TravelSounds

Places I've been. Sounds I've heard. What I'm looking for.

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Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Friday, July 07, 2006

Summer gigging: 2006

The summer's gone...obviously. It was a reasonably good one. I spent part of it playing some interesting shows with a regional pop/rock cover outfit: Brother Louie. (I do the guitar stuff...)

The band's schtick is to cover hits from the '60s, '70s, (and maybe something decent from the '80s), but with a decidely contemporary interpretation. Some of the more interesting shows were:

  • Summerfest - July 7. We played on a stage in front of a massive pile of gear belonging to the headliner - Steppenwolf. Wish I could've hung around to hear "The Pusher". I've always wanted to cover "Magic Carpet Ride", only with a decidely "urban-meets-techno-meets-Hendrix" vibe. Performance-wise, the experience was of an indifferent nature. We showed up, set up, played, and split. The small crowd of listeners were politely enthusiastic. Local axe-hero Scott Finch of Bluehand was kind enough to stand in for us on bass. (He has a beautifully dry sense of humor, sufficient to diminish the negative effects produced by the absence of a full-time bassist.)

  • Bobby Rockets - July 15 and September 23. Kind of wild place. One of the owners was involved in tour management for big acts like REO Speedwagon and Nine-Inch Nails. The walls are festooned with memorabilia from tours and photos of the "Mr. Rocket" himself with the likes of Kevin Cronin (sp.?), REO's one-time lead singer. The club is out in the countryside of southeastern Wisconsin - be6tween Burlington and Lake Geneva, and the clientele is a mix-up of bikers, college-age, and local color.

    The show on July 15th was largely a nightmare, owing to the ongoing bass-player saga. However, we definitely smoked on September 23rd, and the crowd ate it up. When the show that night was over and I was packed up (at 2:30 a.m.), I sat outside on the curb, drinking up the silence of the surrounding fields, the clarity of the night, and a million stars I'd never have seen in the city.

  • Bayview Bash - September 16. The Bash got started a few years back as a small, loosely organized gathering of local acts and food vendors attended by the residents of the Bayview neighborhood. This year, more than 20,000 showed up. Unlike the folks out in the country, these people are in to the exotic; hair, make-up, clothes, pets, trinkets, etc. The show was surreal. It started out great, descended in to madness as a result of "performer error", stopped, and resumed minus one musician. Not our best show, although we still received a surprising number of positive comments.

Overall, Brother Louie is a solid act, and a fun vehicle for some pretty hot creative growth.
(It's the classic insanity of musicians that generates the uncomfortable turbulence...)

In the meantime, I'm writing and tracking , working on material to pitch to film/tv opportunities and publishing houses, the compositions of friends, and sound for educational and corporate stuff.

More shows to come this fall and winter (the holiday parties), and travel - local and across the nation (as in down south...)

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