Cafe Carpe

RAY BONNEVILLE
2015-10-04 19:30 - 22:00 (America/Chicago)
Every now and then, you run across someone with a library’s worth of stories to tell. But unlike the raconteurs who regale friends with well-embellished versions of their exploits, these storytellers have lived so much, they reveal chapters of their hard-won wisdom slowly, carefully, like layers peeled from an onion.
RAY BONNEVILLE didn’t even open his storybook until his early 40s, some 20 years after he started performing. But with a style that sometimes draws comparisons to JJ Cale and Daniel Lanois, this blues-influenced, New Orleans-inspired “song and groove man,” as he’s been so aptly described, luckily found his rightful calling.
On his fourth Red House Records album, Easy Gone, Bonneville delivers 10 reasons why patience pays off. In each, his guitarwork shimmers like stars emerging at dusk. His voice carries the rich, natural timbre of time, though underneath that pearl-like smoothness, one hears its gritty core. His harmonica rhythms add even more texture to his sound.
Produced by Bonneville and Justin Douglas, Easy Gone wears the faded denim of a man who knew when he “said I do to a highway,” as he sings in “Who Do Call the Shots,” that it wasn’t going to be an easy marriage. But he also knew divorce was not an option, and affirms his vows in soulful lyrics that balance thoughtful observation, impassioned emotion and the restless soul of a wanderer.
Bonneville’s highway life began, more or less, at 12, when his parents moved their nine French-speaking children from Quebec to Boston. He learned to play a little piano, then guitar, but language and cultural challenges made school uninviting. But before getting expelled, he played weekend in New England with a young band that travelled in a 57 Cadillac ambulance.
At 17, he joined the Marines, mainly to escape his devoutly religious, oppressively authoritarian father. That was just before Vietnam began showing up on the nightly news. He wound up there for more than a year. Post-discharge, he discovered Howlin’ Wolf, Paul Butterfield, James Cotton and other bluesmen, and taught himself to play harmonica in-between fares while driving a cab in Boston.
Bonneville spent the ‘70s in Boulder, Colo., where he formed the Ray Bonneville Blues Band, an electric five-piece, and got over his fear of flying by earning a commercial pilot’s license. “I was hooked bad right from the start,” he says. “When I was flying, I felt completely at home, like the plane’s wings were part of my body.”
He headed to the Pacific Northwest — first Alaska, then Seattle — flying wherever he could and playing rowdy rooms where listeners wanted to get their groove on, which helped him evolve a delivery that covered all bases. “My thumb became my bass player and my index finger became my lead guitar and rhythm player,” he explains. “My feet became my drums and with my harmonica and my vocal, made for a four-piece blues band.”
In Seattle, he got hooked on something else: his old friend, cocaine. Escaping to Paris, where he knew the language and could avoid temptation, he busked and played for boozy late-night revelers, but for the first time, Bonneville also encountered audiences who sat in silence, truly listening.
“It scared me,” he admits. “I realized that you’d better have something to say if you’re going to play in front of this kind of crowd.”
Returning stateside in ’83, he moved to New Orleans. Training pilots by day and playing at night, he was stirred by the city’s hypnotic undercurrent of mystery and magic, which hangs in the humid air like a voodoo spell. In his six years there, it seeped into his sound — and still ripples through it today.
His post-Katrina ode, “I am the Big Easy,” was folk radio’s No. 1 song of 2008 and earned the International Folk Alliance’s 2009 Song of the Year Award, but Bonneville wasn’t yet ready to write in New Orleans. That would take more living.
The romantic notion of becoming a bush pilot took him to northern Quebec’s wilderness, where he shuttled sportsmen via seaplane and played Montreal clubs in the off-season. That is, until, flying in fog, he almost hit a power line, and with no fuel left, barely found water to land on. After a nerve-calming whiskey, he decided his bush-pilot days were done. At 41, he moved to Montreal and began to write. He also began touring and recording; his 1999 album, Gust of Wind, won a Juno Award.
In 2003, Bonneville moved again, this time to Arkansas, where the fly-fishing was good. He began recording for Red House Records, and adding his talents to albums by Mary Gauthier, Gurf Morlix, Eliza Gilkyson, Ray Wylie Hubbard and other prominent artists. Bonneville also has shared songwriting credits with Tim O’Brien, Phil Roy and Morlix, among others. Slaid Cleaves placed Bonneville’s “Run Jolee Run” on his lauded 2009 album, Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away.
Bonneville headed to Austin in 2006, and released Goin’ By Feel, his second Red House album. Allmusic.com gave it four stars, the same as Gust of Wind, Roll It Down and Bad Man’s Blood — which it calls his “magnum opus,” noting, “With darkness and light fighting for dominance … he’s stripped away every musical excess to let the songs speak for themselves.”
“I have roughly 12 lines to make a story, so every one has to trigger the listener’s imagination,” he explains. “I want my songs to be believed, so I work on them until I believe them myself.”
On Easy Gone, songs like “When I Get to New York,” “Mile Marker 41” and “Love is Wicked” percolate with hints of something sinister and sexy. In the bluesy “Wicked,” you can almost hear the finger-poppers lurking in the club’s corners — the ones who might get a little wicked themselves later on. Even the album’s lone cover, of Hank Williams’ classic, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” carries a groove and momentum that’s Bonneville’s alone. It’s haunting, like many of his songs. He populates a lot of them with society’s fringes: the desperate and dangerous, damaged and vulnerable.
“I like the criminals and the lost people,” he says. “That’s why I love Flannery O’Connor and those kind of writers. ’Cause I’m lost myself.”
Whether that’s true or not, he knows how hard it can be for our internal compasses to lock on the direction in which we might need to go. That’s the subject of “Where Has My Easy Gone,” written with drummer Geoff Arsenault. In it, he sings, In the heart of a seeker a needle swings/homing on some elusive thing/I looked in the endless sky down along the sea/I could not find my easy.
With just a few simple words, Bonneville clearly expresses his thoughts, while allowing space for multiple interpretations. Which, of course, is the essence of great songwriting, the kind that earned him an International Blues Challenge solo/duet win in 2012. He doesn’t pretend to understand how he finds that essence, however.
“The whole songwriting thing, to me, is mysterious, and I want to keep it that way,” Bonneville says.
Ultimately, what matters is knowing how to translate the mystery into music, and that, he understands perfectly.

NEW PIONEERS
2015-10-08 19:00 - 21:00
This five piece bluegrass ball of fire featuring vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin appears here regularly on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Its various members have been involved with traditional music locally, regionally, and nationally for many years.
The Pioneer’s lead singer and guitarist, Jerry Wicentowski, has been described by country music historian Bill Malone as “One of the finest singers in bluegrass music”. Jerry has also performed and recorded with such bluegrass greats as Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, Byron Berline, Tony Trischka and others. Mike Schmidt of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is the group’s banjo player. This former French horn player has been a Nashville session musician and member of the popular Wisconsin-based bluegrass bands, Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ and the Piper Road Spring Band. He also performs occasionally with his wife Lori. Bruce King of Art Stevenson and High Water – also formerly of Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ – is on mandolin. Bruce and Mike are veterans of the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival in Mole Lake, WI – performing there every year from 1977 to 1982. Fiddle player Paul Kienitz is a member in good standing of regional bluegrass favorites, The Nob Hill Boys. Bass player John Jirak also has played banjo with various folks in the northeastern WI and Madison areas, most notably with the Green Bay based Fox River Flyer. As a bass player, he’s performed shows with the Chicago Bluegrass Band, Miltown Ramblers, Krause Family, Old Cool, Spare Time Bluegrass Band, Bob Steeno and The Old Truck, and Down From the Hills, and currently Madison’s newest, Kettle Moraine.
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MADISON MALONE
2015-10-09 20:30 - 23:00
Born in the wonderful Wisconsin city that matches her name, MADISON MALONE was immersed into an obsession with music immediately in her childhood. She traces back her love of music since the days of dancing and singing to The Beatles in her backyard of rolling hills in Portage, WI. Madison started learning the piano at the age of 5, writing music at the age of 12, teaching herself guitar at 17 & is an alum of UW-Madison’s co-ed A cappella group, Redefined. She is also a teacher at Madison’s Girls Rock Camp!

