This Week in Milwaukee: June 9-15, 2022

Here are the Milwaukee events we are looking forward to coming up this week.

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Art at the Haggerty and Riverwest, outdoor music at The Baaree and Locust Street, Milwaukee Brewers Youth Baseball Clinic, drama in Kenosha and Country music in Mequon and more —This Week in Milwaukee!

Thursday, June 9

Jane’s Walk MKE @ Turner Hall, 5 p.m.

Jane’s Walk MKE, a program of the Milwaukee Turners, returns after a two-year absence with a mission to embody urban activist Jane Jacobs’ legacy by organizing free, resident-led neighborhood explorations and building community connections through observation and dialogue, education and storytelling, collectively reimagining and changing the places in which residents in and around Milwaukee live, work and play.

Envision a Milwaukee area that has, to borrow from Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities, “the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, [it is] created by everybody.”

More info here: janeswalkmke.org/about-jane-s-walk-mke.

Soulfoot Mombits @ South Milwaukee Downtown Market (1101 Milwaukee Ave., South Milwaukee), 5 p.m.

Take in the market and enjoy the folky grooves of Soulfoot Mombits. The quartet has been playing Milwaukee since 2012, standing out from the jam band pack thanks to the sounds of trumpeter Mike Henderson. You can also check them out Sunday in Thiensville at the Baaree.

Exhibition Honoring 2019 And 2020 Nohl Fellows @ Haggerty Museum of Art, 6 p.m.

The Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University opens the pandemic-delayed exhibition of work by the artists who received the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships for Individual Artists in 2019 and 2020.

This long awaited in-person exhibition features the work of Cecelia Condit and Ammar ‘Ras Nsoroma (2019 Established Artists); Ck Ledesma and Nirmal Raja (2020 Established Artists); Vaughan Larsen, LaNia Sproles, and Natasha Woods (2019 Emerging Artists); and Janelle Gramling, Rosy Petri, and Leah Schretenthaler (2020 Emerging Artists). The Nohl Fellowship program, funded by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Mary L. Nohl Fund and Joy Engine (formerly Black Box Fund) and administered by the Lynden Sculpture Garden, provides unrestricted funds for artists to create new work or complete work in progress.

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More info here: marquette.edu/haggerty-museum/nohl-2019-2020.php.

Friday, June 10

Les Martin @ Libby Montana (5616 W. Donges Bay Road, Mequon), 5:45 p.m.

Les Martin is the real deal, the Wisconsin country music legend, who began his professional career in 1961 and for the next 40 years maintained one of the most successful full-time bands in the genre. Joining him will be two of the greatest musicians in country music.

Dale Sellers was the top session guitarist in Nashville for two decades, recording with every major artist from Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash to Neil Young, BB King and Ray Charles. He played on Martin’s 1974 album, Them Good Old Country Songs. Beaver Dam-native Eddie Rivers played steel guitar with Milwaukee’s Western Box Turtles before moving to Austin, Texas here he played with Asleep at the Wheel for the last third of their 50-year run.

There isn’t an artist in country music that has not heard them play. These two musicians have never played together and will meet for the first time on stage this Friday. This is a rare opportunity, a chance to hear country music of an era played by the men who helped shape it.

Tonic Tavern’s 13th Anniversary Weekend, 8 p.m.

Having missed out on celebrating the previous two anniversaries, Bay View’s Tonic Tavern hosts a three-day bash with plenty of music for lucky 13. Friday gets you Yogi B & Keez at 8 p.m.; Saturday’s Gigs4Good Show features Lil' Rev Blues Trio (4 p.m.-7 p.m.) and Tigera (8 p.m.-9:30 p.m.) and Sunday promises a variety of special guests from 4 p.m.-7 p.m.

Saturday, June 11

Milwaukee Brewers Youth Baseball Clinic @ Baran Park, 9 a.m.

From the recent LGBTQ+ Pride night to pitcher Brett Suter’s new children’s book, the Brewers outreach connects to more than MLB. On Saturday, the club along with Journey House and Milwaukee County Executive, David Crowley host the sixth “Play Ball” clinic aimed at encouraging youth ages 5-12 to participate in baseball and softball activities.

Brewers alumni Jerry Augustine, Jim Gantner, Larry Hisle, Ken Sanders and Paul Wagner will be on-hand to interact with kids and assist with the clinic. Participants will each receive a bat and ball set, a Brewers bobblehead and pair of tickets to a future Brewers game.

Iron County @ The Rita Studio, UW-Parkside, Kenosha (900 Wood Road, Kenosha), 7:30 p.m.

