Photo by David McClister
Willie Nelson @ Milwaukee Theatre, Oct. 24
Thursday, Oct. 22
Lucero @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.
It’s almost a shame to lump in Lucero with all those other alt-country bands, since instead of the passive folk and timid retro-twang that predominate that genre, this Memphis group kicks up an edgier, rockier sound, a fiercer take on The Replacements’ rowdy roots-rock. The group’s 2009 major-label debut 1372 Overton Park sacrificed none of Lucero’s ramshackle energy; the same goes for its even more Bruce Springsteen-inspired follow-up, 2012’s Women & Work, which found singer Ben Nichols belting out more songs to his two great muses in his signature, whiskey-stained rasp. The band dials down the rowdiness a bit on their latest effort, All a Man Should Do, a contemplative record that puts Nichols’ songwriting front and center. The band will open for themselves at this show with an acoustic set.
Gurf Morlix @ Anodyne Walker’s Point, 8 p.m.
Austin multi-instrumentalist Gurf Morlix has made the rounds since the ’80s, lending colorful accompaniments to artists like Ian McLagan, Robert Earl Keen, Warren Zevon, Mary Gauthier and, most prominently, Lucinda Williams, whom he backed for over a decade. He also produced two of her best records, Lucinda Williams and Sweet Old World. He was never content just to be a sideman, though. Since 2000 he’s released nine solo albums, the latest of which is this year’s romping Eatin’ At Me.
Friday, Oct. 23
Arlo Guthrie @ The Pabst Theater, 8 p.m.
It may surprise many fans that Arlo Guthrie, son of folk legend Woody and the writer of the ’60s counterculture epic “Alice’s Restaurant,” is now a proud libertarian who vocally endorses gun rights. Guthrie’s evolved in many directions since his 1967 hit, moving beyond the comical talking-blues structure of that song to explore more serious shades of folk, pop and occasionally rock music. After pairing with the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra for 2007’s In Times Like These, a surprisingly sober live album that explored the more melancholy corners of Guthrie’s songbook, Guthrie looked to his father’s songbook for his most recent studio album, 32¢ Postage Due, which includes covers of some of his dad’s most famous songs.
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Craig Finn w/ Esmè Patterson @ Cactus Club, 9:30 p.m.
Celebrated by fans as literary rock ‘n’ roll saviors and derided by detractors as a glorified bar band, Brooklyn’s Hold Steady divide their time between rousing tales of spiritual redemption and the American dream and more commonplace accounts of passing out at concerts, stumbling around drunk or making out at a detox tent, stories that lyricist and frontman Craig Finn packs with allusions to the works of Jack Kerouac and fellow Minnesotan John Berryman. Finn’s voice is the driving force behind that band, so it goes without saying that Hold Steady fans will find much to love on his solo albums, including this year’s Faith in the Future, which, while less rowdy than some of Hold Steady’s most charged records, includes the same redemptive storytelling.
Widespread Panic @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.
One of the oldest staples of the American jam-music scene, Athens, Ga., rockers Widespread Panic have been playing together since the mid-’80s, well before the jam scene was the organized network it is today. Nonetheless, they found their audience quickly, the same way that today’s younger jam bands do: through relentless touring. After nearly 30 years together, the band is still recording new music—they just released their 12th album, Street Dogs, which comes about as close to capturing the electricity of their live show as any they’ve released—but their heart still lies on the road. They return to Milwaukee for another three-day marathon at the Riverside Theater this weekend. (Through Sunday, Oct. 25.)
The Steepwater Band @ Shank Hall, 11 p.m.
Chicago’s Steepwater Band stumbled upon the jam scene a bit later than some of their peers. The trio began in the late ’90s as a fairly traditional blues-rock act, opening for Buddy Guy and Taj Mahal and playing regional blues festivals. Mid-2000s performances with Umphrey’s McGee and Yonder Mountain String Band, as well as a 2010 tour with Gov’t Mule, increased their following in the jam scene, though, and the group’s sound has shifted a bit to reflect the tastes of their new fan base. They now draw as much from the leisurely, rootsy rock of the Allman Brothers Band as they do the searing blues of their hometown.
Pumpkin Pavilion @ Humboldt Park, 6-10 p.m.
Bay View gets in the Halloween spirit this weekend with its annual Pumpkin Pavilion at Humboldt Park. Both nights will feature more than 800 lit jack-o-lanterns, as well as hay rides, games, face painting, fire spinners, black-and-white movies and performances from magician Tom Burgermeister. Friday’s event will feature live music from the Drunk Drivers Band, while Saturday night features the Dick Satan Trio.
Saturday, Oct. 24
Danzig w/ Superjoint, Veil of Maya, Prong and Witch Mountain @ The Rave, 7 p.m.
Danzig’s 1988 Rick Rubin-produced self-titled debut is a masterpiece of metal-punk fusion that yielded one of the most wondrously ridiculous metal singles of the ’80s, “Mother,” the song where singer Glenn Danzig menacingly threatens a would-be enemy’s mom (he’s just that much of a badass). Danzig’s ’90s albums fell victim to some unflattering, ugly nü-metal production, but the band’s period releases since (including 2004’s Circle of Snakes and 2010’s Deth Red Sabaoth) have been nice returns to the rowdy and raw sound of the group’s unimpeachable debut. The group’s latest record, Skeletons, is an odd one, a covers album featuring songs from Elvis Presley, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and The Everly Brothers.
Willie Nelson w/ Merle Haggard @ Milwaukee Theatre, 8 p.m.
After briefly retiring in the early ’70s following declining success, Willie Nelson relocated to Austin, Texas, where he would become a figurehead of the emerging outlaw country scene, which eschewed the more pop-oriented Nashville music scene for a sound rooted in traditional country and folk influences. A long procession of albums that played up his outlaw-hippie image followed, including one of his most successful albums, 1975’s Red Headed Stranger. Despite a tax scandal that left him temporarily in debt and a health scare or two, Nelson has continued to release new music each year and, with his battered and beloved guitar Trigger at his side, performs hits such as “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain,” “Good Hearted Woman,” and “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time.” For this show he’ll be joined by his fellow outlaw country pioneer, and frequent tour-mate, Merle Haggard.
Ladders w/ Mooner and Marielle Allschwang @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, 9 p.m.
Ladders’ 2014 debut album Suha marked a milestone for the Breadking collective, a loose network of Riverwest folk, punk and indie-rock musicians: It was Breadking’s first physical release as a record label. Blending the moody guitars of rootsy ’90s alternative acts like American Music Club and Grant Lee Buffalo with the tag-teamed songwriting approach of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, that record showcased the band’s folk-rock leanings but was by no means a complete representation of their act. Their new record Saye Lonnie, which they celebrate the release of at this show, covers far more ground, touching on power-pop, upbeat rock and surf music. The band recorded it with Daytrotter engineer Ian Harris in Rock Island, Ill.
Doghouse Flowers w/ Eddie Crummer @ Kochanski’s Beer Hall, 8 p.m.
Before coming together as Doghouse Flowers in 2012, the band members had done time in a wide range of local bands, from The Exotics and The Nelsonics to The Uptown Savages. None of those bands, however, had ever recorded anything nearly as rootsy as their 2014 debut LP Chasing the Sun, a rocking alt-country record that split the difference between Old 97’s and Waylon Jennings. The group keeps their driving country tunes coming on their follow-up record, Cold Comfort, which they’ll release at this show at Kochanski’s Beer Hall, 1920 S. 37th St.
