Image via Paw Paw Lawton and the Jigsaw Band
Paw Paw Lawton and the Jigsaw Band - Ghost Light
If you have been around Milwaukee music in the last few decades you know Brian Miller. Maybe not by name but by his work as a sound engineer at the Pabst Theater, Summerfest, The Globe and in bands like Cat Call Killers, The Truck, Blarney Castle and Mudflap and proprietor of The Monkey Bar.
He’s not the kind of person to seek attention but his vision is to present others in their best light and with Paw Paw Lawton and His Jigsaw Band Miller attracts talent like flies to sherbert.
Sincerely in Song Presents - Midwest Americana, featuring Paw Paw Lawton and his Jigsaw Band, The WhiskeyBelles, God’s Outlaw, Matt “MF” Tyner and Sarah Fierek. Pabst Theater, Friday July 17, 6 p.m. Benefiting MusiCares - more info here.
The Pabst show celebrates two new projects, the albums Ghost Light and Paw Paw Plays 1968. The latter is the fruit of two days’ work recording live onstage at the Pabst. No rehearsal, just charts. With 1968 being the year Miller was born, the album covers a range of songs when country music and America were changing. As you might imagine there’s plenty of twangy guitars, vibrant fiddles and swells of pedal steel. Miller is quick to spread around the credit to all the musicians and vocalist and engineers. In all, 23 people were part of the album. Every song has a different lead vocalist. Many of the songs were done in one take, with some overdubs.
If 1968 showcases Miller as bandleader, Ghost Light focuses on Miller as a songwriter. He has been working on that album for several years and collaborated with Nashville drummer Keio Stroud.
Geography Lesson
There seems to be a geographical thread that runs through Miller’s work. Maybe this can be traced to logging miles and years with Violent Femmes, with whom he toured as sound engineer.
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Kansas was the name of the 2024 Lawton album and it included the tune “Lonely in Dallas.” 1968 namechecks Milwaukee twice. Jon Ziegler blasts things off with a rambunctious take on Lee Fikes-by-way-of George Jones’ “Milwaukee Here I Come.” Cletus J. Perch (nomme du rock of Craig Halstead) inhabits “What Made Milwaukee Famous,” a slightly demented spin on the Jerry Lee Lewis hit that staggers into the shadow territory Porter Wagoner was known to venture.
Sarah Fierek’s gender reversal on “Wichita Lineman” is a rich rendering of Jimmy Webb’s masterpiece of lyric and sonic architecture. And if “Fist City” isn’t a real place on a map, Joey Zocher’s vocal attitude would suggest not arguing.
1968
Image via Paw Paw Lawton and the Jigsaw Band
Paw Paw Lawton and the Jigsaw Band - 1968
America was in transition in 1968 and Nashville’s version of country music reflected it, was well. The Pabst sessions lean into the countrypolitan sound as hillbilly and honky tonk music ventured into pop and even rock. Brian Smith plays it straight with “Mama Tried,” letting Chris Conrad strut Roy Nichols’ Bakersfield telecaster licks.
The flipside would be Todd Denning and Corri Bonkalski’s “I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In.” Originally a schlock attempt at being hip, this version draws a sense of menace that sidesteps a bum trip into existential dread. Or something like that.
Cheri Modrow’s “Harper Valley PTA” is a sassy jab, as Women’s Liberation was gaining traction as the ‘70s loomed.
Ghost Light
In the theater world, Miller explains, a light is left on when the theater is empty for the ghosts to play. It’s also a safety measure and became a touchstone for conversation during the pandemic then theaters went dark.
Once again, calling in vocalists and fellow musicians, the album’s music and lyrics were all written by Miller. The title track recalls the late Milwaukee vocalist Janine Martin and references a gig in Mexico hanging out a Day of the Dead party.
“San Antonio” (geography, again) presents Femme’s vocalist Gordon Gano at his weary best. Miller sent him the track and met up with Gano in Denver where the singer changed up the phrasing a bit with Miller realizing he had become too close to the song. Listen for Gano adding a nod to Bob Wills’ “Yellow Rose of Texas” at the fadeout.
“Lyle Lovett (Starting Over)” may be the flipside to that song. With a little imagination you can envision these as a two act play, with Zocher’s Sunday-morning-coming-down ache feeling all too real. “King of Yesterday” is a ringer for the hits on 1968. Throughout the album Modrow’s vocals are the thread that ties everything together.
