Photo by Blaine Schultz
Mike Fredrickson - Daily Bird Exhibition
Mike Fredrickson pictured with his art.
With a new album and a pair of exhibitions Mike Fredrickson’s work ethic is impressive. A painter, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, barkeep and bicycle enthusiast, he manages to allow facets of life to influence his art.
The bassist-songwriter’s new album Sunken Treasure draws on collaborators from his long career performing and recording. Fredrickson and his band Bristlehead play a CD release show at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn on Friday, April 18.
For the next month his paintings, vibrant cityscapes and evocative portraits, will be on display at The Daily Bird and Beans and Barley.
Sunken Treasure Art
'Sunken Treasure'
Sound
Sunken Treasure relies on familiar faces. Drummer Dave Braun was a fellow member of The Mosleys and continues to play with Fredrickson in Bristlehead; the duo also appeared on “Saturday Night Live” in 1990 as the rhythm section in The Spanic Boys. Bristlehead also includes keyboard player/saxophonist Bob Jennings—who Fredrickson also teams with Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound. NRBQ guitarist Scott Ligon and producer Alex Hall round out the crew who recorded the album last summer in Chicago. (Maybe it is time for someone to draw up a Pete Frame-style family tree?)
Think of the new album, a baker’s dozen songs, as yet another chapter of one of Milwaukee’s most prolific songwriters. Breezing by at quick pace, lyric matter ranges from slice of life vignettes to interior monologues looking to take flight. The songs groove and bound—catchy, danceable tunes grappling with the modern world.
“Fortune Teller” requests answers, “Take Me Down” builds on an instrumental hook and glances back wistfully, “Reinvent Yourself” takes comfort in each new day’s promise. Throughout the album Ligon’s lead guitar breaks offer tasteful solos.
With “Stan” Fredrickson conjures a musical portrait that rivals his best paintings. In vivid detail, he captures the late record shop owner who influenced generations of music fans in the Fox River Valley with a house full of records and an enviable legacy of barstool Jeopardy preeminence.
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Vision
Photo by Blaine Schultz
Mike Fredrickson with his art
Mike Fredrickson pictured with one of his paintings.
Fredrickson’s paintings currently dominate the bright yellow walls of The Daily Bird. For 17 years—reaching back to when the coffee shop operated as Fuel, he worked in the studio above. Overlooking Center Street, his space was light and airy—and would barely be able to contain his work and works in progress.
He recently relocated to another space in the neighborhood.
At Beans and Barley, Fredrickson’s paintings share the walls with other artists who work in similar subject matter. The restaurant’s wall of windows allows plenty of natural light, fitting especially for Fredrickson’s neighborhood works and familiar local landmarks.
