1 of 2
Photo credit: Rett Rogers
Nathaniel Rateliff
2 of 2
Photo courtesy of the artists
CaroAndFarofa
Foreigner, Farofa and Nathaniel Rateliff are coming to Milwaukee, while local blues artists give an homage to Stokes.
Thursday, March 5
The Tritonics w/ Harp Guitarist Dan Schwartz @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee rocksteady and ska sextet The Tritonics dig deep into the history of Jamaican music’s pre-reggae era. Violist Glenn Asch moonlights with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Opener Dan Schwartz first came across the harp guitar while he was working towards a degree in American finger-style guitar performance at UW-Milwaukee. Several years later, after moving back to Minneapolis, Schwartz noticed the outline of a harp guitar in the shop window of a luthier who had been commissioned to build one. He decided to build two, and Schwartz got the second one. Schwartz will be joined by his professor (and Tritonics guitarist), Peter Roller.
Photo credit: Rett Rogers
Nathaniel Rateliff
Nathaniel Rateliff w/ Courtney Marie Andrews @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
“I think it was [science-fiction writer] Ursula Le Guin in The Earthsea Cycle who says, ‘Never trust someone without a limp.’ Character isn’t defined by our strengths but by what we overcome,” says songwriter Nathaniel Rateliff. Like an alchemist, Rateliff has taken life’s challenges and turned them into fuel for his art. His father died when he was 13, and his mother left with her new husband four years later. Richard Swift, Rateliff’s longtime friend and producer, died in 2018, and a failed marriage figured into the making of his album, And It’s Still Alright. More introspective than the music with his band The Night Sweats, the rock-and-soul sound of a horn section is swapped for the album’s nine-piece string section. “I think I always want to see hope in the darkness, and I like to try to share that,” Rateliff says.
Friday, March 6
RocketFest! featuring Dinosaur Rocket and Rocket Cat @ Milwaukee Ale House, 9 p.m.
|
|
WAMI-nominated band Rocket Cat’s vocalist, Suzanne Singh, spent two years in her early 20s in a Romanian town during a very turbulent time in modern world history. Rocket Cat’s song “1989 (Rise Up)” is an anthem of courage and a tribute to the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The band members blend their backgrounds in alternative, progressive, hard-rock and power-pop sounds.
Dinosaur Rocket’s gumbo of Delta blues, psychedelic rock, soul and funk come from the approach of a jazz tradition of improvisation. Guitarist Steve Peplin daylights as an instructor at MATC and Lawrence University, and saxophonist Jesse Montijo has performed with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove, trombonist Fred Wesley (musical director for James Brown’s band) and soul legend Solomon Burke.
First Stage’s ‘The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors’ @ Todd Wehr Theater, 7 p.m.
This children’s rock musical is the story of the classic game Rock, Paper, Scissors. They were the strongest, smartest and fastest warriors in all the land, and though they searched far and wide for worthy opponents, no one could beat them—until they met each other and a musical battle royale began to see who would come out on top. Through Sunday, April 5. Suggested for families with young people ages 4-10.
Photo courtesy of the artists
CaroAndFarofa
Caro and Farofa Present ‘BR-101’—A Musical Journey through Brazilian Rhythms @ Latino Arts, Inc., 7:30 p.m.
The all-star Brazilian band Farofa joins forces with fellow countrywoman vocalist Caro Pierotto for the “BR-101” show (named for the highway that connects Brazil from north to south), a special program that includes original tunes along with renditions of American and Latin classics with a touch of Brazilian music on a rhythmic journey through the most popular Brazilian rhythms like Bossa Nova, Ijexá and Samba.
Saturday, March 7
Socks in the Frying Pan @ Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 7:30 p.m.
Hailing from County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, traditional Irish music trio Socks in the Frying Pan deliver vocal harmonies over acoustic sounds of guitar, fiddle, accordion and banjo. No strangers to the Irish festival circuit, here is a chance to see the trio in the intimate confines of the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center.
Sunday, March 8
Mighty Stokes Tribute: Wild Onion Blues @ Anodyne Coffee Roasting Company, 7 p.m.
According to notes from Steve Cohen’s previously unpublished interview, blues musician Stokes moved to Milwaukee in the early 1950s from Carthage, Miss., where he learned to play guitar from Elmore James.
Stokes, who passed away on Dec. 3, 2019, was known for his golden voice and his eclectic, soulful guitar playing as well as the legacy he left in the form of over two generations of mentees and apprentices who credit Stokes with changing their lives as artists. The all-star list of tribute performers includes Jim Liban, Harvey Westmoreland, Steve Cohen and Leroy Airmaster Band, Matthew Skoller, Billy Flynn, Marc Wilson, Tom Wilson, Perry Webber, Milwaukee Slim, Kurt Koenig, Matt Liban, Alex Wilson, Matthew Wilson and Jim Schwarz.
WMSE Rockabilly Chili @ MSOE Kern Center, 11 a.m.
One of the clues that Spring and warm weather are right around the corner is WMSE’s Rockabilly Chili event. The 18th Annual Rockabilly Chili Fundraiser once again takes over the MSOE Kern Center on Sunday, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., featuring over 50 chilis from local restaurants, cafés and caterers.
This year’s musical entrée, the Long Line Riders, will serve up their hearty country and western sounds. Other attractions include the Chili Races, Artist Working in Education will be on hand to entertain the kids, and there will also be a special Milwaukee Police Department Vs. Milwaukee Fire Department competition.
Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door and include 4 tasting tickets; free for children ages 10 and under! Please bring two non-perishable goods for Hunger Task Force.
Wednesday, March 11
Foreigner w/ the Waukesha West High School Choir @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
With 16 top-30 hits including “Cold as Ice” and “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” Foreigner has long since become part of the fabric of classic rock. Although original vocalist Lou Gramm is no longer with Foreigner, founder and guitarist Mick Jones has returned with Rick Wills, bassist in the band’s classic lineup, and original keyboardist Al Greenwood.
