Monday, December 26, 2016

Betwixt Rock and a Milestone!



Gentle Reader: This Thursday, December 29, 2016, marks a MILESTONE, of sorts. Lemme ‘splain.

Way back on September 16, 2010, the Midwesterners Trio (the three-piece version of The Midwesterners) played their first Thursday night gig at the Essen Haus. Where before there had been live polka bands nightly, now one night of the week was filled with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country and western favorites (some originals, too), as well as crowd-pleasing polka standards.

The Trio played every Thursday thereafter until September of 2012, when they began playing “only” the first, third, and fifth (when there was one) Thursdays of the month. (Holy Shit! That’s more than SIX years!

If I weren’t too lazy I’d tell you how many Thursdays that is. What I can tell you is that it all adds up to a lot of “bier under the bridge,” so to speak.

The Trio was Richard Wiegel (Mr. Midwesterner) on guitar, Mark Haines on drums, and Tom McCarty on bass. Some time in 2014 Mark’s ever busy schedule forced him to give up the gig. Rick Becker, a fine singer AND drummer, took over for Mark. Then, in early 2015, Richard stepped away to give his hearing a rest. Tom and Rick enlisted guitarslinger Gary Hendrickson to fill in, and when Richard decided to make his time away from the din in “The Haus” permanent, the band became Big Wes Turner’s Trio.

The Thursday night tradition kept on rolling. When Gary had health issues to deal with, Grammy winner and Chicago Blues HOFer Billy Flynn was able to fill in. And so he will this Thursday, December 29, the last before the tradition takes a wintertime respite. (The Essen Haus will start cutting back its schedule of live music on January 1, 2017.)

So people! DON’T MISS it! Big Wes’s Betwixt Holidays BASH! We gonna have us some fun. You can, too!

Big Wes Turner’s Trio wants to thank everyone that came down to hear us at “The Haus,” and everyone who danced, drank, sang along, and otherwise joined in the fun. Come back to this site for future Big Wes sightings.  

Big Wes Turner’s Trio will entertain at your parties and occasions. Call us!

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Tidings of Comfort and Joy, Y’All: Earth Still Rotating on Its Axis!



Long before baby Jesus was nothing more than an immaculate gleam in the eye of The Almighty, the Big Guy created the firmament and charted its dizzying course around our humble but beloved Sun and set our cozy fixer-upper of a home planet at such an angle that we might enjoy the extremities of the seasons, each hemisphere in its turn. For this we give thanks! 

And/or bitch about it. Either way, it’s not going to change. Right?

Oh. Wait. It IS changing. It’s getting warmer. The seas are rising and the mountains are crumbling into them. Seven billion of us are drowning in our own shit while we race to hit eight billion and a big orange tweeting twit is poised to speed up the process. Sad.

When things are teetering on the brink of calamity, who ya gonna call? No, not your favorite superhero; they're fictional. You call your friends and neighbors and you organize and you out the idiots and assholes for what they are. It's what Jesus would do. Merry Christmas!

Connect with like-minded celebrants of the season by getting off your ass and down to the High Noon Saloon. Indulge in ritual attention given to the lengthening of days and enjoy an EARLY (6 to 9pm) show at the High Noon Saloon (Wednesday, Dec 21).
THREE acts:
CanyonSpells at 6,
FauxFawn 6:45, and
TheBlueheels at 7:45 (to 9-ish)

And don't miss the FINAL Essen Haus performance Big Wes Turner's Trio (with special guest Billy Flynn) on Thursday, Dec 29. (See previous post for details.)

And help The Cash Box Kings kill 2016 and ring in a new and improved year at The Knuckledown Saloon on Saturday, Dec 31.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Big Wes T’s Three Takes Das Break



Big Wes Turner’s Trio has been a fixture at The Essen Haus for the past two years (or so), ever since that fateful night when (Big) Richard Wiegel, leader of the Midwesterners Trio, announced his bowing out to take a tinnitus hiatus.

The core of the Trio’s rhythm section, drummer Rick Becker and bassist Tom McCarty, with the blessing and sanction of elusive roots music mystic Big Wes Turner, "rebranded" and enlisted the estimable guitar talents of Gary Hendrickson. Thanks to Gary and some timely filling-in from Billy Flynn (internationally acclaimed guitar hero), the legacy of Big Wes has lived on.

And so it will continue. But not at The Essen Haus. At least not for now.
Beginning in January of 2017, The Essen Haus will cut back its live music schedule. The venerable Madison hub of live performance is sending its parade of players into hibernation. As antithetical as quaffing a Spaten Lager without an accordian pumping away in the background seems, so it must be.

Dedicated imbibers of beer boots will miss out not only on the polkas, but also the genre-bending grab-bag repertoire of Big Wes Turner’s Trio. In the words of Chuck Berry, “C’est La Vie.”

Warmer weather will likely bring renewal, but until that happens, your last chance to hear Rick, Tom, and Billy Flynn lay down some sounds will be Thursday, December 29. Come on down for a fond Auf Wiedersehen.

P.S. BWT3 remains available for your entertainment and edification at private events. You know our name; look up the number.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Billy's Back for Riff-Rippin' Holiday Happenings





Big Wes Turner’s Trio wraps up 2016 at The Essen Haus in good company. Chicago Blues HOFer and Secret Santa of Surf ‘n Wheels guitar stylings Billy Flynn is back. Will we have a Blue Christmas? Will Rudolph Run, Run? Will Trees be Rocked Around? Will Santa Boogie Woogie? Will Christmas be Merry, Baby? “If you don’t go, you won’t know!”


(For the entirety of McMusical December doings, see previous post.)