Monday, December 18, 2017

Holidays and New Years Happnin's

Saturday, December 30
On the eve of New Years Eve Big Wes Turner’s Trio hits the Tyranena Brewery sweet spot in-between the festive feasts. Quaff the best of Wisconsin beers and groove to Rockin’ Rhythm & Swingin’ Blues. Grammy-award winning guitarist Billy Flynn fills in for the ever elusive “Big Wes.”
7 to 10 pm.






Sunday, December 31.
Kiss 2017 goodbye. (Ech! Ptui!) And embrace 2018 (hopefully, a year that sees the fall and departure of many more Roy Moores and Harvey Weinsteins). Come on down to celebrate New Years Eve at The Knuckle Down Saloon with bona fide Chicago Blues band The Cashbox Kings. (Tom on bass.)
9 pm to NEXT YEAR
!



(Whoa! Whadaya know? Here comes... Next Year!)



Wednesday, January 3.
TwoMuch is a rare collaboration of former Little Vito & The Torpedoes guitarist Don “Chico LaBamba” Vallarta and former Little Vito & The Torpedoes bass player Tom “T-Bird” McCarty. Expect an appropriate sampling of “oldies” among the musical melange at Me&Julio (Fish Hatchery Road, Fitchburg).
6 to 9 pm.



Wednesday, January 10. Big Wes Turner’s Trio takes a turn with the dinner crowd at Me & Julio (Fish Hatchery Road, Fitchburg). There’s a reason they call it Rockin’ Rhythm and Swingin’ Blues. 6 to 9 pm.

Check back for more 2018 show times and places!!!

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Checkin' This List TWICE!

Whoa! It’s our last chance to remind those ready for repasting and revelry that on Wednesday, December 13, The Sparks Band revs up the retro for early evening eaters, drinkers, TeeVee watchers, music lovers, and DANCERS at Me & Julio (Fish Hatchery Road, Fitchburg). It’s 60s sounds in a chic suburban bistro. 6 to 9 pm.

Breaking, Chronology-Disrupting News! 
Big Wes Turner’s Trio will take a turn with the dinner crowd at Me & Julio (Fish Hatchery Road, Fitchburg) on Wednesday, January 10. Rockin’Rhythm and Swingin’ Blues. 6 to 9 pm.


The Sparks Band reconvenes two nights later (Friday, December 15) inside Chief’s Bar & Grill. Friendly folks, great tap beers, and Buck’s Pizza delivered from right across Cottage Grove Road. 6:30 to 10 pm.

The very next night, Saturday December 16, Big Wes bassist Tom gets down with the authentic Chicago sound of The Cashbox Kings in the cozy confines of the Tyranena Brewery tasting room. Chicago Blues and Wisconsin’s BEST beers. Just down the road in Lake Mills.

On Friday, December 23, The Sparks Band rides again at The Hody Bar & Grill in Middleton. A special guest appearance from a former founding member of The Fabulous Flemtones is expectorated. Dancers welcome.
9 pm to late.


And on New Years Eve, come down to The Knuckledown Saloon to kill the old year and ring in the new with The Cashbox Kings. Tom on bass. 9 pm to NEXT YEAR!

Sunday, November 26, 2017

December! Big Wes Back!



Only FIVE MORE SHOPPING DAYS until...
Big Wes Turner’s Trio at Cash’s Old Smokey in Monroe! The Trio gets back in the groove with number-one guitar player Gary Hendrickson. Pull up a barstool and sit down in the colorful county seat of Green County, Wisconsin. Saturday, December 1.  8 to 11 pm.

(Psst. If you’re wondering what Big Wes would want for Christmas, we can only recommend that you think small (a card in an envelope would be about the right size), because the Big One’s whereabouts are always hard to pin down and his forwarding addresses are forever flung further afield. The Universal Gift card (aka CASH) works well and we have ways to make sure it gets where it needs to. Trust us.)

Big Wes Turner’s Trio has one more date this month, Saturday, December 30, at Tyranena Brewing Company in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Tom and Rick will be joined by Grammy-winning guitarist Billy Flynn for the eve of New Year’s Eve and an extravaganza of musical fun and games. Have we mentioned the beer? Bring your growler.
7 to 10 pm.

Other stuff in December?



















