Judah & the Lion play tonight (Wednesday. June 26) at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse
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Opening day of Summerfest features a bill of top and rising country artists at the amphitheater. Also on tap are Otis Taylor’s psychedelic blues at Johnson Controls World Stage and Milwaukee’s favorite chanteuse, Robin Pluer, at Klement’s Sausage and Beer Garden Stage.
Local Picks
Alex Wilson Band @ Harley Davidson Roadhouse, 4 p.m.
Robin Pluer and the R&B Coquettes @ Klement's Sausage & Beer Garden, 6 p.m.
Thomas Rhett @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater, 7:30 p.m.
Like Roseanne Cash and Shooter Jennings, Thomas Rhett is a second generation country singer. His father, Rhett Akins, didn’t make the kind of Hall of Fame-worthy records that Johnny and Waylon did, but dad ran up a respectable run of mid-late ‘90s hits in the thick of the Garth Brooks-Alan Jackson era.
The junior Rhett’s apple, however, has rolled a considerable distance from his parent’s tree. Thomas Rhett, as he recently mentioned on Rolling Stone’s website, is the kind of guy who watched pop/R&B star Bruno Mars’ Super Bowl halftime performance from a few years ago a hundred times or more. Though singers of any genre could probably learn from the “Uptown Funk” vocalist’s showmanship, it’s easy to believe Rhett gleaned at least as much musically from all those repeat YouTube views.
“Make Me Wanna,” one of his many #1 country singles, is straight-up disco with a bit of Tennessee drawl. When he chooses, he can also hew closer to the instrumentation and themes once inherent to the country music style, as on the Kenny Chesney-esque sunniness of ”Beer Can Fix It” and the bittersweet “That Old Truck” from his latest album, Center Point Road.
Rhett headlines Summerfest’s opening night of country music with fellow hitmakers Russell Dickerson (“Yours,” “Blue Tacoma”) and Dustin Lynch (“Cowboys and Angels,” “Good Girl”). (Jamie Lee Rake)
Judah & the Lion @ Harley-Davidson Roadhouse, 10 p.m.
For Judah & the Lion’s Nate Zuercher, Pep Talks, the band’s new album has done exactly what the title promises, lifting him up and helping him to find hope in a time of pain. The record is filled with songs about singer Judah Akers battling anxiety and depression while dealing with his mother’s alcoholism and his parents’ divorce—songs that rang true for banjoist Zuercher.
“Pep Talks has become a beacon of hope for me. It’s been so helpful to have my brother and bandmate feel the same things as me and ask him about it and find there’s still hope. It’s sort of weird to get about your own record like that. We believe in the message of hope and optimism, but I don’t always feel that every day. I believe in the hope, so to listen to the record and sing those songs is really important to me. At the core, we needed this record.”
Judah & the Lion started out as a Christian band, taking its name from a passage in the Book of Revelation. But they moved away from Christian music, seeking a wider audience for their distinctive blend of music that blends hip-hop, ’60s rock and punk on acoustic instruments.
“It’s very important to show the message of hope we bring, and positivity and unity,” Zuercher said. “It’s important for us and for the people who love our music, hear our music.” (L. Kent Wolgamott)
Otis Taylor and the Psychedelic Banjo Posse @ Johnson Controls World Sound Stage, 8 p.m.
Editor's Note: Read our review of the show.
Otis Taylor isn’t a stereotypical bluesman. Rather than make music steeped in the tradition of 12-bar blues, shuffles and call-and-response rhythms, Taylor is the architect of an often sparse, moody and hypnotic sound paired with urgent lyrics that is dubbed “trance blues.” Among other things, his songs tap into the brutal realities of the African American experience.
“[Taylor’s] narratives, while tempered with hope and homespun spirituality, are set on the grim side of the street,” declared Downbeat magazine in 2017 upon the release of Taylor’s most-recent album, Fantasizing About Being Black. “They explore slavery, historical injustices, tyranny, the oppression of people of color and the perils of interracial romance.”
Taylor has released 15 albums since 1996 and plays multiple instruments—including the guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica—and he’s garnered numerous award nominations and wins. Through it all, though, he’s never shied away from such deeply personal topics as the lynching of his great-grandfather and his mother’s sentencing to a state penitentiary for selling heroin.
As his music evolved, Taylor became even bolder, and after 2015’s Hey Joe Opus/Red Meat veered too far into psychedelic territory, his longtime label Telarc dropped him. So Taylor started his own label, Trance Blues Festival, and began hosting a daylong event of the same name in Boulder, Colo., during which participants are encouraged to create music and jam together.
Taylor has played the Big Gig three other times since 2008, and he’ll be backed by musicians he aptly dubs the Psychedelic Banjo Posse. A month after his Milwaukee performance, the man will turn 71 years old. You may not always be stomping your feet and clapping your hands to Taylor’s music, but his subtle delivery and compelling narration is bound to give your mind a workout. (Michael Popke)
Robin Pluer and the R&B Coquettes @ Klement’s Sausage and Beer Garden Stage, 6 p.m.
Longtime Milwaukee favorites, The R&B Cadets, in one form or another, have been playing at Summerfest since their first shows back in the early ’80s, and the tradition continues, represented this year by the R&B Coquettes, led by singer and keyboardist Robin Pluer.
Equally at home with classic R&B numbers, vintage ballads and standards, as well as her repertory of French songs, Pluer is joined by John and Mike Sieger on guitar and bass, and Bob Schneider, on drums. The Sieger brothers are veterans of Semi-Twang and along with Pluer and Schneider, the original R&B Cadets, and such deep musical experience guarantees that anything can happen when they get together. Whether drawing on material which initially influenced the band or on the various styles present on the R&B Cadets’ or Semi-Twang’s recordings, the band shows a strong and deep understanding of R&B, blues, country, soul and jazz, and can move comfortably and seamlessly among these styles with ease.
Since their return to performing a few years back, the members of the R&B Cadets, in various formations, have managed to keep the number of their local appearances relatively few, allowing for more of a “quality over quantity” approach to their performance. This helps give the members both the space they need for their own projects and ensures that their performances are something you don’t want to miss. Recent shows help bear this out, with happy crowds relaxing and enjoying the music, some dancing, some swaying and everyone grooving with the beat. This is good-time music, done up the way it’s supposed to be heard and it doesn’t disappoint. Get there early for a good seat. (Mike Stupak)
Today's Promotion: Stomp Out Hunger Day
Anyone arriving between noon and 3 p.m. who donates three cans of peaches or pears will receive one free admission ticket. All donations benefit Hunger Task Force.
Here's Today's Complete Lineup
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