Madison Malone calls her music soul-pop because she believes that by putting her soul into everything, honesty can be emulated in her story-telling & songwriting. The 21-year old believes that music is one of those few mediums of which almost all humans can relate. Whether it be rhythm, the sound waves, lyrics, the movements of the musician, or just the brilliance & comfort it produces while being performed, music can connect the world on some sort of common ground. Madison has a driven passion to use & create music in her community and the world in order to inspire those that she crosses paths with. She wishes to show others that music can be this incredible, spellbinding outlet where we can escape and turn all of our aspirations into reality.

As Madison approached the fall of 2015, she weighed all of her options in what she wanted to do for her musical future. She reached the resolution to take time off from what would be her senior year at UW-Madison. She is using this time to fully immerse herself in the nation’s music scene with tours to Chicago, Denver, Nashville, Los Angeles & Kansas City in hopes that she will continue to spread feel-good vibes while meeting more incredible musicians along the way.

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SMALL POTATOES
2015-10-10 20:30 - 23:00
The Chicago based folk duo of Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso say it has taken them years of careful indecision to develop a repertoire they describe as “Celtic to Cowboy.” Superb musicianship and showmanship, award-winning songwriting, and a strong sense of tradition has made them, as Dirty Linen Magazine once said, “one of the most polished, inventive, and entertaining shows on the circuit.”
“make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em think”
From the start, they’ve called themselves eclecto-maniacs and described their music as “Celtic to Cowboy”. They say it has taken them “years of careful indecision” to come up with a mix of music that ranges from country, blues, and swing to Irish, with songwriting that touches on all of those styles and more. Their four recordings, Alive!, Waltz of the Wallflowers, Time Flies and Raw demonstrate that “indecision” can be wonderfully entertaining. They both sing, they both play guitars and an array of other instruments. They even yodel.
“Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso combine cleverly witty with powerfully poignant songs, along with well chosen covers to present an unusually entertaining and involving repertoire engagingly delivered. Prezioso’s song “1000 Candles, 1000 Cranes” is one of the most outstanding songs of the past 50 years.” Rich Warren, The Midnight Special – WFMT Radio, Chicago, IL
“They don’t sound like anybody else. I like that. They lay out a blanket and every song is a picnic.” Warren Nelson, Big Top Chautauqua/WI Public Radio, Bayfield, WI
“I’ve never been so fascinated by a singing duo. They’re original, funny, energetic, profound, always respectful of the music but always daring to try new things. When they get their hands on music, rhythmicaly and harmonicaly, it just takes of. The audience here loves them. It’s a stand-up-andshout kind of love.” Phee Sherline San Diego Folk Heritage Society, San Diego, CA
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MICHAEL FRACASSO/ Giulia Millanta
2015-10-16 20:30 - 23:00
Upon arriving in Austin, TX in 1990 from New York City, MICHAEL FRACASSO was promptly voted Best New Artist in Music City Texas ‘Insiders’ poll and was able to record his first CD, Love & Trust which features a duet with Lucinda Williams.
He has made two albums with producer/ guitarist Charlie Sexton (World in a Drop of Water and Back to Oklahoma) and also collaborated with Charlie to write and record the music for the movie Monster Hunter.
His 2004 album, Pocketful of Rain featured a duet with Grammy winner Patty Griffin for whom Michael opened her Spring 2006 tour.
He has toured extensively throughout the US, Europe and Japan. His 2007 release, Red Dog Blues went to #1 on the Americana Chart in Europe.
For his seventh CD, Saint Monday (April 26, 2011) Fracasso returned to a harder-hitting sound of a full rock band and “…remains one of Austin’s most distinctive voices.” – Jim Caligiuri – Austin Chronicle.
He was short listed for the Austin Public Library Award for literary achievement in 2011 and was on the “Best of 2011” list for several publications including Third Coast Music, San Antonio Express News and Austin Chronicle.
“Michael Fracasso has the heart-melting potential of Gene Pitney or Don Everly… his voice remains a marvelous instrument throughout.”
— Don McLeese, Rolling Stone
“…transcend(s) the realms of hardcore honky-tonk and folksy excess. Fracasso… gloriously integrated a countrified Texas twang with Beatlesque popisms and rocking enthusiasm.”
— Mitch Myers, New City
Opener GIULIA MILLANTA is a songwriter from Florence, Italy, now based in Austin, TX. She is a traveller. She is a writer. She is a performer who uses her own unique style in combination with various genres to craft music that connects cultures.
She plays guitar, ukulele and she sings in four languages – Italian, English, French and Spanish!
Her curiosity and search for a personal form of expression distinguished her first work, “Giulia and the Dizzyness” (CavernJatt Records 2008).
She performed at the Acoustic Guitar Meeting in Sarzana, where she won the Carisch Award “New Sounds of Acoustic Music”, in May of 2010.
Two years after her first release, Giulia delivered “Dropping Down” (Ugly Cat Music/ Audioglobe 2011) a multivalent musical performance, showing her skills in every aspect of production.  The album is in fact entirely written (except for the cover, Paranoid, by Black Sabbath), arranged, and produced by the singer/songwriter.
In 2012 , after touring Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and US, Giulia moved to Austin, Texas, the “live music capital of the world”, a melting pot where different cultures, genres and musical styles meet and blend. Here, filled with new energy and influences Giulia decided to “give birth” to a new album: “Dust and Desire” (Ugly Cat Music/Audiglobe 2012)
Her fourth studio effort, “The Funambulist” (Ugly Cat Music 2014), is a musical investigation of the art of balancing…people, languages, realities and life in general.

SAM LLANAS (cancelled)
2015-10-17 20:30 - 23:00
SAM LLANAS (formerly of the BoDeans) is an iconic American singer, acoustic guitarist, and songwriter. Best known for his unique and distinctively soulful voice, It was Llanas’ voice that supplied the trademark vocal on Robbie Robertson’s “Somewhere Down the Crazy River.” He will be appearing solo.
In 1997 Llanas founded the band Absinthe. As Absinthe Sam released one album, 1998’s critically acclaimed A Good Day To Die. In 2011 Sam Llanas left the BoDeans and released 4 A.M. (The Way Home) on Inner Knot Records. In 2013 he released the live retrospective 4/5 Live – Vol I.
In 2012 the music from 1998‘s A Good Day To Die was incorporated into a collaboration with playwright Doug Vincent and producer Gary Tanin in the production “A Day for Grace.” By 2013 the play had evolved to include multi-city tours and multi-week runs in New York City.
On November 18th, 2014 Llanas released The Whole Night Thru, an all new studio record produced by longtime collaborator Gary Tanin. It features 9 new Llanas originals. The Whole Night Thru is Llanas’ first studio outing after parting ways with the band he co-fronted for over a quarter century. Shedding new light on a multi-decade career Sam returns to his roots adding a refined rock sound complimented by a full band, all veterans of both studio and live performance. Behind his lone-wolf image and toughness, Llanas continues to hone his skills. A master craftsman that feels most at home in the city he’s always called home, Llanas has set the stage for fans to embrace his new identity.

