at church fundraisers in the 3rd Ward of Houston, TX. But Regina Thorne-DuBois? That her-story has been deeply classified…until now! Slowpoke Lounge presents [REDACTED] to Regina, the Tale of Drag Queen. Learn all about how the Broadway Beauty of Texas took to the stage, the people who shaped her into who she is now, and [this information has been redacted to protect the innocent]. A jukebox musical in two acts, come enjoy an evening of laughter, heart, and confidential secrets revealed!

Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door

Slowpoke is excited to welcome Rianna Marie and her band. Rianna is based in Madison, WI. Throughout her years of writing she’s been inspired by artists like James Taylor, Lori Mckenna, Norah Jones, Carole King, and Tyler Childers. Fiddle crying & banjo picking accompany her strong sense of lyricism. With folk roots and western branches, she creates a forest of songs and stories.

We'll start our evening off with the Spine Stealers. The Spine Stealers are a two-gal duo making “spooky folk” influenced by the north-wood Wisconsin pines, 24/7 truck stop diners, heartbreak and dark lakes.

Tickets $12 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.

The Stop and Listen bring old-time music to the modern era with grit, drive, and radiant harmonies. Together they play hot-old time fiddle tunes, jug band blues songs, and the occasional early country song or bluegrass standard. Known for their contemporary take music by classic string bands like the Mississippi Sheiks (where they got their name), the Skillet Lickers, and Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers, The Stop and Listen brings their high energy to the low fidelity. Stop, listen, and let‘er rip! 

We’ll begin our evening with Boo Mularkey

The amazing one-human jug band show featuring goodtime, oldtime, ragtime, blues & Cajun tunes on an ensemble of steel guitar, kazoo, a suitcase for a drum and washboard. Boo colors his songs with a rich homegrown flavor that just can’t be manufactured!Tickets $12 in advance/$15 at the door

Join us once a month on Sundays (and occasional Mondays) as we screen a movie selected by the River Valley Film Club. Movie titles remain under wraps until showtime, so follow RVFC on Facebook for details.

For more information, come down to Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret, and we might just let you in on our secret.

Come 30 minutes before showtime to grab a drink and meet fellow movie-lovers. Bring your own popcorn (or dinner).    

The River Valley Film Club was founded in 2023 by Spring Green residents David Eisenberg and Sam Van Hallgren to promote and program film screenings in the River Valley Area of Southwest WI and to create a network of River Valley film lovers.

The Moon Gypsies officially became a band in 1998 when Robert J. Conaway (known by most as Robert J) joined forces with bassist/vocalist, Mary Gaines, and multi-instrumentalist, Chris Wagoner at the end of their almost decade-long run with partner, Asa Miura, in The Common Faces.  Drummer, Mauro Magellan (of Georgia Satellites fame) rounded out the original lineup of the Moon Gypsies. The Moon Gypsies released three recordings from ’98 until 2008.  Their first release, “The Moon Gypsies” featured Mary singing Robert J’s song, “A Million Miles Away” which won 1st place in the Billboard Magazine Songwriting Contest followed by “jumping in the band van” and hitting the road—playing venues all over the country and opening for a long list of top bills including Taj Mahal, The Subdudes, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Delbert McClinton, Keb Mo, Dr. John and others.   

Veteran Midwest musicians, Robert J, Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines are all Music Notes Lifetime Achievement award winners along with multiple WAMI’s (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) and MAMA’s (Madison Area Music Awards).  Reunited after years of other projects (Robert J’s “Rowdy Prairie Dogs” and Chris & Mary’s various groups—Bob Westfall Band, Graminy, The Stellanovas), the original lineup of the The Moon Gypsies is back at it with Mauro Magellan on the drums, bringing a full blown bluesy Americana vibe to all their shows!

Tickets $15 in advance/$20 at the door