I Love Wisconsin Northwoods

I've never considered myself a city slicker.

I was born in a little town in the U.P.

Grew up in Oshkosh- current population 65,000ish

Lived in Milwaukee for a few years

Found myself back here in Oshkosh

And also on the road pretty consistently every weekend.


One of my favorite parts about being a musician is getting to see so much of Wisconsin in a bit more of a personal way than if I were to just drive through on my way to another place.

I've learned some things...

There are a lot of rural politics that happen often that don't make front page headlines even in smaller cities let alone Milwaukee or Madison. They don't get talked about much from what I can tell. A lot of times these rural politics affect things like farming and how we treat the land and the water and the resources.

I've realized this last year that I've spent my whole life in Wisconsin being pretty unaware...pretty unaware of how it all works in general. I've been a lot like many other Americans who are semi-informed on news and politics on a national level but when it comes to local politics there's quite a void.

I've researched a little bit and found a really interesting article about "rural versus urban politics" in Wisconsin. It's about a UW Madison political scientist named Katherine Cramer Walsh who has traveled around Wisconsin for the last five years- going to informal social groups all throughout the state- churches, local cafes, gas stations, etc. Check out that article here if you're interested. 


So there's politics and the farming stuff and the mining stuff and the rural people stuff...

And then there's the feel of it. The feel of northern Wisconsin... Last week I found myself way up north at Pete's cabin. West on highway 8 and then a few more miles on some gravel roads. No cell phone reception, no computers or screens of any kind to look at...

There were a few of us there and we took a walk- crossed the river on the stones. It was pretty easy for Pete- I'm pretty sure he does Parkour on the side of being in Dead Horses- for me it was a little trickier... slippery rocks and everything!

Me? I could call it a nature thing
I could call it a feeling thing
Or a solitude thing
Or getting back to the basics of things

But mostly I'd call it a spiritual thing.. in the way I experience it and the way I perceive other people experiencing it.

I Love Being a Musician in the Summer Time!

The summer sun, the mentality of Midwesterners in general, the outdoor aspect of shows, the extra sweat from the thick humidity, jumping in lakes and sweating, sweating, sweating. Warm nights and loads of stars and the zing zing energy that July brings...

From hearing the loons and seeing the stars in Minocqua, to seeing some of our oldest and dearest friends in Omro (they like the new "hippie bluegrass sound,") to meeting new friends and tasting new beer at Door County Brewing Company... and to top it all off a fun set at Sawdust Days here in our hometown on Sunday.

Being a musician means a lot of things, but one thing it usually means is traveling a LOT! I'd take the hottest of summer days over the polar vortex we traveled through in Minnesota last January!

And man we get tired, and we get dirty, and we get crabby, and I wonder how I'm going to answer the same question to so many different people and try to be present with each and every one of them, and guitar strings keep breaking cause it's so humid and I haven't even had a chance to unpack before packing again and sometimes you wonder how you're going to keep you're head on straight!

But..

I love the stretches of shows and the driving between and the endurance through the exhaustion and I love  making eye contact during the songs and the pure and true joy and love I feel... the genuine kindness shown to me and to us by complete strangers willing to support another human being. And I've been feeling so proud of Dan, Tim, and Pete when we're up there.

And I'm really looking forward to what we have going on these next few months- lots of traveling but lots of local community stuff! And I'm so excited to share our album with you all!  I hope you're all doing well out there and I hope we get to hang out with you at some shows.


PS! Our interview with Stephanie Elkins aired on Simply Folk last night! If you missed it you can stream it by clicking here: Dead Horses on Simply Folk

I Love Minocqua Brewing Company

Minocqua Brewing Company! Home of the infamous Whitey's Wheat Ale as well as several hand crafted beers and a fantastic food menu, beautiful setting, and great waitstaff.

It's July 3rd and I've found myself in Minocqua again. Last night I played a Rucksack Revolution show- opening for Charlie Parr at Minocqua Brewing Company.

The drive up here was beautiful. I felt my worries and tension leaving my body. Left rainy Oshkosh and the farther north I got the more the sun peaked through. By the time I got up here it was blue skies and clear waters.

There are a lot of neat venues and spots to play in northern Wisconsin but Minocqua Brewing Company is one of my favorites- definitely a gem. Musicians are treated very well here and that means a lot. It's a great setting for an intimate show and the green room is basically a dock on the lake. Last night I saw more stars than I've seen in quite a while!

And the show was just so much fun! The people in the room, the energy in the room- it really makes or breaks the show, and I felt honored to be able to play last night.

Watching Mr. Charlie Parr was soul-satisfying. And he even invited Adam and I up on the stage to play with him! One of the better musical moments of my life. There's something so very spiritual about what Charlie does on stage every time I've seen him perform. I feel that I could learn so much from him.

The kicker is that I get to play there again tonight with the full band! I can't wait for Dan, Pete, and Tim to get up here. I can't wait to get all plugged in and let the set begin. Making music with my brothers and feeling blessed.

I Love the Mutts

Hellloooo internet land!

It's been a while! We've been busy playing shows and festivals and interviews, mixing our record, having bonfires, listening to Radiohead, packing and moving boxes and shelves, walking dogs, painting.. things like that.

This weekend Dan was out of town which meant I had a Friday and Saturday night to myself with no Dead Horses! (Although Pete and I did play a pretty fun wedding yesterday.)

What do normal people do on weekend nights?

Seriously?

Friday night I was pleased to find a show with two of my favorite local bands at Mill Creek in Appleton... the Mutts and the Traveling Suitcase.

