Shank Hall

Very Garcia

Today April 3, 20268:00pm $23.00

An evening of music to take you on a journey from psychedelic rock to stripped down string band. Fans of Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead won't want to miss this.

The Rangers, Dan Lepien

Tomorrow April 4, 20268:00pm $10.00

The Rangers are a fire‑brand honky‑tonk band fusing traditional and high‑energy styles with authentic country storytelling. Their "Cowboy in a Bottle" tour spans Midwest to Mountain West, building grassroots buzz. If you're drawn to boots‑on‑the‑ground country vibes, they're a must-watch act on the touring circuit.

With 4 Records, 5 singles, the Band's goal is to "bring country music back to its roots!" live, The Rangers bring fast pickin', and dynamic rhythms to the stage with their original music, Featuring songs from their Brand new album "Cowboy in a bottle", Along with a hefty amount from their older catalog. The band is forging ahead with their vision of bringing real country music back; in the biggest and flashiest way possible!

James Lee Stanley

Wednesday April 8, 20268:00pm $25.00

James Lee Stanley is an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer, and producer whose six-decade career spans numerous artistic mediums. He is the true renaissance man, born in Philadelphia, PA, and has been recording and performing since the age of fourteen, with 37 album releases and television and film credits to his name.

He has toured consistently since he returned from the USAF (as a Chinese linguist) and has performed up to three hundred dates a year since then, with such diverse acts as BONNIE RAITT, ROBIN WILLIAMS, NICOLETTE LARSON and even STEPHEN STILLS. STEVEN WRIGHT chose James Lee as his opening act for three years in a row; a testament to his professionalism and talent.

Pat McCurdy

Sunday April 26, 20262:00pm $5.00

See Pat's documentary at the Milwaukee Film Festival at the Oriental Theatre at 11:00am, then head over afterwards for a live show!

Pat McCurdy is a singer/song writer from Wisconsin. He tours the mid-western part of the USA, his shows usually consisting of just him and his guitar. While the majority of his audience is made up of a college-age crowd, McCurdy manages to appeal to a large number of people of all ages with his interactive shows. Performing well over 300 shows a year, his large catalog of original songs (nearly 600 and growing) covers a variety of topics such as lost loves, politics, family vacations, the joys of Asian cuisine, and the sex organs of long-dead French Emperors.

Classifying McCurdy's style has long been a problem since he tends to follow wherever his muse takes him. Many of his songs could be classified as rock/pop, though he's been known to wander into folk, jazz, country and even Gilbert and Sullivan. Whatever style he chooses, his songs often include memorable lyrics.

Indigenous

Thursday May 14, 20268:00pm $20.00

Born and raised on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, Indigenous front man Mato Nanji (Ma-TOE NON-gee) dedicates his latest release Time Is Coming (on Blues Bureau International) to the indigenous youth and all young people on the indigenous reservations.

Mato Nanji's father, the late Greg Zephier, Sr., was a well-known and highly respected spiritual advisor and spokesperson for the International Indian Treaty Council. In addition to this leadership role, he was an accomplished musician and a member of the musical group, The Vanishing Americans. Formed by Greg and his brothers in the '60's, The Vanishing Americans toured nationally and shared bills with such legends as Bonnie Raitt. Besides being heavily influenced by the music his father and uncles were making, Mato was exposed to Greg's vast collection of blues records by legendary artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King. Consequently, Mato embraced and began utilizing his own musical talent at a young age. With the experience, love and wisdom of their father to guide them, Mato, his brother, sister and cousin formed the band Indigenous while in their late teens.

After much time invested in practicing and building a following, they began touring extensively across the country. In 1998, they released their award winning debut album Things We Do. The title track's video, directed by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals), won the American Indian Film Festival Award and was shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Indigenous' music caught the attention of blues icon B.B. King and the young band was invited to play on his annual B.B. King's Blues Tour in 1999. Sadly, Mr. Zephier would pass away before seeing his children receive this great honor.

