Home Sweet Milwaukee: Our Own Greenwich Village

If you are considering a new place to call home, you are always welcome in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Many people have the assumption that we Wisconsinites are beer-drinkin’ cheese heads. Now, we do like beer and we do like cheese, but that’s not all. We have the honor of homing some very gracious and talented musicians, specifically in the Riverwest neighborhood. Few may know, but this is an underestimated but highly respectable musical community. So I want to talk to you about how this wonderful city has not only a rich tradition in vernacular music, but how it has a sophisticated narrative that is hard to come by on other local scenes. Bands ranging from: The Grasping at Straws, Calamity Janes and the Fratney Street Band, The City Pines to the Lousy Trouts infuses Folk traditions, but do it with aftertastes of poetry, Bluegrass, Rock even international sounds. The acknowledgement of these bands is an important issue that needs addressing sooner than later, because I know there are great mainstream artists of today such as: Ellie Goulding, Jason Derulo to American Authors and I am not taking away from them or their success in any regard. I feel, however, that there is not as much artistic creativity in the mainstream realm- like Riverwest artists that can really force a listening audience to stop and listen to the narrative. So, if you can find transparency in my feelings, or if this is intriguing you, I strongly encourage you to check these Milwaukee artists out. I had the honor to take Dr. Martin Jack Rosenblum’s Rock and Roll Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Being the only certificate program in the nation for higher education, we learned about the foundations of Rock and Roll music stemming back from the early 1900’s to the 21-century with his own influence of being a professional singer/songwriter. Not letting his students get lost in the subjectivity of the music, Dr. Rosenblum taught us its history, but also our key point in history like the Folk Blues Revival and the multifaceted year of 1975. Having learned from an artist and scholar of that stature, I take music and how people perceive it very seriously. When music embodies the spirit and sounds of New York’s Greenwich Village (home of the music from the Folk Blues Revival) it is definitely something that needs acknowledgment and respect. Plus, I am lucky enough to call those talented musicians, listed above, my friends. If you do not like their styles of music, that is fine and I respect your opinion. Music is so beautifully dimensional because it can contour to all listeners. All I ask you to do is turn your radio off and do what Dr. Rosenblum said from the start: never let live music die. I invite you to the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee to indulge yourself in an oasis of vernacular music. You will not be let down.