Bluegrass music is special and timeless. No other genre can get folks up and dancing from the youngest of concert goers to the youngest of heart. No other genre provides a better soundtrack to laid back vibes and good times, or in the case of Chicken Wire Empire's performance this past Wednesday, a truly picturesque summer evening in downtown Milwaukee's Pere Marquette Park.
Milwaukee's own Chicken Wire Empire delivered an on-point, stellar performance that saw the quintet play two sets of music comprised largely of original numbers with some well-placed covers peppered in. Chicken Wire Empire's progressive bluegrass sound puts them on par with many of their regional or national bluegrass contemporaries. Summer in Milwaukee provides a myriad of musical options for folks, and the attendees who came to Pere Marquette Park for their River Rhythms concert series were treated to an all-star performance from a band who is hitting its stride as one of the best contemporary bluegrass acts around.
photo by Will Piper
While Chicken Wire Empire has been a staple in the Milwaukee scene since 2014, this past year has found the band tighter than ever with a line-up of players who are able to vibe off of each other musically to create masterful jams and give the old-timey sounds of bluegrass a distinctly modern flavor. In late 2017 the group released a film All it Takes that showcased the individual and collective talents of the five unique musicians who comprise Chicken Wire Empire. With a solid and consistent line-up, of Jordan Kroeger on upright bass and vocals, Ryan Ogburn on mandolin and vocals, Greg Brundage on guitar and vocals, Jon Peik on banjo and vocals, and Ernest Brusabardis IV on fiddle, the band has continued to progress, push, and gel as both individual pickers and as a collective unit. What may be the best quality about Chicken Wire Empire is the way that each of the players gives the others the space to soar and improvise within their tracks. Like many great contemporary bluegrass groups, Chicken Wire Empire varies their sound and performance so that no tune is ever played exactly the same way.
photo by Will Piper
Highlights of the group's two set performance at Pere Marquette Park included classic Chicken Wire Empire numbers like "Joe Eddy," a great narrative story tune sung by Jordan Kroeger, that emerged in the second set and got audience members of all ages engaged and dancing. In addition, "Shotguns and Doublewides," a tune primed for the group's upcoming new record, found Ryan Ogburn tearing it up on lead vocals and mandolin, and the group providing a multi-directional jam in the central part of the tune. Well-placed covers like Bruce Hornsby's "The Way it Is," the traditionally arranged "Jack A Roe," and Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" were well-received and given the contemporary bluegrass treatment that only masters like Chicken Wire Empire can deliver.
If you are a fan of bluegrass, or just great music in general, please make an effort to check out this exceptional group of world-class musicians who are picking at a festival or venue near you!
Setlist (compliments of Chicken Wire Empire): Set I You Were On My Mind*, Reckless, Throw Me A Rope, Still In Love With You > 9lb Hammer, Jack-A-Roe > Jam > Jack-A-Roe, Ballroom Girl, Lumpy Bean Pole & Dirt, The Way It Is, Meet Your Maker
Set II Happy Birthday, Vincent Black Lightning, Joe Eddy, Dont Think Twice Its Alright, Summer And Me, Girl Of My Dreams, Shotguns > Jam > Doublewides, I Ain't Broke, I'm Badly Bent, You Belong To Me, Easy Chair, Wheel Hoss
“On the First Bell” greets you with sense of welcome, joy and invitation. The opening notes of the bowed upright bass and infectious melody performed on mandolin instantly hook the listener into the profoundly honest, intimate and soulful nature of Buffalo Gospel, the Milwaukee country-soul-rock-Americana quintet. The band’s latest release On the First Bell dropped last month, and marked the group’s first full-length release since 2013’s We Can Be Horses. In that time, singer-songwriter, Ryan Necci and his crew of musicians has changed, rotated and evolved as both performers and people. At the heart of Buffalo Gospel, however, is a supreme earnestness, a sense of compassion, and also the raw emotion of creating music that is soulful and above all real.
photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch
On the First Bell, is a record that focuses on themes of dealing with loss and sorrow approaching these topics with soulful conviction. Much of On the First Bell came out of Necci processing the loss of close friend and band mate, Josh Tovar. However, this is by no means a down-trodden release. Instead of a mourning record, Necci embraces remembering his close friend with a sense of both love and compassion. This is seen most in “Lonestar,” a song that in many ways serves as a linchpin to the record. In it, Necci writes: “This is gonna be the last I write; Dressed head to toe in this neon light; There’s a lone star and it’s shining down; I’m a Polaroid in a landlord’s town. There’s a lone star; A good one’s better than no one when you have no one left at all.” In classic Necci fashion, he blends elements of narrative storytelling and clever use of metaphor to give the listener a story, but also leave blank space for the listener to add in her/his emotions and live in the song.
photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch
Another highlight of the record is,“High Time to Hang Fire.” This track showcases Necci’s bellowing vocals like never before, which have gotten him noticed as one of the premier vocalists in Milwaukee and beyond. “High Time to Hang Fire,” in many ways takes on an aura of a gospel-bluesy number and is infectiously raw and emotive.
The gentle mandolin picking and subtle guitar work that opens “Homeless” is a modern take on classic country stylings. Repeated listens make this track particularly rewarding as there are so many musical nuances there to enjoy from Necci’s easy-to-sing-along-with refrain to Nick Lang’s brush drumming, to the steady grooves of Kevin Lowe’s thumbing upright bass.
“18 Wheeler” is another new track that sounds like a juke-joint classic for Buffalo Gospel. With a great tale of love on the road, Necci and the boys cut loose on this fast-picked number and made a great video as well.
From start to finish On the First Bell is a record that burrows into your soul and is worth revisiting often. It is both beautifully simple and wonderfully complex simultaneously. If you have the opportunity to see Buffalo Gospel live- do yourself a favor and go. Their performances live bring these stories and songs to life in a truly remarkable fashion.
This Saturday, two of Milwaukee's premier musical treasures take the stage together as Buffalo Gospel and Joesph Huber join forces at Anodyne Coffee Roasters in Walker's Point to celebrate Buffalo Gospel's album release of On the First Bell, the band's much anticipated new LP. While rooted deeply in Milwaukee, the music produced by both Buffalo Gospel and Joseph Huber make these artists two of the most soulful Americana acts out there today. Both of these bands approach music with such honesty and earnestness, and their songwriting excels beyond the borders of the Americana genre. While Buffalo Gospel and Joseph Huber are uniquely different sonic entities, the sincerity and passion for their craft comes through in every tune. There are good ones, and there are great ones, and the songwriting, lyrical delivery, and overall "realness" exuded by both Buffalo Gospel frontman Ryan Necci and Joesph Huber is nothing short of remarkable.
Recently MKE Rocks had the chance to catch up with Ryan Necci of Buffalo Gospel and Joseph Huber to talk about tunes and their upcoming concert at Anodyne Coffee Roasters in Walker's Point:
MKE Rocks: What are you the most proud of right now about playing with Buffalo Gospel and your new record On the First Bell?
Necci: Truthfully, I’m most proud of the way the band has been performing lately. We’ve always had a bit of a rotating cast and it’s made it difficult to do much more than simply learn the songs. Recently, we’ve had a much more consistent line up and it’s allowing us to grow together musically - something that was very difficult when we were only playing sporadically and with different folks in the past. I love that the songs are starting to shift and morph a little on stage as we learn more about them. We know how they’re played on the record and we’re certainly proud of the album -- but they’re living organisms on stage and we’re always tweaking and tightening. We’ve been having a great time together on stage and off. It’s a really good feeling.
MKE Rocks: Anodyne Coffee has been such a special venue for many of your past performances. Could you please share you thoughts about having your album release show in the Anodyne venue? You've pulled out some special performances there in the past... any special treats in store for Saturday?
Necci: Anodyne has always been very kind to us in the past. I’m a very loyal person and when somebody does me a solid when they don’t have to, I tend to stick with that person. Matt and the folks at Anodyne took a chance on us when nobody knew who we were and they certainly didn’t need to. That meant and continues to mean a lot to me. It’s also just a great room. You know you’re always going to get a crowd that’s there to listen to music.