With momentum gaining, Indigenous' 2000 sophomore release, Circle, was produced and arranged by Stevie Ray Vaughan's longtime friend and collaborator, the late Doyle Bramhall, Sr. Three more cds; Fistful of Dirt (2002), Indigenous (2003) and Long Way Home (2005) would follow before the 2006 decision by the siblings to 'disband' and pursue their own musical paths but Mato carried on with the Indigenous band name. "Playing with my family for 10 years was a lot of fun, but it was time to grow and keep moving forward."

Mato continued touring and in 2006 released Chasing The Sun. Two of the cd's songs, "Come On Home" and "Leaving", were featured on the hit Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch. "Come on Home" was also featured on FX's Sons of Anarchy.

On 2008's Broken Lands, an intensely personal record, Mato and Leah, his lyricist and wife, pay tribute to his Native heritage. The album decries the poverty, isolation and reality of life on the reservation with "Place I Know." The album gains its title from the line, "all is lost in these broken lands."

Of The Acoustic Sessions (released in 2010), Mato commented, "It's a collection of some of my favorite songs that celebrate 10 years of releasing albums. Every song that I have ever written began with the acoustic guitar, so it only felt natural to create an acoustic album."

Indigenous featuring Mato Nanji (2012) would mark Nanji's debut on the Blues Bureau International label and the beginning of his collaboration with noted producer, Mike Varney. Joining Mato on the disc's opening track "Free Yourself, Free Your Mind" is the soulful Jonny Lang. On it, the two guitar-masters trade vocals and guitar solos. It's truly a blues lover's 'match made in heaven'.

In addition to his Indigenous 'day job', Mato Nanji has been a member of the critically acclaimed Experience Hendrix Tour since 2002. Playing alongside original Jimi Hendrix band members Billy Cox and the late Mitch Mitchell, the tour roster includes some of today's blues greats including Buddy Guy, Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble), Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, and Robert Randolph.

Once the 2012 Experience Hendrix Tour concluded, Mato and fellow EHT tour mates David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) would collaborate and release the hard-driving, psychedelic blues-infused 3 Skulls and the Truth (Blues Bureau International) disc. The album's no-holds barred setting is the ideal foundation for the three veteran axemen to simply 'let it fly'.

February 2013 would bring the Mato Nanji-inspired release from trance-blues artist Otis Taylor, My World Is Gone (Telarc). Mato and Otis explore the plight of the American Indian people in a lightning bolt of musical creativity and social commentary. "Mato inspired the entire direction of this album," says Taylor. "We were talking about history backstage at a Jimi Hendrix tribute concert he had just played, and, in reference to his people, the Native American Nakota Nation, he said 'My world is gone.' The simplicity and honesty of those four words was so heavy, I know what I had to write about."

"My dad was my favorite musician so he really influenced me a lot with everything. I just felt it was time to pay tribute to him and his band," says Nanji. That tribute, Vanishing Americans, was released on May 21, 2013 and promptly found its place on iTunes Top 10 Blues Chart. Blues Rock Review (6/5/13) said: "each song is brought together with heavy and powerful guitar riffs akin to those of Carlos Santana and Jimi Hendrix, while bellowing, raspy vocals turn a talented guitarist's vision into a relatable song for many, just as any praiseworthy blues album should."

"Mato continues to refine his guitar and vocal vocabularies with each new release and is also expanding his songwriting skills with his wife Leah," said producer Mike Varney of Time Is Coming (May 2014). From the infectious opening track of "Grey Skies"; the Soundgarden/Rage Against the Machine influenced "Won't Be Around No More"; and the gut-wrenching blues of "Don't Know What To Do", and at all points in between, Mato Nanji "tears at his guitar strings, bending and shaking them to within an inch of their life, it is clear that he is no mere copyist. He is a genuine virtuoso..." (Rhys Williams, bluesblastmagazine.com 5/14).

Ultimately, Mato dedicates Time Is Coming, to the Indigenous youth and all young people on the Indigenous reservations. Of the song says Nanji; "still to this day, the struggle continues to just live in peace. Growing up here on the reservation I've seen a lot of broken families...broken homes. I feel our families' "Tiospaye" are the core of what makes us who we are. Now family and its meaning is not as strong as it used to be for our people...almost non-existent. So I send my heart and soul out to the indigenous children having a tough time in their lives and in their homes. This record is inspired by them and made in their honor. I hope for the best for all. Tomorrow is another day."

