Since 1975, Ten Pound Fiddle has staged around 1,300 folk and acoustic music concerts in and around East Lansing.
This coming season will kick off on September 4 with The Wild Shoats at The Robin Theatre. The group won the Appalachian String Band Music Festival Neo-Traditional Band competition in 2023.
Organizer Sally Potter describes The Wild Shoats as the next generation of old-time music.
“They’re fast and exciting and full of energy,” Potter said. "If you love old-time, it’s sort of the next generation, and it’s pretty exciting.”
The Fiddle’s partnership with The Robin Theatre in Lansing is also evolving this year. Potter has been talking with The Robin’s owner, Dylan Rogers, about running an open mic at the REO Town venue for a long time.
Starting in October, new open mic events called Tune In will take place on the first Thursday of the month.
“This one would feature local artists for a five-minute slot and would hopefully bring some singer-songwriters," she said. "The genre would not be limited to folk or acoustic. “It could be anybody for five minutes, and it’s once a month. We’re going to do it for eight months and see what happens.”
A local favorite is returning for Ten Pound Fiddle as well.
Potter says May Erlewine tours with a group much of the year, but she makes a point of coming to town from her base in the Traverse City area for a solo concert every season. She’ll be back on October 17.
“Every year, we arrange one weekend where she’s not going to be touring, where she can drive down and do a Friday night show to all the folks who love her and just get a dose of May.”
The following week, The Mammals will be in town. The band is led by Ruth Ungar, daughter of musicians Lyn Hardy and Jay Ungar.
Jay is known for composing "Ashokan Farewell" which was used for the Ken Burns PBS documentary film "The Civil War."
Ruth Ungar sometimes performs with her husband, Mike Merenda, as part of Mike and Ruthy. They also get their friends together to tour as The Mammals. The show will be part of an album release tour.
On December 7, long-time Ten Pound Fiddle fan and frequent sound engineer Bill Bartilson will present a retrospective on their half-century of music with a program called "The Fiddle’s First 50 Year: Songs and Stories."
Maybe the biggest name coming to town is Solas. The band did a big reunion tour last year. Their show will be on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
Potter thinks they’re one of the top Celtic bands out there.
“They are people that love this music,” she said. “They have gone off and done independent projects. They’ve done instrumental projects, but they just thought ‘You know, let’s just go back out and get the old band back together and go back out and tour,' and we're on their schedule.”
Another big draw will be the return of BeauSoleil Avec Michael Doucet, a Cajun band that has wowed audiences at East Lansing folk festivals over the years. That show will be next March 13.
The Ten Pound Fiddle slate also includes longtime familiar names like Joel Mabus, Jen Sygit and Mike Ward, and Don Julin.
There also will be sing-along events at Christmastime, mid-winter and St. Patrick’s Day.
