The Cow Ponies and Alex Ballard & Sugarfoot first played together at the Gram Parsons 70th Birthday Bash at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn in Milwaukee August 2016. Since then they can’t shake each other. This year, as The Cow Ponies made their Summerfest debut, Alex Ballard & Sugarfoot opened for Edgar Winter at the world’s largest music festival. Alex’s first EP, Madiera, was nominated for five WAMI (Wisconsin Area Music Industry) Awards; The Cow Ponies, whose members are from popular Milwaukee 80s bands Those XCleavers, The Rock-A-Dials, and Resist Her Transistor, were nominated for a 2018 WAMI Award for “Best Country Band.” Their debut CD, Easy to Fall, released in December 2017, has “elements of country, honky-tonk, rockabilly and that pure American invention—rock and roll” (Shepherd Express). Alex Ballard & Sugarfoot’s latest releases “Built My World” and “Lathe of Heaven” (Karmadillo Entertainment Recordings) showcase their folk rock, Americana roots, and pop sensibilities.