Check out the Mutts- HERE

Check out the Traveling Suitcase- HERE


The Mutts are a three piece from Chicago. Keys, drums, and bass. I first saw them over a year ago in Oshkosh. It was a small crowd that night.. yet the show was one of my most fun live show experiences. It felt tribal, it felt raw and real, honest- by the end of the night everyone was dancing all around the room. Friday night in Appleton was really incredible as well. The Mutts have a hell of a lot of heart- a sense of brother-ness radiated from the stage. Good song writing- good energy.They have a tight sound that gets me going, reminds me of things that I love so much about music.

Things like...

1.) You can always learn more
2.) Music is the teacher
3.) Music is anything you want it to be.
4.) Music is vibrations and energy
5.) Music connects all things
6.) You can play a song 23048209384092384093284 times and every time it is different
7.) Music is art
8.) Above all, the most important thing is HEART

"Heaven is under our feet..."

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads."
-Henry David Thoreau


A question of perspective?
Or perception?

To be grounded.
To play shows barefoot (because it's barefoot season again!)

Somethings we have been up to...

Delfest- incredible trip... traveling out there and playing shoes with Horseshoes & Handgrenades. Chicago, Toledo and Pittsburgh. The sweet Appalachians. The Potomac River. Del McCoury himself! Late night picking and sleeping outside. I could literally feel my perspective on playing music and going to shows and festivals and personality and music in general shifting and stretching. That's growth! And a looong drive home.

La Crosse and Minneapolis last weekend- the Mississippi! She sings sweetly. And the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, quality beer at Harriet Brewing Company, and driving home through the night- watching the sun rise and the incredible storms in the open sky through a car window.

And this weekend we had two shows close to home. Sweet to see so many familiar faces, sweet to play outside on a patio in the summer sun to summered faces feeling the vibe with us. Sweet to celebrate Wisconsin together! Sweet to remember that the musical community we are so active in extends to our homeland even though I sometimes forget it. Sweet to strive to reach new levels at every show between the four of us and of course those open to experiencing that with us. Sweet to see our friends at the Roadhouse, some of whom have supported us for years. Sweet to play them some new songs. Sweet to wake up to another sun shiny day today.

And sweet to be looking ahead to another string of festivals next weekend. Thursday I play with Rucksack Revolution in Rhinelander for the Summer Roots Concert Series, Friday in Door County at Steelbridge Song Fest with Dead Horses, Saturday in Manawa at the Little Creek Music Festival with Dead Horses, and then Sunday at Little Creek again with Rucksack Revolution. Bound to be a fun weekend!

Until next time... here's a picture of the famous giant spoon and cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Dead Horseshoes East-Bound-Run-Around

In about an hour we'll be taking off for our trip our east. Tonight we're in Chicago, tomorrow in Toledo, Wednesday in Pitsburgh, and Thursday through Saturday at Delfest in Cumberland, Maryland.

Oh boy, I'm excited to head east- it's been a long time. I'm excited to be in another region, excited to share the road with our good friends, Horseshoes & Handgrenades, excited to see the green Maryland appalachian goodness and contemplate things with a new perspective.

And truth be told- I'm excited to be on the road again. We've truly met so many amazing and inspiring people and I think there are lots more to come. Summer is here- season of barefoot and sunny run-around, festivals on rivers and lakes, sleeping outside, skin darkening and hair lightening...

Growth, renewal, the shedding of different selves and masks, the challenging of perspectives and beliefs and ideals, the challenge to embrace change as uncomfortable or painful as it may be.

It seems as though so many of the people I've been talking to throughout the last few weeks can relate. Things ending and beginning, people moving to the other side of the country, relationships starting and ending, packing up belongings, sorting through old pictures and letters and clothing.. sorting through the physical remnants that have made up certain parts of your life.

And really what I would like to say is that I'm proud of all of us in a sense- we're all growing and moving and paths may seem to be going in different directions and some people seem healthier or happier than others but I promise you that we are all little specks moving around doing the same thing and the bottom line is loving each other, supporting and teaching each other.


These are the things floating around in my head and I know that in a week it'll all be different again. Until then....

Dead Red Conversations (Part 2)

R.I.P. Dead Red (6/10/12 - 5/7/14)

Things come and things go... 

Ironically, as I've started this short series of posts, we've been informed that Mr. Mechanic Man wouldn't drive ten feet in Dead Red let alone all the way to Maryland. She still runs sweet and strong, but seems as though the red rust has gotten the best of Dead Red. And more ironic yet is that Dead Red now really is Dead.

Things come and things go...

And this seems to be the theme standing out to me for most people I know in their lives right now. The passing of things, the coming of things... ever changing and transforming... 

I think we're all just shedding our winter skin... preparing for the humid, hot, grey-blue summer ahead. And this winter was especially bitter, especially dry, especially winter, so our winter skin is thick and strong and chaffed and the shedding of it... it's not easy. And our new springtime summer skin is young and not quite willing to be fully exposed to the baby rays peaking out these early days of spring.

So...

adjust.

So...

adapt.

So...

accept.

Be flexible.

Or don't.

So on Thursday I drove down to Sun Prairie with Tim to look at a van that's for sale by our good friends' house. It's the same van as Dead Red except newer and less wear. I really enjoyed the drive with Tim- just the two of us listening to NPR and talking about mixes and upcoming shows and Tim telling me about this program he heard about how research showed that people with shorter and easier to say names tend to be better liked. I enjoyed seeing the new green grass and the sun at dusk.. dusk is getting longer now with summer approaching. 

And the earth is changing too...