The Plateros, a three piece award winning family band from the Navajo Nation in Tohajiilee, New Mexico consider Mato Nanji and Indigenous one of their greatest musical influences.

Levi and The Plateros played their first show, a festival in Bird Springs, AZ in December 2004, and by April 2005, they would find themselves onstage performing at the largest PowWow in the world, The Gathering of Nations. Lead guitarist Levi, with his natural born talent, slid across the stage with power chords and screaming blues that amazed the packed crowd. He was just 13 years old.

In the years to follow, Levi, along with his cousins Douglas Platero on drums and Bronson Begay on bass would receive numerous nominations for native music and video awards, and their cd Hang On would take home a win for Best Blues Album at the 2009 New Mexico Music Awards.

In 2012, they joined Indigenous for The Kinship Tour, with The Plateros opening the double bill. They would join Mato for blistering encores that would bring the proverbial house down.

Touring in support of Time Is Coming in the summer of 2014, Mato Nanji would once again call on Levi, Douglas and Bronson to hit the road with him. This time, though, would be different. They would be onstage as Indigenous' rhythm section; Mato and Levi trading leads and solos while Bronson and Douglas provided the strong, stable rhythmic foundation that allowed the two guitarists to 'tear it up'.

As the band made its way across the east coast, the after show buzz was audible. The incendiary chemistry of Mato Nanji, Levi Platero, Bronson Begay and Douglas Platero innate.

They are Indigenous.

Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound

Friday May 15, 20268:00pm $20.00

Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound are the latest in Fresh Venerable. Benefitting from years of unassuming and understated hipness, they bring forth a funky, lyrically charged racket that sits comfortably with soulful sounds the world over.

Intricate but free-swinging, explosive yet intimate, fresh and green as grass.

Taking cues from the dance bands of western Louisiana (and his native Midwest), the streets (and 45's) of New Orleans, touring African and Caribbean combos and the soul, funk & blues of his youth coupled with early, teeth-cutting experience in the verbal hotbeds of the coffeehouse scene, Cebar is a masterful synthesist of rhythmic culture.

Tomorrow Sound are an elite crew of offhand adepts who bring plenty of their own wood to the fire. Drummer Reggie Bordeaux, casts his nets with a mystifying subtlety bringing his own fleet-footed refinement and grease. Multi-instrumentalist Bob Jennings, lends his bandleader the luxury of implying a much larger ensemble with his multi-hued contributions on keys and reeds. Bassist Mike Fredrickson (a distinguished singer-songwriter in his own right) anchors and prods with the best of them.

Paul Cebar cut his teeth musically in the coffeehouse folk scene of the mid-'70s in Milwaukee. First paying gigs took place in late '76 with an emphasis on solo recasting of small combo jump-blues and other early R&B. Upon graduation from New College in Sarasota, Florida, with a thesis addressing rhythm & blues varieties featuring a hearty emphasis on Louis Jordan and Buddy Johnson, Cebar dedicated himself to trodding the boards in earnest and spent substantial amounts of time testing the waters out New York way while exploring band dynamics with a soul and New Orleans-minded crew called the R&B Cadets back home. The Cadets ranged about from 1980 to 1986 and featured the grand original tunes of John Sieger alongside the winning assortment of B sides and obscurities that were the fruits of Cebar's research. Concurrently, he kept alive the spark of his solo work with a small group which came to be known as The Milwaukeeans. Throughout the early 80s, this combo featured Rip Tenor on tenor sax, Alan Anderson on upright bass, Robyn Pluer on vocals and Paul on acoustic guitar and vocals, and drew most of its repertoire from '30s, '40s and '50s jazz and R&B.

