For the past five years, the off-kilter sound of Milwaukee-based John the Savage has been a constant in a scene often wracked by dramatic turnover. While the band was never exactly prolific, they did manage to record

Promoters Kelsey Kaufmann and Sean Heiser created Riverwest Fest, a two-day “punk crawl” across Riverwest, in 2010 as a fundraiser to save the all-ages basement music venue, The Eagle’s Nest. In that respect it didn’t

Local bands have sometimes been lost in the shuffle at Summerfest, but for the last three years a stage dedicated exclusively to local and regional performers has showcased the kind of independent Milwaukee bands that the music festival had historically overlooked. Since quietly debuting in 2007, the Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage has...

On Sage Francis’ new album Li(f)e, the former slam poet’s fire-andbrimstone raps are virtually unchanged from past records, but the music couldn’t be much different. Francis eschewed his usual hip-hop beats for the record, and instead solicited musical contributions from Modest Mouse/Iron and Wine producer Brian Deck and members of Califone, Calexico and Death Cab for Cutie...

Photos by Matt Schwenke ...

Although Summerfest was conceived largely as a showcase for local bands, over the decades slots for opening bands became elusive as the festival began to emphasize national headliners, explains Michael Houser, a former Summerfest board member and the current chief executive...

Thursday, May 14, Keyshia Cole w/ The-Dream, Keri Hilson and Bobby Valentino @ The Milwaukee Theatre, 8 p.m. This remarkable concert brings more major contemporary R&B singers to Milwaukee than the city usually hosts in an entire season. At the top of the bill is Keyshia Cole, who offsets her urbane...

Sometimes the venue makes all the difference. When Cursive toured through Milwaukee in 2006, they played an ill-fitting Pabst Theater, where the pristine sound and red-velvet seats that serve so many quieter acts so well set expectations of polish th...

After beginnings playing fairly traditional, albeit unusually cerebral hard-edged emo in the ’90s, Omaha’s Cursive began moving in more ambitious directions, recording elaborate song-cycles like 2003’s Ugly Organ, and 2006’s Happy Hollow, an indictment of small-town values and organized religion. After a long hiatus that threatened to become permanent, the band returned reinvigorated for this year’s Mama, I’m Swollen, a more soulful...

It didn’t take long for the Milwaukee music scene to embrace John The Savage, a group that after less than a year and a half of playing out together has established itself as one of the city’s most noteworthy bands, thanks to their roaring appropriation of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Tom Waits at their drunkest, not to mention their must-see megaphone- and trumpet-assisted live shows. Tonight at 10 p.m. at the Cactus Club...