We definitely like to mix things up from show to show - especially, here in Milwaukee. Sometimes those moments work really well and sometimes they fall flat. I think that’s part of the fun for us. We certainly have some some special plans for Saturday.
photo by Brooke J. Billick
MKE Rocks: You've been touring more recently and have had some great gigs supporting alt-country icon Robbie Fulks in Minneapolis and performing at the sold out Back Room at Colectivo for the Field Report album release in Milwaukee, as well as other shows. Can you reflect on these performances a bit?
Necci: Minneapolis was wonderful. Any time you roll into a town you haven’t been to or haven’t been to in awhile, you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into. There can be a little excitement and anxiety, at least for me, around those types of gambles. That crowd was in it to win it, though. They treated us very, very well. Robbie is one of the best around. It was a real honor.
The Field Report show was a really special one for me. Their music has meant so much to me since that first album -- if you’d have told me we’d be supporting them and that they’d be good friends of ours a few years ago, I’d have laughed in your face. The audience was great, the Field Report guys couldn't be sweeter and that room is a lot of fun -- it was a great evening.
photo by Brooke J. Billick
MKE Rocks: You have a new video that you just released for “18 Wheeler,” an incredibly catchy and fun track off of On the First Bell. In the video you have Fox 6 anchor Ted Perry acting as a bartender, and Joseph Huber and his wife in there too. Can you please share about the music video and how it was made?
Necci: It was a really fun, really quick process. I approached my friend and coworker, Rick Ebbers, about helping us out with a few videos for the record a while back. He’s done the majority of the bands’ press photography over the years and we all feel very comfortable working with him. I knew Rick had wanted to get more into video so it seemed like a great excuse to do a little experimenting.
I basically sat down and wrote out what I thought it could be. Rick took that document, ran it through his supremely creative brain-filter and turned it into the video that you saw. He did all the filming, directing and editing.
We were lucky enough to enlist Kat Wodtke as the lead. She’s a very talented stage actor, musician and teacher here in Milwaukee. I played a truck driver and Kat played my love interest. Her acting definitely made the whole thing. I just drank beer and looked sad - something I’ve been rehearsing for a quite a while.
There’s a bar scene at the end and we needed to fill the room with people so we enlisted a bunch of our friends. Ted, Joe and Michelle happened to be in that crew. I thought they knocked their parts out of the park. It was a really fun evening. We got the shots we needed and then all sat at the bar and celebrated.
I want to give a quick thanks to Sue and the Cedar Lake Motel and Pub. I’ve passed by it so many times and wondered what it was like. It’s a really special place and Sue takes a lot of pride in maintaining the history and integrity of it all. She also makes a damn fine burger.
MKE Rocks: On Saturday May 5th you're sharing the stage with Joseph Huber who shares a lot of similar qualities to Buffalo Gospel in terms of aesthetic and song writing. Can you share a bit about what it's like to play with Huber?
Joe’s a treasure. To me, he embodies the blue-collar, hard-working gritty spirit of this town that I love so much. His songwriting is fantastic and his band is a bunch of killers. We all have a great deal of respect for Joe and what he’s done for this style of music. It’s always an honor to share a bill with him and a privilege to watch him perform.
We also had the chance to catch up with Joseph Huber who has had a busy 2018 so far touring around the country including a recent run in Texas.
photo by Stephen Bloch
MKE Rocks: 2017 ended with a bang for you guys, opening up for Horseshoes and Handgrenades at their New Year's Eve show at the Pabst Theater. You have been on the road quite a bit so far this year. Can you share how things have been going for you and he band.
Huber: We've been touring pretty heavy since the release of The Suffering Stage. It's been about a year since the release date, and, actually, the Anodyne show this week will be exactly one year to the day that we did 'The Suffering Stage' release party there also. So it's an anniversary or sorts. We had so many great opportunities within that year's time, that I feel things are still on the up and up for us. Heck, even just since the New Year we've played shows with the Hackensaw Boys, Charlie Parr, The Tossers, and so many more. Also, in the meantime between touring, we're working on recording and should have a new group of tunes for everyone really soon. MKE Rocks: The show coming up at Anodyne is poised to be a real special one. Can you share what you're looking forward to the most about this show and playing with Buffalo Gospel?