With the demise of the Cadets in mid-1986, Cebar and Pluer, Tenor and Anderson welcomed drummer Randy Baugher and early Cadet saxophonist/vocalist Juli Wood to a new dance-floor fortified version of The Milwaukeeans which reflected Paul's ongoing and deepening fascination with African, Latin American and Caribbean rhythm & blues analogues. Rambling about the Midwest for the remainder of the '80s with occasional forays east and south, The Milwaukeeans began to rely more and more upon the original material that began to emerge in the aftermath of years of interpolation and grappling with favorites.

The first studio album, "That Unhinged Thing," which was culled from a number of years of recording, finally saw the light of day in 1993. It sparked a wider itinerary in the touring department, with initial forays to the west coast and Canada, as well as returns to the east and south. Following the release of the record and six months of touring, founding member and estimable vocalist Robyn Pluer left the band to attend to le private life.

Rebuffing the command of the record label, Shanachie, that he add a female vocalist, Cebar and cohorts ventured forth into the storm without a label umbrella for what turned into two years of enthusiastic touring with much attendant hand-wringing. Finally, they landed on the shores of a little label that could (for a while), Don't Records, a Milwaukee-based, heart-driven indie. In the summer of '95, they set about making "Upstroke for the Downfolk," while upon its release in the fall of that year began to make inroads at adult album alternative radio outlets nationwide. The single "Didn't Leave Me No Ladder" ushered the fellows to a new level of visibility and the vans rolled on.

A six-song EP, "I Can't Dance For You," followed in the spring of '96 and was superseded by "The Get-Go," a full-length recording released in the fall of '97. Radio support was more sporadic, though the fan corps kept growing. But halfway through '98, Don't's distributor declared bankruptcy and its inventory was impounded. With its merchandise out of reach, Don't found it increasingly difficult and ultimately impossible to carry on.

In 2001, 151/2 years into the dance band incarnation of The Milwaukeeans, the fellows presented, "Suchamuch",a long-requested live album recorded at Martyr's in Chicago and continued to offer their multifarious wares to all and sundry. The present day incarnation of Tomorrow Sound took shape with the arrival (8 years back) of bassist, Mike Fredrickson, joining 22-year veterans Reggie Bordeaux on drums and Bob Jennings on saxophones and keyboards.

The peripatetic pageant continues unabated with renewed focus on "the song" in the context of the increasingly forceful rhythmic exploration that is at the heart of Cebar's quest. Stripping back to 4 pieces has opened up space for the understated command of Bob Jennings' keyboard and saxophonic thinking. Field Marshall Cebar's pithy guitar musing comes to the fore building upon the muscular rhythmic lattice laid by Reggie and Mike. With an ever-deepening appreciation for the funk and the polyglot rhythmic conception that is their trademark, Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound said More! More! More! in 2004. Way to thrive in 2005! Dipped their wicks in 2006, Partied like '11 in 2007, and have their wild heads on straight in 2008. Fine fine Fine into 2009! funked it again and again and again and again in '10, made like 2107 in '11, and have packed up the worry they shelved in '12, incorporated the added vim they were flirtin' with in '13 and are full-on sportin' A-team in '18.

Presently spreading the word with their gangling, headlong and insouciant record,"FINE RUDE THING", Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound want and need you to come on out and help them get down.

Many musicians have graced the stage with Paul in the course of the aforementioned wander. He'd like to thank them all again for the loving spirit they brought to bear on the music. A partial list would include: Rip Tenor, Alan Anderson, Robin Pluer, Guy Hoffman, Juli Wood, Randy Baugher, Peter Roller, Tony Jarvis, Greg Tardy, Mac Perkins, Paul Scher, Michael Kashou, Michael Walls, Ethan Bender,Patrick Patterson, Romero Beverly and the present day crew, Bob Jennings, Reggie Bordeaux,and Mike Fredrickson. Viva le Musicianers!!!!!!!

Make It Real (Scorpions Tribute), Hair Nation

Friday May 29, 20268:00pm $20.00

Make It Real is the premier tribute to the music of Scorpions! With their electrifying guitar solos, powerful drum beats, and captivating stage presence, Make it Real brings the iconic sound of Scorpions to life. Blending classic hits with the energy of live performances, Make it Real delivers an unforgettable experience that resonates with both long-time Scorpions fans and new fans alike!

