We’re thrilled to be presenting tonight’s Hurray For The Riff Raff show at Cactus Club. I caught the band for the first time earlier this year opening for Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy in New Orleans. I left town clutching a vinyl copy of the their most recent release, Young Blood Blues, which has since made a comfortable home in regular rotation on my turntable.

Tonight’s bill also features performances from Sam Doores and Milwaukee’s own West of East. The music kicks off at 9pm and $10 gets you in the door.

Previously: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy w/Hurray For The Riff Raff – Preservation Hall (New Orleans)
Previously: Hurray For The Riff Raff :: 5 Albums

MP3: Hurray For The Riff Raff – “Slow Walk”
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Buy: Hurray For The Riff Raff – Young Blood Blues

Consider us excited. Earlier this year we were elated to find out that Hurray For the Riff Raff was opening for Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy while we were in New Orleans. The show was fantastic. We returned home to Wisconsin with a copy of Hurray For the Riff Raff’s brilliant new album, Young Blood Blues on vinyl. Since then, we’ve been fortunate to be in the position to bring the band to the Cactus Club in Milwaukee on Friday, October 8th. They’re also playing Madison the day before and Chicago the following date. Go here for a full list of tour dates.

Below, find a newly released mp3 for “Slow Walk” from the previously mentioned record. It’s highly recommended for fans of country-leaning songwriters – past and present.

Previously: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy w/Hurray For The Riff Raff – Preservation Hall (New Orleans)
Previously: Hurray For The Riff Raff :: 5 Albums

MP3: Hurray For The Riff Raff – “Slow Walk”
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Buy: Hurray for the Riff Raff – Young Blood Blues

Join us at the Cactus Club on Sunday night for a great triple bill co-headlined by The Parson Red Heads from Los Angeles and Milwaukee’s own Chris DeMay. Wisconsin’s Muddy Udders kick the night off around 9pm.

MP3: The Parson Redheads – “You Can Leave It”
MP3: The Parson Redheads – “Burning Up The Sky”
MP3: The Parson Redheads – “Got It All”
MP3: Chris DeMay – “Drag”

Radio Summer Camp officially kicked off on Thursday, but (for us) the real excitement began last night, with amazing bands scattered throughout Milwaukee’s venues. The 91.7 WMSE curated festival expanded on the foundation it built last year, returning for the second year with a more diverse line-up, including even more venues, resulting in an amazing amount to take in over a four day period. The result, thus far, has been extremely exciting. The shows I attended last night were packed to the max, and I hope I’m not the only one who enjoyed attending smoke-free shows at the Rave and Cactus Club for the first time.

After a lot of back and forth I decided to make Band of Horses my first show of the night after getting a text message from my friend Logan saying he was drumming for the opener Bryan Cates. If memory serves me correctly, this was my fifth time seeing Band of Horses, the first being the inaugural Pitchfork Music Festival in 2006. The band continues to be a powerhouse live, alternating between their ballad leaning songs and their almost arena level rockers. If anything, attending the show strengthened my appreciation for the group’s new album, Infinite Arms, which seems to be getting unnecessarily beat up in the reviews I’ve read. Most of the songs ended up being massive sing-a-longs. I exited the venue right before the encore en route to the Cactus Club.

I was thrilled to arrive at the venue and find myself in time for the majority of the All Tiny Creatures set. I saw the band earlier this month and was impressed with the direction they’ve taken their material, and am looking forward to hearing their debut LP out later this year on Home-Tapes.

Seeing Collections of Colonies of Bees is always a big deal. It had been a good number of months since I’d seen the group live, but last night’s show wasn’t to be missed as it would be their last performance with drummer Jon Mueller (pictured above), who leaves the band to pursue other interests. Knowing that it was almost impossible to not soak up the emotions that hung in the balance of the room last night. I’d be lying if I didn’t note here that I spent a good time just watching how much Mueller puts into his drumming. It’s something to witness. The rest of the band followed suit delivering one of the hardest hitting, and highest energy shows I’ve seen them do. It was a privileged to be in the crowd and see last night’s show, and it was nice to see so many Milwaukee fans come out in support. There were a lot of hugs given out at the end of the night. While there won’t likely be another Milwaukee show before the end of year, fans of the band can look forward to the CoCo Bees next album, GIVING, which arrives also on Hometapes in October.

