Goodbye, My Friend

Eddie Kilowatt releases new book + has a party!

The release party for Eddie Kilowatt’s latest book, Carrying a Knife in to the Gunfight, will be this Friday, October 12th at The Social, with music by High Lonesome and DJ sets by Von Munz and Flavor Dav Monroe — and of course, Eddie will be reading poems. $10 gets you in and a copy of Carrying. The Social is just south of the Third Ward on 1st and Water Street (sharing a wall with the Alterra on the corner of 1st and Pittsburgh). Festivities begin at 10pm. The social is a bar, so make sure to bring your parents if you’re not yet 21! Eddie Kilowatt and VITAL Source hope to see you there!

Question

A matter of perspective

By Blaine Schultz, Jon Anne Willow and Kenya Evans + Photos by Kat Jacobs and Erin Landry In planning this story, we originally set out to pair young musicians with seasoned veterans and see what kind of school would be in session as a result. But what happened instead was vastly more interesting: organic dialogue stemming from a common love. What follows are three interviews with six musicians penned by three writers. The questions for each were different, as were the settings and interview styles. But the messages overlap, intertwine and paint a bigger picture of what it takes to live one’s passion. From creative process to overcoming jadedness to living with your choices, these six musicians laid it all out. Very special thanks to the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music for opening their doors for the photo shoots for this story. You’ll find more incredible images in our gallery at vitalsourcemag.com. —Jon Anne Willow Peder Hedman and Jason Mohr By Blaine Schultz + Photo by Erin Landry It is a too-warm September evening in Jason Mohr’s backyard, but nobody’s complaining. Bug spray and citronella candles help, but this year’s crop of mosquitoes arrived late and hungry. In a far-ranging conversation that spans Mohr’s thoughts on how a songwriter may be unconsciously predicting his own future to Hedman’s take on what it means to keep a band together when domestic realities come to the fore, it was never really obvious that two decades separate this pair of Milwaukee musicians. A common point of reference for both guitar mavens is the Maestro Echoplex, a vintage analog tape echo unit. Hedman brought to the interview a Stylophone, a gizmo he picked up at Value Village. The crude, handheld synthesizer may be best known as the instrument that plays the solo on David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The Peder Hedman Quartet is in the final stages of self-releasing Don’t Fall Down; Mohr’s group, Juniper Tar, is nearly ready as well with the provisionally-titled Free Bird. Both bands begin with interesting songs and then subtly warp them to their own needs. And make no mistake, the musicians who collaborate with Hedman and Mohr are as talented and beyond ordinary as you will find. “Take a look at this, the first press I ever got,” Hedman says, setting an age-yellowed copy of the Crazy Shepard on the table. The 1982 article profiles the Null Heirs, accompanied by a grainy black and white photo. Since then, bassist Mike Frederickson went on to form The Moseleys and play bass with Robbie Fulks; keyboardist John Duncan played with Gear Daddy Martin Zellar (and Tiny Tim); Kent Mueller ran the late KM Art. Hedman played in Liquid Pink, then Tweaker, which landed him down south for years. It’s a sharp contrast to Mohr’s less than a decade of band experience, highlighted by an EP with his previous group, Telectro. “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it … well, I’m making my mark,” Hedman says of his […]

