We don’t take portions of beer sales, and we’re staying out of revenue lines that the city desperately needs to stay vibrant. This is one that’s about the actual community. Ultimately, the goal is to keep expanding, but this is one that I think is different. OMC: Where do you see this festival growing from here?ĬC: We want to keep going with it. I mean, you wouldn’t know about Newport if it hadn’t decided to built an amazing culture and music festival. Then we thought wouldn’t it be cool if Appleton was just one of those towns that was known about, like a Newport, R.I. We started doing our homework and realized that we had up to 72 licensed bars in a one-mile stretch, and we knew no even Austin could boast that kind of layout. That’s one thing we do better than most people. So I started thinking with a friend of mine if it would be possible to ever do a music festival in Wisconsin, because we love to get outside and drink our beer. It’s sort of being bought and sold by different companies. SXSW had begun to be something I really don’t look forward to in a way that I used to. Really, what happened was we spent, in between the time when I moved, two years playing everybody’s festivals – Bonnaroo, Newport and all of these.

I think when your standing away from a city, sometimes you can have even more perspective on just exactly what it is. What was the inspiration for starting that?Ĭory Chisel: In some ways, my connection’s really only deepened with being away from home. : Even though you’ve moved on from Appleton and are now living in Nashville, you still have a connection there with the Mile of Music. Before the show, caught up with Chisel and chatted about the Mile of Music, growing up without pop music and the exciting things on deck for the singer – including some new records and a new addition to the family. Now, he’s returning to Wisconsin for a gig – the Concert 4 MACC – alongside fellow local favorite Hugh Bob & The Hustle at Turner Hall Ballroom on Friday, Sept. Cory Chisel currently calls Nashville home, but the folk country Americana rock band leader certainly hasn’t cut ties with Wisconsin, the state that he called home for many years before hitting the road and making it big.įor one, he helped establish the Mile of Music festival up in Appleton last year.

Cory chisel