Huber: We're all looking forward to the release of the new Buffalo Gospel album. I, of course, know how long it takes to organize releasing an album. These guys are professionals and I knew they would take their time and get it right. I've had the pleasure of hearing the new album already, and I can certainly say that taking their time paid off, and it is truly worth the wait. As far as the upcoming release itself, I'd say that this group of fellas has always been good at slowly building the intensity in their live shows. So, with an album release show, where the intensity is always a little bit more amped-up and more natural, I'm expecting it to be an evening where folks will be extra ready to feel those highest highs and lowest lows that make the Buffalo Gospel sound so great!
Field Report performed two sold-out shows in the Back Room at Colectivo this past weekend, garnering a hero’s reception both Friday and Sunday night in celebration of their outstanding and critically acclaimed third record, Summertime Songs, that was released last month. A palpable buzz wafted through Colectivo like the aroma of the coffee roaster’s “Blue Heeler” blend, as many of Milwaukee’s music aficionados packed the Back Room to the gills to commend a band who has been able to catapult themselves beyond the wall of Brew City and, in the process, have established themselves as a bonafide national touring act. While Field Report’s popularity has increased both locally and beyond, the earnest humble nature of singer-songwriter Christopher Porterfield and his band mates, Barry Clark (bass), Thomas Wincek (keyboards and vocals), and Devin Drobka (drums), shines through. While I have been lucky enough to see Field Report perform many times throughout the years, there was something really special about these Colectivo shows- and that is seeing the band truly grooving together and having a great time on stage in the process while reinterpreting their songs live. When I recently chatted with Porterfield for an earlier piece, he mentioned, “records don’t change, but songs can change and morph all the time when performed.”
photo courtesy of Brian Norman
This was inherently evident in the live performances given on Friday and Sunday night. The set opener, “Healing Machine,” was delivered with an ethereally mechanical intro that brought to mind material from Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot era or a War on Drugs show. Other stand out tracks included, “60 Second Distance Run,” which featured Porterfield, Clark, Drobka and Wincek utilizing a variety of effects to give the song a dynamically moving effect. Despite having a cold from the first leg of tour on the road, Porterfield was able to howl the refrain, leaving his soul on stage in the process. “Summertime,” an infectiously iconic track off of Summertime Songs does not have a regular refrain, but has a big sound that pays homage in a way to big arena rock from everyone from Journey to Springsteen to U2. “When we think of summertime songs, we needed a big sound, so we put the vocals on this one on the back of a mighty ox,” Porterfield stated with a wide-eyed smile Friday night as he introduced Milwaukee singer extraordinaire, Mark Waldoch, who provided powerful guest vocals to make “Summertime” rattle the rafters in Colectivo and echo beyond into Prospect Avenue!
photo courtesy of Brian Norman
photo courtesy of Brian Norman
While these powerhouse numbers were great, slower more reflective tracks reminiscent of past Field Report shows were also well-received. Porterfield took time away from the whole band to deliver a solo performance and request portion of the evening which showcased some of his older material. “Wings,” (from Marigolden) and “Fergus Falls,” (from Field Report) were both played on Friday, and Sunday’s set included “Fergus Falls” again, along with “Summons” (off of Marigolden) which was delivered with earnest emotion and heartfelt longing. Both nights featured a performance of “Pale Rider” (from Marigolden) with opening acts Caley Conway and Ryan Necci (from Buffalo Gospel) providing accompanying vocals with Porterfield. Speaking of opening acts, Porterfield was able to curate both of his Colectivo performances, choosing acts that inspire him and his band from Milwaukee to provide support. Caley Conway was picked by Field Report to support on Friday night. Conway was joined by a bass player and drummer. Her set increased in intensity as it progressed from start to finish and she wowed the crowd with some serious guitar jams and pedal work. Highlights included, “Middle Child Syndrome,” which featured some crazy-good drumming, and “Funk,” which offered Conway room to stretch her guitar prowess. Buffalo Gospel, a five piece country-soul-rock outfit, had the crowd ruckus and jamming one minute and silent and reflective the next, as they delivered a powerful support set on Sunday evening that had the capacity crowd at Colectivo yearning for more. Singer-songwriter, Ryan Necci has one of the finest voices in the city and was able to belt it out on numbers like the classic Buffalo Gospel track and set opener, “Song of the Ox,” and newer number, “Son of a Gun,” from their forthcoming release On the First Bell which drops on May 4th. Porterfield, who used to play more regularly with Buffalo Gospel sat in and provided some guitar jams on “Lonestar” and “Mule,” in the middle of their set.
