CAFE CARPE

 

18 South Water Street West

Fort Atkinson, WI 53538

(920) 563-9391

cafecarpe@sbcglobal.net

 

Please call to confirm data and make reservations.  Note our show-times.

THE CALENDAR IS SOMETHING LIKE THE FOLLOWING:

REMEMBER THAT RESERVATIONS ARE ONLY HELD UNTIL 15 minutes before SHOWTIME, since, especially for popular shows, we have the problem that some who reserve do not show, and some who show have not reserved.  For the performer, a bird in the hand is worth two on paper.  This does not apply if the tickets have been paid for in advance, and is, of course, only a problem for shows which sell out.  If you show up late and there is still space you can get in. The bottom line is courtesy- if you do not intend to use any or all of the tickets you have reserved, or if you know you cannot make it on time, please call to let us know.  

 

 

 

Please call to confirm data and make reservations. 920-563-9391

 


WEEKLY E-MAIL UPDATES:

If you sign up to be on our mailing list, you are likely to receive frequent ( a relative term) updates which may or may not contain more information than is listed below. If you truly want to be in the know, our recommendation is that you do not rely on either this or the updates we e-mail to you, but both. You may be screaming "too much information", but we feel that this method will provide you just the right amount of knowledge.  Note also that Bill, the customary creator of these e-mails, does not seek editing advice prior to their distribution.  You may note a few misspelled words, misplaced apostrophes, and typos.  Find it in your hearts to forgive him such sins.  His mother was not an English teacher, (though his brother and niece were).

 

 

IF YOU WISH TO READ JUST THE CALENDAR sans descriptions, SCROLL FURTHER BELOW.

 

CARPEOOLING

Last year Kitty set up a carpooling group on yahoo, since some people have expressed that they would come to more shows if carpooling were an option.  Many of you come from the same place, and could save some money and have a smaller environmental impact if you rode together.

 
The group is called carpeoolers- A group for those interested in carpooling to shows at the Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson. Interested persons can join the group and then post to it to offer or ask for rides to specific performances at the Cafe Carpe.  ( This site can also be used for those who need to get rid of tickets and those who desire tickets to find each other when a show at the Carpe is sold out. You must join the group to post messages. Our version of match.com. We hope you find each other.)
 Join the group at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/carpeoolers/ .

 

 

2009

 

 

 

FRI JUN 19  8:30  OPEN STAGE

 

SAT JUN 20  8:30   OPEN STAGE

 

FRI JUN 26  8:30  $5

BILL CAMPLIN solo/ Seth Blair of Reptile Palace Orchestra

Seth also has long had a reputation in folk circles as a solo singer-songwriter, playing at festivals and coffeehouses from coast to coast. OK, so he plays cello. Sometimes, he even plays a six-stringed electric cello that looks a lot like a pogo stick. So he never learned guitar, or piano, or even banjo. So much the better.
What does it sound like? Reptile fans will recognize Seth's mix of humor and poetry from songs like Enchanted Reptile Palace, Love's Sweet Light, and Shot Full of Holes. Seth's songwriting ranges from the outrageous to the mysterious to the downright touching. Songs like Pickling the Past have been sung around campfires. Songs like Looking Out the Window or Lullaby have been heard on moody, late-night alternative radio. And songs like Psychic and The Day I Gave Up Seals belong on Dr. Demento. The music combines elements of ragtime, blues, novelty, country, and rock music with Seth's own unique lyric sense. And lots of cello.

Seth's show was rated more than once as Critics' Choice in Madison's Isthmus, and as one of the top ten best bets Northwest Folklife Festival by Paul de Barros of the Seattle Times. So what has he been doing? Why isn't he famous? Where's the big money that all the other folk-rock cellists are making? Seth has been laying low, bucking for tenure at the University of Wisconsin. In the Zoology Department. Believe it or not, they gave it to him (big mistake). Actually, Seth is one of the world's experts on the development of the fruitfly wing. But that's another story.

