5 Charms 3.24

Cedarwell - Dia Luien (Sheboygan, WI; 2021)

I want to live like there’s no tomorrow! / (but tomorrow comes anyway)

Cedarwell’s triumphant Dia Luein, their first album in a decade, was, by all accounts, a real struggle for the band to make. Tossed to the far corners of the midwest, stand-up drummer Jared Beckman and guitarist/singer Erik Neave were on separate paths that converged only in the rust colored rooms of Neenah's Honeytone studios. The album took 4 years of recording, then was released during a pandemic. It was doomed to obscurity in many ways– the band hadn't played a show in years. But the waves of Lake Michigan move in cycles of crash and sleep. This beautiful album was somehow tided into existence and now breathes into the world. Each song is a showcase for the probing and poetic lyrics of Erik Neave, but Dia Luein also provides plenty of space for the noisy space guitar of Jeff Patlingrao and the polyrhythms of drummer Beckman. Most songs place Cedarwell squarely in the psych-folk camp, with banjo, reverb, joyous shouting. This was one of my favorite records of 2021, local or not. Cedarwell is:

Vocals, Rhythm/Bass Guitars, Banjo & Septavox : Erik G. Neave
Lead Guitars & Sonic Screwdriver: Jeff Patlingrao
Drums & Harmony Vocals: Jared Beckman

(With lots of help from the community.)

Humbird - Cornfields and Roadkill (Minneapolis, MN; 2023)

Tornado siren, tumbleweed, Christmas lights on main street / Cornfields, roadkill, bird song, hoping still

Humbird, WI is a small town I drive through twice a year to get into rural Clark County. It’s also the moniker of singer/songwriter Siri Undlin who plays quiet, Midwestern indie folk. Every year, she releases a handful of great tracks—sometimes we’re even blessed with an album as gorgeous as 2019’s “Pharmakon.” In October of 2023, she unleashed “Cornfields and Roadkill," a noisy guitar song with blown out vocals that heralds her upcoming full-length "Right On." The song manages to tell a story about rural longing, ecology, and capitalism, wrapped in the fuzz of outlaw country. On this song, Humbird is:

Siri Undlin - Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synth
Pete Quirsfeld - Drums
Pat Keen - Bass, organ, percussion, background vocals, synth
Shane Leonard - Percussion, mandolin, background vocals, keys

Buffalo Nichols - The Fatalist (Milwaukee, WI; 2023)

I heard the voice of Jesus say: Come unto Me and rest
Come my weary wandering one, lay down your head and rest

Carl Nichols wrote and recorded this album after moving back to Milwaukee from Austin. The return home was unplanned and in the song “Turn Another Stone,” he pictures himself coming back with his tail between his legs. He says the Midwest is not “a pleasant place to live or occupy,” and I’m reminded that Milwaukee is the most segregated city in America. As a Black Americana artist, Carl has encountered more than his share of racist reactions to his music, from facing down Confederate flags to dealing with online trolls. So he has every right to be fatalistic. But although there is a darkness to his lyrics and his gruff vocals, he plays guitar (and banjo) like a holy spirit. The album is one great song after another, some traditional blues, some contemporary, but mostly just good roots rock. Buffalo Nichols is a one man band, but he is accompanied by a handful of guests on "The Fatalist," including an incredible duet with songwriter Samantha Rise.

Vocals, Guitar, Banjo, Synthesizers, Drum Programming and Percussion by Carl Nichols

Wise Jennings - Grinder (Lake Geneva, WI; 2022)

I been walking the desert at night
Banish demons that threaten my time
Absent the journey that I'd still be missing / Had I never let you into my life

Melissa Weishaar and Jeff Jennings released their first EP in 2017 and have been releasing records and gigging consistently ever since. They are unusual in the Wisconsin scene: a husband/wife duo; she plays drums and sings; he plays guitar, foot pedal bass, and sings. They don't frequent the usual venues in Milwaukee and Madison, and live in a rural part of the state that isn't known for original music. Still, over the course of the last 7 years, Wise Jennings have become the center of a fiercely loyal group of like-minded bands. (Their song "My People", from 2021's The Madness Inside, refers to the "huddled mass of misfit folks" who "give the middle finger to life’s supposed winners".)

Previous collections of music have featured Jeff's buzzing, distorted guitar and Melissa pounding the hell out the drums, but 2022's Grinder is a gentler take on the Wise Jennings genre: storyteller rock songs about when love goes wrong and what it gets right. The songs are textured with piano, harmonica, slide guitar, and acoustic guitar. "You by My Side" is a beautiful, hymn-like ballad about letting yourself be loved and thriving in the strength of a partnership. Their voices blend sweetly and the harmonica gives it a keening, Dylan-esque feel. Other highlights include "All is Love" and "Giving Song".

Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Piano: Jeff Jennings
Vocals, Drums, Harmonica: Melissa Weishaar

Caley Conway - You've Got Tombs in Your Eyes (Milwaukee, WI; 2022)

I’m gonna blow this damn candle out

Caley Conway is an unstoppable glacier of musical skill. A deft lyricist, a hypnotic guitar player, a magnetic vocalist, Conway is also in possession of IDEAS (all caps). An EP of deconstructed Joni Mitchell lyrics? Post-rock jams? Dream pop? Omnichord? Milwaukee is a beehive sticky with incredible musical polymaths like Chris Porterfield and Marielle Allschwang, and Caley Conway holds her place among them. This is prog/psych/drone/pop that you can't help but love. Unironic fog machines. Unafraid swaying. I could have reviewed any of Conway's singles or EPs--I chose "Tombs" because it's got the Caley Conway groove, a humming, chiming, showcase for her voice, a nice hook, great guitarwork. Maybe I just gush because I'm a musician and songwriter and I know how hard it is to do what she does and that she does it well AND makes it interesting AND emotionally fulfilling. If you get the chance to see Caley live, you should not ever pass it up.

Caley Conway is a solo artist, but always has a studio packed with luminaries for her recordings:

Caley Conway- vocals, guitars, synths, omnichord, keyboards
Andres Crovetti- drum kit
Barry Clark- bass guitar