Wednesday, December 13, The Sparks Band revs up the retro for the early evening eaters, drinkers, enthusiasts of televised sports, music listeners, and DANCERS at Me & Julio (Fish Hatchery Road, Fitchburg). Enjoy swinging 60s sounds at this revitalized suburban bistro.
6 to 9 pm.

On Friday, December 15, the very same Sparks Band convenes in the cozy confines of Chief’s Bar & Grill on Cottage Grove Road. Great staff, great tap selections, and Buck’s Pizza delivered from right across the road.
From 6:30 to 10 pm.

The next night, Saturday December 16, Big Wes bassist Tom gets down with the authentic Chicago sound of The Cashbox Kings in the friendly confines of the Tyranena tasting room. Chicago Blues and Wisconsin’s BEST beers, make it worth trippin’ out to Lake Mills.
7 to 10 pm.

On Friday, December 23, The Sparks Band rides again at The Hody Bar & Grill in Middleton.
Dancers welcome. 9 pm to late.

And on New Years Eve, come down to The Knuckledown Saloon to kill the old year and ring in the new with Chicago Blues band extraordinaire, The Cashbox Kings.
9 pm to next year.

Monday, November 6, 2017

Name This Post

Waupaca’s chain of lakes is mighty pretty country. (MIGHTY pretty.) And no less so after the lakes start freezing over. The Wheelhouse is where Waupacans go for fine food and drink (including a full on-tap array of Central Waters beers), and deckside checking up on lake conditions. And when winter starts rolling in? Wednesdays with Wags begins. 

First-call drummer Tony Wagner hosts an every-other Wednesday gathering of various Wisconsin musical stars and stalwarts. Show up for the first show of the season, November 8, and find out what happens when you throw together Tony and wizened Big Wes Turner’s bass player Tom McCarty with blues guitar threat Alex Wilson (see pic) and saxophone dynamo Stephen Cooper (of WiFEE and the HUZzBAND). Music from 7:30 to 10 pm.


The following week finds the aforementioned McCarty bass-fiddling around with singer and songwriter Paul Otteson’s “chamber folk ensemble” Faux Fawn. They’ll be on a triple bill with the Nick Brown Duo and Luke Arvid and band at Madison’s own High NoonSaloon. That’s Thursday, November 16. Show starts at 9 pm.

The very next night (on Friday, November 17) Faux Fawn ventures up to Driftless Books in Viroqua to open up for Society of Broken Souls. The slightly scaled back version of the band will barely miss missing bassist Tom who will be stuck back in Madison getting all bluesy with Chicago’s own Cash Box Kings as they raise the roof at The Knuckle Down Saloon. 9 pm to close.

Then, on Wednesday, November 22, The Birddog Blues Band participates in the pre-Thanksgiving customer-appreciation celebration at Tofflers Bar & Grill. Mel Ford on guitar, Tom McCarty on bass, Derek Hendrickson on drums, and (of course) Ken “Birddog” Olufs on the mighty Hohner mouth harps. 8 pm in New Glarus, Wisconsin, Baby!

Not long after the stuffing has settled and the last turkey sandwich has been mayonaissed (sic?), Big Wes Turner’s Trio will be giving thanks that number-one guitar player Gary Hendrickson is back and grooving with the band at Cash’s Old Smokey in Monroe, Wisconsin. That’s Friday, December 1. 8 to 11 pm.
 
Check back soon for the full December calendar of McMusical events.


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Q: When? A: Now! Q: Where? A: Here!



Okay, “when” is actually “soon,” but soon will soon be “now” (a mere forty-eight hours and change), specifically, this Friday, October 27. And if you don’t get your tickets in advance, there’ll be that much less in your pocket to pay for the potables that made Milwaukee famous.


The “what” we’re talkin’ about is Big Wes bassist Tom getting all bluesy with Chicago’s own Cash Box Kings as they raise the roof at Milwaukee’s storied Shank Hall (that's the where that becomes here when you get there).




And not too far further into the future the aforementioned Tom teams up with drummer Tony Wagner to give the rhythm section direction for blues guitar great Alex Wilson (of the Alex Wilson Band) and saxophone dynamo Stephen Cooper (of WiFEE and the HUZz BAND).


It’s the start of a new season of Wednesday with Wags, and the music starts at 8pm on November 8, at The Wheelhouse in Waupaca, WI.