About this Event
Three musicians. A pile of stringed instruments. Several questionable ideas. One seriously entertaining night.
What happens when old-time American roots music takes a wrong turn down a Wisconsin back road, stops at a rummage sale, and comes home with a banjo, a strange record collection, and a slightly altered sense of reality?
You get The Driftless Revelers.
Hailing from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, this wonderfully eccentric trio mixes early blues, ragtime, jazz, hillbilly swing, bluegrass, and 1960s psychedelic folk into something entirely their own. It's virtuosic musicianship wrapped in deadpan humor, unexpected detours, and songs that sound like they were discovered in a dusty attic somewhere between 1925 and another dimension.
Think Ween meets Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, with a little Frank Zappa, the Holy Modal Rounders, and Wisconsin supper-club weirdness thrown in for good measure.
And underneath all that glorious nonsense? Three seriously accomplished musicians.
A Little Weird. A Lot of Talent.
Since hitting the road in 2021, The Driftless Revelers have shared bills with Grammy and International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning artists including Tim O'Brien, The Gibson Brothers, and Larry Stephenson, and performed alongside Big Richard, Stillhouse Junkies, Willy Tea Taylor, Joseph Huber, and The Pine Box Boys.
They've appeared at festivals including Mile of Music, Sol Grass Music Festival, Flatrock Bluegrass Jamboree, and Midsummer in the Northwoods, earning a devoted following with their infectious performances, sharp musical instincts, and hilariously unpredictable stage banter.
As Isthmus magazine put it:
“Scrappy string-based freak-folk”
And Volume One magazine summed things up nicely:
“It's a little 'out there'”
That's putting it mildly.
Meet the Culprits
Ben Nelson, Matthew R. Sayles, and Jerod Kaszynski are the musicians and songwriters behind the madness. Between them, you'll hear banjo, guitar, resonator and steel guitars, upright bass, and an assortment of other instruments that sound like they escaped from a 1930s medicine show.
Their original songs include such distinctly Midwestern masterpieces as Meat Raffle Mambo, Wisconsin Saturday Nights, and Jesus Shaves.
Their recordings include:
- American Fork Standards (2022) — An introduction to their delightfully warped musical universe.
- Live at the Slowpoke Lounge & Cabaret (2024) — Capturing their live chemistry, musical chops, and deadpan comedy.
- In the Kitchen with the Driftless Revelers (2025) — Their third album, serving up another generous helping of offbeat Americana.
Some bands are best appreciated from a distance. The Driftless Revelers are best experienced up close, where every note, wisecrack, and sideways musical adventure gets its due.
With just 45 seats, The White Lilac is the kind of intimate room where their musicianship shines, their humor lands, and nobody has to compete with a television over the bar.
Expect extraordinary picking, peculiar storytelling, unexpected musical twists, and plenty of laughter.
Come for the music. Stay for the weirdness. Leave a Reveler.
The White Lilac — Kenosha, Wisconsin
All Ages | Limited to 45 Seats
Tickets and information: whitelilackenosha.com
A Room That Listens. Even when things get a little weird.
Event venue & nearby stays
The White Lilac, 6th Avenue, Kenosha, WI, USA, United States
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