Arts & Entertainment

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your top picks for arts-related awesome

Poll Questions in this Category

Best All Ages Hangout

Looking for a place to go that the whole family can enjoy? Check out the top picks for Best All Ages Hangout. Phoenix...

Best Art Gallery

While downtown Eau Claire receives much of the creative renaissance focus of late, an uptown establishment takes top...

Best Bluegrass Band

Add another entry to the Chippewa Valley-bands-poised-for-national-attention list: Them Coulee Boys released their album...

Best Blues Band

The Chippewa Valley has spoken, and they once again are proclaiming they are fans of the sounds of The Sue Orfield Band...

Best Cover Band

It’s hard to write and perform songs that people love. But performing songs others have written well enough to...

Best Electronic Musician(s)

Sniffle Party is what happens when two ridiculously creative people join forces and at least one of them has a laptop...

Best Event of the Past Year

An intimate festival for bluegrass and Americana music, Blue Ox Music Festival was voted the Chippewa Valley’s...

Best Folk Performer(s)

Them Coulee Boys, with their Chippewa Valley-raised punk-infused folk jams, stormed the Best of the Valley Poll this...

Best Free Entertainment Option

When it comes to free entertainment, the Chippewa Valley loves music! We love it even better if it’s outside. Grab...

Best Hard Rock/Metal Band (original)

In a 2014 Volume One article, the Drunk Drivers discussed the difficulties of being a party band that got carried away...

Best Hip Hop Artist

TeawhYB, also known as Tyler Baumgart, an Eau Claire native, is a UW-Eau Claire conference coordinator by day and a...

Best Holiday Season Event

There’s nothing more magical than the holiday season in the Chippewa Valley, and Volume One readers have...

Best Individual Musician

It’s not entirely clear why we feel so much pride when someone from where we’re from hits the big time, but...

Best Jazz Band

Much of the Chippewa Valley’s musical esteem over the past decades was built on the foundation of our high school...

Best Local Album Released In The Last Year

With Them Coulee Boys’ third record Die Happy, the Driftless-born, Eau Claire-raised folk rock band made some big...

Best Local Book Released In The Last Year

Set in rural Wisconsin and taking on the topics of faith, family, and community, Little Faith by Nickolas Butler was...

Best Local Musical

Kids and families across the Chippewa Valley had some early holiday cheer with The Eau Claire Children’s...

Best Local Play (non-musical)

Just in time for Halloween, the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre offered audiences some (alleged) witchcraft with its...

Best Movie Theater

Once again Micon Cinemas takes home the top three spots for Best Movie Theater. The seven-screen Eau Claire location...

Best Music Festival

Drumroll please: The Blue Ox Music Festival (5024 Crescent Ave., Eau Claire) – a weekend-long event that brings...

Best Musical Performance in the Past Year (touring or local)

Musical performances come and go, and each year there’s so many good ones to pick from. Normally, this category...

Best New Band

Some singers possess voices that instantly tell you they are destined for musical greatness. Aliana Sigala, who spent...

Best Open Mic

Whether you need a good laugh or want to play your music in front of an audience, open mic nights offer folks the chance...

Best Overall Band

Our readers’ picks for Best Overall Band are three of the finest acts in the Valley, and none of which can easily...

Best Place for Live Music

Since 2018, the Pablo Center at the Confluence (128 Graham Ave., Eau Claire) has been the large venue that Eau Claire...

Best Public Art Installation (non-gallery)

There’s a lot of cool art to see throughout the Chippewa Valley, but according to our voters nothing is as...

Best Scenic Photographer

Chippewa Falls photographer Mike Howard captures the Valley’s loveliest scenery in all its golden-hour majesty...

Best Stand-Up Comedian

Sarah Coffey is a fresh, new face in local comedy, superb at the hilarious one-liner. She likes to let her audience...

Best Touring Theatrical Production in the Past Year

Back when the Chippewa Valley (calmly and rationally) discussed the merits of building a new, large-scale arts center...

Favorite Local Visual Artist

Augusta resident Mark Lone is a very talented artist: He excels at fine art illustration, screenprints, and comic work...

Your Favorite Local Author

Keeping his place in the top spot is New Auburn-born Michael Perry. Whether you’ve read his books, caught him on...

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