A professional musician and entertainer since the late 1960’s, Warren Nelson is the lead founder, artistic director, and resident writer/composer for Lake Superior Big Top Chautuaqua, an all canvas summer tent show in northern Wisconsin where he lives.

Voted best folk musician by Wisconsin Trails Magazine and widely admired for his songwriting, scriptworks, and stage presence, Warren’s long work was honored and recognized in 2005 as he received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters from the University of Wisconsin, Superior, and soon after, made a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters.

His trail has taken him across the US "both sides of 1970" with his first full-time professional group The Tenth Story Window, from the state of Colorado and a five year stay playing music in the mountains, to the Madison, Wisconsin area where he formed the Lost Nation String Band with Don Pavel, and finally to the Bayfield Peninsula of northern Wisconsin where he currently resides.

In 1976, Nelson got the idea "to combine my interests in history, original songs, poetry, storytelling and performing," into a concert-like theatrical show that reveals the history of a place through music and visuals. This idea, realized by Nelson and his partner Betty Ferris of the Nelson-Ferris Concert Company, led to the founding of Big Top Chautauqua. The story of how Warren Nelson got his start in the music business is summarized in this short video interview, produced by Nick Larsen.

A native of Fairmont, Minnesota, Nelson, with creative partner Betty Ferris, has led a team of talented musicians, actors, researchers and technicians in the creation of numerous large-scale, historical musicals since the 1970’s. These "House Shows" are at the centerpole of the summer shows of Big Top Chautauqua. The show, Centennial Green, is the 14th and latest of these "Big Dang Deals", as Nelson calls them, commissioned by the United States Forest Service for their 2005 Centennial year and performed at the Jefferson Theatre in Washington D.C.

In 1998, he led the creation of 30th Star, Wisconsin’s Sesquicentennial musical, which toured to sellout houses throughout the Badger State, and is currently on tour with the Chautauqua troupe with Old Minnesota Song of the North Star, written for Minnesota’s 150th birthday coming in 2008. Minnesota Shows, Inc. of Fairmont is producing and presenting this musical extravaganza in partnership with Big Top Chautauqua. Other recent hit shows include Riverpants, a two-hour song-filled comedy show about Warren’s favorite hobby of fishing, as well as Showpants, a show biz spoof on the old lounge lizard days.

Warren's describes his history of musical productions as such, The Martin County Hornpipe (1976) begat Souvenir Views (1983) which begat Riding The Wind (1985) which begat Take It To The Lake (1986) which begat Whistle Comin’ In (1987) which begat Keeper of The Light (1988) which begat Wild River (1989) which begat Earth To Wendal (1990) which begat On The Velvet (1992) which begat by a commission from the Wisconsin State Sesquicentennial Committee, 30th Star (1998), which begat Old Minnesota: Song of the North Star (2004), which begat Centennial Green (2005), which begat my most recent undertaking, Okoboji Dime (2008).

Currently, Warren is getting ready for Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua’s 21st season under canvas on the Bayfield, Wisconsin peninsula. He is honored to stand and play on the Big Top stage again with his great musical and theatrical friends, as well as being the emcee for some of the world’s great musicians and entertainers at "The Carnegie Hall of Tent Shows." Please come up and see a show and say hello.

Click to download a video interview of Warren Nelson and how he got his start in music. (right-click, save link as - requires Windows Media Player 9)