Walter Salas-Humara/The Wooldridge Brothers; June 5, 2013; Shitty Barn, Spring Green

When I saw Walter Salas-Humara at SXSW this year I expected we would talk about him playing the house prior to the Steel Bridge Festival in Sturgeon Bay, WI. Instead he told me that he would be playing “something called the Shitty Barn” and he couldn’t play in Madison near the same date. I don’t think he expected me to be as excited as I was. “That’s awesome!” I told him, “the Shitty Barn is great.” And my excitement was genuine. I had only been there once before, last summer for a breathtaking Southeast Engine show (that I was very jealous of), but there is nothing shitty about it. Like the basement, it’s a great listening room, and everyone there is there for the music (or maybe for the big fire they often build). I love Salas-Humara, but I’ve had a hard time getting people out to see him for his solo visits to the basement. I hoped there would be a bigger crowd at the barn, and there was.

I was less excited as the date drew near, I was in the middle of what would end up being ten shows in ten days in six different cities and I was exhausted. The task of making the hour drive out to Spring Green seemed insurmountable. But was I ever glad I did, this was the best show I’ve seen this year outside of the House of Righteous Music. And the joy came from unexpected places, like finally understanding what a powerful song “Susan Across the Water” was, and watching Salas-Humara’s backing band, made up of members of the Wooldridge Brothers, work out songs as they played them. The bonus of the night was that super sweet and talented bass player Jack Rice was a part of all of it.

I’d heard of the Wooldridge Brothers before, but this was my first time seeing them. They are your standard Wisconsin roots rock band- lead singer with a terrific voice and an acoustic guitar, a female backing vocalist with a tambourine, a lead guitarist on electric, a skilled drummer and Jack Rice. They sang catchy, heartfelt songs that made me smile. Their attempt at Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” didn’t succeed as well as their originals, but their shrugged “oh well, we tried” was endearing. Oh, and they are actually brothers, lead singer Brian and guitarist Scott (who looked more like he could be Peter Mulvey’s brother with his soul patch and guitar technique).

After their set there was a short break before Salas-Humara took the stage. He played the first half of his set solo, and that was when the light went on. I’d heard “Susan” dozens of times, both live and on the album of the same name, but apparently I’d never really listened to it. Shame on me. The affecting story of lost love nearly made me cry tonight, and I felt silly for not having really heard it before. He called Rice up to the stage to sing backing vocals on the lovely “Commander Perry,” (not actually the name, but it was something like that) making me think they need to sing together more often. I’d already been having a pretty great time but it got even better when once Scott Wooldridge and their drummer joined the duo on stage. If I’d been sitting at the back I wouldn’t have had a clue about the interactions on stage, but I was sitting close enough and saw them figure it out as they went. And that made it all the better. “Second time I’ve heard that song,” Scott said after their first song as a band, to which the drummer replied “I’ve never heard it.”

It seemed that he hadn’t heard any of the songs before, which made his playing all the more remarkable. He watched Salas-Humara closely, peering over the top of his glasses attentively. He looked relieved after a particularly tricky song and even more so when Salas-Humara said the next was a “simple four.” “I can do that!” he exclaimed. Rice seemed to be the one most familiar with the material, but he too had to learn as he went especially when they got to a new song that Walter said “none of them had heard before.” It was going so well that Walter asked for the backing vocalist to come up and sing on a song. She looked terrified since she didn’t know the song, but Rice guided her through it and it sounded great. When they came back for a deserved encore, the drummer protested, “four o’clock in the morning, that’s when I’m getting home to Chicago,” but he didn’t seem that upset about it. Too bad he couldn’t see the small boy standing in the open garage door behind him who concentrated very hard on playing air drums with two actual sticks like he was taking a lesson. He did a great job on the show closer Lucinda Williams’ “Change the Locks.”

It was a pretty magical night, and any hesitations I’d had about making the drive seemed ridiculous in retrospect. If I’d have missed this, well, obviously, I wouldn’t have known what I missed. I felt like the kid on the trike at the end of The Incredibles, “that was awesome!!!”

The Wooldridge Brothers

Walter Salas-Humara

Marshall Crenshaw with the Bottle Rockets; June 4, 2013; Cranky Pat’s, Neenah

I’m not going to lie; I was as excited about the pizza as I was about the show. In junior high we frequented the Pizza Villa, played pool (badly), played Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” on the juke box (repeatedly), and when we were rich we ordered a pizza. Cranky Pat’s serves pizza like I remember the Pizza Villa serving, thin crust, overloaded with toppings and cut into squares, and when you get it to go it’s on a cardboard circle in a paper bag. Ah, the memories. Tonight the special was buy a large, get a one topping medium free. Despite the fact that there were only two of us, we weren’t going to let a free pizza opportunity go to waste. We finished off the bacon and canned mushroom large, and took home the medium fresh mushroom one. That’s right, they have both kinds. So delicious. And then there was the bonus of a rock show for dessert.