CLAUDIA RUSSELL & BRUCE KAPLAN w KATIE DAHL & RICH HIGDON
2015-10-21 19:30 - 22:00
CLAUDIA RUSSELL is an outstanding singer and songwriter who has shared stages with Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, Loudon Wainwright III, Steve Forbert, Tish Hinojosa, Kris Kristoffersen, Willie Nelson, Darryl Purpose, Peter Rowan, Rosalie Sorrels and Bill Staines, among many others. She is accompanied by husband BRUCE KAPLAN on mandolin, guitar and vocals.
Besides writing evocative songs, Claudia is known for her vocal talent. She is an expressive and versatile singer, as at home on a soulful ballad as a Buddy Holly style romp.
With its memorable melodies and seductive soundscape, her latest album, All Our Luck Is Changing, elicits the classic era of ageless American music. Russell delivers a whimsical melting pot of traditional and contemporary styles, from earnest folk to sweet jug band blues, driven by her deft guitar work and a versatile, expressive voice that tips the hat to artists as diverse as Dolly Parton, Suzanne Vega and Aretha Franklin. Claudia paints her material with emotional depth, looking forward and back at life with both childlike awe and the mature wisdom of a musician with four decades of music under her belt.
Working with three-time Grammy nominee producer Peter Case, Claudia and her husband Bruce Kaplan (guitar, mandolin) cut the majority of the record live with some of LA’s best musicians. Using just a few overdubs, Case created a balance between the immediacy of a live record and the freedom to embellish that the studio experience inspires.
Though they might not carry the trappings of the usual music industry formula for overnight success, self-described ‘late bloomers’ Russell and Kaplan have refined their sound into an eclectic, full-bodied tapestry of unplugged Americana. Giving themselves the time and space to come into their own as people and musicians has allowed for the creation of their definitive album. The duo have dealt themselves a winning hand. Indeed, all you have to do is listen and you too will believe! All Their Luck Is Changing!
KATIE DAHL Wisconsin singer-songwriter Katie has performed her original songs everywhere from the dusty cliff country of Mali, West Africa, to the winding canals of southern France, to the cedar forests of the American northwoods. The depth and power of Katie’s alto voice, the literate candor of her original songs, and the easy humor of her live performances have earned her numerous songwriting awards, as well as the chance to share stages with such luminaries as Dar Williams, Peter Mulvey, Julie Gold, and Cheryl Wheeler. Katie is also a playwright whose musical Victory Farm premiered to high acclaim in 2012 and has since been made into a live cast album.
Mike Fischer of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes that Katie Dahl “combine[s] old-fashioned populism, an abiding love of the land, and wickedly smart love songs, all delivered in a rich and expressive alto.”
“Crowns,” the opening track from “Ordinary Band,” hit number one on the folk radio charts for July 2015. The album “Ordinary Band” was #4 overall. The full rundown is here. Katie performs with sideman RICH HIGDON on bass and washboard.

TALL HEIGHTS
2015-10-23 20:30 - 23:00
It’s been half a decade since TALL HEIGHTS kicked off their career in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, busking for more than 100 days to help fund their very first EP. Paul Wright would play cello, Tim Harrington would strum the acoustic guitar, and both bandmates would sing, their voices cutting through the noise of shoppers and tourists.
Since those days, the duo’s harmony-heavy indie folk has taken Tall Heights from the marketplaces of Massachusetts to stages across the country. They’ve toured America, released critically-acclaimed album, Man of Stone, and earned a spot on the same folk family tree as Simon & Garfunkel and Bon Iver. On 2015’s Holding On, Holding Out, though, the duo widen their reach significantly, beefing up their sound with electronics, synthesizers, drums loops, Casio keyboards, and plenty of shimmer and shine. It’s a record of exploration and expansion, with Tall Heights building something towering on top of their folksy foundation.
NPR calls Tall Heights “Intimate and arresting.” Their brand new EP, “Holding On, Holding Out,” releases today. Check it out on Spotify.
“This record feels like a new birth for us,” says Harrington, a Boston native who grew up singing in the same local choirs as Wright. “We’re sounding different. It’s not because we were bored; it’s because we were street performers who learned how to create beautiful moments as a duo, but then we became a nationally-touring act. We saw the country, we broadened our horizons. Suddenly, we weren’t the artists we were before. But a lot of what we learned on the street still rings true to our approach today, so this record is a growth, rather than a left-hand turn.”
Recorded at Color Study studio in Goshen, Vermont, Holding On, Holding Out was partially inspired by the music that poured out of Tall Heights’ car speakers during the long drives from show to show. The guys found themselves listening to a wide array of sounds as they hurtled across the country, but they zeroed in on Icelandic music, taking influence from the sonic sweep of Sigur R&ocute;s and the electronic percussion of Ásgeir. The music of Iceland’s underground was deep, dark and cinematic, able not only to deliver a melody, but to cast a mood, too. Harrington and Wright were also influenced by their hometown Boston music scene, specifically their friends and peers in Darlingside and the Ballroom Thieves. Months later, while recording their own EP, Tall Heights used all of it as inspiration, and allowed their intimate indie-folk to grow into something bigger and bolder. It was a natural growth — the sound of two musicians amplifying their music to its fullest potential, exploring some new territory along the way.
“We’re singing together more than ever before,” Wright adds. “Throughout all of Holding On, Holding Out, there are only a few places where only one person is singing without the other. There’s a lot of perfect unison, too: just two people singing the same note at the same time, fusing their voices into a sound that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. I think that’s the biggest difference between this project and the last project. We’re not just harmonizing; we’re singing together all the time.”
Holding On, Holding Out also draws a line between humans’ relationships with each other and their environment. It’s a call to be more present and conscious, especially with things we all hold dear — family, love, our planet — are at stake. At its core, though, Holding On, Holding Out is a blast of exploration and electricity from a group that previously did some of its best work unplugged. It’s progressive and propulsive, shining a light not only on where Tall Heights have been before, but where they’re going.
“Intimate and arresting” – NPR
“Tall Heights employ a collection of acoustic guitar, cello, and electronic drums,​ ​reminiscent of contemporary indie folk giants like Justin Vernon and Fleet​ ​Foxes.”​​ – XPN
“In addition to finger-picked guitar, swelling cello and tight,​ ​prismatic vocal harmonies, ‘Spirit Cold’ boasts a bold, airy drum part​ ​that propels the song through the peaks and troughs of the​ ​arrangement.”​ – Wall Street Journal​
“It’s a contemporary sound that is not without its ageless qualities.” – Chicago Sun Times
“Certifiably unclassifiable” – Boston Herald
“There have been many bands in recent years that have employed beautiful close harmonies, but when you add the strings and the great songwriting, Tall Heights is a notch above the pack.” – WBEZ
“Call it simply gorgeous.” – WFUV
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THE BUZZARDS
2015-10-24 20:00 - 22:30
After a five-year absence from Cafe Carpe, they’re coming home to roost! For The Buzzards—a trio made up of Madison’s Mike and Patty McDougal and Fort Atkinson’s Perry Baird—it all began at Cafe Carpe in August 1995. As solo acts, Mike and Perry split sets on a couple of Carpe shows, but on one fateful night 20 years ago, Patty joined her husband and Perry for a short, final set, and an enduring musical collaboration took flight.
Mike brings his skills as a singer and instrumentalist developed over years performing on the Chicago folk-music scene. Six- and twelve-string guitars are his forte, though he also contributes cello and ukulele to Buzzards shows.
Patty takes turns on harmony and lead vocals and adds harmonica, accordion, and occasional percussion.
Perry, long a stalwart of the Madison Folk Music Society and Carpe open stages, concentrates on vocals and guitar. Expect three-part vocal harmonies and delicate—occasionally raucous—instrumental work on an eclectic variety of selections by contemporary artists such as Tom Waits, Bill Staines, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, John Hartford, Steve Goodman, Patrick Alger, the Rolling Stones and others, plus some traditional songs from America and Great Britain sprinkled throughout. There’s even a Russell Crowe song in the repertoire (Buzzards play Crowe!).
Though in recent years the trio has hovered around Madison area venues, The Buzzards are excited to return to the nest where they hatched!

