Joel Mabus may be called a singer-songwriter, but he's a whole lot more. He's a songwriter, serious picker, old-time fiddler, and humorist. Mabus was considered a maverick in the folk music world long before the term maverick was popularized in recent media culture.

Chris Rietz of Musichound Folk says, “It's hard to imagine another artist on the folk scene who combines the same concise, deceptively understated, lyrical insight and sometimes devastating wit with such world-class instrumental prowess.” Mabus defies any easy pigeon-hole. He picks a mountain banjo to accompany an ancient ballad, sings a witty song about modern life, plays a sweet Irish melody on guitar, swings a hot jazz number, and then reaches deep for a soulful expression of values in a troubled world. “Mabus is everything a modern string player ought to be: versatile, innovative, tasty, and funny. He has the good taste of a four-star sauce maker, and a superior musical strength on fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin to match his clever sensibility and often subtle sense of humor,” says The Twin Cities Reader.

Mabus has recorded 19 solo albums of original and traditional music since his recording career started in1978. The Banjo Monologues, Joel's unique blend of old-time banjo and storytelling, placed 6th in the Folk Radio charts for 2007. He placed #4 in the same charts for 2008 with his latest, Retold-some of his original songs revisited. Mabus recently released a new album titled, No Worries Now that is receiving airplay on folk shows throughout the globe.

Opening for Joel Mabus will be Lake County Folk Clubmember and singer-songwriter, Marcia Krieger.