The Bottle Rockets first hit the road as Marshall Crenshaw’s opener and backing band just over two years ago and I caught the show at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall. Since then they’ve been back around a couple times, minus guitarist John Horton on one pass, lead singer/guitarist Brian Henneman on the other, but I’d missed those shows. Though honestly it doesn’t seem like I’d missed much, tonight’s show in Neenah was pretty similar to the one in 2011. And by similar, I mean ridiculously entertaining of course. It may seem strange that they would make a stop in Neenah when other gigs included Milwaukee’s Shank Hall and Chicago’s swanky City Winery, but the Bottle Rockets have developed an affection for the pizza parlor and have stopped here several times before. Because of that it might have made more sense for them to reverse the order of the sets. Neenah loves the Bottle Rockets, but they didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic about Crenshaw, and the crowd thinned later in the night. In fact, I wasn’t sure we would get an encore. I don’t think I would have come back, but the Bottle Rockets never disappoint and “Kit Kat Clock” was one of a pair of extra songs.

Crenshaw ran through a solid set of power pop tunes, some classic, like “Mary Ann,” a cover of Richard Thompson’s “Valerie” and perhaps his best known song “Someday, Someway. There were also brand new tunes like the pair featured on the ten inch records Crenshaw had just released. I bought one on the way out just for the artwork. In the Bottle Rockets, Henneman sings lead while bassist Keith Voegele does backing vocals. Interestingly, with Crenshaw Voegele fills the same role, with Henneman only occasionally stepping to the mike.

For their opening set they played some welcome new songs before jumping into their “virtual hits,” songs that have become popular enough with the fans that they feel like hits. When you see them as often as I do, it wouldn’t be necessary for them to play these songs, but still, I don’t get tired of the clever “$1000 Car,” the hilarious “Radar Gun,” and especially Henneman as tour manager’s true story of being on the road with Uncle Tupelo “Indianapolis.” Also figuring in were “Get Down River” about the woes of life on the Mississippi and more recent “hit” “The Long Way” (another true story). Before settling in to the familiar, the band played us a few new songs, one of which had only been played a couple times before. Henneman clicked off the cities they had played so far on the tour, before holding up fingers and announcing this was the fifth time it had been played. The other new track was a love song to his wife, essentially for allowing him to buy the gorgeous Rickenbacker guitar he was playing tonight. He said he had written her love songs before, but she always knew they were actually to that guitar, so this one had a special code so that she would know he meant it. Though since he’s telling the story about Big Lots every night, I don’t think the code is so secret anymore.

It was a late night, but totally worth it, especially for the pizza.

Bottle Rockets

Marshall Crenshaw & the Bottle Rockets

Calexico; June 3, 2013; City Winery, Chicago

Calexico has long been one of my favorite live bands. What’s not to like? There’s the easy chemistry born of a long relationship between the band’s co-founders Joey Burns and John Convertino, which is only enhanced by the multi-national, multi-instrumental musicians who round out the band. Then there’s all the friends they have in Chicago who guest-starred during the nearly two hour show, plus the thirteen dollar glasses of wine. OK so I guess there could be some argument with that last item, but I knew that the City Winery wasn’t going to be cheap. My cabernet/malbec blend was delicious enough that I would have had a second glass if our waiter had ever come back. No, it’s not my favorite place in Chicago to see a show, but it was something different from the usual rock club, and honestly I can’t wait to go back (though that’s because on my next visit I’ll be seeing Josh Rouse, whose new album I just can’t get enough of).

So back to the fact that Calexico is a great live band. The problem has always been that none of their CDs capture how great they are live. I’ve bought many over the years and have always been disappointed, until 2012’s Algiers which is their most accessible record yet. Named for the New Orleans studio where they recorded, the songs from that record were definite stand-outs tonight. Songs like “Epic” and “Splitter” were infectious and had me dancing in my chair (OK, admittedly that’s a little awkward and a disadvantage to the all-seated venue). Their Mexicali sound is made for hip-shaking and head-bobbing. Throughout the night Burns looked like he was having the time of his life, and the smile never left his face. He switched between a couple of acoustic guitars and his electric, which is one of my favorite guitars. The distinctive white Airline with its row of knobs is pretty much the coolest guitar I’ve seen. Meanwhile, the handsome Convertino makes drumming look effortless, his languid movements belie the difficulty of the rhythms he plays.