JP CYR AND HIS RADIO WRANGLERS
2015-10-30 20:30 - 23:00
JP CYR & HIS RADIO WRANGLERS hail from Wisconsin and are heavily influenced by the Western Swing, Honky Tonk, and Hillbilly sounds of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. They strive to encapsulate the sounds of the Western dance hall era and their Honky Tonk singin’ and Western Swingin’ will keep your toe tappin’ all night long! Fronted by J.P. Cyr on Vocals and upright bass, The Radio Wranglers are: Blaine McQuinn on fiddle and vocals, Adam Nero on steel guitar, Danny Tyksinski on lead guitar, and Ed Novak on rhythm guitar, and Ruthie Krause on fiddle and vocals.

BILL CAMPLIN and the SPECTERCLES/ Zach Pietrini
2015-10-31 20:30 - 23:00
It’s that spooky time of year again when BILL CAMPLIN and the Spectercles take over the Carpe stage.
ZACH PIETRINI dares to step into this, opening for the band.
Starting in 2006, Zach’s music career has spanned 9 years, 4 albums, 3 states, multiple band members, countless stages, hopes, and heartache.
His first effort, The Broken Season Turning, released in 2007 emerged as a concept album tracing the path of a broken family and their attempts at redemption.
In early 2009 The Bright and Shining Lights of Anywhere Else was released finding much of its musical inspiration from Ryan Adams and The Snake The Cross The Crown. Many of these songs were written during a time of depression for Pietrini and were his way of working through the pain.
2010. Zach elected to move on from Chicago and came to Milwaukee where he found renewed energy and inspiration. Seizing every opportunity, he quickly was recognized as a force in SE Wisconsin, winning several songwriter awards, battle of the bands, and a nomination for Best Band in Milwaukee in 2014.
Zach charges on with the newest release, Aug 2015, Highways and Heartache. Their sound consistently evolves, but doesn’t stray from its brutally honest, impassioned americana roots. Critics describe his songs as “haunting,” “honest” and “instantly familiar.” Zach continues to write, tour, and record salt-of-the-earth-flavored americana, and was recently featured on NoiseTrade’s New and Notable. He is, as ever, driven by their desire to connect with people through the simple beauty of story and song.
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RED TAIL RING
2015-11-06 20:30 - 23:00
OLD-TIMEY ROOTS, NEW-TIMEY SOUNDS
RED TAIL RING is the musical brainchild of two old-time-minded Michiganders – Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo. The collaboration blends the loving attention of revivalist fervor with the playful creativity of starting from scratch. Whether rendering a traditional tune or one of their many original compositions, the duo infuses each song with musical imagination, haunting harmonies and instrumental artistry on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, jawharp, and plain-old foot stomping. “We love pushing the boundaries of what a traditional song can be,” says Beauchamp. “It informs how we write our original songs. There’s a real energy exchange between the old and the new.”
This two-way connection takes center stage with Red Tail Ring’s first pair of recordings released in April 2011 on Earthwork Music, Middlewest Chant and Mountain Shout. The set forms a complete picture of Red Tail Ring’s blending of old with new. Middlewest Chant is comprised of all original songs, while Mountain Shout features Red Tail Ring’s interpretations of Appalachian ballads and melodies. “We tried to weave the music on these two albums together not only with similar musical treatment, but with running lyric lines and shared songforms,” Premo says.
In May 2013, Red Tail Ring released their third full-length album. The Heart’s Swift Foot presents 10 original songs with two acoustic standards that stretch the confines of what two people can create sonically. The duo’s signature style, of layered, intricate instrumental lines over close vocal harmonies, shines on this new collection. “We crafted the recording to be as close to our live performance as possible,” Beauchamp says. “We feel we’re at our best when we’re playing together, listening and reacting as we go along.” As a whole, the lyrics of The Heart’s Swift Foot explore changes that come without warning, and the malleability of relationships and friendships.
In 2014, Premo and Beauchamp collaborated in a wider circle and produced two joint releases. The New Roots Exchange is a vinyl project created with the marvelous bluegrass band Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys. The Right Hands Round is a recording of energetic square dance music with the stringband Bowhunter.
“The very best of the 21st century’s minimalist and highly original folk music . . . a peerless duo.” – American Roots UK
“Red Tail Ring brings to the stage a lively and commanding fusion of string and vocal harmonies. The pair deliver both established ballads and original compositions with a clear, authentic ease that manages to transcend traditional form while honoring its legacy.” – Rob Cole, Grand Rapids Press
“Laurel Premo and Michael Beauchamp share a reverance for vivid, authentic American art forms. They are both rustic and elegant, and they lift us into their sound.” – Seth Bernard, Earthwork Music

OPEN STAGE
2015-11-07 19:30 - 22:00
Strut your stuff

NEW PIONEERS
2015-11-12 19:00 - 21:00
This five piece bluegrass ball of fire featuring vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin appears here regularly on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Its various members have been involved with traditional music locally, regionally, and nationally for many years.
The Pioneer’s lead singer and guitarist, Jerry Wicentowski, has been described by country music historian Bill Malone as “One of the finest singers in bluegrass music”. Jerry has also performed and recorded with such bluegrass greats as Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, Byron Berline, Tony Trischka and others. Mike Schmidt of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is the group’s banjo player. This former French horn player has been a Nashville session musician and member of the popular Wisconsin-based bluegrass bands, Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ and the Piper Road Spring Band. He also performs occasionally with his wife Lori. Bruce King of Art Stevenson and High Water – also formerly of Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ – is on mandolin. Bruce and Mike are veterans of the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival in Mole Lake, WI – performing there every year from 1977 to 1982. Fiddle player Paul Kienitz is a member in good standing of regional bluegrass favorites, The Nob Hill Boys. Bass player John Jirak also has played banjo with various folks in the northeastern WI and Madison areas, most notably with the Green Bay based Fox River Flyer. As a bass player, he’s performed shows with the Chicago Bluegrass Band, Miltown Ramblers, Krause Family, Old Cool, Spare Time Bluegrass Band, Bob Steeno and The Old Truck, and Down From the Hills, and currently Madison’s newest, Kettle Moraine.
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LONESOME BILL CAMPLIN
2015-11-13 20:30 - 23:00
BILL CAMPLIN will hold his own against the forces of evil by smiting them with his super vocal powers.
Please call to reserve.

BLUEGRASS CAVALIERS
2015-11-14 20:30 - 23:00
The Bluegrass Cavaliers are one of Wisconsin’s finest bluegrass bands…they just didn’t know it. Born out of past endeavors and common bonds they are ready to take the world, well maybe Fort Atkinson by storm (no small task). The pedigrees run deep with this ensemble, featuring Monroe Bluegrass Boy alum Mark Hembree on bass, vocal and loquacious story telling; one of Wisconsin’s finest, Jon Peik, on banjo and fashion trend setting; the outstanding flat picking’ guitar and vocalist, Seth ‘yes he can actually hold a note that long’ Forester; Monroe mandolin disciple and misplaced ‘Chicago Bears’ fan oddly infatuated by the team color, Brian Ray; and last but not least (but very close), Wisconsin ‘longbow’ fiddler and frugalist, Paul Kienitz.
Come enjoy an evening of illuminating laments about loves lost, interpersonal tensions and unwanted changes…the Bluegrass Cavaliers.

