This Week in MKE Music: April 3-9, 2025

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

by

This Week in MKE Music

Singer songwriters, a tribute to Guy Clark, a benefit at X-Ray Arcade, Jackie Greene, improvisors in Bay View and Riverwest and more—This Week in Milwaukee Music!

Thursday, April 3

Will Orchard w/ Caley Conway and Dialogues @ Anodyne, 6 p.m.

Will Orchard began his career in his home state of Rhode Island with the experimental project. LittleBoyBigHeadOnBike. He established a prolific output of 100 EPs and LPs by 2018, often with a lo-fi, homespun touch. Orchard transitioned to an Americana-centered sound under his own name, while maintaining the gently atmospheric and introspective qualities of his former project. Caley Conway’s music is an evolving canvas. With the recent album Partner, she offers lyrical and aural snapshots; the tropical hint of “Hours in the Day,” the hypnotic groove of “Belly Laughing” and a languid pinged fever dream, “Love is Sex.” Sonic touches throughout make this album especially headphone-worthy.

Tom Freund @ Ope! Brewing Co., 7:30 p.m.

Tom Freund’s resume includes collaborations with The Silos, Graham Parker, Ben Harper, Elvis Costello and Jackson Browne. “Freund clearly delights in enigma. His vocals could go from laconic to impassioned without such obvious trickery as cranking up the volume. His lyrics are full of curveballs,” according to the Washington Post.

Friday, April 4

Alternating Currents Live - Jaap Blonk, Damon Smith and Michael Zerang @ Woodland Pattern Book Center, 7 pm.

“We’re all seasoned and full-blown improvisers, says Jaap Blonk (voice, electronics). “So I am hugely looking forward to finally performing as a trio.”

According to Blonk, this trio has been a long-standing wish of both Damon and himself. Michael Zerang and Blonk go back to the mid-‘90s when they started playing together in the U.S. and the Netherlands. They recorded trio CDs with Mats Gustafsson and Fred Lonberg-Holm.

Damon and Blonk first played in 1998 at a festival in Sicily; from 2012 on they performed together regularly and released 6 CDs and cassettes.

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Saturday, April 5

Emmylou Harris - Celebrating Guy Clark featuring Shawn Camp & Verlon Thompson @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.

When songwriter and guitar builder Guy Clark died in 2016 his legacy was long set. Along with his running buddy Townes Van Zandt and his wife Susanna Clark, the trio created a legend among artists and songwriters of the highest order. Milwaukee native Tamara Saviano’s documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark deftly unravels the story.

Emmylou Harris, who collaborated with Clark is of course the headliner for this show. Less of a household name is guitarist Verlon Thompson who performed with Clark for decades as well as working as co-producer. Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Shawn Camp collaborated with Clark and, along with Saviano, produced the Grammy-nominated, star-studded tribute This One's for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark. Local music fans may recall Camp’s house concert in the Deone Jahnke Studio where he delivered an informal history of American music.

Sunday, April 6

Jeb Bishop, Avreeayl Ra, Ed Wilkerson and Erez Dessel @ Sugar Maple, 4 p.m.

Here’s an afternoon matinee with trombonist-composer Jeb Bishop collaborating and improvising with drummer Avreeayl Ra, Ed Wilkerson on reeds and Erez Dessel on piano.

The Swivels w/Combustor @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 2 p.m.

Don’t let the early start time fool you. The Swivels and Combustor include folks who played in bands back when underground music shifted seismically and still shake some action. Led by Carter Hunnicutt, the album Dan Of Swivelization https://shepherdexpress.com/music/local-music/carter-hunnicutts-evolution-continues/ features tunes that groove for anyone itching to hit the dance floor. Combustor’s 2023 debut album was a high energy blast. The band followed it up last year with an imaginative remix project with producer Tron Jovi, demonstrating a band with one foot in tradition and an ear looking to the future.

Enervate w/ Si Dios Quiere,  Payasa,  See No Evil, All Life Gone and Nightmare Unit @ X-Ray Arcade, 5:30 p.m.

Volume for a cause: six hardcore/metalcore bands pitch in to make X-Ray Arcade accessible to all. Five local acts plus Chicago’s Si Dios Quiere.

This is part of X-Ray’s series of fundraiser events, featuring performers who've chosen to do their thing for free—every dollar in ticket sales goes toward the club’s accessible entryway construction project.

Here’s a link to the “Vertigo” t-shirt raising funds for the entryway construction project xrayarcade.com/shop/coin-shirt-fundraiser-bzwzy

Monday, April 7

Cactus Club presents Garden Home w/ Bug Moment, Chapped Lips and Mizzy @ Anodyne, 6:30 p.m.

Jump start your week with four blasts of high energy, emo and alt-rock. Bug Moment, Chapped Lips and Mizzy are joined by Garden Home, whose debut album in set for an April 12 release.

Tuesday, April 8

The Last Five Years @ Milwaukee Rep - Stackner Cabaret, through May 18

Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents The Last Five Years in the Stackner Cabaret, March 21–May 18, 2025. Pictured Grace Bobber and Asher Muldoon

What’s fascinating about the Milwaukee Rep’s current production of The Last Five Years is that it is as conventional as it is unconventional. The musical, playing in the Stackner Cabaret, tells the story of a couple in their 20s, Jamie, a writer and Cathy, an aspiring actress. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the two fall in and out of their relationship, and love, over the course of five years.

However, here’s the catch: Jamie tells his story moving forward chronologically. Cathy, however, tells her story in reverse; from the end of the relationship to the very start of it. Read more from our review here.

Wednesday, April 9

Jackie Greene w/Cary Morin @ Shank Hall, 8 p.m.

Singer-songwriter Jackie Greene’s highest profile shot may have come with his 2013 stint as lead guitarist for The Black Crowes, but his DIY roots predate even his 2002 solo debut. Along the way he’s collaborated with Phil Lesh, Joan Osborne and Gov’t Mule. His discography of over a dozen releases include the influence of the Americana kaleidoscope—folk, blues bluegrass