photo by Will Piper
While Field Report may be reaching rock star status in Milwaukee, their humble nature, honest songwriting, and love for promoting others made this weekend’s shows at Colectivo feel like both a rock concert and a big ol’ family get together all at the same time. Field Report certainly did a great job bringing the Milwaukee music loving community together to rejoice in Summertime Songs.
“It takes an unknown amount of people to push on the rock before the rock will move, but suddenly we have people pushing rocks around here,” triumphantly stated Field Report’s Christopher Porterfield in a recent conversation when asked about the state of live original music in Milwaukee. Field Report has been at the heart and soul of the Milwaukee music scene for quite some time now with a reputation for honest tunes, riveting performances, deep lyrics, and wonderful songcraft from Christopher Porterfield and company. With their release of Summertime Songs last month, Field Report pushes beyond the nuanced folk sound that they have been known for, and in the process have created songs that are as intimate and earnest as ever, but also expand their collective sound to fill larger spaces.
With two sold-out shows coming up at the Back Room of Colectivo this Friday, April 20th, and Sunday, April 22nd, a critically acclaimed new record, and a ton of energy, Field Report is ready to take Milwaukee by storm much like this spring time snow and sleet. MKE Rocks had the chance to catch up with Christopher Porterfield to talk about the new record, current tour, and the thriving Milwaukee music scene. MKE Rocks: Congrats on the amazing new record and tour. How has this tour been going you and the band?
Porterfield: Thanks so much! The tour has been good. The record came out on the 23rd of March and then we started on the road in Chicago early the next week on the 26th. The record was just out so the first leg of the tour was for the early adopters- the ones that knew about the record when it came out and who got to hear it first. We do really well obviously in Milwaukee, and our idea is to get every city in North America to feel like Milwaukee when we come to down. We had a great turn out in Chicago and a couple of excellent shows in New York, Ann Arbor and Toronto. Even by the end of this leg of the tour we noticed that there are more unfamiliar faces in the crowd along with folks who’ve supported us regularly over the past several years.
MKE Rocks: Last time you performed a show in town it was with Bon Iver and Collections of Colonies of Bees at the Bradley Center for the epic For Emma, 10 Years show that Justin Vernon curated. Knowing what a big Milwaukee Bucks fan you are, what was it like to play on that stage at the Bradley Center?
photo by Daniel Ojeda, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Porterfield: It was cool to get that notch in our belt before that building just disappears. It was such a beautiful day to be a part of terms of celebrating music in Milwaukee and the state. There was great energy and camaraderie. Our dressing room was not too far away from where the Bucks locker room is. It was fun thinking about Giannis Antetokounmpo getting ready for his games not too far from where we were and thinking about if roles were reversed for Giannis to be tuning up a guitar. It was kind of surreal to be part of that for me.
MKE Rocks: One of the things that fans love about your songs is your creative use of similes. On your song, “Summertime,” you have a great one, “quiet as a gas leak,” that really resonated with me as a listener. This is going to sound like an English teacher question (coming from a teacher by trade), but where do you find inspiration for your lyrics, especially your similes, on the new record?
