Last show of 2012... CHICAGO!

It has been a great 2012 for R. Mutt.   We had loads of nice reviews of our 2011 album, Leash on Life, we played Summerfest for the first time, played some great shows in Chicago and Milwaukee, Jigglesfest was a hit, and we got asked to share the stage with Ike Reilly in a great Thanksgiving show at Shank Hall.

We are wrapping the year with a show at The Elbo Room in Chicago.    Our last set there closed out 2011, so it seems fitting for us to wrap 2012 here.  

We are particularly excited to be sharing the stage with our friends, Shag, John, Oliver, and Frank, of Outlier.    They were decent enough to set up our Summer show at The Ace Bar and they put on a great show.

The Elbo Room is located at 2871 N Lincoln Avenue.   The doors open at 7:00, Outlier starts at 8:00 and we are on at 11:00.

Hope to see you there.

Sharing the stage with Ike Reilly Assassination

Ike Reilly has long been on the minds of R. Mutt.    A long time ago the owners of the Avalanche Super Bar (which adorns our latest album cover) and Thoma's Bar (where we played our first ever show) would name check Ike and his college time band, The Eisenhowers.    Steve and Mitch from the Lanche recalled how the Eisenhowers were the only band willing to play there during finals week or when Rugby parties were held there.   Dick Thoma fondly remembered Ike not only as a member of the band but also as one of his trusted bartenders.

The stars aligned on this one and we are honored to be sharing the stage with Ike and his band next Tuesday, the 20th at Shank Hall.   Come on out and join us for what should be our last Milwaukee show this year.

****POSTSCRIPT****

GREAT Show with Ike.   He and his band were just about the nicest, funniest guys you could share the stage with.   Ike shared some hilarious stories about Dick Thoma, rugby parties and playing at The Avalanche.   I think for the first time in Shank Hall history two bands took the stage and both sang songs about the Avalanche Super Bar.

So, great time.   Hope to play with these guys again.

R. Mutt Beach Party

For the past 5 years Bradford Beach on the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee has hosted the Endless Summer Beach Party which includes a bunch of sporting events and also Jigglesfest, a free, all day music festival.

We first got involved with Jigglesfest when it was revived from dead in 2008 (documented here)   We have since become one of the anchor bands providing some of the backline and helping pull the bands together.   The event is a laid back way for musicians to connect or reconnect with one another.   All the bands play for free, the event is free and the team that runs Bradford Beach and all of the Volleyball events throughout the summer takes care of permits, staging and sound.

Here is the line up and schedule:

12:00 Billy Shakes
1:10 Stereoactive
2:20 R. Mutt
3:30 The Gyps (Chicago)
4:40 Moloko Shivers
5:50 Surrender Dorothy
7:00 Bright Kind (Jeanna Salzer)
8:10 Moses' Gunn (Bumpy Jonas)

Billy Shakes is fronted by John Gentile who served a tough tour of duty as our lead singer in the very early 90's when we were still playing primarily on campus at Marquette.   Johnny went on to found Ventriloquist Cat who shared the stage with R. Mutt on numerous occasions.   When VC was between bassists Johnny asked me to fill in on bass for their original 4 song demo.  Drew, from Billy Shakes, also played at Jigglesfest 2008 as part of Planet Dastardly.

Stereoactive is a great three piece that has some linage tracing back to 2008's Planet Dastardly and 2011's Sky Parlour.   We have also shared the stage with them at Linneman's and hope to road trip to Chicago for a show with them in the coming months.

The Gyps (formerly Great Plains Gypsies, formerly High Plains Gypsies) are fronted by Dan Whitaker who Ron and I have known since High School in IL.   NIU and Marquette alums will remember Dan from his band Junebug Massacre who R. Mutt played many bars, festivals, basements and house parties throughout IL and WI.   Dan also handled most of the lead singing on our record, Heptane.  Ron and I have also worked on most of Dan's last recording projects for both the Gyps and his other project, Dan Whitaker and the Shinebenders.

In the early 1990's, Moloko Shivers was introduced to us by the old owner/talent buyer at The Boardwalk (which was then The Globe, then Live, and now Hotel Foster.)   Both bands were pretty new and looking to play the east side and he rolled the dice on us and put us on a double bill.   Since that time our bands have been intertwined in a myriad of ways.   Dave Schoepke and Randy Komberec performed on our '96 release Earth to Guy and Heptane.   Those two also teamed up with former R. Mutt guitarist, Mike Bellante, for two shows supporting other regional acts called The Bellante Project.   Mike Peters, Randy, Dave and I all perform (along with Big Al from Moses's Gunn) in the James Brown Revue band, SPANK!!  Moloko has a new record coming out and this show will the the formal release party for it.

