If you went to see The Decemberists at The Riverside back in February and you got there in time, then you were lucky enough to witness Mountain Man, the trio that opened the show.
Despite the name, the band comprises Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath, who perform classic American roots music often sans instruments, though sometimes there's an acoustic guitar to be heard.
Their considerable vocal talents can be heard on their Partisan Records debut, "Made the Harbor," released last year. You can get a taste of it here.
Mountain Man also has a new audio/video release "Live at the Wiltern," which was recorded in October and came out last week. Watch a video excerpt here.
After completing a recent tour with their other band – called BOBBY (no relation) – Sarle and Meath are back on the road with Mountain Man and the trio hits the Cactus Club tonight at 10 p.m. Admission is $8. Also on the bill are Chicago's Thin Hymns and Milwaukee's Adam Helwin.
"We will be singing in your town soon and would love to say hello, eat some greens or meet your parents," promises Mountain Man in a recent statement. "Take us up on any or every invitation, but in the words of The Boss, 'Rosie, come out tonight!'"
If you want to get to the roots of Mountain Man, you can do it the following night when no less than Emmylou Harris plays at The Pabst with Her Red Dirt Boys.
Harris needs no introduction, so I will just tell you that showtime is 7 p.m. and tickets are $65.
On Friday, Tea Leaf Green returns to town for an 8 p.m. show at Shank Hall. Tickets are $16.
The San Fran jam band quintet is on the road in support of its latest Thirty Tigers disc, "Radio Tragedy!" and you can get a sip of the record here.
Tea Leaf Green is fresh off a Clarence Clemons tribute gig at no less than Asbury Park's Stone Pony.
"When we found out Clarence had died we where still a few hours from Asbury Park," said keyboardist Trevor Garrod.
"It was a beautiful day; the sun was setting into a riot of crimson clouds; flowers and chalk drawings lined the sidewalk outside of the club. The Atlantic Ocean's waves rolled calmly in across the street. Though we where only coming through coincidentally, we nonetheless felt honored to be part of the celebration of this great musician's life."
The same night you can hit a huge "Live From the Shadowsphere" summer dance party with DJ Shadow at The Rave at 9 p.m. Tickets range from $24.50 to $94.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
