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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.

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  2. TSR16-14 Tab Benoit

TSR16-14 Tab Benoit

Nov 23, 2016

Tab Benoit is one of Louisiana’s best musical exports. In 2007, Benoit won the dual awards of B.B. King Entertainer of the Year and Best Contemporary Male Performer at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis (formerly the W.C. Handy Awards). In 2006, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album for Brother to the Blues, a collaboration with Louisiana’s LeRoux. More than just an acclaimed bluesman, he is an indefatigable conservation advocate. Benoit is a driving force behind Voice of the Wetlands, an organization working to save Louisiana’s wetlands. In 2010, he received the Governor’s Award for Conservationist of the Year from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Benoit also starred in the iMax motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, a documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s effects and a call to restore the wetlands.

Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua (www.bigtop.org) is a non-profit performing arts organization. Culture under canvas on the south shore sands of Lake Superior near Bayfield, Wisconsin. 

Tent Show Radio is a weekly one-hour variety series showcasing live performances from Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. It has aired continuously since 1994, is available for free and hosted by best-selling author, humorist and pig farmer, Michael Perry. Tent Show Radio features regional and national acts with regular contributions by the Big Top’s Blue Canvas Orchestra.

Tent Show Radio host Michael Perry is a author and humorist, singer/songwriter, intermittent pig farmer and New York Times best-selling author. His works include Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time, Coop, Truck, the essay collection, Off Main Street, and From The Big Top; a collection of Tent Show Radio essays. Perry has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Backpacker, Orion and Salon.com, and is a contributing editor to Men’s Health. His essays have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered and he has performed and produced three live audience recordings (I Got It From the Cows and Never Stand Behind a Sneezing Cow, Live From Big Top). Perry lives in rural Wisconsin, where he remains active as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical responder. He can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.