We’re looking forward to heading back out tonight with hopes of catching The Loom, Strand of Oaks, John Doe, and Goodnight Loving.

Discuss: Did you make it out to any shows last night? We wish we could have been everywhere, but missed out on a lot of great stuff. Drop a comment letting us know who you saw and what you thought.

[photo: Erik]

I am thirty years old today. While I’m not sure what my friends have in store for me tonight, I do plan on leaving The Hold Steady’s set at Summerfest and going directly to the Cactus Club, where, in my opinion, one of the best line-up’s of the summer awaits.

We’ve already shared our love of Milwaukee’s own Group of the Altos, (they also play Summerfest tomorrow) who played our SXSW showcase in Austin in March.

They’re anchoring tonight’s triple threat at Cactus along with The Caribbean (pictured above) and All Tiny Creatures, two of our favorites on the Home Tapes label. Both groups have upcoming albums due later this year, which we’re eager to hear. Until then, we’re excited for an advance listen in a live setting. See you there.

MP3: The Caribbean – “William of Orange”
MP3: The Caribbean – “Siamese Sons”
MP3: The Caribbean – “First & Last”
MP3: Group of the Altos – “Begin, And Begin Again!”

If you’re a subscriber to our podcast, you’re familiar with Kasey Anderson and his fantastic album, Nowhere Nights. We’re fortunate to be hosting Kasey and Tom Vollman tonight at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee. Kasey was kind enough to send through some of his favorite sad songs for this new feature. Stop by the Cactus Club tonight for some of his own.

Steve Earle – “Goodbye”

First time I heard this song, I felt like somebody knocked me out, then stomped on my heart until I came to. I don’t know that there’s anyone better than Earle when it comes to distilling incredibly complex moments and emotions to their essence. Earle packs everything – regret, shame, longing, heartbreak – in to one simple refrain (“I can’t remember / if we said goodbye”). I’m awestruck every time I hear this song. Every single time. And I hear it a lot. But to me, more than the slow and ceaseless ache in this song, what stands out is that, through it all, you can still hear a man who came out the other side. That’s what makes Steve Earle a better songwriter than most anyone else alive.

The Low Anthem – “This God Damn House” (listen)

Daniel Lefkowitz wrote this song for TLA’s record, What the Crow Brings. Dan’s no longer in the band but I they’re still playing this tune at shows, and they oughta be; it’s a wrecking ball. There’s a simplicity to the way Dan addresses the dissolution of sanity due simply to repetition, routine, and self-deceit. The song is just a very simple, stark portrait of life in a rut, but it is one of the most stirring tunes I’ve heard in a long, long time. Dan’s got a solo record coming out sometime this year, and I expect people will be fawning over it.

John Prine – “Mexican Home” (listen to Josh Ritter’s cover)

Chip Robinson joined me for a leg of this tour, and he played this tune a few times. Chip made the thing his own but Prine’s version is just as devastating. “My father died on the porch outside on an August afternoon / I sipped bourbon and cried with a friend by the light of the moon.” That’s grief and loss in their absolute simplest forms. Prine has always been so good at that, the same way Earle is, but you always suspect there’s a smirk around the corner with Prine, and there usually is. That line always sticks out to me, though. It may not be the entire crux of Prine’s tune, but it is the moment in the song where the hair on the back of my neck stands up. There’s a moment like that in almost every one of Prine’s tunes. He’s just that good; you know it’s coming, and you’ve heard the tunes enough times to know exactly when it’s coming, but you can’t keep from shivering. That’s the mark of a master.

Buy: Kasey Anderson – Nowhere Nights
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MP3: Kasey Anderson – “Bellingham Blues”