Much of the credit also goes to the band, especially handsome German trumpeter/vibraphonist/accordionist Martin Wenk and charismatic trumpeter/triangle player Jacob Valenzuela who gets his own turn on the mike on the dreamy “No Te Vayas.” The guitarist who had just flown in from Spain the day before seemed to have shaken off every ounce of jet lag, though maybe not all of it since we did find out he had bought a $300 pair of running shoes on a shopping trip earlier in the day with guest vocalist Janet Bean. The Freakwater/Eleventh Dream Day chanteuse showed up to do her best Emmy Lou Harris to Burns’ Gram Parsons on a couple songs. Also called on to lend their skills were Tortoise guitarist Doug McCombs and trumpeter Dave Max Crawford. The latter may seem redundant with two horn players already on stage, but let me assure you that the multi-instrumentalist, whom most know from Poi Dog Pondering but I know best from Chris Mills’ City That Works, most certainly was not.

Burns couldn’t stop talking about how much they love Chicago, and with the friends they have and the two sold out shows at the glitzy new venue (he said he spent all day pairing wines to each song), I can’t blame them, but I do wish Calexico would show Madison a little love one of these days. I don’t mind going to Chicago, but they haven’t played Madison in going on ten years, and that’s just too long.

Sharon Van Etten/June 3, 2013/Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago

Why see one show in a night when you can see two?

The Occasional Quartet; June 2, 2013; Café Carpe

I’m pretty sure that Peter Mulvey’s teachers must have written on his first report cards “plays well with others,” because he still does it better than just about anyone I know. His annual Lamplighter holiday shows at the Carpe gather a diverse group of musicians over a span of several weeks for songwriter in the round sessions. No matter who the guest, Mulvey jumps right in on every song whether it’s a well-known cover or something he’s hearing for the first time. Tonight’s ensemble was dubbed “The Occasional Quartet” for reasons which should be self-explanatory, and this was their third sold out night at the Carpe. The best known name of the group is Wisconsin native Willy Porter who has achieved some moderate nationwide success, a wickedly fast guitar player he also excels in this environment. Even better is multi-instrumentalist Randy Sabien who not only knew exactly what to play but what instrument to play it on. Unless it was his turn, Carpe owner Bill Camplin seemed content to sit back and observe the interplay between the musicians, adding the sporadic backing vocal or snide comment.

Camplin, Mulvey and Porter each took turns with Sabien getting a song of his own every couple rounds, “Randy time” as Mulvey called it. On his second round he covered Blind Willie Johnson’s “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning” simply because Mulvey had mentioned Johnson in his first song. It was pointed out that it was lucky he didn’t start with the song he wrote in Spain, “because then you would have had to kill somebody.” They were referring to a song he had written as part of a weekly songwriting challenge, this one told from the perspective of a man having a recurring dream, and yes someone did die. Despite the fact that I’ve seen Mulvey dozens of times and have all his records, he usually plays several songs I don’t know, whether it’s from the vast library of covers he has in his head or because he’s writing a new song every week. One cover I did recognize was “I Wanna Be Like You” from Disney’s The Jungle Book. Since he led into it with the legend of Prometheus, I was expecting something more highbrow, but that is Mulvey’s charm.

Mulvey kicked off one of the rounds with a song that Porter had requested, and since they have a combined “94 years of touring together” he was honored that there was a song he wanted to hear. Porter chose wisely, “If Love Is Not Enough” is a terrifically infectious song which showcases his hypnotic voice and distinctive jangly guitar style. He said he hadn’t played that song in over a hundred shows, “which means it’s been at least a couple months.” One of my first favorite songs of his, I hadn’t heard it years. I didn’t know any of Porter’s songs, but as always he was terrific. He has a captivating voice and an impressive guitar style. He also had a very unique instrument, a nine string guitar. The only one I’ve ever seen, the top half is single strung while the bottom is double strung, for a total of nine. It combines the crisp sound of a six string with the jangle of a twelve. Sabien also had an impressive arsenal of instruments, each of which he was as adept at as he was the violin, his primary instrument. Whether it was violin, mandolin, guitar or bouzouki, he knew which instrument went with the song. For Camplin’s Dylan-esque epics, he often went with the latter, while Porter’s songs were more likely to bring out the violin.

For two hours the quartet traded songs and stories. After three nights they didn’t seem weary of this arrangement at all, in fact I have no doubt they could keep doing this every night well into summer. They were having as much fun as we were.