KatJonBand/ Dollar Store; September 23, 2008; The Frequency

As anyone who has been with me for awhile knows, I am a fan of all things Jon Langford. He doesn’t even have to sing, I could listen to him read the phone book in that amazing, melting Welsh accent of his. For some reason he feels the need to disguise how prolific he is- recording and performing in a variety of bands under a variety of names, the timeless Mekons, The Waco Brothers, the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Ship & Pilot, Skull Orchard, and the Three Johns. I don’t profess to be any sort of Langford expert, but I’d never even heard of the KatJonBand before Michelle spotted his distinctive image on a poster at the Frequency.

As you might have guessed, the band is a collaboration between Langford (on vocals and guitar) and Kat Ex from the band The Ex (on drums and vocals). Though they have known each other for many years, the duo has just released their debut recording after playing together for the first time in 2004. The story goes that The Ex had promised to serve as Langford’s backing band at a show in Amsterdam, but had forgotten their commitment when he arrived. Since they didn’t know the songs, Kat was nominated to back him. It was a hit and they started recording together whenever they were on the same continent.

Live the show is as much a partnership as the name would imply, with Kat taking lead vocals on at least half the tracks. It’s unusual to see a Langford project that doesn’t include Sally Timms’ gorgeous coo, Kat had her sass but not her attitude (don’t get me wrong, Timms’ spitfire temper is part of her charm, but honestly, she scares the hell out of me). I hadn’t heard the record so all of the songs were new to me. I admit I missed his usual tunes, especially the witty critique of the music industry “Nashville Radio,” but at the end of the night it was still Langford and that amazing voice.

Openers Dollar Store must have decided that the full band would overpower the act following them and pared down to a duo for this show (I’m probably supposed to make a fifty cent joke here, but I’ll leave it at that). Lead singer Dean Schlabowske and drummer Joe Camarillo plowed through the Dollar Store catalog as effectively as the full band could have, and included their cover of the Soft Boys “I Wanna Destroy You” on the way, always my favorite part of their set. Truth be told, I’m not much of a Dollar Store fan, Deano’s voice grates on me after a few songs, and without super cool Brit Alan Doughty on bass there really wasn’t much to keep my attention. At least there was Langford to look forward to.

Nate Palan/Aaron Scholz/Shooter Jane/Kyle Motor; September 22, 2008; High Noon Saloon

It seemed that Nate Palan would always be a part of Madison’s music scene. A member of Irish rockers The Kissers, leader of arguably Madison’s best cover band The Hometown Sweethearts, as well as singer and guitarist for his original projects Electric Automatic and the GodDamns, Palan was probably the town’s most visible musician, and then he was gone. Palan and his wife, the lovely and talented Kari Bethke, moved to New York at the end of the summer. Luckily for us, the Hometown Sweethearts are also Madison’s most popular wedding band, and since most people book their entertainment a year or more in advance, we can still look forward to seeing him around town every once in awhile.

This week might as well have been designated Nate Fest with every night featuring a different kind of show at a different venue. Tuesday saw the Sweethearts in their traditional slot at the Crystal, Wednesday brought a Nate show at the Weary Traveler, and he ended the week at Mickey’s Tavern with an Electric Automatic/GodDamns double bill. Since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make any of the other shows I definitely wanted to be at this one. Surprisingly for a bill made up of solo artists, Nate was the only one playing an acoustic guitar. His set was made up mostly of original tunes, and it was especially good to hear a few Electric Automatic songs sprinkled in, while the rest of the performers were almost more memorable for their covers than their originals.

Kyle Motor started the night with a request from Bob Koch, which was nice of him, except that Bob wasn’t actually there yet. When he asked him to play it again later, Motor responded that you can’t play “The Bottomless Pit of Despair” more than once. OK, so I’m pretty sure that wasn’t actually the title, but it was something with an equally depressing name. Two other covers were the high points for me, not because they were better than his other songs, but because they were so surprising. The first was “Going Through Your Purse” by the tragically underrated, and ultimately tragic, band Material Issue. Producers of some of the most ridiculously catchy power pop I’ve ever heard (“Purse” being one of the catchiest); they never got the attention they deserved. The second was Big Star’s lovely “Thirteen,” a song that actually seemed more in character with Aaron Scholz than Motor.

