Taping the 30 Minute Music Hour with Sleeping in the Aviary; March 3, 2009; WPT Studio

The Classic Tawnies; March 2, 2009; Crystal Corner

Benefit for the Literacy Network; March 1, 2009; High Noon Saloon

Peter Mulvey/Jeff Burkhart; February 27, 2009; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music

Other than Fort Atkinson’s charming and unique Café Carpe, I can’t imagine another venue where Peter Mulvey could have played this particular show. He’s been working on a new album, something like number fourteen, and among the new songs will be a series of spoken letters addressed to various nieces and nephews. Instrumental tracks from his I-Pod provided backing music to the stories, some new and some old favorites, which he is passing on to the youngest members of his extended family. The audience was silent as he related the tale of Dynamite Bill who could blow a boulder into a thousand pieces or haul away dead livestock. That particular piece existed as a letter inside a letter as his father’s breathless e-mail became the source of much of the information. Since he is really only a minor character in the song that bears his name, it was nice to see him become the main one.

Peter has been writing detail-rich character studies like that for years, and another recent example is the title track to The Knuckleball Suite which details the colorful folks who inhabit the afore mentioned Carpe, his favorite room and home away from home. Of course those characters have all had their names changed for the usual reason, except for the stalwart venue’s crusty owner Bill, “owing to a lack of innocence.” He opened the show with an old favorite, the terrific “If Love is not Enough” which prominently features his jangly guitar and unusual tunings and dates back to the first time I ever saw him play over a decade ago. As I left the Pres House that night in awe of what I had just seen, I certainly couldn’t have imagined that someday he would be playing in my basement.

I’ve been amazingly lucky in the musicians that have played the House of Righteous Music, but every so often I even impress myself. For bands that aren’t known in Madison, like the Successful Failures or the Shotgun Party, I’m giving them a place to play, eat, and sleep in a town that can sometimes be difficult to get a gig in if you aren’t from here or don’t know someone. On the other hand, folks like Peter and Robbie Fulks, a musician of similar stature who played back in September, are well established and quite popular here. They have absolutely no trouble getting high-profile gigs and selling tickets, so there’s no doubt they are doing me a favor by playing here perhaps in return for years of support. While the Robbie show was at capacity in advance after appearing in the local papers, this show was only advertised to the people on my mailing list, resulting in a cozy group of friends.

Opener Jeff Burkhart was one of them. Jeff is a familiar face in local music as part of the Barley Brothers and the Dirty Shirts. Both bands play a combination of covers and originals, but I didn’t realize the quality of his solo material until I saw his 30 Minute Music Hour. Hosted by Andy Moore (another familiar face around town), the 30 Minute Music Hour airs on Wisconsin Public Television on Saturday nights as a lead in to Austin City Limits and features local, regional and national artists playing music and talking with the host about their craft. Jeff’s special was the first one they did; it was intended as a practice run but turned out so well it became the first show. Tonight’s set wasn’t quite as slick owing to the casual nature of the basement, or perhaps to the shot of Powers he had with Blake (my sound guy for the night) beforehand. Even so, it was a great set perfectly in the spirit of the evening.

There’s no denying that there is something special about the basement.

Jeremiah Nelson & the Achilles Heel; February 25, 2009; the Dry Bean, Fitchburg

I’ll admit that I expressed some doubts when Jeremiah told me he was putting together yet another band. After all, the Achilles Heel was going to be playing all of his new songs, perhaps the best he’s ever written, songs that in my mind are so perfectly suited for the acoustic twang of the Mysterious Bruises. I had no doubt that guitarist Justin Bricco, bassist Landon Arken and drummer Adam Cargin would be great, after all they also make up 60% of the hardest working band in town, the Blueheels, I just wasn’t convinced they were the right band for the job.

As it turns out I was only half right. Some of those songs have actually been asking to rock harder, but just couldn’t do it with the violin and upright bass. “Waiting for a Sign” moved even closer to the Classics IV’s “Spooky” intensity with the rock band behind it, and that is definitely a good thing, while “Pacing & Scheming” realized a potential I didn’t know it had as I listened to him working it out a few months ago. The more folk rock side of his catalog, like “Daisy Chain” and the awesome “Runnin’ from the Fuse,” still sounds better with the Bruises. Others like “Floodplain” and “Drugs to Make You Sober” don’t seem to have picked their band yet.

With upright bass player Matt Donoghue not available as often as Jeremiah would like to play, it is likely we will be seeing more of the Achilles Heel. And as they play together more they will certainly get more comfortable with the songs. It was strange to see the normally expressive Bricco tied to his song notes rather than jumping all over the stage and throwing up sky points. Just seeing them somewhere other than at a nearly empty Dry Bean on their dimly lit stage is going to improve things immensely. Hmmm, maybe another band isn’t such a bad thing after all.