Critics' Choice: "The Reptile Palace Orchestra cellist, singer and songwriter flies solo with original material, including the song that gave the band its name. A favorite festival performer in his old Seattle stomping grounds, Blair is an inventive wordsmith whose off-the-planet humor grabs listeners first; but he has a thoughtful side as well." Isthmus

"What this guy does with a cello will surprise, delight and amaze you." Paul de Barros, Seattle Times

"Seth's acoustic sound and word play had everyone straining to catch every musical
drop..." Mark Manning, Victory Music Review
 

https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/ssblair/web/sethcello.html

 

SAT  JUN 27  8:30   $5  

BILL CAMPLIN solo/ Josh Harty

Josh Harty began playing music in his hometown of Kindred, North Dakota when he was six years old. From the beginning his music was marked by a love of gospel, country, and blues, and over the years Harty’s sound has mellowed into a catalog of original songs that is at once greater than the sum of its parts and most assuredly rooted in its origins. In a career that has spanned 24 years, Harty has graduated from playing nursing homes and Lion’s Clubs with his father, to opening for music legends such as Iris Dement, Kelly Joe Phelps, Robert Cray, and B.B. King. On his second solo outing, Long List of Lies, Harty delivers on the promise of his immense and singular talent.

 

"..one of Madison's best singer songwriter's ... 'heavily influenced by the guitar work of Eric Clapton, has a waft of gospel soul and is entrenched deep in the spirit of storytelling."
- Dane 101

 

"I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The pros in Austin and Nashville have nothing on this guy."
Tom Laskin - Isthmus (Sep 4, 2008)
www.joshharty.com

 

FRI JUL 3  8:30  $5 

BENNETT COOKE

This thirty-year veteran of the Midwestern acoustic folk and blues scene will perform fingerstyle blues and folk on 12 string guitar. 

www.cdbaby.com/cd/bennettcooke

http://www.myspace.com/bennettcooke

 

SAT JUL 4&  SUN JUL 5  we shall be closed  

 

THU JUL 9  7-9  $7.50 

THE NEW PIONEERS

This five piece outfit featuring vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar, bass and mandolin are doing a once-a-month performance here, usually the 2nd Thursday. Its various members have been involved with traditional music locally, regionally and nationally for many years.

The Pioneer’s lead singer and guitarist, Jerry Wicentowski, has been described by country music historian Bill Malone as “One of the finest singers in bluegrass music”. Jerry has also performed and recorded with such bluegrass greats as Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, Byron Berline, Tony Trischka and others. Mike Schmidt of Spring Green, Wisconsin is the group’s banjo player. This former French horn player has been a Nashville session musician and member of the popular Wisconsin based bluegrass bands, Alive ‘n’ Pickin’ and the Piper Road Spring Band. He also performs occasionally with his wife Lori.  Bruce King of Art Stevenson and High Water is on mandolin.  Bruce's son plays bass.  Fiddle player Paul Kienitz is a member in good standing of regional bluegrass favorites, The Nob Hill Boys.

 

FRI JUL 10  8:30  $15 advance

MICHAEL JOHNSON   

Michael Johnson has performed and lived more music and recorded more hits than you would imagine.

His voice immediately identifies him as the man who sings "Bluer Than Blue," "Give Me Wings," "That's That," and other landmark songs. His music shows a diversity, depth and heart that only come from years of dedication to a labor of love.


When asked what he would have you know about himself, Michael says:

"Tell them that I love it." He started playing at age thirteen and just never quit. Singing, playing, writing and recording are the only things he's ever done and he loves it.

"Tell them I play guitar." He really plays guitar. He studied in Barcelona and he plays on all his records with a unique and distinctive style. His playing is an important part of his show.

"I am a soloist at heart." Michael often performs alone, and he has elevated the art. He prefers the intimacy and spontaneity of a show that can change with the moment.

"Tell them I'm a showman. I like to talk to people and I love to make them laugh. And, of course, I have to move them with the music. That's the whole thing. Without that, there is no reason to be on stage."

What one remembers of Michael is the texture of his voice, the meaning of the lyric and the music of the guitar -- singer, song and sound. And the feeling of being at home with a friend.

  www.mjblue.com  

 

SAT JUL 11 8:30  OPEN STAGE 

 

THU JUL 16  8:30   15 adv/ $20 door  $10 students 

MARTI GOBEL performs BEAUTY'S DAUGHTER by Dael Orlandersmith  

The sheer exuberance of language that pours forth in Dael Orlandersmith's plays has dazzled critics and audiences alike. The award-winning writer and performer celebrates the power of words to rescue the young black women she portrays from their constricted worlds. In the Obie Award-winning play "Beauty's Daughter," Diane yearns to free herself from her soul-deadening surroundings, where people drown their unfulfilled aspirations in drugs and alcohol.

