Enjoy a compilation of selected tracks by artists playing shows we're excited about in Madison during the week of Jan. 11-18, 2018. For more information on these shows, read on under the playlist!
G. Love and Special Sauce, Thursday, Jan. 11, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: Has it really been a quarter-century since this Philadelphia-based trio first blessed the world with its extremely chill fusion of hip-hop and blues? The answer is yes, and they’re kicking off their 25th anniversary tour right here in Madison. So crack open a “cold beverage” and transport yourself back to the halcyon days of the 1990s. Their new stuff is pretty good, too. With The Ries Brothers.
POSTPONED: Ken Page, Thursday, Jan. 11, Overture Center, 7 pm: A versatile performer with a career spanning more than four decades, Ken Page has lent his distinctive voice to everything from Broadway musicals to animated characters. Best known for playing Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Page in recent years has developed a traveling show, Page by Page, which blends Broadway music with blues favorites. He performs here as part of the Overture Center’s popular cabaret series, a unique musical dining experience that transforms the Capitol Theater stage into an elegant nightclub. (Page will be unable to appear tonight due to a flight cancellation; this show will be rescheduled during summer.)
Local H, Friday, Jan. 12, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: Alternative rock duo Local H returns to Madison hot off the reissue of their 1996 breakthrough As Good As Dead. Nineties grunge fans should recall the Chicago band’s hit “Bound for the Floor” (possibly as “the copacetic song”), emblematic of their simple yet catchy, hook-filled anthems. Their latest album, 2015’s crowdfunded Hey, Killer shows the band moving closer to a metal-inspired sound. They make a surprising amount of noise for two guys, in part due to frontman Scott Lucas’s custom guitar-bass hybrid. Local psych-punk outfit The Hussy opens.
Wisconsin Folk Fest, Friday, Jan. 12, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: Folk music’s flag will fly high at this festival featuring Sconnie practitioners and some amazing vocalists. Form-busting music from The Mascot Theory features precise four-part vocal harmonies, and the fine voices of Lost Lakes’ Corey Mathew Hart and Paul Mitch are worth the price of admission. Ryan Necci’s Milwaukee-based Buffalo Gospel updates the heartaches of Townes Van Zandt, and Old Soul Society successfully stretches the genre into rock and blues without losing the lyrical mission that makes folk music folk.
Christine Lavin, Friday, Jan. 12, Brink Lounge, 7 pm: Lavin, an award-winning contemporary folk artist, guitarist and songwriter based in New York City, is a founding member of Four Bitchin’ Babes. She’s also released an astonishing 23 solo albums. She’s touring the world on the heels of her latest, SPAGHETTIFICATION, and she’s also hilarious. At intermission, she’ll teach audience members how to fold napkins Downton Abbey style. You’ll learn something new, and leave smiling.
HASSLES, Friday, Jan. 12, Arts + Literature Laboratory, 8 pm: Quartet HASSLES brings the weird with their amalgam of jazz, post-rock and avant-garde music. Though the group is newly formed, bandleader Ken Vandermark has decades of experience performing with fellow members Terrie Ex, Jon Rune Strøm and Paal Nilssen-Love. Don’t miss what promises to be an ear-opening and expectation-defying gig.
Rare Plant Showcase III, Saturday, Jan. 13, High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: Local tape label Rare Plant records will use its third showcase to double as an album release party for Bobby Hussy’s Cave Curse project, which recently put out its debut LP, Future Dust. Also on the bill: Minneapolis’ psych-rockers The Cult of Lip, Milwaukee’s energetic Sundial Mottos, and Madison’s own lo-fi heroes Tippy and Proud Parents.
Wisconsin Funk Fest, Saturday, Jan. 13, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: The January fests aren’t over until we bring in the funk. The lineup features some of Wisconsin’s finest practitioners of the art: People Brothers Band (pictured), Porky’s Groove Machine, Red Rose and DJ Phil Money. Bring your dancing shoes, because this one is designed to make you move.
Madison Celebrates Ted Offensive, Sunday, Jan. 14, High Noon Saloon, 6 pm: The Madison music community lost a friend when Ted Putnam died suddenly on Nov. 22. As DJ Ted Offensive, in local clubs and as host of Songs of Safety and Manners on WORT-FM, he was a tireless supporter of independent bands, particularly of punk rock and other harder-edged varieties. Join a stellar lineup of bands — Droids Attack, The Garza, Pachinko, Powerwagon and Transformer Lootbag — in remembering his life.
Winter Jazz Festival, Sunday, Jan. 14, North Street Cabaret, 6 pm: The Greater Madison Jazz Consortium helps keep music in the ears of the public with free music series such as “InDIGenous” and neighborhood “Strollin’” events. Listeners can help their mission by attending this fundraiser, which features an engaging cross-section of Madison players including the Latin jazz of Mambo Blue, instrumental improv masters Major Vistas and the colorfully named 2 Broads, 1 Band, featuring singers Carolynn Schwartz-Black and Lo Marie.
Jennifer Hedstrom album release, Wednesday, Jan. 17, PaintBar, 7:30 pm: Singer-songwriter Jennifer Hedstrom’s piano-driven pop songs are meditations on the natural world that also explore complicated emotional landscapes. Her singing is a breath of fresh air — clear and unadorned — as is her classically inspired piano playing. At this event, the UW music school grad releases her sophomore album, Prairie, a follow-up to her 2010 debut, Bodies of Water. With Eric Doucette.
Tribal Seeds + The Original Wailers, Wednesday, Jan. 17, Majestic Theatre, 8 pm: A serious reggae bill is in the offing at this show. Tribal Seeds infuses their roots sound with a bit of rock, and are on tour with December's Roots Party EP. The Original Wailers features mid-'70s Wailers Band lead guitarist Al Anderson, carrying Bob Marley's message to a new generation. Also on the bill are The Expanders, whose vocal harmonies and overall sound are dialed in on early '70s Jamaica; and First Settlement Sound System, aka DJs Trichrome and Vilas Park Sniper.
FRZN Fest, Thursday, Jan 18, Majestic & High Noon Saloon, 8 pm: Lineups to thaw even the coldest hearts. This year’s FRZN fest, spanning three nights and two venues, has everything one could possibly want. Each night and venue is packed with quality acts top to bottom. Obviously, even the most intrepid concertgoers will not be able to see them all, but we highly recommend hitting the High Noon on the festival’s opening night for Shredders, members of the famed Minnesota rap collective Doomtree. Shredders creates hard-nosed, lyrical hip-hop over techy beats. The festival goes through Jan. 20, so clear that calendar.
Find the full rundown of this week's Isthmus Picks here.