Gary

Lesson Learned — Maybe

I’ve just survived my first full production cycle. I signed on as Managing Editor when we were proofing and going to print for September; tomorrow, we’re headed north to lovely Port Washington for our final press check before October hits the stands. For the past two weeks I’ve been chasing down local musicians, orchestrating photo shoots and last-minute interviews, and record digging (not normally part of the job description, but October is the music issue). Once a down-home rust-belt sweetheart, I’ve been black-dress Betty McBusiness, excusing myself from social situations to check voice messages and bark into my cell phone. The storm is finally settling (funny enough, it’s raining today) and all I want to do is decompress. It’s been a big foot-dragging affair to get me to do anything, even — ESPECIALLY — things that are supposed to be fun. Two free concerts at the Pabst in one week? Really? Opening gala for the International Film Festival? With a DRINK TICKET? Do I have to? (Answer from the boss lady: yes, you have to.) Last night I made the tough decision to forgo a Film Fest flick (from Korea, not likely to screen anywhere in the tri-state region again) in favor of two-and-a-half straight hours of The Office, season three, before mustering enough of a kick to my own pants to get out of the apartment and go to another MIFF screening — Avida — at The Times. I liked Avida. Of course I did. That’s the lesson I never learn — when I’m feeling bratty, it always pays to do whatever pain-in-the-ass thing I think is going to be such a pain in the ass. It’s never a pain in the ass. Okkervil River (at the Pabst last Monday), a band that’s swelled my heart for years, was fantastic. I didn’t love The National (at the Pabst on Friday), but I loved the company of the friends that came with me (friends who, not incidentally, bought me tons of beer). And at the MIFF gala, on a deliciously foggy night that set the spines of the Burke Brise Soleil into silhouette, the margaritas were strong and the mingling was top-shelf. I stayed until closing time (I had plans for the evening that I just blew off) and caught up with Jonathan Jackson (his must-see MIFF movie: Control), Mark Escribano (maker of The Super Noble Brothers — who had heard through the lightning-quick grapevine that I had met with Andy Noble that day to talk record collecting), Josh Rosenberg (working on his first feature film, Tracks, produced by Niels Mueller) and the enchanting Bobby Ciraldo (in fact this blog is quickly becoming a journal of my encounters with him), who appears in Table Talk and Perceval and has something to do with Midnight Delirium feature What What (In the Butt). I learned that he’s from Okemos — a small township in middle Michigan, skirting Lansing — and probably wouldn’t have come to Milwaukee if there hadn’t been people from […]

Awesome show at Luckystar Studio!

VITAL Source is sponsoring this quirky, creepy show at Luckystar, just before the mad Gallery Night rush. Check out what they have to say about it — and mark your calendar. Milwaukee, WI: Leaves are changing color and falling from the trees, flowers are dying and the mosquitoes have disappeared. Fall is in the air and with it Mother Nature’s grandiose presentation of death and decay. In the spirit of the season Luckystar Studio (5407 W. Vliet St.) presents Karl Unnasch , Joe Borzotta and Stephanie Towell in Death Becomes You; the gallery’s eighth anniversary exhibit, opening Saturday, October 13th, 6-10 p.m. Influenced by the accidental death of a kitten by a sleeping bull, Karl Unnasch has twisted animal carcasses into bizarre vignettes to “create art that can intrigue via concepts of beauty while still generating meaning with the usage of surreal narratives focusing on the clash between the urbanized and natural worlds.” For those concerned over legal and public health we’d like to ensure you that every precaution has been taken, by the artist, as they pertain to endangered and protected species, pathogenic, infestation, introduction and domestication issues, transport and storage of animal matter, etc. Karl explains that “In short, if there is potential for legal problems, I don’t bother using certain material.” “The penalties are just too great.” On a somewhat ethical note Karl “refuses to end the life of any animal for the sake of art” but, as a card-carrying carnivore, does enjoy hunting and fishing as a means of food gathering. On a lighter note and in the spirit of Halloween; Luckystar Studio also presents the Luchador series from Joe Borzotta. Stemming from Joe’s childhood admiration for wrestling star Mil Mascaras. “He was like a superhero come to life!! Huge physique, mask, cape, and he did acrobatic moves that made him look like he was flying!” These portraits capture the odd mix of man and mask, reality and cartoon, and the round canvases presents the image as almost a religious icon each capturing the pageantry and color of Lucha Libre. As the final component the gallery also presents the assemblage work of Stephanie Towell. Her intricate work evokes a feeling of nostalgia. “I question my past, I seek answers and truth in the future” states the artist. The perfect metaphor for the season and the inevitable ending of another year. Luckystar Studio will not be open for Gallery Night; opting instead to open Saturday , October 20 from 12 pm – 4pm and hosting a Gallery Night Hangover Party.

