This weekend, Kentucky singer-songwriter Daniel Martin Moore will be performing twice in Wisconsin. On Friday night, July 29, Moore will be part of WMSE Radio Summer Camp at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn in Milwaukee, hitting the stage around 11pm. Tickets for Summer Camp (including Sunday’s Backyard BBQ) are availble here. The next night, Saturday, July 30, Moore will hit the stage at the North Mendota Supper Club in Madison for an intimate house show. Doors open at 8pm, with opening act Count This Penny starting around 830pm. Tickets are $10 each and 100% goes to the artists. To RSVP, please send an email to nmsc1402@gmail.com. In advance of these two shows, MoB sat down with Moore to discuss his new Sub Pop record, In the Cool of the Day, his relationship with My Morning Jacket, and one of his favorite causes, ending mountaintop removal coal mining.

1. talk a bit about your new record, in the cool of the day, and how it came to be. what has it been like promoting/releasing a record with spiritual undertones to a predominantly pop/indie audience? what has the response been as you play these new songs in a live setting?

Thankfully, the response has been welcoming.  I’ve never imagined this album as a religious record, and I don’t think many people have heard it that way.  It’s a collection of songs that I hope is presented in a way that transcends any specific interpretation.

2. on your records and in a live setting, your sound is at once sparse and including full sounding. how did you come to develop the unique dmm sound?

That spareness of production is something I gravitate toward, not sure how it developed, it’s just sorta always been there.  I love a big production, too, though, to be sure (George Harrison’s, “All Things Must Pass” is one of my very favorite albums, and it’s hard to imagine more going on in a recording!).  So it’s really up to each individual song, and up to each collection of musicians, to determine how it will all come together.  Some songs lend themselves to an epic treatment, and some are best left more spare.

3. we can’t very far into an interview without asking you about your relationship with jim james and my morning jacket. how did you get hooked up with jim, how do you both – as great songwriters – talk shop and make music, and what was it like to open for mmj earlier this year?

Ben Sollee introduced me & Jim when we were all thinking about the Dear Companion album.  What a wonderful musician he is – all the guys in MMJ are beyond words.  Sharing the stage with them is pure joy.

4. i became aware of you and your music through the dear companion record and the strong stand you take against mountaintop removal coal mining. what has the response to the record and your efforts been like in your home state? is there growing support for ending MTR or is it still an uphill battle?

The response has been tremendous, even thought he album is just a small part in a much larger movement.  Support for ending MTR has grown & grown over the last 4 decades.  Dear Companion is one more voice in a rising chorus against the thoughtless destruction & corruption.  Kentucky’s citizens are mobilizing & getting educated around the issue more and more all the time.  It’s an inspiring thing, and we’re happy to be a part of a shift toward sanity (because what comes next, after everything is destroyed?) & for basic human rights (shouldn’t folks have water that isn’t poison?).  I think that as we all learn the truth about what MTR is & what it does to our communities & health, we will come together to put a stop to it.  That day is growing closer all the time.

5. right now – july 19, 2011 – what are the five records you have been digging lately?

1.  Gramma’s Boyfriend, S/T
2.  Guitar Party, Birthday
3.  Maiden Radio, Lullabies
4.  Nic Jones, Penguin Eggs
5.  Neil Young, On the Beach

Buy: Daniel Martin Moore – In the Cool of the Day

The National returned to Milwaukee for an encore performance at the Riverside Theater in support of their fantastic album, High Violet. Before the show the band spent time with John Axford at Miller Park where the Brewers played host to their hometown Cincinnati Reds. That visit carried through the rest of the night where members of the band donned Brewers hats and mentioned Axford from stage.

Above, check out a gorgeous version of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” delivered acoustically and sans microphone to the Milwaukee crowd to end the show.

Discuss: What did you think of the show? Thoughts on Twin Shadow and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart? Drop a comment with your thoughts/reviews of last night’s show.

Bon Iver emerged last week with the announcement of their forthcoming album, Bon Iver, Bon Iver, due June 21st on Jagjaguwar. The band will kick off their US tour in support of the new album at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee on Saturday, July 23rd. Tickets are $32.50 (plus service fees) and go on sale Friday, April 29th at noon.

Pre-Order: Bon Iver, Bon Iver

Here are the Wisconsin, Illinois and Austin shows we recommend you take in this week. Check out the upcoming concerts below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list.

Upcoming Shows:

4/25 – Arcade Fire + The National – UIC (CHICAGO)
4/25 – Maserati + Twin Tigers – Empty Bottle (CHICAGO)
4/25 – Okkervil River + Dana Falconberry – Scoot Inn (AUSTIN)
4/25 – Foals + Freelance Whales + The Naked And Famous – Turner Hall Ballroom (MILWAUKEE)
4/26 – Foals + Freelance Whales + The Naked And Famous – Metro (CHICAGO)
4/26 – The National + Pains of Being Pure at Heart + Twin Shadow – Riverside (MILWAUKEE)
4/26 – Mumford & Sons + Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Railroad Revival (AUSTIN)
4/27 – Joe Pug + Strand of Oaks – Canopy Club (CHAMPAIGN)
4/27 – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart + Twin Shadow – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
4/28 – G Love & Special Sauce – The Majestic (MADISON)
4/28 – The Black Lips + Vivian Girls – Emo’s (AUSTIN)
4/28 – The New Pornographers + The Walkmen – Canopy Club (CHAMPAIGN)
4/28 – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart + Twin Shadow – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
4/28 – Peelander-Z – The Parish (AUSTIN)
4/28 – William Fitzsimmons – Shank Hall (MILWAUKEE)
4/29 – Daytrotter Barnstormer – Monticello Barn
4/29 – Mogwai – Metro (CHICAGO)
4/29 – The Whigs – Park West (CHICAGO)
4/29 – Zola Jesus + Naked on the Vague – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
4/29 – Austin PsychFest – Seaholm Power Plant (AUSTIN)
4/30 – Austin PsychFest – Seaholm Power Plant (AUSTIN)
4/30 – Battles – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
4/30 – Joan As Police Woman – The Parish (AUSTIN)
4/30 – The Decemberists + Other Lives – Stubb’s (AUSTIN)
5/1 – Austin PsychFest – Seaholm Power Plant (AUSTIN)
5/1 – Willie Nelson – The Backyard (AUSTIN)
5/1 – Joe Pug + Strand of Oaks – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)

The Pixies returned to Milwaukee last night playing the Eagles Ballroom on their never-ending reunion tour. Craig returned some amazing sounding/looking video (see “Debaser” above).

Video: Pixies – “Hey” (Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee)
Video: Pixies – “Bone Machine” (Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee)
Video: Pixies – “Here Comes Your Man” (Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee)
Video: Pixies – “No. 13 Baby” (Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee)

Discuss: What did you think of the show? Drop a comment with your thoughts/reviews on last night’s show.

by Joshua Miller (@jmmiller528)

Sometimes even major hail storms have their silver linings. Yesterday throughout the day, in a continuation of Wisconsin’s predictably unpredictable changing weather, a seemingly never ending pouring of hail, wind and rain drenched many plans. Luckily though the storm let up as the evening grew older, and with that people ventured out in the world to the Cactus Club to see some intricate folk stylings of Breathe Owl Breathe and Photographers that helped brighten the mood with hope, laughter, child-like wonder and journey in the lyrics and overall a great night of music.

A decent sized crowd began to form as Chicago based band Photographers set up on stage and began to unravel a intricate folk tapestry that helped win over the crowd. Singer Maren Celest and the rest of the band had their pick of instruments from ukea lle, clarinet, chord organ, and xylophone. At many points during the set Celest pulled out her clarinet and added it’s soothing tones to the band’s blending of guitar, organ and plunkering of keyboard, drums and xylophone. She flexed her voca l cords to a wailing sound midway during the set as if wailing into the night, gesturing her hands with a lot of emotion. The band played a number of new songs from their album, which is scheduled for release this summer, and will likely have photographs as everyone in the band actually does photography. The band’s melodic moving folk was mixed with humor and jokes which kept the mood light.

Breathe Owl Breathe also brought plenty of humor, as well as catchy, simple and almost child-like melodies and lyrics in a folk style that incorporates some contemporary pop. The Michigan trio’s – featuring Micah Middaugh (guitar, vocals), Andréa Moreno-Beals (cello, vocals) and Trevor Hobbs (percussion) – recent album “Magic Central” plays out like a rugged wonderer in the woods longing for a relationship and core meanings of things and along the way unravels story after story about the simple and connecting facets of life.

The band ‘s songs last night told stories about someone rollerblading listening to music, baseball bats and breaking glass (to which they used nice effect for breaking glass) and dragons falling and trying to stay in love with a princess. Middaugh provided a perfect narrator for the night, letting his wise and wistful sounding voice to wrap around the lyrics and humorous commentary and stories between songs. Moreno-Beals, who provided supporting singing, cello playing and more, as well as Hobb, helped meld the lyrics with a great folk backbone. Moreno-Beals and Middaugh seemed to enjoy themselves emenselly as they playfully traded vocals, sometimes in call and response fashion. Middaugh cracked some jokes, including one where he narated a story about needing a hail coat, a lead up to one of my favorite tracks of theirs “Own Stunts.”

Breathe Owl Breathe are no strangers having played the club before, and made the most of the surroundings throughout the night. During “Lake Light” the two singers stood at the front of the stage to sing a moving version of the song. Each band member frequently switched instruments, including banjo, keyboard, and others. Later Middaugh frequently stepped off stage into the space in front of the crowd, and began to get the crowd fired up, instructing them to get involved with the songs whether clapping or singing the lyrics to the songs. To this request the crowd happily complied. “Swimming” found the crowd making swooshing noises while “Dragon” found the crowd splitting clapping rounds as the story of a dragon in love unfolded. At one point Middaugh was singing, Moreno was drumming away with forceful emotion, and crowd clapping away to the infectious melodies, and there was definitely magic in the air.

After a wild storm, the concert was the perfect way to put a positive ending to the day and hopefully the band can come back again (hopefully a weekend) to find new fans.

Buy: Breathe Owl Breathe – Magic Central
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MP3: Breathe Owl Breathe – “Across The Loch”
MP3: Breathe Owl Breathe – “Own Stunts”
MP3: Breathe Owl Breathe – “Swimming”