Porterfield: I really am a sucker for similes. Like and As are good pals for a songwriter. They are a useful tool to describe something that otherwise is not describable. Similes are helpful because as a songwriter, you need to make choices. You can’t spend 8,000 words describing every thing so similes really help listeners. As an artist, they get me excited and allow me to explore some of the ideas in the songs too. The line, “quiet as a gas leak,” is a particularly good one, in part because you can’t even hear a gas leak, you smell it first, and when you do, you know there’s danger. That thought goes across the different relationships in that tune where things are ok or maybe not ok. It creates more questions than answers at time.
MKE Rocks: Speaking of Summertime Songs, the track “Healing Machine,” was first debuted in a different form back at the Alverno Presents “How to Write a Popular Song” show a couple years back. Can you talk a bit about how this song progressed to where it is on the record?
Porterfield: For that Alverno show everyone did a version of a Charles Harris song, and then made a new work after reading his book How To Write A Popular Song. The song that came out for me was “Healing Machine,” which wasn’t part of anything Harris wrote, but a tune I’d been working on that I thought the cast of people who were there could do something with. It started off as a minor key American folk sort of thing. In the studio it morphed into a kind of spookier Peter Gabriel sounding tune. We changed the key to the song to make it feel closer to the ground. That’s the cool thing about songs-- they can change at the drop of a hat. Records don’t change, but songs can change and morph all the time when performed. There are a lot of synced up rhythm things in “Healing Machine” that almost sound mechanical at times, which goes with the theme of the song.
MKE Rocks: The song, “Summertime” is another highlight and features some incredible work by Mark Waldoch. Can you share how you came to have Mark do vocals on that track? It was just epic hearing it live.
Porterfield: It’s funny because that song (“Summertime”) doesn’t have a chorus. It has line after line of telling the story. The instruments are all hooks, but there is no chorus. We were having fun with the idea of what is a “summertime song” exactly. It’s a little Spingsteeny, a little bit like Arcade Fire, and a little like LCD Soundsystem… there’s even some U2 in there. It had a feel of a song that is meant for bigger rooms. We decided, if we’re going to do this, we need a vocal that is all the way in. That’s not me! Our first call was Waldoch, who came into the studio and punched it out in an hour and nailed it. Whenever we can we like to bring Waldoch up on stage to sing that with us. We brought him up on stage in Chicago and enjoyed doing that. I think now that we have people who have had some time to live in the record that it will be a special thing for people in Milwaukee to see him cut loose. Mark Waldoch will be joining us for both shows at Colectivo to perform “Summertime.”
MKE Rocks: With your two sold out Colectivo shows, what can fans come to expect? Obviously, you’ll be playing songs off of Summertime Songs, but are any older tracks from Marigolden or Field Report making it into the set?
Porterfield: We are touching on a little bit of Marigolden material with the band and built in a section of the show where I do some solo songs that we haven’t hit yet. Those songs change every night. When we were on the road that was a really cool opportunity to break down the wall between us and the audience. I was able to chat with people, answer questions and take requests. I really love playing with the band and creating an immersive and really intentional musical experience experience. I also really love doing the solo thing and talking about the tunes and honoring the fact that anybody might have a relationship with songs that aren’t on this record that were there before. There were different requests in every city. It was really cool to be reminded that people like a bunch of our work and be able to share that in an intimate way. MKE Rocks: You have two amazing opening acts slated for the Back Room at Colectivo shows. Caley Conway is opening up the show on Friday, 4/20, and Buffalo Gospel will share the stage on Sunday, 4/22. Can you share a bit about how you came to pick these great acts?
Porterfield:It is cool when you get to curate the entire show. With those Colectivo shows I got to hand pick people whose aesthetics are close to ours. I wanted to couple our energy with theirs. I always like to keep an eye on people up to good things in Milwaukee. Caley I’ve gotten to know over the past year or so. She has a killer voice and just shreds. I have a improv trio “Agropelter,” and we’ve had Caley sit in with us, and she has been really great and just loves to jam pedals and play guitar. She has got a great point of view and something to say.
