A modern-day barn raising brings music to Driftless Music Gardens
Clip | 4m 27sVideo has Closed Captions
A farm-turned-venue fosters a vibrant music scene with the help of its local community.
Nestled in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, Crickett Lochner’s sixth-generation farm is now a bucolic haven for summer music festivals. Festivalgoers camp under the stars and dance the night away. The community built a permanent stage — a modern-day barn raising — to cement the farm’s place in the region’s musical heritage.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Wisconsin Life is a local public television program presented by PBS Wisconsin
Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, Obrodovich Family Foundation, Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW...
A modern-day barn raising brings music to Driftless Music Gardens
Clip | 4m 27sVideo has Closed Captions
Nestled in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, Crickett Lochner’s sixth-generation farm is now a bucolic haven for summer music festivals. Festivalgoers camp under the stars and dance the night away. The community built a permanent stage — a modern-day barn raising — to cement the farm’s place in the region’s musical heritage.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Wisconsin Life
Wisconsin Life is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship[birds chirping] - Angela Fitzgerald: For most any traveler, reaching the Driftless Music Gardens will come at the end of a long trip.
- Crickett Lochner: C'mon down!
You made it!
- Man: I made it!
Where are you driving in from?
You are literally being taken to the middle of nowhere, and then beyond.
[chuckles] - He drove, like, eight hours.
- After that long journey, chances are Crickett Lochner will be there with a warm welcome.
- Crickett Lochner: Hello!
We love sharing this space with people that appreciate it.
You made it!
Yeah!
- Thousands make it each year to set up tents and camp out, stroll the grounds, and listen to live music at one of the summer festivals held at the gardens.
♪ ♪ - Crickett: Peace, love, music, community.
Why not enjoy music in the middle of nowhere and good weather?
- Crickett's greetings are meant to make guests feel at home.
- JLA, hurry up, hurry up!
- Man: Sorry!
- What's up, buddy?
Whoo!
- Because it's Crickett's home that she's welcoming people to.
The music gardens occupy the farm where she grew up, land that's been in her family since the 1850s.
She lives in her childhood home where her father also grew up.
"This will take it on to the sixth generation now, with Crickett."
Crickett's not alone on the farm.
Husband Tim might like it there even more than his wife.
- Tim Lochner: I couldn't be prouder to have married into this family.
I tell people all the time that I married into the hippie dream out here.
I'm growing vegetables, I'm throwing music, I'm hanging out with my father-in-law who looks just like Willie Nelson.
[Crickett's dad chuckles] - Just got out of the field.
Crickett: My husband, he's in a band.
[singing] - Tim's group, the People Brothers Band, had played and put on music festivals.
That experience opened the couple's eyes to the family farm's potential.
- Tim: When we moved out here, we kind of started dreaming of having music over in this nook or music over in that nook, hence the Driftless Music Gardens.
- Driftless for the region's topography.
- Crickett: The glaciers never came through to readjust the landscape.
- And Driftless for the vibe the land inspires.
- Crickett: And that's the same with here.
It just flows.
The Driftless.
It just... you flow.
[cheers and applause] - Angela: The number of music lovers flowing to the gardens has grown steadily since 2016.
But this season marks a new stage for the venture.
Literally, a new stage to keep the shows going on.
- Crickett: Every ounce of energy that we had went into building that stage.
Love, sweat, and tears.
- Angela: But they didn't do it alone.
The community they'd built, built it with them.
- Tim: Once we got the project rolling, we had to start making a lot of phone calls and calling in a lot of favors and have friends over.
It's kind of like an old-fashioned barn raising.
- Crickett: I think at one time we had 50 people out here just, like, hammering away.
- Angela: Even the farmland offered up its own contribution.
The inside of the stage that you see is the pine from the land.
And so, it is a huge proud moment and love that we share with the land.
All my team members that shared a hand in building the stage, the first show that we all saw, it just brought tears of joy.
- Angela: It's a new landmark on a landscape that's been home to six generations of Crickett's family.
But for all that's changed, the life they live today may not be so different.