SONG CIRCLE w/ TRICIA ALEXANDER
2015-11-19 19:00 - 21:00
Traditional round robin led by TRICIA ALEXANDER– done informally, not from the stage, no microphones, one song and then the next robin sings, or chooses to pass. 3 rounds with a short break after the 2nd one is the likely scenario.
Musicians and audience are welcome to attend.

BROTHERS QUINN
2015-11-20 20:30 - 23:00
BROTHERS QUINN is a four piece folk ensemble from southeastern Wisconsin fronted by WAMI award winning fiddle player Blaine McQuinn. The Brothers Quinn perform a variety of music including Irish, bluegrass, classic country, and blues; however, it’s not unusual to hear some Beatles or even Radiohead. Blaine is joined on stage by his brother Timothy McQuinn on drums, washboard, and vocals, Peyton Lencho on upright bass and Brian “Looper” Lucas on harmonica, guitar and vocals. Together, these boys bring a unique energy to familiar songs and even a few unfamiliar tunes.

ANDRUS AND THE MARINERS/ JILL & THE DIMES
2015-11-21 20:00 - 22:30
ANDRUS AND THE MARINERS currently consists of: Matt Andrus, Zaq Daniels, Joe Reeves, Jesse Ramirez & Scott Hynds.
Genre: Folk/rock/bluegrass/celtic
People have really enjoyed this lively group’s appearances at the Fort Farmers Market- you may want to get up and dance.
Opening for them wil be Jill and the Dimes– the mash up supergroup consisting of members of Jill and the JAX and Three Thin Dimes, with Jill Kessenich on mandolin, Ben Knowles on guitar and Steve Tesmer on dobro, rounding out the evening with old time, bluegrass, and Irish songs and tunes.
Please call to reserve.

HAYWARD WILLIAMS
2015-11-27 20:30 - 23:00
HAYWARD WILLIAMS We know how to grow ’em in Wisconsin.
“Looking at the bespectacled youth peering out from the album bio, you would never expect the smoky authoritative voice that swells from Cotton Bell. But maybe Williams’ appearance belies his age, this being the Milwaukee singer-songwriter’s third full length album. Williams’ is the voice of maturity and restraint, and by voice I mean not only his deep, resonant singing, but his approach, attitude, songwriting – the whole deal. Full of gentle, tender songs beautifully recorded, Cotton Bell presents nothing groundbreaking or startling. But the deeper you listen, the further you appreciate those sounds and songs. Dan McMahon’s guitar and pedal steel and dobro are consistently grace full and as a co-producer, he’s clearly a crucial ingredient to the impact of Cotton Bell. Strings and harmonies flesh out the songs beautifully throughout – Third track in ‘Mockingbird’ is a great example,just gorgeous to listen to, a breathtaking guitar solo, strings and harmonies swelling and subsiding, and Williams’ vocal melody glowing throughout.” Rhythms Magazine Australia
PLEASE- DO CALL TO RESERVE.

BILL CAMPLIN & THE WHOLLY GRATEFUL
2015-11-28 20:30 - 23:00

THE NEW PIONEERS
2015-12-03 19:00 - 21:00
This five piece bluegrass ball of fire featuring vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin appears here regularly on the 2nd Thursday of the month. BUT this month the gig will be on the first Thursday. And to confuse you further, their monthly gig in January will be on the 9th, the second Saturday. We like to keep you on your toes. Its various members have been involved with traditional music locally, regionally, and nationally for many years.
The Pioneer’s lead singer and guitarist, Jerry Wicentowski, has been described by country music historian Bill Malone as “One of the finest singers in bluegrass music”. Jerry has also performed and recorded with such bluegrass greats as Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, Byron Berline, Tony Trischka and others. Mike Schmidt of Spring Green, Wisconsin, is the group’s banjo player. This former French horn player has been a Nashville session musician and member of the popular Wisconsin-based bluegrass bands, Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ and the Piper Road Spring Band. He also performs occasionally with his wife Lori. Bruce King of Art Stevenson and High Water – also formerly of Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ – is on mandolin. Bruce and Mike are veterans of the Great Northern Bluegrass Festival in Mole Lake, WI – performing there every year from 1977 to 1982. Fiddle player Paul Kienitz is a member in good standing of regional bluegrass favorites, The Nob Hill Boys. Bass player John Jirak also has played banjo with various folks in the northeastern WI and Madison areas, most notably with the Green Bay based Fox River Flyer. As a bass player, he’s performed shows with the Chicago Bluegrass Band, Miltown Ramblers, Krause Family, Old Cool, Spare Time Bluegrass Band, Bob Steeno and The Old Truck, and Down From the Hills, and currently Madison’s newest, Kettle Moraine.
Like them on Facebook.

OPEN STAGE
2015-12-04 19:30 - 22:00

CORKY SIEGEL w/ RANDY SABIEN- SOLD OUT
2015-12-05 20:30 - 23:00
Show is SOLD OUT. You may leave a note on the Discus part at this link expressing an interest in obtaining or divesting yourself of a ticket.

Fine and fun collaboration between two geniuses:
Corky Siegel
“There’s a fine line between a genius and a madman – and Corky walks it.”
– Joe Nardome’s Gallery of Sound
Stereophile Magazine says; “… fantastic … I’ve never heard anyone play harp with this much body and harmonic delicacy … I guarantee you’ve never heard anything quite like it.”
Corky Siegel has earned an international reputation as one of the world’s great blues harmonica masters. He is a composer, blues pianist, singer / songwriter, and recent winner of the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest/Meet the Composer’s national award for chamber music composition and the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award for Music Composition.
Mr. Siegel’s partnership in the renowned Siegel-Schwall Band, his performances as soloist with orchestras world-wide, and his collaborations with conductor Seiji Ozawa in bringing a ground-breaking blues-classical sound to national attention are all a reflection of Mr. Siegel’s prodigious talent. Mr. Siegel continues to perform as guest soloist with symphony orchestras world-wide, which have included the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Metropolitana De Lisboa in Portugal, and most recently the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, the NHK Symphony in Japan, and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Maestro Charles Dutoit. In addition to ongoing tours with Maestro Dutoit, Corky has continued to perform numerous symphonic collaborations through the years with Doc Severinsen. Corky has also recorded on Sony International by touring globally from time to time through the invitation of Dr. Subramaniam, India’s greatest Eastern classical violin virtuoso.
Randy Sabien
“Jazz violinists usually draw from one of two traditions. The best of both can be found in the superb Randy Sabien… he combines classical technique and folk energy in a program that’s still strictly jazz.”
USA TODAY
“…The resulting sound is swinging, rocking, rhythmic and bluesy with a fiddle that often plays more like a saxophone than a violin. There are shades of Duke and Miles and you can certainly hear the echoes of the great jazz violinists from the swing era but above all, Randy is a product of his time – someone who grew up playing the violin while immersed in the music of the 60s and 70s. “

LAMPLIGHTER- PETER MULVEY/ PAUL CEBAR/ JOHN SIEGER/ ANNA TIVEL
2015-12-09 20:00 - 22:30
See here for Lamplighter enlightenment