 

"[Orlandersmith's] depictions of the characters in her native East Harlem neighborhood--some broken, some on the way down--are passionate and full of insight."--The New Yorker

"An exciting new voice--of fiery rebellion and lilting lyricism--at once full of anger and compassion."--The New York Times

 

FRI JUL 17  8:30   $10

MEG HUTCHINSON/Anne Heaton

MEG:

Lyric-based, contemporary acoustic songwriter. Influences include poet Mary Oliver, songwriter Shawn Colvin, word slinger Greg Brown and mood maker David Gray. Originally from rural western-most Massachusetts, Hutchinson now lives in the Boston area. Although only 29, she has already won numerous songwriting awards in the US, Ireland and UK, including recognition from prestigious competitions at Merlefest, NewSong, Kerrville, Falcon Ridge, Telluride and Rocky Mountain Folks Fests. She recently signed with Red House Records for the March 4th release of her new album "Come Up Full."


"Meg Hutchison shows great artistic strength in wrestling the positive from the clenched fist of fear, cynicism and negativity so prevalent in our world. The glass is always half full for Boston singer/songwriter, as confirmed on Come Up Full, her stunning Red House Records debut. Masterfully produced by Crit Harmon (Lori McKenna, Martin Sexton, Mary Gauthier), Come Up Full is a lyrically rich collection of a dozen personal takes on matters of the heart and of the world. There's not a weak track, however, America (Enough) is one of the most evocatively moving post-9/11 songs I've heard. Hutchison has been wooing and wowing critics for her songwriting at competitions from Kerrville to Mountain Stage, but it's her lush alto vocals that send pricklies up the back of your neck. It's the kind of voice that insists you stop whatever you're doing and listen as closely as you can. Meg Hutchison might well be the next Mary Chapin Carpenter -- she's that good."   TheRecord.com, Robert Reid, March 13, 2008

  

One of the best new artists I saw at Folk Alliance this year was Meg Hutchinson. Of course, being that I'm from Seattle, everyone I ran into from the East Coast already knew and loved her work. Sometimes, we on the West Coast take a little longer to catch on, but I'm glad I ran into her. Hutchinson's work calls to mind other great New Englanders like Kris Delmhorst and Dar Williams (who now lives in New York), as well as the crafty poetics of Greg Brown and the observational narratives of Joni Mitchell. Those are all pretty awesome artists to be compared to, but Meg has definitely earned the comparison.   Kim Ruehl, About.com - Profile: Meg Hutchinson

 

ANNE:
Boston-based singer-songwriter/piano-player Anne Heaton released her thoughtful and delicate new collection of music, Blazing Red in March of 2009. The critically acclaimed artist returned to the studio after years of touring to put together her third album with co-producer Gary Maurer (of HEM). Recorded mostly live-in-the-studio, Heaton’s new record maps personal themes with organic vocals, pop melodies and piano-led arrangements. Heaton expresses feelings of loss and connection, from the desire to, one day, be a good mom, to letting go of past relationships. The music is at times lush and whimsical -- Heaton is often backed by a string quartet- and alternately intimate, she sings and plays piano only. What is created is a soulful record that gently urges the listener to both take risks and take comfort.


“Heaton comes up with a series of engaging pop arrangements for her lyrics-- tender, amusing, barbed and spiritual by turns. Nothing is neatly
resolved, but that suits Heaton's talents just fine”
(Washington Post)

"Heaton [has] a pop sensibility with an affinity for strong harmonies and hook-laden arrangements"
 (The Boston Globe)

"More of a storyteller than Norah Jones and definitely in the same category as far as talent and vocal range" (
Newspapertaxi.com)

"Anne Heaton combines a healthy sense of New England songwriter folk and college radio-ready verve with a lovely vocal timbre. The result is [Black Notebook], a record that is alternately lush, sweet, funny and sorrowful."  (
Performing Songwriter)

