Milwaukee Record features Fear the Beer and Rushmor Records in Bay View now carries the CD

Oh my! On my way to the first ever Brewers-Cubs MLB Playoffs game last Saturday, I got a message alerting me that Jared Blohm had just published an article and album review of my Fear the Beer album for Milwaukee Record. I eagerly pulled over to read the piece and it is incredibly thoughtful and generous. Jared is a big fan of the Brewers, of sports-themed records, of all things Wisconsin music, and particularly of classic country music--so he is basically the exact person for whom the album was made. I so appreciate him taking the time to talk with me about it and for his enthusiasm for the project. Thank you, Jared! Folks can check it out here:

https://milwaukeerecord.com/music/nate-gibsons-fear-the-beer-gives-the-brewers-a-country-tinged-playoff-soundtrack/

After the game--and oh my, what a game it was!!!!!!!--I trucked over to Bay View to visit Dan at Rushmor Records--Milwaukee's longest-running record shop. I asked if he would like to see the new album and he eagerly snapped up 10 copies for the store! 

Folks can still order physical and digital copies of the album through Bandcamp (https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers), but if one would like to have and hold it TODAY, Rushmor is the only record store in the Milwaukee area where you can pick up a physical copy. It's a great way to support local music, support local music stores, and support the WI Humane Society! 

And tonight, it's time for Game 2 of the NLDS. Let's hope for more of that Game 1 Magic! Go Brewers and Fear the Beer!!

Fear the Beer in The Cap Times on this Bandcamp Friday

At long last, today is Bandcamp Friday--a rare 24-hour occasion when Bandcamp waives all its fees and all sales go directly to the artists. If you haven't yet ordered your own copy of Fear the Beer, today is a great day to do so. https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers

And in case you need a little extra encouragement, Ashley Rodriguez just wrote a really nice story about the album's inspiration, production, and release for The Cap Times here: https://captimes.com/entertainment/arts/new-brewers-album-fear-the-beer-blends-country-music-and-baseball/article_035b5232-1714-4c45-ae32-aa2b542f87f6.html

It's a great article with all sorts of behind-the-scenes photos of the sessions, an outtake of the album cover photo by Rachel, and even a surprise appearance of Gidget the Dog hiding inside Andrew the Guitar Player's guitar case. Many, many thanks again for your time and the story, Ashley!

The record was also featured in WPR's Wisconsin Today newsletter with a link to my in-studio performance of the title track, "Fear the Beer." Much love and gratitude, WPR!

And since you're likely already heading over to Bandcamp to check out Taylor Swift's new "The Life of a Showgirl," why not give "Fear the Beer" a spin while you're there?!

Fear the Beer is on Wisconsin Public Radio

Last week, WPR producer Richelle Wilson kindly invited me to talk about Fear the Beer - A Musical Salute to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wisconsin Today. The segment aired Monday (9/29) and she has since written up a blog post w/ photos to go with it. You can check out the blog w/ audio link here:

https://www.wpr.org/news/wisconsin-country-musician-fear-the-beer-milwaukee-brewers

Many thanks again to Richelle, Rob Ferrett, and the Wisconsin Public Radio team for inviting me to sing and talk about the record! The 2025 MLB Playoffs are officially underway and the soundtrack is now streaming on all major platforms (and still available via Bandcamp)!

https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers

I'm Singing My Brewers Songs on Channel 3 News 9/26

 In case anyone missed my 15 seconds of fame singing Brewers songs on Channel 3 News last night, Chris Hawbaker has kindly uploaded the segment to YouTube. Many thanks again for the kind piece, Chris, and for spotlighting the Wisconsin Music Archives and Mills Music Library as part of the story! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EOA8ldSqTg

The CD is still available via Bandcamp (https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers) if you'd like to support the project, and as of this morning the album is now streaming on all major music streaming platforms. Check it out and Go Brewers!

