ThEm CouLEe BoYs
Them Coulee Boys craft a brand of Americana that blends folk, punk, bluegrass, and rock & roll. They sing their conversational songs in 4 part harmony, often with a banjo stomp and rhythm section punch that drives the audience onto the dance floor and into community. Their trusty van has propelled them thousands of miles across the country and into the hearts of strangers, who tend to leave each show as family. It’s music that creates community through the shared experience of joy and giving a shit.
The story is true. Soren Staff and Beau Janke met as counselors at a bible camp in northern Wisconsin in 2011. Having both grown up amidst a stretch of glacial melt-carved river valleys in the upper Midwest (called coulees by French fur trappers), they were fast friends. At camp, another counselor took to teasing them saying “them coulee boys are at it again.” The name stuck. Spending their weeks playing songs with kids around a campfire led to weekends figuring out an Avett Brothers tune or classic country song. In 2013, they added Soren’s brother Jens on mandolin, and a rough-around-the-edges, stomping 3-piece folk band played their first show as Them Coulee Boys. Four years later Neil Krause joined to play acoustic and electric bass, and in 2019 when Stas Hable joined on drums, TCB evolved into the full-on americana rock band they are today. The live band straddles the line between pure and genuine ballads and a sweaty, leaping take on countrified rock-n-roll.
cLArE DoYLe
With the release of her debut singles in 2023, Americana artist-to-watch Clare Doyle garnered immediate attention for her modern blend of soulful country and rootsy rock, alongside the bold lyricism that Music in Minnesota calls “a fresh perspective in emotional storytelling.”
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Originally from Saint Paul, MN, Doyle had settled in New Orleans, LA until the global pandemic forced her to move back to her hometown, where she began to rediscover the musical identity, she’d neglected for years. Armed with a decade of heartache, adventure, addiction, and life on the road, she began to alchemize raw emotions into a collection of songs that run the gamut from clever and rollicking, to gritty and gut-wrenching. She draws on a range of influences to write candidly about loving, losing, hurting, and making a hot mess of things.
DuStiN DeGoLiaR
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A native of Cumberland, WI, Dustin began studying guitar and music theory with Manfred Schonauer at age eleven. Since then he has studied with Billy Barnard of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, as well as UW-Milwaukee’s Pete Billmann, Elina Chekan and Don Linke. He has participated in master classes with renowned guitarists Mark Whitfield, Bruce Forman and Julian Lage.
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Dustin maintains a frequent performance schedule both solo and with a wide array of groups playing jazz, rock, Americana, blues and more. When not practicing or performing, he can be found teaching private guitar lessons at the Dancing Bird Art Studio & Music Shop in Cumberland, WI. He serves as guitar instructor annually for Rock Band Camp at the Shell Lake Arts Center.