 

www.meghutchinson.com   www.anneheaton.com

 

SUN JUL 19  2:00  $15 adv/ $20 door  $10 students 

MARTI GOBEL performs BEAUTY'S DAUGHTER by Dael Orlandersmith  

The sheer exuberance of language that pours forth in Dael Orlandersmith's plays has dazzled critics and audiences alike. The award-winning writer and performer celebrates the power of words to rescue the young black women she portrays from their constricted worlds. In the Obie Award-winning play "Beauty's Daughter," Diane yearns to free herself from her soul-deadening surroundings, where people drown their unfulfilled aspirations in drugs and alcohol.

 

"[Orlandersmith's] depictions of the characters in her native East Harlem neighborhood--some broken, some on the way down--are passionate and full of insight."--The New Yorker

"An exciting new voice--of fiery rebellion and lilting lyricism--at once full of anger and compassion."--The New York Times

 

FRI JUL 24  8:30    

JOHN SIEGER & the SUB-CONTINENTALS/ Satchel Paige

The Subcontinentals are John Sieger (guitars & vocals), Mike Sieger (bass & vocals), Kelli Gonzalez (keyboards & vocals) and John Carr (drums). They have played together three years and were together in a previous band that played cajun and zydeco music, a real oddity for the upper midwest! John has had songs covered by Dwight Yoakam, Flaco Jimenez, Robbie Fulks, Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), The Bodeans and scads of other discerning roots rockers and americana artists. The band's mission is simple: Number one, Have some fun, and number two: Have some more fun. We'll let you guess what number three is. They play dance music of all genres and wrote everything on this disc. This does not mean that they are allergic to good covers though, since they do everything from "My Boy Lollipop" to "Mambo Italiano." The main singers are John, who has a nasally soulful delivery and Kelli, whose smoky alto conjures up visions of Dusty, circa 1968. Mike Sieger sings in Spanglish. This disc is their first and truly captures an evening in Milwaukee when the beer is flowing and the dancers are wearing out the floor... it's almost like being there!
www.myspace.com/subcontinentals  
www.satchelpaigemusic.com

 

SAT JUL 25  8:30 OPEN STAGE

 

WED AUG 5  8:00   $12.50 advance  

SLAID CLEAVES

www.slaidcleaves.com

 

THU AUG 6  8:00  $15 

DAYNA KURTZ & MAMIE MINCH- songs for Hazel Dickens

In our experience, Dayna is magic.  We trust that anyone she collaborates with share her qualities.  She and Mamie are releasing a record with the songs of Hazel Dickens - the Appalachian bluegrass singer who collaborated with Mike Seeger's wife Alice Gerrard in the duo known as Hazel and Alice. Dickens appeared in the documentary "Harlan County, USA" and also contributed four songs to its soundtrack. She also appeared in the films Matewan and Songcatcher.

 

Dayna Kurtz began performing her original compositions in public as a teenager, and subsequently spent the better part of a decade touring solo across the back roads of America, selling CD's out of her trunk and mesmerizing club and festival crowds with her riveting live performances. Along the way, she opened shows for the likes of Richie Havens (who became a fan and lent guest vocals to her debut studio album, Postcards from Downtown).

The last few years has found Dayna winning over new fans in the New York City music scene. In the past two years she has been invited to open up for Rufus Wainwright, Antony & the Johnsons, and Keren Ann. Additionally, Dayna has won over fellow "Living Room" habitué Norah Jones, who sings a duet with Dayna on "I Got It Bad…" (From Beautiful Yesterday). Outside of her new hometown, the legendary Richard Thompson invited Dayna to open up for a coast-to-coast nationwide tour that found Dayna converting some of his faithful fans.

The fan response and critical attention generated by Kurtz's grass roots touring efforts inevitably drew interest from the mainstream music industry. Despite her indie status, Dayna has found an enthusiastic audience, winning high-profile guest spots on such radio shows as World Cafe, Mountain Stage and NPR's Morning Edition. But nowhere has the interest in Dayna's music been more pronounced than in Holland, where Dayna's debut studio album soared into the top 20 of the album charts on the strength of the hit single "Love Gets in the Way". In the summer of 2003, Dayna went from performing in front of 50 people at the Living Room in New York City's lower east side, to headlining the fabled Paradiso theatre in Amsterdam in front of 1000 people in what would be her first of many sold out shows in the Netherlands in the months to follow. Dayna has since then discovered a larger audience in Europe, and this spring alone will find her in Greece, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the UK.

