Join us as the Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins return to the Hook & Ladder for their 16th annual Yuletide Sweater Ball!  Special guests Maygen & The Birdwatcher and Steam Machine will be joining in on the festivities.  These three talented and highly-acclaimed groups will keep the holiday party jumping throughout the evening.

Don’t let the name fool you! The Pistol Whippin’ Party Penguins are not a violent group of flightless aquatic birds looking for a party – rather they’re 5 self-proclaimed gentlemen with 2 guitars, a mandolin, a bucket of fiddles, an upright bass, a banjo, and 4-part vocal harmony, combining folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, and some fully-loaded stage banter. Their combination of folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, and stage banter creates an experience that everyone can enjoy!

 

Minneapolis folk sextet Maygen & The Birdwatcher took home wins for Album of the Year and Americana Artist of the Year on April 23 at the Midwest Country Music Organization’s annual awards show, held in Arnolds Park, Iowa. They received the accolades for their acclaimed 2022 release Bootleggin’ at the Flower Shoppe. The 2023 awards follow the 2021 Americana Artist of the Year and Album of the Year wins for their debut album Moonshine. 

Maygen & The Birdwatcher are a six-piece Americana band from Minnesota led by singers and guitarists Maygen Laceyand Noah Neumann.
“Maygen & The Birdwatcher have it going on, offering alluring vocals, tight rhythms, and fulgent streams of marvelous Americana.” – Guitar Girl Magazine

 

Originally formed in Minneapolis in 2017, Steam Machine brought to the national stage a Midwest influenced string band aesthetic that didn’t draw such hard lines between bluegrass and old time music. Combining smooth, powerful fiddling with rolling three finger banjo and front-of-the-beat rhythm backup, the resulting sound was “bright and fresh,” commanding, and “suspiciously entertaining.” Fronted by award winning, in-demand Minneapolis fiddler AJ Srubas and Twin Cities old time music/dance instigator Rina Rossi, with the support of other gifted musicians. “Steam Machine is a stout example of the vitality of fiddle music up north these days.” (Old Time Herald)