Jeffrey Foucault

× Jeffrey Foucault with Erik Koskinen
Saturday, May 6, 2023 • 7:00 PM

$26 Adults/$13 Youth
General Public sale begins Tue, Mar 28, 2023 - 12:00pm CT

Sponsored By WXPR

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Live from The Backstage

In two decades on the road Jeffrey Foucault has become one of the most distinctive voices in American music, refining a sound instantly recognizable for its simplicity and emotional power, a decidedly Midwestern amalgam of blues, country, rock’n’roll, and folk. He’s built a brick-and-mortar international touring career on multiple studio albums, countless miles, and general critical acclaim, being lauded for “Stark, literate songs that are as wide open as the landscape of his native Midwest” (The New Yorker), and described as “Quietly brilliant” (The Irish Times), while catching the ear of everyone from Van Dyke Parks to Greil Marcus, to Don Henley, who regularly covers Foucault in his live set.

In 2018, Foucault released Blood Brothers , the sixth collection of original songs in a career remarkable for an unrelenting dedication to craft, and independence from trend. The much-anticipated follow-up to Foucault’s critically acclaimed 2015 album Salt As Wolves, Blood Brothers is a collection of reveries, interlacing memory with the present tense to examine the indelible connections of love across time and distance. Foucault deftly cuts the template for the album as a whole, showing his mastery of technique as he unwinds a deeply patient collection of songs at the borderlands of memory and desire. As noise and politics, fashion and illusion obtrude on all fronts, the album takes a deep breath and a step inward, with tenderness and human concern, paying constant attention to the places where the mundane and the holy merge like water.

Foucault’s most recent release, 2020’s Deadstock, gathers fifteen years of unreleased studio work, uniting sixteen songs culled from six studio releases and scattered sessions, to offer a vital document and an alternate history, illuminating the process of an exacting writer and artist. Introducing seven new original songs - and two released only in Europe - along with full band reimaginings of back catalog favorites like ‘Mesa, Arizona’ and ‘Ghost Repeater,’ Deadstock displays the arc and swagger of an album, making a coherent listening experience from the harvest of years and seasons.


Erik Koskinen is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose music is not categorized by sub-genres. Stylistically he is on his own. Influenced by roots music of the Americas and the world, the rhythmic integrity and musical tone is as important as the lyrical content and the artistic intent. Born in Fort Collins, Colorado, raised in Northern Michigan and upper New York state, then living in urban Minneapolis and now, rural Minnesota, Koskinen grew up with the rhythms of weather, factory towns, and farmlands. Koskinen worked in construction for years as he developed his music career, and he now resides on a farm near where he owns a recording studio in Cleveland, Minnesota, population 717.

Koskinen’s albums are a lyrical and musical metaphor of America's theaters of war, of history, of relationships, and of the reflections in the mirror. His latest release, 2019’s Burning The Deal, is steeped in American roots traditions. - its nine songs share a stripped-down, almost naked quality, but complexities lie just under their skin. Knowing but not didactic, Koskinen channels the ways of Whitman and reverently enters the anthology of uniquely crafted wry songs with the likes of Woody Guthrie and Ry Cooder while speaking as plainly as your neighbor.

The Backstage

Big Top's new year-round performance space is located at the Big Top Box Office & Giftshop at the juction of Hwy 13 and County Hwy J at the gateway to Bayfield. During a unique night out at The Backstage you can enjoy live entertainment, drinks, speciality cocktails, and a unique menu of shareable plates. For additional information, contact the Box Office at 715-373-5552.

Dining Information

The Backstage will have drinks and lite fare available for purchase before and during the show. To view a sample dining menu click here. The bar will serve beer, wine, cocktails, and specialty drinks, including our new signature Blue Canvas Classic— created just for us by David Sneed of the 211 Martini Bar. Food reservation times appreciated, limited space available.

Ticketing Policies & Fees

*Plus applicable taxes and fees

• 5.5% State and local sales tax
• $3 Facility Fee per ticket (facility fee is used for tent, building, and grounds needs)
• 2% Handling Fee per order, up to a maximum of $8
• No refunds or exchanges for any shows

Ticket holders and attendees are subject the following conditions:

• Attendees grant unrestricted rights & licenses for use of their likeness in any form of public broadcast and production, and for promotional purposes
• Big Top Chautauqua reserves the right to refuse admission or evict anyone from the venue premises due to disorderly behavior without issuing a refund.
• Big Top Chautauqua reserves the right to search all persons, packages, bags, and other items entering venue grounds and/or other properties owned by Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. The safety of our guests, volunteers, staff, and artists are top priority.
• All venue policies and procedures are subject to change without notice.

Make an annual donation of $125 or more and receive exclusive access to ticket pre-sales, usually a week before the general public. Learn more about the Blue Canvas Club HERE