Dan Bern

Friday June 19, 20268:00pm $25.00

Dan Bern is a captivating live performer who has enthralled a loyal and ever-growing fan base in the US and Europe since the mid '90s. His songs range from deeply moving to wildly imaginative and hilarious, often within the same song.

He has been compared favorably to the great masters of songwriting, such as Guthrie, Dylan, Costello. Though he draws from the great American tradition of songwriting, there is something deeply unique and compelling that make you want to get to know the man behind the songs.

He conjures incredibly specific imagery like in a painting. Though he may turn to cynicism and political satire at times, the beauty of his work is that he is able to imagine better worlds, revealing a deep capacity for empathy and optimism. Bern connects with his audiences skillfully and directly, weaving the topical and local in with the more universal themes. He has written for many films and TV shows, and has made more than thirty albums.

"If you ever read the name "Dan Bern" give yourself a treat and go see him. He's been one of my favourite songwriters and musicians for the past 25 years. His songs are a mix of thought provoking lyrics and a wonderful dry wit. You'll have a great night out! -- Roger Daltrey

Jesca Hoop

Monday June 22, 20268:00pm $25.00

Jesca Hoop's Long Wave Home spills with hope for a broken world. The seventh solo album from the California-born, Manchester-based songwriter took shape amidst a period of both personal and geopolitical upheaval: a web of schisms that seemed to reflect one another as they unfolded. It is the first album Hoop produced by herself, and it marks both a fresh start and a deepening of her extensive, multifaceted discography. Across the record's rich and sumptuous tracks, Hoop deeply considers what it is that people owe to each other: in individual relationships, in community, and as witnesses to the broader world. These days run thick with terror. Long Wave Home sinks into it and surfaces anew with a nimble, inquisitive spirit.

At the end of 2024, Hoop began mapping out what would become Long Wave Home with a focus on her own independence as an artist and working musician. "I shed a lot of superfluous roles and structures wherever I was making too many compromises," she says. "With that blank slate, I started to write."

The songs, at first, came slowly. Hoop's life moved at an even keel, and she struggled to find points of tension that might serve as the basis for new music. "If life doesn't present you with a change, how do you grow?" she asks. Then, in 2025, change came for her. Some of Hoop's most trusted relationships began to shift considerably. "My writing opened up. I had more tension than I knew what to do with, and plenty to explore about human relationships," Hoop says. "I was able to engage by just recording what I was seeing around me."

As the songs on Long Wave Home grew from this generative state, Hoop made the choice to produce the album herself. "I really had to commit and do what my hero would do," she says, referring to Joni Mitchell and her storied artistic independence. In the past, Hoop had worked with a roster of seasoned, brilliant producers: John Parish (PJ Harvey, Tracy Chapman); Tony Berg (Taylor Swift, boygenius); and Blake Mills, (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes). Hoop learned from all of these partnerships. As she embarked on her seventh album, she was ready to apply that knowledge from the cockpit.

Hoop recorded Long Wave Home in studios around the United Kingdom. She asked her collaborator Jesse D. Vernon to arrange accompaniments for her songs, then set out in a camper van to meet session musicians and begin tracking. Her travels took her to The Shed in London, Empire Sound on the Isle of Wight, and J&J Studios in Bristol. Throughout the process, she worked closely with engineers Tim Thomas (Bright Eyes, British Sea Power) and Leo Abrahams (Belle & Sebastian, Frightened Rabbit) to foster the sound she envisioned for the album.

Under her careful hand, a populous, dynamic sound emerged. These songs about relationships hold relationality at their bones, from the rolling tuned percussion on "Now the Ash" to the call and response among brass, piano, guitar, and voice on "Adam." "Listen to me, I'm your witness / And I believe in who you are," Hoop sings on "Love is Salvation" as horns swell around her, tall enough to serve as sanctuary walls.

