Artists from Norah Jones to Sturgill Simpson played at Mile of Music

APPLETON – For the last decade, Mile of Music has introduced music lovers to hundreds of artists and bands "who are not household names but should be."

According to its website, Mile of Music's mission has been to "highlight homegrown talent and recruit the best emerging artists from all over the U.S."

Because of this, the festival has traditionally brought in small, independent artists, but the early years of the festival featured some critically acclaimed performers, bringing names folk and country music lovers are likely to recognize.

Here are some of the biggest artists to have had a presence at Mile of Music.

The biggest artist to perform on a Mile of Music stage probably has to be the internationally successful singer-songwriter, Norah Jones.

Jones was never officially on the Mile of Music lineup, but she made an unannounced guest appearance at the first Mile of Music in 2013 when she popped up at the mainstage at Lawrence University's Memorial Chapel with her backup band The Candles, who were performing with Cory Chisel, one of the festival's founders.

The singer-songwriter is best known for her album "Come Away With Me," which launched her to international fame in 2002. Her illustrious career has garnered Jones nine Grammy Awards and the title of top jazz artist of the 2000s by Billboard.

The early days of Mile of Music were prime times to witness rising and established country and Americana artists.

Topping the lineup for the first Mile of Music was veteran country singer-songwriter and multiple Grammy Award-winner Rodney Crowell.

The country singer has had a prolific career stretching back to the early 1970s filled with Billboard chart-topping albums and songwriting for Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, Lee Ann Womack and Tim McGraw.

Crowell's 2015 album "The Traveling Kind" with Emmylou Harris also features writing from Fox Valley native and Mile of Music co-founder Chisel.

Charlie Parr, the folk singer-songwriter legend from Duluth, Minnesota brought his foot-stomping, fingerpicking guitar music to the first three Mile of Music festivals in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Parr is a well-known name among folk and Americana music fans who have sprung him and his growly voice to international acclaim in the 2000s.

The Kentucky-bred country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson emerged at Mile 2 in 2014, already with some local and national buzz on his name.

Simpson sold out a Mile 2 preview show three months before the festival, raising him to the ranks of a must-see act that year.

Since his Mile of Music debut, the country outlaw has gone on to receive critical success, receiving Grammy Award nominations for Best Americana Album in 2015, Album of the Year in 2017, Best Rock Album in 2021 and Best Country and Best Bluegrass Album in 2022. The singer-songwriter also won a Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2017.

The first Mile of Music festival also saw the appearance of the late singer-songwriter and son of Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle.

Earle was a rising Americana star before his time at Mile of Music, performing at festivals such as South By Southwest and Bonnaroo and getting named on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012.

Earle died in August 2020 at 38 years old.

The Grammy Award-nominated folk duo Milk Carton Kids was originally set to headline a Mile 2 show but backed out of the gig a week before the festival due to vocal strain.

When the duo of Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale canceled their show in 2014 they were hot off a busy year of recording and touring, as they were one of the biggest rising star names in the folk and Americana world.

But the duo eventually held true to their promise to headline a Mile of Music show and returned the following year, fresh off the release of their third studio album, "Monterey."

Mile 2 also saw the presence of Wilco bassist John Sirratt and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone performing in their side project The Autumn Defense, as well as Peter Buck and Mike Mills of R.E.M. in their band The Baseball Project.

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Sophia Voight can be reached with feedback and tips at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @sophia_voight.

This story was updated to correct the Mile of Music that Justin Townes Earle performed.