Tent Show Radio

First broadcast in 1994, Tent Show Radio is a weekly one-hour radio program showcasing the best live recordings from acclaimed music acts and entertainers who grace the Big Top Chautauqua stage each summer in beautiful Bayfield, WI. In the program's nearly 30 year history it has featured artists like Johnny Cash, B.B King, Brandi Carlile, Willie Nelson, Don McLean, and many more. Hosted by celebrated New York Times best-selling author Michael Perry-who weaves stories and humor throughout each episode - Tent Show Radio features performances from renowned national & regional artists, with regular appearances featuring Big Top’s own unique brand of shows that feature songs and stories performed by its acclaimed house band, The Blue Canvas Orchestra.

Tent Show Radio is independently produced by Big Top Chautauqua, a non-profit performing arts organization, with a mission to present performances and events that celebrate history and the environment - along with their annual summer concert series - nestled in the woods on the shores of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands.

Steve Earle & The Dukes

Jul 26, 2023

This week on Tent Show Radio, enjoy a high-voltage hour featuring the rough-neck poetics of troubadour Steve Earle and The Dukes. He has run a lot of roads and run ragged, but the singer-songwriter has never run out of things to say or songs to sing. Over the course of twenty studio albums, Earle has distinguished...

Charlie Parr and The Depot Jazz Quartet

Jul 21, 2023

Charlie Parr is an incorruptible outsider who writes novelistic, multi-layered stories that shine a kaleidoscopic light on defiant, unseen characters thriving in the shadows all around us. With a sound deeply tied to the blues and folk traditions of an earlier era, Parr has released 14 studio albums and tours the globe...

Punch Brothers

Jul 14, 2023

One of the most ambitious string bands to emerge in the early 21st century, Punch Brothers built their sound on a platform of virtuosic instrumentalism and dazzling arrangements. The GRAMMY Award-winning band consisting of Chris Thile, Chris Eldridge, Paul Kowert, Noam Pikelny, and Gabe Withcer, has spent more than a...

Forever Young: A Neil Young Retrospective

Jul 7, 2023

Led by Corey Carlson & Severin Behnen, the team that brought you “Big Top Does the Beatles” and “Back to the Garden: The Music of Woodstock”, take on the work of Neil Young in this Big Top original show. One of the most celebrated artists in popular music history, the Canadian-born, two-time Rock & Roll Hall of...

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Jul 7, 2023

Originally from Mexico City Rodrigo y Gabriela, the acoustic guitar duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero, met as teenagers while playing in a thrash metal band called Tierra Acida. By 2000 the formally became a duo act and moved to Dublin Ireland, where with the support of musician Damian Rice, the talented...