Hoop stares into darkness with equal warmth and precision. With "Designer Citizen," she takes a sardonic edge to questions of nationality and belonging as she sings about observing American political instability from her home across the ocean. On "Signal to Noise," Hoop reflects on an overwhelming media landscape that seeks to prevent political momentum from accreting among like-minded people: "If revolution can be sparked by a feeling / Turn up the system, point the finger, send them reeling," she sings, her voice cradled by gentle backing vocals. And the driving, mournful "Playground" bears witness to the children whose playground has been reduced to rubble, then poses the question: Where does the trauma go?

"'Playground' was the quickest song I ever wrote. It usually takes me about a month to write a song, and I wrote this song in two days after watching Netenyahu give a press conference," says Hoop. "I had such clarity on what I was seeing, and an inarguable statement that I could deliver in a song."

The political landscape and the interpersonal landscape flow into one another, and to be a conscious inhabitant of both requires us to question ourselves. What do we owe to one another, and how do we deliver it? Where are our efforts most sorely needed, and how do we arrive there? Hoop's songs remind us that evolution necessitates scrutiny: a searing gaze fixed on both the outer world and the inner self.

"I don't draw the line between a love song and a political song," she notes. "To me, it's all about being here. All of these songs are love songs, and in one way or the next, they're all protest songs, too."

The album settles with a delicate and powerful title track whose atmosphere hangs heavy with the resonance of its commingling instruments. With "Long Wave Home," Hoop wraps warm arms around the empty skeleton of isolation and blankets you. There is strength in solidarity, in the bare recognition that we all yearn for connection. "You're not alone," she sings. "Long waves are carrying you all the way home." Somewhere there is a shore. Somewhere there is a receiver. Somewhere, and it isn't as far away as it seems, the ocean waters break on solid ground, the static is tuned to a song, and the heart burns bright again, like pulsing lights atop distant radio towers.

Kuarantine (featuring Chris Jericho), Enuff Z'Nuff, Dr. Chang

Friday June 26, 20268:00pm $25.00

Kuarantine is the world's BEST non make-up, 80's KISS Kover band! They first debuted in May 2020 with the release of No No No, which reached #25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Charts. They now have three more TOP 20 hits in Silver Spoon (#20), Good Girl Gone Bad (#11), and Turn On The Night (#17)! The band tours regularly, bringing their high-octane rock n roll party to thousands of fans across North America, including opening for KISS themselves at the Kiss Kruise- Landlocked In Vegas extravaganza in November of 2025!

Frontman and lead singer Chris Jericho has surrounded himself with a group of top-notch touring musicians for Kuarantine. Kent Slucher has been the powerhouse behind the kit for country music sensation Luke Bryan for the past 14 years, from small clubs to headlining stadiums and amphitheaters. Joe McGinness is a rising country singer and guitarist who has shared the stage with artists such as Old Dominion, Florida Georgia Line, and Granger Smith, and is also a member of KLASSIK '78, a digital tribute to 1970s KISS. KLASSIK '78's Latest Album, "Phantoms, reached #1 on the iTunes rock charts in 2022. Bassist PJ Farley rose to fame in the New Jersey-based gold-selling rock band Trixter, who toured with KISS, Poison, and Scorpions before writing and recording two solo albums and eventually joining Fozzy in 2020. Charlie Parra, who hails from Lima, Peru, is a global rock guitar YouTube sensation, boasting nearly a million followers and over 176 million views on his channel.

Drivin N Cryin, Laid Back Country Picker

Tuesday July 14, 20268:00pm $25.00

Drivin N Cryin is an enduring American rock band whose roots-forward sound and uncompromising spirit have made them a vital force since forming in Atlanta, Georgia in 1985. Blending Southern rock grit, folk storytelling, and hard-charging rock & roll, the band built a reputation early on as a must-see live act and a songwriter's band with depth far beyond trends.

Led by singer-songwriter Kevn Kinney and anchored by bassist Tim Nielsen and drummer Dave Johnson, Drivin N Cryin broke through nationally with a run of influential albums that helped define late-'80s and early-'90s American rock. Songs like "Fly Me Courageous," "Honeysuckle Blue," "Straight to Hell," "Build a Fire," and "Scarred But Smarter" became staples of rock and AAA radio, with Fly Me Courageous earning Gold certification and remaining a cornerstone of the band's catalog.

