Photo Credit: Blaine Schultz
Jim Linneman and Peter Jest
Jim Linneman and Peter Jest
Let’s define terms: A rock club isn’t a concert hall or a restaurant with a stage but a bar that books bands regularly. In Milwaukee, many have come and gone in the last few decades, but two venues have been at it the longest: Shank Hall (opened in 1989) and Linneman’s Riverwest Inn (opened in 1993).
Turns out their owners, Peter Jest (Shank) and Jim Linneman (Riverwest) crossed paths at UW-Milwaukee in the early ’80s when Linneman was in student government and Jest was founding a student organization, the Alternative Concert Group, to fill the campus’ underused facilities with music. We caught up with the veteran club owners at Riverwest’s Fuel Café and badgered them with questions.
Do you have a philosophy or mission statement?
JL: We have nothing posted on the walls. If we did, it would be “Have fun, be yourself.”
PJ: We’ll give everyone a chance—especially with local bands, we’ll give everyone a chance. But we need to pay overhead. Our staff relies on us for income. We can’t afford to book you again if you don’t draw people.
Why do you continue to book live music?
JL: That’s what we do. Over the years, the quantity of music in Milwaukee, the variety of bands, has varied greatly. It’s more difficult to book bands sometimes than at other times. With me, my love of music came from my mother. She had 100 albums and bought me my own stereo in 1964, and in 1966 she bought me a guitar. I’ve been a music junkie all my life.
PJ: It’s sort of the same thing. I got into promoting concerts because I love music, but I can’t play and I don’t have a voice for radio. When Century Hall burned down [in 1988], I saw there was a need for a bigger place for music. When the Funny Bone closed [at the site of Shank Hall], it made sense to keep the place going.
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So, everything blossomed from being music fans?
PJ: It’s the music business. You have to love music, but you have to have a sense for business.
How many clubs have closed since you guys started?
JL: More than 100. I have a list of them on my computer. A lot of them were afterthoughts: “Oh, we have a back room!”
Jim, you booked Country Joe McDonald and Peter, you booked Arlo Guthrie. Both are artists who played Woodstock. What impact did the philosophy of that era have on you personally?
JL: It had everything to do with it. It was a big time in American music, and it made a lasting impression on me. I had a ride to Woodstock, but my mother wouldn’t let me go—I was only 14!
PJ: I was 5 when Woodstock happened. I wasn’t part of it, but I bonded with Arlo. We’re real close. And the ’60s and ’70s was when all the good music was happening. That’s when record companies cared about artists and promoted their development.
Do you see yourselves as responsible for the health of the music scene?
JL: I don’t know about the health, but our open stage is where a lot of local musicians started. It has contributed to a number of people, including Lil’ Rev and Chris Vos. Rev was driving a bus for Milwaukee County full time—he came to the open mic every week when he said, “I’m quitting my job.” I told him, you have benefits and music is a tough gig. That was 20-plus years later and he’s still making it work.
Chris said in an interview that our open stage is where he first played in front of people and learned to write songs. Now he’s opened for John Mayer and is really making waves. That meant a lot to me.
PJ: We do what we can. We like to be there when a band has a CD release or a special show.
Are the challenges of the music business different today than when you began?
PJ: There used to be a lot of small talent agencies and bands with trusted managers. Then Live Nation came along, and record labels dropped bands if the first album didn’t sell. Labels don’t develop artists anymore. They put out one record; if it doesn’t sell, they drop you. Festivals don’t develop artists. The club is so important because there are bands on the way up or down or those who stay at the same level. They will never be a theater or arena act but who remain consistent and have their fans because they are so good. NRBQ is a good example. They found a way to make it work.
What has remained the same in the Milwaukee music scene?
JL: Cool, really good people. I feel proud to have a place where people can come to feel comfortable and safe and warm. The magic that happens when the musicians get together is what makes it all happen.
PJ: The people who come to Shank are not tourists. They come looking for original live music and they leave happy. It’s fun being in a business where people leave happy.
Are you in competition with coffee shops that book bands?
JL: A lot them are booking music. It’s definitely competition.
PJ: It’s a little bit of competition for Shank, but in some of those places, bands can’t even do sound checks during the dinner hour. If you’re a musician you’re competing with the sound of rattling plates!
JL: I’ve written three songs, and when I write three or four more, I might release a CD. I think I’ll call my band The Rattling Plates!