Scholz played third in tonight’s line-up, filling in for the originally scheduled Bucky Pope. Since he’s the leader of Madison’s most intriguing cover band it wasn’t a surprise that he included a few non-originals in his set (the Who’s “Going Mobile” was especially nice). What seemed more surprising was the number of his own songs. With the popularity of the Low Czars it is easy to forget that Aaron first made his name in Madison as a singer/songwriter and released an excellent solo CD. It was good to see him playing those songs again; he should do it a little more often.

Rounding out the night was Shooter Jane, the new alter ego of Wendy Bugatti, who is probably best known as the lead singer for Bugattitype 35. A fixture at O’Cayz Corral, the last time I recall seeing them was at a benefit after a fire destroyed that venue. She also featured some interesting covers, Steve Earle’s “Christmas in Washington” was a standout, which matched her voice well. More than just the token female on the bill, she held her own nicely against the boys.

An acquaintance seemed surprised to see me there, “I thought you didn’t like singer-songwriters,” she claimed. Obviously she had me confused with someone else, I can’t think of a single genre I like better, and tonight was a nice sampling of the local talent.

The Box Social/The Midwest Beat/Jentri Colello; September 21, 2008; Willy St Fair

David Olney & Sergio Webb; Kiki’s House of Righteous Music; September 20, 2008

I’ll admit I was a little disappointed to be missing the second night of the Forward Fest. Not only did one of my favorite local artists (Jentri Colello) have a sweet opening slot before Mason Jennings on the Majestic’s big stage, but Madison legends Killdozer were doing a reunion show later that night at the High Noon. Still, after last night’s running around it was admittedly nice to just stay in and have the music come to me.

As the House of Righteous Music continues to get a higher profile, the number of bands that contact me about playing continues to grow. Most of the time if I haven’t heard of them, I’m probably not going to book them. Unless of course you happen to know someone I know and I like what I hear on your MySpace, as in the case of the Successful Failures and upcoming show the Shotgun Party. Seldom though am I contacted by a booking agent for someone as legendary as David Olney. I admit that I hadn’t actually heard of him before, but once I started reading quotes like the one from Townes VanZandt ("Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin' Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I've ever heard - and that's true. I mean that from my heart.") I was pretty sure I couldn’t pass it up. My instincts proved right when other guests at the house, such as Jon Dee Graham, Gurf Morlix and Robbie Fulks, confirmed that Olney was indeed an amazing live act.

What none of them told me was that Sergio Webb was every bit as amazing. It was especially charming to see Blake Thomas nearly hypnotized by his playing, “no one plays like that,” he whispered to me during the show. And I’d have to agree, not only did he play in a very non-traditional style, he could coax sounds out of his guitar that I didn’t know were possible, for instance making his acoustic guitar hum like a cello. While Olney was indeed pretty fantastic, he wouldn’t have been near as great without Sergio Webb. Webb let his guitar do most of the talking, leaving the show banter to Olney. Playing the lovable curmudgeon, Olney stopped midway through the first set to voice our thoughts, “I know what you are thinking, ‘these guys are pretty good, why haven’t I heard of them before?’” “Well,” he continued, “that’s because we used to be the BeeGees.” The idea was pretty amusing, but he backed up the claim with a gorgeous cover of the brothers Gibb.

He was just as witty in song. “Who’s the Dummy Now?” in particular contained enough one-liners to amuse a comedy club crowd. Told from the point of view of a ventriloquist’s dummy who has “been carrying you for years,” the song’s best lines may have been in regard to an ill-fated date, “she wanted to be kissed, but you couldn’t move your lips.” “Sweet Potato,” an ode to everyone’s favorite tuber was a catchy celebration of the vegetable. Over the course of two sets and two hours, Webb and Olney kept the decent sized crowd under their spell. About half the audience had heard of Olney before, most of them brought by a fan who had mobilized many of his friends. The other half were new to his songwriting charms, but by the end of the night I’d guess everyone in the crowd was a fan.

Blake Thomas; September 20, 2008; Willy Street Fair

Forward Music Festival Night 1; September 19, 2008; various venues

The vision of the Forward Collaborative, the group that put together this weekend’s ambitious music festival, was to assemble a variety of national and regional acts spanning several genres in the spirit of Austin’s South by Southwest annual event. And for the most part they succeeded. The original idea behind SXSW was to give unsigned bands a chance to make contacts in the record industry, but over the years it has turned into more of a showcase for music fans than industry folks. It is that latter model that the Forward Fest aspired to. Both state capitals and liberal university towns, Madison and Austin are often called sister cities for their similarities, so if they can do it why can’t we?