“PETER MULVEY is reaching for gold with his new record The Silver Ladder, produced by Chuck Prophet. ”
The eclectic range of Mulvey’s tireless past pays handsome dividends on this stylistically sweeping, LA-recorded album. A crack specially convened band (including regular Dylan drummer David Kemper) adhere to his well-established live and direct recording approach and allow the performer’s deeply matured, naturally wry and hard-edged Americana to attain full, flowing life. From the raunchy melodic pop of “Sympathies” through suburban requiem “Remember the Milkman”, the dizzying weirdness of “If You Shoot At A King” and even Led Zeppelin modal thunder on “Copenhagen Airport”, Mulvey’s troubled visions attain striking clarity. – Gavin Martin, Uncut
Davis Enterprise:
“The cream of the crop… sings with a clarity reserved for the likes of legends.”
Boston Globe:
“Peter Mulvey is all substance, which is his style.”
Blessed with having 2 more of Milwaukee’s finest on this night’s roster, fresh off a reunion of the R & B Cadets, a great band they were once in:
PAUL CEBAR songwriter, singer, guitarist with a penchant for African, Latin American, Caribbean, R & B, jazz, New Orleans etc. music, host of WMSE’s radio show Way Back Home, “that allows him to dig into his extensive vinyl collection and pontificate about his various influences.”
“His oeuvre is every bit as impressive as that of more heralded singer-songwriters such as Nick Lowe and John Hiatt, and his brand new album, Fine Rude Thing, is one of the young year’s best.” Jeff Niesel, Cleveland Scene
JOHN SIEGER prolific and excellent songwriter with a semi-country bent whose songs have impressed Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Harrison, The BoDeans, Robbie Fulks and Flaco Jimenez enough to record them
Raised among the ferns and the farmland of Northern Washington, lyric-driven songwriter ANNA TIVEL loved words long before they became the backbone of her music. After moving to Oregon in 2007, she slowly discovered the friendly music scene as a fiddle player, and soon after picked up the guitar and began to write. Her latest album was released in June 2014 on Portland’s well-loved Fluff and Gravy Records. Anna is based in Portland, OR and spends her time reading and writing and touring and fiddling and watching her dog try to catch flies by the window.
“These are organic songs that freely reveal the poetry of the mind, heart, and soul, the sharp imagery of the world translated into sound.” – No Depression
“Anna’s strength is that of a lyricist. Her songs are filled with lines that intrigue and haunt.” – David Steinberg

LAMPLIGHTER- PETER MULVEY/ ANNA TIVEL/ HEATHER STYKA/ KATIE DAHL
2015-12-10 20:00 - 22:30
See here for Lamplighter enlightenment

“PETER MULVEY is reaching for gold with his new record The Silver Ladder, produced by Chuck Prophet. ”
The eclectic range of Mulvey’s tireless past pays handsome dividends on this stylistically sweeping, LA-recorded album. A crack specially convened band (including regular Dylan drummer David Kemper) adhere to his well-established live and direct recording approach and allow the performer’s deeply matured, naturally wry and hard-edged Americana to attain full, flowing life. From the raunchy melodic pop of “Sympathies” through suburban requiem “Remember the Milkman”, the dizzying weirdness of “If You Shoot At A King” and even Led Zeppelin modal thunder on “Copenhagen Airport”, Mulvey’s troubled visions attain striking clarity. – Gavin Martin, Uncut
Davis Enterprise:
“The cream of the crop… sings with a clarity reserved for the likes of legends.”
Mojo (UK):
“Singularly gifted.”
Boston Globe:
“Peter Mulvey is all substance, which is his style.”
Raised among the ferns and the farmland of Northern Washington, lyric-driven songwriter ANNA TIVEL loved words long before they became the backbone of her music. After moving to Oregon in 2007, she slowly discovered the friendly music scene as a fiddle player, and soon after picked up the guitar and began to write. Her latest album was released in June 2014 on Portland’s well-loved Fluff and Gravy Records. Anna is based in Portland, OR and spends her time reading and writing and touring and fiddling and watching her dog try to catch flies by the window.
“These are organic songs that freely reveal the poetry of the mind, heart, and soul, the sharp imagery of the world translated into sound.” – No Depression
“Anna’s strength is that of a lyricist. Her songs are filled with lines that intrigue and haunt.” – David Steinberg
HEATHER STYKA‘s tunes have a vintage familiarity that draws inspiration from folk and Tin Pan Alley sounds, but the vivid images of her lyrics render her songs as as fresh, smart, and unexpected as they are hummable. In addition to numerous songwriting awards and critical praise (including Kerrville New Folk Finalist in 2015), Styka’s 2011 release Lifeboats for Atlantis hit #3 on the national FOLK-DJ charts, and her newest album While This Planet Spins Beneath Our Feet charted for four months on FOLK-DJ (Oct.-Dec. 2014).
With training both as a poet and an actor, Heather Styka is equal parts wordsmith and performer. Her smooth, natural vocal command “combines the influences of a fragile Irish air, the warm effervescence of upbeat Americana, soulful country, and mournful blues” (FolkWords). Colored by a quirky and confessional sense of humor, Styka’s shows feel as playful as they are intimate. A few tunes may bring you to tears, but her stage banter is equally as likely to make you laugh.
“With a classically modern folky warble, a nimble fingerpicked guitar, and a gently placed rhythm section, Heather Styka has given us a sonically immaculate recording of personal narratives and captured moments.”
– Dispatch Magazine, Sam Ueda
KATIE DAHL Wisconsin singer-songwriter Katie has performed her original songs everywhere from the dusty cliff country of Mali, West Africa, to the winding canals of southern France, to the cedar forests of the American northwoods. The depth and power of Katie’s alto voice, the literate candor of her original songs, and the easy humor of her live performances have earned her numerous songwriting awards, as well as the chance to share stages with such luminaries as Dar Williams, Peter Mulvey, Julie Gold, and Cheryl Wheeler. Katie is also a playwright whose musical Victory Farm premiered to high acclaim in 2012 and has since been made into a live cast album.
Mike Fischer of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes that Katie Dahl “combine[s] old-fashioned populism, an abiding love of the land, and wickedly smart love songs, all delivered in a rich and expressive alto.”
“Crowns,” the opening track from “Ordinary Band,” hit number one on the folk radio charts for July 2015. The album “Ordinary Band” was #4 overall. The full rundown is here.

LAMPLIGHTER- PETER MULVEY/ SIMON BALTO/ ANNA VOGELZANG/ ANNA TIVEL
2015-12-11 20:30 - 23:00
See here for Lamplighter enlightenment