Life is a Playground

Last week I lodged a formal complaint about the lack of bike racks in my new East Town neighborhood. My somewhat irritated e-mail was answered warmly and in great detail by Dave Schlabowske, coordinator of Milwaukee’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force, who gave me pointers on lock-up locations (tree planters, for instance, are easy), offered to find me a winter storage locker in my neighborhood (noting the office address on my e-mail signature), and invited me to join him for an “urban underground” bike tour that night as part of the annual Urban Playground Festival. I didn’t even know a Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force existed, but I did my homework and learned that they were the good people responsible for most of the city’s bike lanes, the Milwaukee by Bike Map, the Brady Street pedestrian bridge, the Marsupial Bridge over the Milwaukee River, Bike to Work Week, and other smart, progressive initiatives. We met outside Cafe Hollander with a handful of other bikers from all walks of the bike world — a couple of serious guys with many gears on their mountain bikes, an enthusiast who wanted to know everything about my vintage Falcon, a family with a toddler in a trailer and a couple of kids on pint-sized rides with bells on their handlebars. Dave, of course, rode a beautiful European tour bike with saddlebags, a leather seat, a chain guard and headlights powered by a generator. “It reminds me of being in Amsterdam,” he said. We cruised through the East Side, Riverside Park, cut behind the Paperboard factory and picked up the Beer Line Trail, a pedestrian corridor that runs along the abandoned rails that used to cart barrels of brew from the Pabst, Blatz and Schlitz factories. Halfway through our 90-minute tour, at the south end of the Marsupial Bridge, Dave unpacked some dark rum and (in true Royal Dutch fashion) some aquavit. He told us about plans to extend the Beer Line Trail all the way to Gordon Park in Riverwest and upcoming developments in the Gallun complex on Water Street that might turn the Marsupial Bridge into a more of a Commons. Before we turned back, we crossed the pedestrian bridge over the river that links up to the East Bank Trail and watched the sun come down; I talked to a fisherman about the cranes nesting in the sandbar. Dave asked why he hadn’t seen me around at other city bike gatherings. Hadn’t I heard about Biketoberfest? The Santa Cycle Rampage? I told him I hadn’t even mustered the curiosity to go to Critical Mass, which, according to Dave, people only tend to show up at when there is the chance that there will be controversy, confrontation or a political button to push. Dave seemed to embrace the playful, have-a-beer, bring-your-kids spirit of biking, which made me — a rookie biker — pretty comfortable. Nice to know that there is a cooperative agent working inside the city that even those of us who […]

Coming soon — Love Letters by Amy Elliot

New blog… coming soon!

A Star Onstage Might Be A Memory Onscreen

MPTV Airs “Milwaukee” Antiques Roadshow!

Antiques Roadshow, the most popular program on PBS, visited Milwaukee last July. Now, Milwaukee Public Television will air three programs revealing what Milwaukeeans brought in for appraisal: Monday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. and repeated at 8 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. and repeated at 8 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. and repeated at 8 p.m. Among the more unique items appraised was an 18th century New York desk and bookcase that once belonged to a governor of Connecticut and could possibly be the most valuable object of the Antiques Roadshow season (see picture below); a ruby and diamond encrusted bracelet from Austria’s Empress Eugenie which the owner’s great grandmother purchased in the 1890s; and two game-baseballs autographed by Milwaukee Brave and Hall of Famer Warren Spahn. One baseball was from Spahn’s 327th victory, which made him the all-time winningest lefthander in history, and the other was from his 300th career victory, the gold standard for pitchers. VITAL is really excited about this! You should be too! And look how excited the Keno Brothers are about that bookcase!

“Jobs, jobs, jobs”

On the cover of our September issue, we incorrectly stated that “Jobs, jobs, jobs … ?”, an article about Mayor Tom Barrett’s employment report, would appear in the magazine’s pages. The article by our Commentary contributor, Ted Bobrow, will run in our October print edition. It will also be available on our website starting October 1st. VITAL regrets the error.