- Tim: We're out here farming music now instead of growing corn or raising cows.
There's some striking similarities to what we do: is everything's dependent on the weather, and if it's a great weekend, we could have a good crop.
If it's going to rain all weekend, we're in trouble.
So, no different than a lot of my neighbors.
- But... what they grow here now feeds the soul.
- Crickett: "Why did I come back here?"
Because it's where my bliss is, where I feel whole.
It calms me, balances me, gets me rooted.
To be able to offer that to so many others is a huge gift.
[live music]
Curating art for all of Milwaukee
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 5m 4s | Phoenix Brown mixes modern art with historic collections in galleries around Milwaukee. (5m 4s)
Fiber artist weaves portraits of global water protectors
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 31s | Mary Burns honors water rights advocates with intricate woven portraits. (4m 31s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 42s | Arne Martinson reveals the exotic and vibrant mushrooms of the Northwoods. (4m 42s)
Special Olympics athlete becomes disability rights champion
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 39s | Given 24 hours to live at birth, Cindy Bentley beat the odds. (4m 39s)
UW-La Crosse entomologist's 'epiphany' reveals our bonds with bugs
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 41s | Lifelong insect enthusiast Barrett Klein explores our human bonds with bug life. (4m 41s)
MicroCar museum showcases 'goofy-looking' vehicles from post-war Europe
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 50s | The Midwest MicroCar Museum houses diminutive vehicles with historic significance. (2m 50s)
Eagle Eye Farm brings alpaca farm magic to River Falls
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 5m 26s | Farmer Kerri Harting wants to spread the joy of animals and farming through her alpacas. (5m 26s)
Milwaukee's 'Comedy Auntie' marks three decades on stage
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 5s | Stand-up comic Chastity Washington gets plenty of material from her day job as a teacher. (4m 5s)
Research reveals Wisconsin loons are disappearing
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 7m 14s | Walter Piper documents declining loon populations in northern Wisconsin. (7m 14s)
Walk in the woods with an old growth guide
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 23s | Guide John Bates explores a remaining old growth forest, the Van Vliet Hemlocks. (4m 23s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 55s | Minerva Montooth, 101, worked alongside Frank Lloyd Wright and wife Olgivanna. (4m 55s)
Teen builds custom guitars from scratch
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 4s | Pulaski teen Ian Vanveen taught himself how to build electric guitars. (4m 4s)
45 years covering Wisconsin's dairy industry for The Milkweed
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 5m 12s | Pete Hardin is one of the last true originals in the world of agricultural journalism. (5m 12s)
Roll Train preserves Black skating culture
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 3m 47s | Milwaukee's Roll Train teaches JB style skating while preserving Black culture. (3m 47s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 21s | Twig's has been a family-owned bottler of Sun Drop and craft sodas for more than 75 years. (4m 21s)
A big scavenger hunt for tiny Wisconsin landmarks
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 5m 22s | Ken Fager hides 3D printed Wisconsin landmarks all across Madison. (5m 22s)
The robots being built on Washington Island
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 44s | Science teacher Miranda Dahlke helps put Washington Island STEM program on the map. (4m 44s)
Marinette draws in the Bigfoot believers
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 37s | Cryptid researchers and believers gather for the annual Bigfoot convention in Marinette. (4m 37s)
Craft distillery elevates cocktail culture in Stevens Point
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 47s | Brian Cummins traded in his job as a chemical engineer to distill Wisconsin spirits. (4m 47s)
How a distillery tour inspired a hit board game
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 5m 16s | UW-Stout professor Dave Beck created "Distilled," a whiskey-themed board game. (5m 16s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 3m 29s | Lake expert John Magnuson explains the phenomenon of "black ice." (3m 29s)
Ashland motorcyclist earns Guinness World Record after global journey
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 44s | Bridget McCutchen becomes youngest person to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle. (4m 44s)
Three generations tap maple trees during Saint Patrick's season
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 30s | The O'Brien Maple Grove produces gallons of syrup and generations of memories. (4m 30s)