Buffalo Gospel keeps getting better and better. Ryan Necci is just a fantastic songwriter, and I used to play in that band. They have a great soulful country sound and will just rock the place, and they keep getting better and better. The band is tight and Ryan’s vocals are amazing. When catching up with Ryan Necci about Buffalo Gospel opening for Field Report, Necci stated, "It's an honor to be part of the show- truly- but as a long time Field Report fan, I'm most looking forward to watching our friends do what they do best."
MKE Rocks: The Milwaukee music scene over the past several years seems to be blooming in all different directions from rock to pop to hip hop to Americana. Can you comment a bit on the scene as a whole?
Porterfield: Scenes ebb and flow. Sometimes there’s a high tide and sometimes there’s a low tide. It is approaching a high tide right now. There are some young people who don’t care at all about the old scene. The people who are doing important work don’t really remember the 90’s stuff or care about it. You have a lot of young people doing whatever they want in the city.
I recently was at B-Free’s show as part of the Alverno Presents series at Turner Hall where she curated a concert paying tribute to the late Michael Jackson. That might have been the best Alverno show I’ve seen. She was killer band leader, singer and arranger. I think B-Free suddenly got vaulted up to the top of the list in Milwaukee. People are starting to realize that some of the stuff that’s happening here is a serious cultural export. Radio Milwaukee’s generator project is doing lots of good work to get artists beyond the city too. There are a bunch of people who are talented enough to start making waves over the breakers of Milwaukee It will be really exciting to see who can make it over the wall. We are so proud of Field Report for being an amazing Milwaukee export sharing their emotionally gripping tales and fascinating sound with the good people of Milwaukee and all around the country. They are a big part of what has gotten the metaphorical rock of the Milwaukee music scene to start moving.
"It's hard for me to concentrate with all of your smiles," Dead Horses singer-songwriter Sarah Vos quipped during the band's robust 90+ minute set in front of a filled-to-the-gills Back Room at Colectivo, as Dead Horses celebrated their album release of My Mother The Moon, the band's third LP. The capacity crowd hung on Vos's every word, swayed, danced and often sang along with numbers, including some of the tracks on the new record! An elated and joyful vibe filled the Back Room at Colectivo as Dead Horses stopped in their hometown in between dates in St. Louis and Ann Arbor to perform their entire new record as well as a plethora of other tunes in the midst of a massive tour which will take them around the country, including a spot playing at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater later this summer with Trampled by Turtles. Thursday evening's show at the Back Room at Colectivo was not so much a coming out party for the group as it was a was an arrival of a band who is quickly blossoming into a bonafide national act.
photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch
Dead Horses embodies everything that is great about Americana music. From Vos's raw, powerful and emotive vocals, to the precise bow work and plucking of upright bassist Daniel Wolff, to the brush work and subtle nuanced percussion of Jamie Gallagher, to Ryan Ogburn's mandolin and guitar accompaniments and jams, Dead Horses sounds like a well-oiled Americana engine traversing our country's rural roads. Rooted in folk traditions, Dead Horses employs elements of bluegrass, jam band, country and indie rock to create a rich sonic timbre that is both familiar and surprising at the same time. The new tunes from My Mother The Moon were distributed throughout the set and felt like old friends, as Vos and company spun tales of modern American life in a way that made the listener feel like she/he was a passenger riding shotgun as the band traveled throughout the American countryside.
photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch
Highlights of the set included many new tracks from My Mother The Moon, like the heartbreaking honest set opener, "American Poor." "Darling Dear," a standout number from the new album had an almost anthem-like quality about it when performed live. "On and On," a cut that Vos shared was written in her head while on a drive between Stevens Point and Oshkosh was another track that held the crowd in the palm of Vos's hand. Older "classic" tracks from Dead Horses like "Lay Me Down," "Deep Blue Sea," and "Golden Sky" were also well-received and played to perfection.
Opening for Dead Horses was honeyhoney songwriter and singer Ben Jaffe, whose highly engaging solo set took the audience on a journey throughout Los Angeles that included tales about aspiring love and even a befriended cat. In addition, Jaffe entertained the crowd with his witty banter and fun haikus about tour-mates Dead Horses.