Turns out we can. The festival operated on a wristband system similar to SXSW. Advance purchase got you a two day pass for $25 which increased to $40 the week before. One distinct advantage over Austin’s first come first serve policy for showcases was the option to buy special $10 passes which gave you guaranteed admittance for the headlining shows. Since I was planning on staying clear of tonight’s biggest draw, Neko Case and Giant Sand at the Orpheum, I didn’t bother with advance passes. It turned out not to be necessary for either of the headlining shows I chose.

I started the night thinking I would be seeing Dietrich Gosser at the Frequency, but unfortunately he had a conflict and was unable to make it. I wish I would have known that, I would have gone to the Majestic right away for the Box Social’s acoustic set rather than sit at the Frequency waiting for, well, nobody really seemed to know what. After Vid Libert’s sound check I left to head over to the Majestic just around the corner. The proximity of all the venues involved made show hopping easy, especially by bike. Former Husker Du and Sugar frontman Bob Mould was one of the more impressive names on the bill, especially since he was playing on the east coast only two days later. He was accompanied by bassist Jason Narducy, who gave his electric guitar and voice rants a little more heft. I couldn’t help wishing that he would either trade his electric guitar in for an acoustic or at least play it like one. Sometimes the wash of guitar sound was a little too much, but the occasional catchy tune (usually from the Sugar years) would bring me back.

From there I went back over to the Frequency. I was disappointed to have missed Vid’s set, but at least I was able to catch Jeremiah Nelson (who happened to be playing Vid’s distinctive guitar). Playing under the name Patchwork whether solo or with a full band, the line-up has changed frequently. While I’ve enjoyed all the boys in his bands, tonight’s guitar and violin configuration may have been my favorite yet. The full band occasionally obscures his delicate, haunting songs and intriguing voice, but the violin only reinforced them. Nice.

Bloodshot Records made their name as the home of insurgent country, a term applied to everyone from Robbie Fulks to Kelly Hogan. Over the last several years they have attempted to break out of that mold, signing decidedly non-country bands like the Latin influenced Cordero and the world music of Firewater. Tonight’s showcase at the High Noon featured some of the newer acts in their stable. Recent signing Dex Romweber Duo hasn’t even released a CD yet but the group featuring the former leader of another terrible twosome the Flat Duo Jets and his sister made a strong case for their inclusion on this bill. The imposing Romweber growled and spit his way through a viscerally entertaining set while Sara kept time.

I hadn’t seen Scotland Yard Gospel Choir since Matthew Kerstein (now of Brighton MA) had left the band several years ago. I had always considered him the talent of the band, so I was surprised how much I enjoyed them tonight. A completely different band in sound and line-up than I had seen the last time, they came off like Pulp after too many cups of coffee, which is a good thing. I found myself involuntarily taping my toes and shaking my shoulders to lead singer Elia Einhorn’s ridiculously catchy tunes. Good stuff. The night started off a bit late as Madison’s own Blueheels took the stage 45 minutes late since they had announced over at the Orpheum that everyone should head there next. The Blueheels have always seemed a natural fit for Bloodshot and hopefully they managed to impress co-owner Nan who was cuing up her favorite Bloodshot artists in between sets.

I’ve only seen the Detroit Cobras once and I left in the middle of their set as lead singer Rachel Nagy’s attitude wore on me. I didn’t give them much of a chance tonight as I headed out after a couple songs hoping to catch Decibully’s set at Café Montmartre. Unfortunately, since things were an hour behind at the High Noon I only caught the tail end of their show. I had enough time to verify that yes indeed all seven members of the band were crammed onto the wine bar’s tiny stage, but that was about all. I guess after eight hours of music that’s about all I could handle anyway.

I missed out on night two completely since I had booked a house concert months before the Forward Fest was even announced, which was too bad as the second half of the festival promised to serve up just as much entertainment. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the commitment to diversity in pulling off what many said couldn’t be done. I’m sure all the lessons learned this year will insure an even smoother fest next year.