Ultimately, Gaetano Marangelli’s play Iron County asks the question: Are we in this together or is it us against nature, us against them? The drama unfolds in 1975 at a liminal moment in American history, in between Nixon and Carter, as the counterculture fades and the Me Decade had only just begun, as Dave Luhrssen wrote here: shepherdexpress.com/culture/theater/iron-county-asks-who-owns-america.

Iron County might have more metaphors than characters, at least as Marangelli describes the contending historical forces at work—Manifest Destiny, the Frontier Theory of American History, American Exceptionalism, America as the Melting Pot ... However, the characters aren’t merely ideas embodied but are fully drawn, containing multitudes of contradictions. Their worldviews are a mosaic of attitudes formed from the elements in their environment.

Open House @ Nut Factory, Toy Factory, Fur Factory and RAD (Resident Artist Doers), 6 p.m.

This evening of Art, usually held in February, allows artists to open their doors for one day a year. See the working studios of many local artists in the Riverworks Industrial Park. Studios include Nut Factory, 3720 N. Fratney St.; Toy Factory, 3707 N. Richards St.; Fur Factory, 3728 N. Fratney and House of RAD (Resident Artist Doers) 900 E. Keefe Ave.

John Sieger Combo @ Baaree (105 S. Main St., Thiensville), 7 p.m.

The Baaree—a Nepalese word which means “garden”—is a hybrid concept that brings together aspects of a traditional German beer garden with elements of a community garden. It also happens to have a dynamite schedule of live music throughout the summer and fall.  John Sieger, who was recently recognized by New York Times crossword puzzle master Will Shortz, will lead his combo down and across songs from his career with Semi-Twang and the R&B Cadets.

Bristlehead w/ Kharma Shotgun @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 7:30 p.m.

This show is in support for Guitars 4 Vets, the nonprofit that shares the healing power of music with Veterans with PTSD and other service-related trauma. Bristlehead plays the songs of bassist Mike Fredrickson and collects the talents of Dave Braun, Bob Jennings and Jason Klagstad. Word is there’s a new album on the horizon. Kharma Shotgun is a gritty modern power trio with a take on ‘60s psychedelia and ‘70s classic rock. Their original music shows those roots, with an added progressive metal flair with songs about love, lust, self-destruction, witchcraft, and artificial intelligence.

Sunday, June 12

Celebrate Riverwest @ Black Husky, Klingers East and Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 11 a.m.

When the official Locust Street Festival website announced the long-running event was cancelled, it was only a matter of time until local businesses mobilized this ad hoc festival. The soulful, creative, diverse, colorful, and spirited neighborhood has pulled together three stages of music as well as food trucks, artistic vendors including Flattery Works, Color Folds by Kristina, Flower Crowns Etcetera; an information booth by the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) on their continuing effort to lobby for sensible guns laws, and a peaceful Wisconsin.

Klingers East is closing and will have a huge party with entertainment provided by Buddy Love Milwaukee at 1 p.m. The owners are retiring and have operated the poplar tavern and fish fry spot since 1976.

Linneman's stage lineup:

  • 11:30 a.m.: Sigmund Snopek
  • 1:30 p.m.:  Elephonic
  • 4 p.m.: Glad Onion
  • 6 p.m.: Caley Conway & Ellie Jackson

Black Husky stage lineup

  • 11 a.m.: opening ceremony With  Nik Kovac, Jonathan Brosthoff
  • Noon: Floor Model
  • 2 p.m.: Mortgage Freeman
  • 4 p.m.: Sugar Bush

Farm to Table Dinner @ Folk Song Farm event (4811 Pioneer Road near Richfield), 4:30 p.m.

The Farm-to-Table event will take place in the historic 1850s Folk Song barn, set on 48 acres of rural farmland. Guests will be served a five-course family-style meal on fine linens. Prepared by the owner of Prime Minister Catering of Thiensville, dinner will include pastichio (Greek-style lasagna), spanakopita (spinach pie,) keftedes (Greek meatballs,) chicken shish-kabobs, and a Greek-style salad. The main dish will feature natural, locally grown and sourced ingredients. Concluding the meal will be homemade dessert served with a side of farmstead ice cream.

Live music will be performed by The Embedded Reporter and a team of Percherons will be available for those who’d like to enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride. There will also be plenty of room to relax and take in the country air.

More info here: folksongfarm.com.

LASKA CD release w/ Rich Travis and Jorge Vallentine @ Cactus Club, 7:30 p.m.

Fronted by three sisters, Hannah, Mookie, and Bex Morton, LAKSA’s melancholy, harmony-driven sound draws from the midwestern heartland just as much as the LA-coast and continues to evolve as their landscape changes. All three sisters contribute to the writing. Since their formation in 2016, the band has grown to be a six-piece act. Their live sound blends rugged guitar, synthesizers, and pedal affected violins, bringing listeners from song-in-your-bedroom intimacy to vast moments in sonic canyons.