But Dayna Kurtz has worked too hard to allow such adulation to go to her head. "Every step I've taken has felt really organic, and like they've been made at the right time," she states, adding, "The records I've made feel like honest expressions of where I'm at musically, and the making of them has been joyful and interesting."

"Besides, every musician should feel like a rock star in at least one country."

 

Singer and guitarist Mamie Minch sounds something like a well fleshed out 78 record. She is known in Brooklyn as the area's premier blueswoman, interpreting - and writing- antique blues songs and ballads. After a listen it will be clear- this is the music Miss Mamie seems meant to sing. Growing up in a seafaring family along the East Coast and eventually landing in small town Delaware, she got used to travel, attachment and loss- and early on managed to alienate herself from her peers by falling in love with lots of dead guitar players. Her biggest influences when she was young and learning to play were blues guitarists Bukka White and the Reverend Gary Davis- these giants helped her develop the percussive, intricate resonator work for which she's known. She made it to New York as soon as she was grown and her fascination with early blues found kindred spirits in a group of 78 collectors who'd throw listening parties for their rarest finds. She developed her repertoire and songwriting style listening to Memphis Minnie, Sara Martin and Bessie Smith- their shameless sexuality and the winking, confessional nature of their songs was a revelation.

In 2004 she co-founded The Roulette Sisters, a popular all-woman retro quartet that performed originals and covered blues, country tunes and early girl group harmony peices by groups like the Boswell Sisters. They released one record, Nerve Medicine, on the Soapbox Records label. Since leaving the band in 2007 she's travelled extensively and made music in many places- rabblerousing around Europe with anarchist Italian street bands, playing guitar and listening to 78s with R. Crumb in the south of France, and playing concerts and street shows all over Brooklyn and the world. She has shared the stage with Dayna Kurtz, Jolie Holland, Bliss Blood, Norah Jones and loads of other talented friends. She self-released her first solo record, Razorburn Blues, in 2008.

 

www.daynakurtz.com  www.myspace.com/mamieminch 

 

FRI AUG 7  8:30  $10   PIPER ROAD SPRING BAND
 

 

Just the calendar:

 

2009

 

FRI JUN 19  8:30  OPEN STAGE

 

SAT JUN 20  8:30  OPEN STAGE

 

FRI JUN 26  8:30  $5 BILL CAMPLIN solo/ Seth Blair

 

SAT  JUN 27  8:30   $5   BILL CAMPLIN solo/ Josh Harty

 

FRI JUL 3  8:30  $5  BENNETT COOKE

 

SAT JUL 4&  SUN JUL 5  we shall be closed

 

THU JUL 9  7-9  $7.50  THE NEW PIONEERS

 

FRI JUL 10  8:30  $15 advance  MICHAEL JOHNSON  

 

SAT JUL 11 8:30  OPEN STAGE 

 

THU JUL 16  8:30  15 adv/ $20 door  $10 students 

MARTI GOBEL performs BEAUTY'S DAUGHTER by Dael Orlandersmith    

 

FRI JUL 17  8:30   $10 advance  MEG HUTCHINSON / Anne Heaton

 

SAT JUL 18  8:30 tba

 

SUN JUL 19  2:00   $15 adv/ $20 door  $10 students

MARTI GOBEL performs BEAUTY'S DAUGHTER by Dael Orlandersmith    

 

FRI JUL 24  8:30   

JOHN SIEGER & the SUB-CONTINENTALS/ Satchel Paige

 

SAT JUL 25  8:30 OPEN STAGE

 

WED AUG 5  8:00   $12.50 advance   SLAID CLEAVES

 

THU AUG 6  8:00  $15 

DAYNA KURTZ & MAMIE MINCH- songs for Hazel Dickens

 

FRI AUG 7  8:30  $10   PIPER ROAD SPRING BAND

 

 

 

Web design by Satchel Paige Welch.  Contact at cafecarpe@sbcglobal.net