By the time the 2026 installment of Appleton, Wisconsin’s four-day Mile of Music festival concluded earlier this month, more than 600 performances had been staged throughout the burgeoning music town. Everyone plays here: from roots-rockers and folk troubadours to alt-rock bands and blues singers.
For this 13th edition, Will Hoge, Dave Hause and the Mermaid, Good Boy Daisy, the Saint Cecilia, Leon Timbo, Ruby James, Christopher Gold, and the Braymores, who just a day earlier wowed Lollapalooza, were some of the breakout acts, along with perennial Mile favorites like Cory Chisel, Bascom Hill, and Jamie Kent.
“Mile of Music is a discovery music festival,” Ian Thomson, the festival’s head booker, says. “It’s all about discovering new artists that you don’t know, but should.”
Brandy Zdan, a singer-guitarist who performs as Zdan, was one of Mile 13’s best discoveries, captivating audiences with her unabashed rock songs and arguably the coolest prop of the fest: a microphone made from a rotary phone. A longtime Nashville player but a first-time Mile attendee, she made a discovery of her own — a fan community dedicated to supporting indie artists and original music.
“It’s incredible, a welcoming audience, the music discovery…,” Zdan says. “We need to take this festival and blueprint it in every city.”
Since Dave Willems and his late brother Paul launched the festival in 2013, Mile has been a proving ground for some of today’s most vital artists. Sturgill Simpson, Nikki Lane, Milk Carton Kids, and Langhorne Slim all performed at various Miles. Bands play in venues ranging from dedicated clubs like Gibson Community Music Hall on College Avenue (the “Mile” of the fest’s name) to the backyards of bars and fish fry joints like Rookie’s.
“It was an idea to drive business to the downtown,” says Cory Chisel, an Appleton-based songwriter who has been an artist ambassador for the festival for the bulk of its history. “There are like 70 licensed bars in a one-mile stretch, and we were like, ‘Really all we have to do is add music to the bars and start inviting our friends.’ We had some very cool friends the first year and one surprise guest, Norah Jones. It got everyone excited that Appleton could have something like this.”
But this year’s Mile also ended up being a cathartic experience for attendees. As the more than 200 indie artists and bands were preparing to head to Appleton, about 100 miles northwest of Milwaukee, an EF-3 tornado tore through the region the Monday before the festival. Miraculously, no one was killed, and the majority of the 35 festival stages, both indoor and outdoor, were spared. But the damage in the region from the July 27 storm, especially in the neighboring cities of Menasha and Neenah, was estimated to be in the tens of millions.
When Mile of Music got underway, the community came out in force, both to support their homegrown festival and to bond in the face of disaster. Willems and his team created a special T-shirt, with all proceeds going to tornado relief. In addition, five percent of all Mile of Music merchandise sales were donated to recovery efforts. So far, the fund has raised more than $53,000. And it’s poised to grow: On Wednesday, Willems’ company, Willems Marketing & Events, announced the Mile of Love benefit concert, set for Sept. 17 at Gibson Music Hall.
Will Hoge, the Grammy-nominated Nashville songwriter, summed up the vibe onstage during one of his performances, dedicating his song “Washed by the Water” to those affected. Written after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, it became an anthem for Nashville following the city’s 2010 flood. Now, he said, its purpose was for the Fox Cities.
“I was thinking as we were sitting here,” Hoge said onstage at the 513, one of Mile’s listening rooms. “With all you’ve been through with the tornadoes in the last week or so, it really is a song about resilience and community and holding together.”
Listen to Hoge and Dave Hause’s special songwriters’ round, recorded for Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, here. Mile of Music 14 is set to run Aug. 5-8, 2027.