“PETER MULVEY is reaching for gold with his new record The Silver Ladder, produced by Chuck Prophet. ”
The eclectic range of Mulvey’s tireless past pays handsome dividends on this stylistically sweeping, LA-recorded album. A crack specially convened band (including regular Dylan drummer David Kemper) adhere to his well-established live and direct recording approach and allow the performer’s deeply matured, naturally wry and hard-edged Americana to attain full, flowing life. From the raunchy melodic pop of “Sympathies” through suburban requiem “Remember the Milkman”, the dizzying weirdness of “If You Shoot At A King” and even Led Zeppelin modal thunder on “Copenhagen Airport”, Mulvey’s troubled visions attain striking clarity. – Gavin Martin, Uncut
Davis Enterprise:
“The cream of the crop… sings with a clarity reserved for the likes of legends.”
Mojo (UK):
“Singularly gifted.”
Boston Globe:
“Peter Mulvey is all substance, which is his style.”
SIMON BALTO is a writer of folk and alt-country songs from southern Wisconsin. His music draws from a range of influences, both musical and not. More than anything, the style and storytelling are especially informed by the hills of southwestern Wisconsin that were his early home, and by the people he’s met there and in travels around the country. An avid writer and reader, Balto’s songs focus on narration: workers and lovers, mothers and sons, the dying and mourning, the prideful and the abused. There is a deeply satisfying component to each of his songs – a reminder of home, woodsmoke, and the first traces of your breath as winter begins to settle.”
“An unbelievable talent, his layered folk ballads are reminiscent of Baez and Dylan, Guthrie and Prine. There is a deeply satisfying component to each of his songs – a reminder of home, woodsmoke, and the first traces of your breath as winter begins to settle.”-MUSIC MEANS FAMILY (CHICAGO)
And then there are the not-dueling ANNAs
ANNA VOGELZANG has been making songs since 2000, playing them in public since 2003, and driving them around the country since 2007. Her melody-driven, multi-instrumental folk-pop ballads have landed her on bills with some of her heroes, including Sara Bareilles, Gillian Welch, Mirah, Anais Mitchell, Laura Gibson, Wye Oak, Steve Poltz, Amanda Palmer, & many more. Anna’s new Driftless EP is a home-spun, steadfast collection of gritty new-folk songs, many of which were written in 2014 as part of the song-a-week project RealWomenRealSongs.Vogelzang plays the banjo, ukuleles, guitar, and kalimba on stage, but has always been a singer who loves words and feelings first and foremost.
“The Wisconsin troubadour has a penchant for playfulness when it comes to her music; however, when she gets serious, few craft a better folk song.” THE HUFFINGTON POST
“Vogelzang is one of the blossoms in the fertile field of Madison new-folk practitioners. She has an infectious, hearty singing voice and switches with joy between banjo, ukulele and guitar.” WISCONSIN PUBLIC TELEVISION
“Madison, Wisconsin’s Anna Vogelzang has a voice that can knock down a listener, clashing from a sweet, nearly conversational tone into a confident country-girl howl.” PERFORMER MAGAZINE
“The exquisite lyrical craftsmanship on Canary in a Coal Mine is matched by Vogelzang’s incredible vocal range, evoking everyone from Regina Spektor to Ani DiFranco, shifting between delicate lilt and evocative howl at will.” 9/10 Stars POP MATTERS
Raised among the ferns and the farmland of Northern Washington, lyric-driven songwriter ANNA TIVEL loved words long before they became the backbone of her music. After moving to Oregon in 2007, she slowly discovered the friendly music scene as a fiddle player, and soon after picked up the guitar and began to write. Her latest album was released in June 2014 on Portland’s well-loved Fluff and Gravy Records. Anna is based in Portland, OR and spends her time reading and writing and touring and fiddling and watching her dog try to catch flies by the window.
“These are organic songs that freely reveal the poetry of the mind, heart, and soul, the sharp imagery of the world translated into sound.” – No Depression
“Anna’s strength is that of a lyricist. Her songs are filled with lines that intrigue and haunt.” – David Steinberg

LAMPLIGHTER- PETER MULVEY/ JOHN STATZ/ BEN BEDFORD / ANNA TIVEL
2015-12-12 20:30 - 23:00
See here for Lamplighter enlightenment

“PETER MULVEY is reaching for gold with his new record The Silver Ladder, produced by Chuck Prophet. The eclectic range of Mulvey’s tireless past pays handsome dividends on this stylistically sweeping, LA-recorded album. A crack specially convened band (including regular Dylan drummer David Kemper) adhere to his well-established live and direct recording approach and allow the performer’s deeply matured, naturally wry and hard-edged Americana to attain full, flowing life. From the raunchy melodic pop of “Sympathies” through suburban requiem “Remember the Milkman”, the dizzying weirdness of “If You Shoot At A King” and even Led Zeppelin modal thunder on “Copenhagen Airport”, Mulvey’s troubled visions attain striking clarity.” Gavin Martin, Uncut
Davis Enterprise:
“The cream of the crop sings with a clarity reserved for the likes of legends.”
Boston Globe:
“Peter Mulvey is all substance, which is his style.”
JOHN STATZ recorded his new album with an all-star band in the middle of a Vermont ice storm. After years of DIY touring everywhere from Eastern Europe to Mexico, the Wisconsinite who now resides in Colorado fell in with fellow Midwesterner Jeffrey Foucault, a critically acclaimed songwriter and veteran of the americana circuit. A fan of Statz’s last album (2012’s Old Fashioned, produced by Bo Ramsey), Foucault offered to produce his next record while the two were on tour together in Colorado.
The resulting Tulsa is beautiful blend of soft americana and smooth folk with echoes of The Jayhawks and Whiskeytown. “John writes songs you can’t shake,” says Foucault. “They follow you around all day and run through your head at 3 a.m. Open hearted, horizon-line songs.”
“Jeff kicked my ass. He pushed me to crank out well-written songs,” continues Statz. “He’s such a great songwriter himself and I felt like I had to step up my game. And then there is the absolutely amazing band…” The band John speaks of features Billy Conway (Morphine) on drums, Mark Spencer (Son Volt) on electric guitars and pedal steel, Jeremy Moses Curtis (Booker T) on bass, Jeffrey Foucault on guitars and vocals, Caitlin Canty singing harmonies and Matt Lorenz on fiddle.
“Tulsa feels like how I was always supposed to make a record. Hunkered down for three days, living and eating with the band, tracking live, all during the raging ‘Polar Vortex’.”
BEN BEDFORD delivers intriguing sketches of America, its individuals, their victories and their struggles. Poignant, but never sentimental, Bedford’s portrait-like songs capture the vitality of his characters and draw the listener deep into the narratives. With three albums to his credit, Bedford’s songs tackle scenarios including homelessness, the plight of a Confederate soldier’s wife during the American Civil War, the aerial triumphs of Amelia Earhart, the life of Jack London, the murder of Emmett Till in 1955, John the Baptist, the poet Vachel Lindsay and even the 1973 standoff between members of The American Indian Movement and federal agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Often drawing upon history, Bedford’s songs have a strong sense of time and place. The songs are rich in sensory detail which allows the listener to hear, see and feel each narrative.
A true son of the heartland, Bedford dips into the deep inkwell of classic American literature and writes with the ‘old soul’ quality of his literary idols, such as John Steinbeck and Toni Morrison. All three of Bedford’s albums have charted highly on the Euro Americana charts and the Folk-DJ charts with What We Lost also charting highly on the Roots Music Report charts. IIn July of 2010, Bedford was named one of the “50 most significant Folk singer-songwriters of the past 50 years” by Rich Warren of WFMT-Chicago. The list, which included artists such as Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Judy Collins and John Prine subsequently appeared on the blog of journalist Eric Zorn on the Chicago Tribune website.
“The Illinois songwriter is a masterful storyteller who can turn what seem like obscure historical references for engaging tales rife with vivid, stark imagery.”
–Erik Ernst, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Lyric-driven songwriter ANNA TIVEL has loved words long before they became the backbone of her music. After moving to Oregon in 2007, she slowly discovered the friendly music scene as a fiddle player, and soon after picked up the guitar and began to write. Her latest album was released in June 2014 on Portland’s well-loved Fluff and Gravy Records. Anna is based in Portland, OR and spends her time reading and writing and touring and fiddling and watching her dog try to catch flies by the window.
“These are organic songs that freely reveal the poetry of the mind, heart, and soul, the sharp imagery of the world translated into sound.” – No Depression
“Anna’s strength is that of a lyricist. Her songs are filled with lines that intrigue and haunt.” – David Steinberg