When R. Mutt first started playing back in 1988 at Marquette the #1 band on campus was Surrender Dorothy.   Serving up a seemingly never ending set list full of great originals and choice covers, they have been a favorite of MU grads for years.   They also have a new CD that they will be debuting at the beach.

Bright Kind includes Jeanna Salzer, Harrison Dole and Alex Bunke (you may remember them from when they performed 2 years ago as The Jeanna Salzer Trio.)  They were the clear stand out favorite of  the attendees and bands alike.   They recently underwent a transformation and name change to Bright Kind, and we are looking forward to hearing new music from them.   Harrison holds the unique honor of being the only musician to perform at every Jigglesfest since 2008, never with the same band, rarely on the same instrument.    For those keeping score:

2008 Guitar in The Nodes
2009 Keyboards in SPANK!! and filling Drums for Costa Freaka
2010 Bass in Jeanna Salzer Band
2011 Bass in Kinetic
2012 Bass in Bright Kind

The night will wrap up with Moses' Gunn which is a rebirth of the original line up of Bumpy Jonas.  Throughout the 90's R. Mutt played a number of double bills with Bumpy at Shank Hall and elsewhere in the Milwaukee area.   This reformed line up was brought back together for last year's Jigglesfest and I guess it felt good enough that they decided to keep on pulling it out.  

So, we are pretty jacked up to be back at the beach for an event that is open to the public and all ages.   The food and drink at the beach is now top notch so grab some chairs or a blanket or something and plan on spending the whole day down at the beach with us.

You can follow the MAP HERE.  Hope to see you out at the beach!

Jim

Shank Hall, July 28th (A reunion of sorts...)

Paul last played with us at Jigglesfest 2011

Whoa, this is coming up fast on the heels of a great show at Summerfest 2012 (pictures coming soon!)    We are playing a week from Saturday at one of our favorite Milwaukee clubs, Shank Hall.   Shortly after signing on for the date Matt told us he had a conflict so we turned to our good friend, and original R. Mutt founding member, Paul Leckie, to fill in behind the drum set.

We are going to be joined by an early incarnation of Surrender Dorothy and Chicago Singer/Songwriter Grace Heuer's full band project, The Gracie Lou Revue.   The doors open at 8:00pm and the music starts right at 9:00.

We are looking forward to playing with Paul again and have dusted off a pile of oldies from our early albums that we will sprinkle in with new material from Heptane and Leash on Life.    Hope to see you there.

Summerfest Tix? We got 'em.

If you are the Facebook type, hit our FB site over at http://www.facebook.com/rmuttband and comment on the picture above to win some free tix to Summerfest.   We have a two pack of adult tix and a four pack with two adults and two kids.   If'n you no like the facebook, comment here or on g+ and we will include you in the drawing.

Summerfest July 5th at 7:30pm

It is real.   R. Mutt at Summerfest.   Just in time for the 45th anniversary of the fest, and the 25th anniversary of the band.   On the strength of our 2011 release, Leash on Life, we were given a 7:30pm slot on the Potawatomi/Miller/Radio88Nine stage.

If you have never been to Milwaukee or Summerfest, this is a great excuse.   It is the biggest, most well attended music festival in the world with over 10 stages running for 12 hours a day for 10 days.   The day we are playing, July 5th, happens to be a free admission day.   As long as you arrive before 3:00pm, you get in for free.

Check out the official Summerfest site here:  www.summerfest.com to see all of the other great acts playing.

In addition, our absolute favorite band, Moloko Shivers is playing at 4:30 the same day.    So, plan to come out early for the free admission and to catch Moloko, then meet up with us over at the Potawatomi Stage at 7:30 for our show.

Heading back to Chicago - May 26th @ The Ace Bar

It is official.   We are playing on Saturday, May 26th at The Ace Bar at 1505 W. Fullerton Ave, Chicago 60614.   The show will start early at 8:30 and we are set to play at 9:30 after an acoustic opener.   The headliner is a brand new Chicago band, Outlier.

You might remember this location as Hoghead McDunna's.   It has since been taken over and stripped down into a proper rock and roll bar.   We are looking forward to the new music room and sound system.

Information about presale tickets available HERE