Milwaukee nonprofit builds boats and confidence with local youth
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 40s | All Hands Boatworks teaches kids to build wooden boats, fostering hands-on skills. (4m 40s)
Creating work-life balance at Kickback Cafe
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 5m 34s | An Oregon coffee shop offers an inclusive workplace that prioritizes well-being. (5m 34s)
From backyard garden to high-tech strawberry farm
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 3m 46s | Horticulturist Erin Warner leads a hydroponic strawberry operation at Warm Belly Farm. (3m 46s)
Now PlayingA modern-day barn raising brings music to Driftless Music Gardens
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 27s | A farm-turned-venue fosters a vibrant music scene with the help of its local community. (4m 27s)
Wildlife rehabilitator nurtures injured squirrels and rabbits back to health
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 4m 39s | Holly Hill-Putnam runs a home sanctuary caring for local wildlife in need. (4m 39s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 25s | Zainab Hassen shares Mbakbaka, a one-pot spicy pasta stew highlighting Libyan spices. (2m 25s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 40s | Dongjood Choi shares his family's tradition of making Bossam kimchi. (2m 40s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 19s | Artist Mauricio Ramirez was inspired by healthcare workers to paint a new mural. (1m 19s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 14s | “Jump Around Wisconsin” founders Greg Thomson and Joe Lahti prepare for one final jump. (2m 14s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 18s | Even in a global pandemic, love finds away. Couple has traditional Hindu wedding via Zoom. (2m 18s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 12s | Reedsburg photographer takes photos of families on front porches as food pantry fundraiser (2m 12s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m | Milwaukee rapper Wes Tank puts Dr. Seuss' rhymes over Dr. Dre's beats in a fun way. (2m)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 41s | People walking by see the "X" on the driveway and the request to dance. They do. Watch. (1m 41s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 12s | Two friends hold signs asking drivers to honk for air hugs. They stand 6 feet apart. (1m 12s)
Clip | 1m 39s | Cellist Hans Christian performs an impromptu solo in the rafters of an old building. (1m 39s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 34s | Music teacher at Viking Elementary challenges faculty and students to do online karaoke. (1m 34s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 37s | Neighborhood puts their own twist on a Badger tradition while social distancing. (1m 37s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 39s | Chef Elena Terry (Ho-Chunk Nation) cooks “SassSquash”-dish celebrating indigenous foodways (2m 39s)
Pilot Abdul : Grandmother’s Food
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 42s | Abdul cooks Red Beef Curry with Potatoes: Burmese dish described as "grandmother's food." (1m 42s)
Rebecca Webster and Laura Manthe: Oneida White Corn Soup
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 30s | Two cousins and members of Wisconsin’s Oneida Nation make traditional white corn soup. (1m 30s)
Monica O'Connell: Mother’s “Famous” Rum Cake
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 40s | Monica O’Connell makes her mother’s rum cake to celebrate southern foodways and music. (1m 40s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 48s | Lucy Lor makes a Hmong feast in La Crosse, bridging culture, family and identity. (1m 48s)
Laila Borokhim: Wisconsin-grown Ghormeh Sabzi
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 22s | Laila Borokhim makes Iranian Ghormeh Sabzi and cherishes cooking the food of her family. (1m 22s)
Kennia Coronado: Mexican Cheese from Racine
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 22s | Kennia Coronado explores Panela cheese as a bridge between Mexican heritage and Wisconsin. (1m 22s)
Wisconsin's Great River Road: Night Fishing
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 7s | Jesse Heu and Ko Hung fish at night along the St. Croix river as it joins the Mississippi. (1m 7s)
Wisconsin's Great River Road: Michael Valley
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 1m 43s | Since 1983, commercial fisherman Michael John Valley has kept a shop in Prairie du Chien. (1m 43s)
Wisconsin's Great River Road: Mahjong Club
Video has Closed Captions
Clip | 2m 3s | In Trempealeau, a dedicated group of women has met for eight years to play Mahjong. (2m 3s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for PBS provided by:
Wisconsin Life is a local public television program presented by PBS Wisconsin
Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, Obrodovich Family Foundation, Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW...