The Return of Waukesha Rotary BluesFest

Happy 100th Anniversary to Waukesha Rotary Club!

Established in 1921, Waukesha Rotary has been a significant contributor to a variety of community organizations and services in addition to International Rotary’s Polio Plus with the goal to eradicate Polio. Waukesha Rotary has been a significant contributor to Hebron Housing Services which provides short-term and long-term housing to individuals and families in need. COVID created the added responsibility for those in Hebron Housing Services to clean and sanitize their living and community areas much more frequently. Waukesha Rotary was able to create kits by providing a variety of essential cleaning supplies to Hebron Housing Services. COVID also prevented the Rotary from their annual fundraising events in 2020, including their BluesFest, which is why it was so fantastic to see such a great turnout to the 2021 BluesFest. The big entertainment tent had plenty of spaced seating for anyone who wanted to practice social distancing in addition to the usual overflow seating surrounding the outside of the tent.

Waukesha is Guitar Town
Lester William Polsfuss, aka Les Paul, a multi-instrumental musician who was also one of the early creators of the electric guitar, Gibson Les Paul, was born and laid to rest in Waukesha, and that has everything to do with why Waukesha is Guitar Town. If you ever visit the downtown area of Waukesha, you will notice a variety of artwork, including ten-foot sculpted and decorated Gibson Les Paul guitars. The Waukesha Rotary always pays tribute to Les Paul at their BluesFest by having one of the sculpted guitars on display during the festival. This year the displayed sculptured guitar was the “Girls Rule Boys Drool” Gibson Les Paul.

About the Festival
The festival also has an Art Fair tent, where artisans are able to sell their creations ranging from lawn sculptures to paintings. There is a beverage tent, a few different food vendors, a merchandise tent, and of course the large entertainment tent which ensures the show will go on even if it rains. Tickets are very reasonable at $28.00 for one day, $50.00 for two days, or an Elite ticket for $70, which offers VIP seating.

The Bands
Rotarian Bob Mittnacht tries to put together a variety of styles of blues for the audience to enjoy, and he does his homework by making sure he is familiar with the bands. Many of the earlier slots are filled by bands who play blues and are located throughout the state of WI, and the bands performing later in the day and evening, are more well known on a regional and/or national basis.

I arrived at the first evening of the festival, on a cool Friday night, just in time to catch Tommy Bentz Band, a three-piece band from River Falls, WI.
https://tommybentz.com/home
https://www.instagram.com/tommybentzband/

Milwaukee’s Tweed Funk with Gervis Myles performed next, and the crowd really enjoyed them. A year had passed since the last time I saw this band, and what really stood out to me was their high energy soulful performance. Gervis shared a few brief stories with the crowd, including how he used to associate blues with the music the grown folks, including his mother, would listen to, as his appreciation for blues came when she passed.

https://www.facebook.com/tweedfeaturinggervismyles/

https://www.instagram.com/tweedfeaturinggervismyles

The Friday night headliner was Robben Ford, and this was the first time I saw him live. The Milwaukee area is also home to the well-known former international ambassador for Fender Guitars, and currently Martin Guitar Clinician, Greg Koch. It is pretty much a tradition for well-known touring guitarists to invite Greg to stand in for a song or two, whenever they route through the Milwaukee area, and Robben Ford was sure to include Greg in a few songs during his performance. Greg is also a fantastic mentor in this area, which, combined with his career and expertise, is why I was interested in what he had to say about Robben Ford. Greg told me he thinks Robben is a great guitarist and he also shared that Robben taught him a thing or two on guitar, which is pretty remarkable given how talented Greg is. Robben’s setlist included ‘Cotton Candy’ from his Purple House album, and ‘A Dragon’s Tail’ the title track off his latest album. The audience was soaring on everything Robben Ford played, as he seems to be in a magnificent genre of his own, which is a brilliant combination of Blues, Jazz, Rock, and Funk.

https://www.robbenford.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RobbenFordOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/robbenfordmusic/

Saturday

I was there just in time to see The B-Side band, a Blues and Country band from Southeast WI, who has a great setlist of covers, ranging from Albert Castiglia to Robert Cray, and three of four members sing.
http://bsidebandmilwaukee.com/bandInfo.html
https://www.facebook.com/kurt.fifer.7/

Next was Robert Allen Jr., a local favorite who is “Milwaukee’s Best Blues Band” winner in 2019 and 2020 by Shepherd Express. It has been far too long since I have seen Robert Allen Jr. perform live. He’s a great entertainer in addition to being a fantastic guitarist. He also made sure to pay tribute to his mentor Lee Gates, who used to tell Robert Allen Jr. he was a “Stone Cold Killer” on guitar, which is a great compliment, and the title of Robert Allen Jr’s album. The crowd was totally warmed up by the time this performance was over.

https://robertallenjr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RobertAllenJr.Band/

https://www.instagram.com/robertallenjrband/

Madtown Mannish Boys, from Madison, were up next. The crowd was completely taken away with their amazing medley of Etta James songs. I learned they will be back in the studio in January to record their next album, which many of us are looking forward to. They have quite the dedication to Chicago Blues great Paul Butterfield Band, which is part of why they have a loyal fan base that travels to see them play.
https://madtownmannishboys.com/

https://www.facebook.com/madtownmannishboys/

At this point, the crowd had settled in with dinner and enjoying themselves while Delmark Recording artist, Mississippi Heat, a great blues band from Chicago, performed next. Band leader Pierre Lacocque is quite the harmonica player who has made sure to enlist top-performing blues musicians, including Daneshia Johnson, a second-generation blues vocalist. I overheard many people say “this is my first time seeing them and it will not be my last!”
https://mississippiheat.net/
https://www.facebook.com/mississippiheat

Albert Castiglia was the headliner and the crowd really enjoyed this show. Albert was the last guitarist for the late, great Junior Wells, and it is perfectly clear blues is where Albert belongs. He has the great old-school charm of really connecting to his audience, in the kind of way everyone just warms right up to him as if he’s their longtime friend. I cannot count how many people told him how he made them feel connected to him, his stories, and his music, as they swarmed him after the show. Albert was sure to pay tribute to the late Wisconsin blues great, Luther Allison, with an incredibly emotional cover of ‘Drowning At the Bottom.’