While they emerged during the MTV era, Drivin N Cryin never disappeared. Over four decades, they've remained a consistently touring, recording band -- releasing new music, evolving their sound, and cultivating a loyal, multigenerational audience. Their influence extends well beyond their own recordings; "Straight to Hell" found new life through covers and collaborations that introduced the song to entirely new audiences.

The band's stature is reflected in both peer respect and formal recognition, including induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, as well as Kinney's induction into the Milwaukee Music Hall of Fame. Touring history includes shared stages with artists spanning multiple eras and genres, The Who, Hootie & The Blowfish, The Black Crowes, ZZ Top, Soul Asylum, Blackberry Smoke, The Marshall Tucker Band, Jason Isbell, along with recent appearances on destination events like Rock Boat, Outlaw Country Cruise, and Moon Crush.

Their latest album, Crushing Flowers, marks a deliberate return to the band's core. Stripped back to the original three-piece, the record favors clarity, chemistry, and feel over excess -- a confident, back-to-basics statement from a band that knows exactly who it is. Rather than chasing nostalgia or novelty, Crushing Flowers reinforces what has always set Drivin N Cryin apart: honest songs, emotional weight, and the unmistakable sound of a band still fully engaged in the work.

Nearly forty years in, Drivin N Cryin remains a living, breathing American rock band -- not a revival act, not a footnote, but a continuing story still being written.

A Thousand Horses

Saturday August 1, 20268:00pm $15.00

Not everyone understands what it's like to lose everything and piece your life back together. It is a universal fight for emotional survival, navigating the wreckage of broken relationships, wrestling with mental health, and finding the resilience to keep going. With their latest album, White Flag Down, Nashville's A Thousand Horses have paved that exact road with thunderous guitars and cinematic choruses.

Telling the most personal story the band has ever put to tape, the record explores divorce, recovery, and the journey of healing. Instead of pulling back into acoustic melancholy, the band turned the amplifiers up. Fusing their signature rock storytelling with 90s-inspired guitar anthems, tracks like "Dead Man Walking" and the Aaron Gillespie collaboration "Shadows" push the group deeper into modern rock territory while keeping their Southern grit intact.

To capture this sonic shift, frontman Michael Hobby, guitarist Bill Satcher, and bassist Graham DeLoach expanded their lineup to include drummer Nathan Sexton and guitarist Adam Browder. The result is a bold reinvention for the Platinum-certified band behind the global breakout hit "Smoke." Today, A Thousand Horses make the kind of music that reminds you exactly why rock still matters, loud, honest, and raw.

Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys

Wednesday August 5, 20268:00pm $20.00

Since forming in 1988 in Southern California, Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys have become one of the world's most beloved Americana/Roots acts, drawing from the deep musical waters that flow just beneath the surface of Rock & Roll's fertile soil. A childhood passion for Country, Doo-Wop, and Rhythm & Blues 45s led Sandy (born Robert Williams) to pursue a singing career as a teenager, beginning a life in music that continues decades later. And as his personal record collection continues to grow (75,000 and counting), so does the depth of the musical influences that stream through his songwriting and singing style. A critically acclaimed tribute to Tex-Mex hero Freddy Fender, released at the beginning of the 2020 lockdown, points the way forward for Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys as they continue on a path of musical growth. After nearly 35 years on the road, and more than two dozen releases to their credit, they remain key figures on the ever-changing Americana circuit, both on record and in live appearances.

Buckethead

Friday April 24, 20268:00pm $40.00

At the The Rave, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale at therave.com.

Emo Orchestra with The Spill Canvas

Friday May 8, 20267:30pm $35 / $65

At the Barrymore Theatre, Madison, WI.

Tickets on sale at barrymorelive.com or by phone at 608-241-8664 (Mon-Fri noon-5pm).

Del Amitri

Saturday June 13, 20268:00pm

At the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Tickets on sale at southmilwaukeepac.org.