Big Top Chautauqua announces new headliners

The New Christy Minstrels, Arlo Guthrie and Gaelic Storm have signed on as headliners this season at Big Top Chautauqua near Bayfield.

The New Christy Minstrels perform at 8:15 p.m. June 28. It has been more than 44 years since they made their national television debut on The Andy Williams Show. Since then, the group has gone on to win a Grammy, earn many gold records and entertain at The White House. The classic folk group recently re-recorded all of its old hits, including “Green Green,” “Denver,” “Mighty Mississippi,” “This Land is Your Land,” “Today” and “The Drinkin’ Gourd (The Muddy Road To Freedom”).

Arlo Guthrie is the headliner at the 8:15 p.m. Aug. 1 show. His career exploded in 1967 with the release of “Alice’s Restaurant,” whose title song premiered at the Newport Folk Festival and helped foster a new commitment among the ’60s generation to social consciousness and activism.

Gaelic Storm performs at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21. Since its inception nearly 10 years ago, promoters say, Gaelic Storm has broadened the musical horizons of the Celtic music genre by creating compelling originals and fresh arrangements steeped in Irish traditional melody and acoustic instrumentation combined with their unique blend of world rhythms.

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