LAMPLIGHTER- PETER MULVEY/ CHRIS PORTERFIELD/ BRIANNA LANE/ ANNA TIVEL
2015-12-13 19:30 - 22:00
See here for Lamplighter enlightenment

“PETER MULVEY is reaching for gold with his new record The Silver Ladder, produced by Chuck Prophet. ”
The eclectic range of Mulvey’s tireless past pays handsome dividends on this stylistically sweeping, LA-recorded album. A crack specially convened band (including regular Dylan drummer David Kemper) adhere to his well-established live and direct recording approach and allow the performer’s deeply matured, naturally wry and hard-edged Americana to attain full, flowing life. From the raunchy melodic pop of “Sympathies” through suburban requiem “Remember the Milkman”, the dizzying weirdness of “If You Shoot At A King” and even Led Zeppelin modal thunder on “Copenhagen Airport”, Mulvey’s troubled visions attain striking clarity. – Gavin Martin, Uncut
Davis Enterprise:
“The cream of the crop… sings with a clarity reserved for the likes of legends.”
Boston Globe:
“Peter Mulvey is all substance, which is his style.”
Raised among the ferns and the farmland of Northern Washington, lyric-driven songwriter ANNA TIVEL loved words long before they became the backbone of her music. After moving to Oregon in 2007, she slowly discovered the friendly music scene as a fiddle player, and soon after picked up the guitar and began to write. Her latest album was released in June 2014 on Portland’s well-loved Fluff and Gravy Records. Anna is based in Portland, OR and spends her time reading and writing and touring and fiddling and watching her dog try to catch flies by the window.
“These are organic songs that freely reveal the poetry of the mind, heart, and soul, the sharp imagery of the world translated into sound.” – No Depression
“Anna’s strength is that of a lyricist. Her songs are filled with lines that intrigue and haunt.” – David Steinberg
Hailing from the song-rich soil of Minneapolis, BRIANNA LANE is the latest in a deluge of compelling songwriters flooding the region. Lane’s vocals are both confidant and fragile, running parallels to Mindy Smith or Americana veteran Patty Griffin. Behind Lane’s beguiling smile lies a heart that has had its share of heartache where songs like “In My Bones” and “Company” draw their inspiration. Her stories oscillate between a sense of urgency and resolve while seeking a tranquil balance.
CHRIS PORTERFIELD says he is “midwestern to the core” and we find no fault with that kind of core.
“The body remembers what the mind forgets,” Chris Porterfield reminisces on his acclaimed band Field Report’s sophomore record, Marigolden. The record is strewn with references to the inevitable tolls taken by the passage of time, and prolonged distance from home and loved ones.
The past couple of years have flashed by for Porterfield, who was thrust into the spotlight after years of musical reclusion. His Milwaukee-based band, Field Report (an anagram of his surname), was culled together in the studio while recording their 2012 self-titled debut. They suddenly found themselves championed by their former idols: offered support tours by Counting Crows and Aimee Mann, lauded by the likes of Mark Eitzel and Richard Thompson, and covered by Blind Boys Of Alabama.
The band honed itself from a septet to a quartet in the year that followed, focusing its sound and tightening the screws. With a heavy batch of songs under their arms, they retreated to snowy Ontario in December 2013 to record their sophomore album,Marigolden, with the help of producer Robbie Lackritz (Feist).
Spending two years roaming around the country playing tiny venues and sold-out amphitheaters alike, Porterfield was uncertain whether he was leading the charge toward an artistic epiphany or headed down a misguided path of self-destruction. Marigolden reflects this, as he ruminates across homesick tension and an un-grounded anxiety. But rather than wallow in melancholy, Porterfield finds solace and inspiration through his songs, which reveal themselves as uplifting and celebratory. The album is brighter than their 2012 debut, but somehow remains just as elegantly ominous.
Marigolden’s second track, the surprisingly catchy radio single “Home,” finds Porterfield on the road, hoping the home, wife, dog, and life he left behind in Milwaukee will still be there upon his return. “Leave the lights on,” he asks, “it might be nighttime when I get there, but I’m on my way home.” While the song contemplates lonesomeness, there is an undeniable sense of hope driving it. In “Summons,” the penultimate track, he recalls this thought, repeating, “I’ll be coming home to you” like a mantra. This sense of balance and symmetry across the album helps provide stability to the otherwise volatile themes. Case in point: the album starts with a sunrise in “Decision Day” and ends full circle with another in “Enchantment.”
Whether reconsidering sobriety in “Pale Rider,” sticking to tonic water in the bars of “Summons,” or cashing in a 30-day chip for a kiss in “Enchantment,” Porterfield’s relationship with alcohol runs through the current of nearly every song. Most notably in “Ambrosia,” where he find himself face to face with the reality of where his drinking is destined to lead.
The album runs the musical gamut, from the Traveling Wilburys-esque pop of “Home,” to the Neil Young-inspired piano ballad “Ambrosia,” to the electronic sonic landscape of “Wings.” While the compositions express a wide range in terms of genre, they find unity in themselves within the limits of self-imposed minimalism. In the studio, the songs were stripped down to the bones and built back up using only their essential elements.

LAMPLIGHTER- PETER MULVEY/ JEREMY PINC/ PAUL CEBAR/ DAVID GOODRICH
2015-12-16 20:00 - 22:30
See here for Lamplighter enlightenment

“PETER MULVEY is reaching for gold with his new record The Silver Ladder, produced by Chuck Prophet. ”
The eclectic range of Mulvey’s tireless past pays handsome dividends on this stylistically sweeping, LA-recorded album. A crack specially convened band (including regular Dylan drummer David Kemper) adhere to his well-established live and direct recording approach and allow the performer’s deeply matured, naturally wry and hard-edged Americana to attain full, flowing life. From the raunchy melodic pop of “Sympathies” through suburban requiem “Remember the Milkman”, the dizzying weirdness of “If You Shoot At A King” and even Led Zeppelin modal thunder on “Copenhagen Airport”, Mulvey’s troubled visions attain striking clarity. – Gavin Martin, Uncut
Davis Enterprise:
“The cream of the crop… sings with a clarity reserved for the likes of legends.”
Boston Globe:
“Peter Mulvey is all substance, which is his style.”
PAUL CEBAR songwriter, singer, guitarist with a penchant for African, Latin American, Caribbean, R & B, jazz, New Orleans etc. music, host of WMSE’s radio show Way Back Home, “that allows him to dig into his extensive vinyl collection and pontificate about his various influences.”
“His oeuvre is every bit as impressive as that of more heralded singer-songwriters such as Nick Lowe and John Hiatt, and his brand new album, Fine Rude Thing, is one of the young year’s best.” Jeff Niesel, Cleveland Scene
While DAVID GOODRICH “Goody” is known to many as a producer and accompanist for the likes of roots legend Chris Smither, Americana craftsmen Peter Mulvey and Jeffrey Foucault, and folk sensation Redbird, he continues to hone a sound all his own. Goody is a veteran touring and session musician, producer, composer, and teacher living in Austin. Specializing in guitar and other stringed instruments, improvisation, accompaniment, and arrangement, he is fluent in a wide range of idioms from rock, pop, and country to jazz, experimental, and new music. With 25+ years of international touring experience, he has played on hundreds of recordings, scored multiple films, and produced dozens of critically-acclaimed albums. A life-long student and longtime music teacher and coach, he studied composition at Berklee College of Music and with such teachers as Pat Metheny, Joe Henderson, and Mick Goodrick. His music has been adapted for use in feature and documentary films, museum exhibits, and even video games.
Local ne’er-do-badly, visual artist, playwright, philosopher, bike mechanic, musician JEREMY PINC will round out the roster.