Fear the Beer - A Musical Salute to the Milwaukee Brewers Drops Today!

Woot-woot! Fear the Beer is officially released today and I have CDs in hand. When I got the idea for this project a few weeks back I really wanted to finish it ASAP so that it could be a soundtrack to this year's MLB Playoffs. I really wasn't sure if it would be possible, but there are still three games to go in the regular season and all pre-orders shipped today. Hot dog!

Because today is the official release date, that also means you can hear all of the tracks via Bandcamp as well (link in comments). AND, if you're in the Madison area, you can even catch me performing a few of these songs on the Channel 3 news broadcast at 6:00pm tonight. Fun! If you dig baseball, classic country music, archival projects, and compact discs, this niche project is for YOU!

There are lots of people to thank for the amazingly quick turnaround, but special props go to my nephew Ethan who pulled an all nighter to mix the final tunes, to Travis "Daddy-O" Quam who helped immensely with the artwork in the final hours, and to Sooper Dooper printing here in Madison! Thank you, all!!

Bandcamp link: https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers

Records Dedicated to the Milwaukee Brewers

There's a lot of great Milwaukee Brewers records already out there in the world--"Turnin' Up the Heat," "Brewer Fever," "Brew Crew All the Way," "Talkin' Brewers," "Selig's Sluggers," "Brewers Have It All," "Brewers Be Good," and others... But as of yet, nobody (to my knowledge) has gone out and released an entire ALBUM of Brewers songs. That all changes tomorrow! You can still pre-order your very own copy of Fear the Beer via bandcamp here:

https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers

I'll have physical CDs in hand tomorrow morning! Woot woot!

Milwaukee Brewers Playoffs Tickets On Sale and Fear the Beer is off to the presses!

The Milwaukee Brewers clinched the NL Central and secured a bye in the first round of the playoffs this week. NLDS tickets just went on sale this morning. Also this morning, I went to Sooper Dooper and approved the final art and sound for my brand new Brewers-themed CD, Fear the Beer: A Musical Salute to the Milwaukee Brewers! As hoped, I'll have physical copies in hand and ready to ship BEFORE the regular season ends this Sunday!

This solo project was lovingly crafted from concept to physical object in just four weeks. I stayed up many of those nights writing new Brewers songs, singing and picking electric and acoustic guitars and upright bass, heavily editing the backing tracks, hiring musicians to play specific parts via Fiverr, and recording friends in my living room (many thanks again to Randy Finley, Andrew Harrison, and Art Stevenson for laying down some hot fiddle, guitar, and harmonica!!). My nephew Ethan spent his time recording my vocals, overdubbing his own guitar parts, editing everything together, re-mixing, and mastering all the tunes until we landed on something we both really liked. It's a total bedroom-project rush-job, and yet... I really dig these tunes and loved working on them with Ethan!

It's a labor of love project and is meant to serve as a soundtrack for the 2025 MLB Playoffs, to pay tribute to a team that has been an absolute pleasure to follow all season, and as a reminder to make time for the things that bring joy in life. Making this CD brought me a lot of joy and hopefully listening to it does the same for you! Should you wish to order a copy for yourself or any baseball/country music fans you know, you can do so via this Bandcamp link: https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers Go Brewers!

Brewers Win Again and I'm Talkin' Bout the Brewers on the 8 o'clock Buzz w/ Andy Moore

Rachel and I went to the Brewers game yesterday and it was amazing... we loved the closing light show, the sausage race, the Beer Barrel Polka, the brats and drinks, the close-up parking, the gorgeous weather, the country music interludes (a LOT of Johnny Cash), and oh yeah--the Brewers' 19th straight win on a Quinn Priester start (one shy of the MLB record). The Brewers are now 35 games over .500 for the first time ever and their historic campaign continues to roll!

I was fortunate to follow up last night's game with an early morning interview with Andy Moore on WORT's 8 o'clock Buzz about my new Brewers-themed country music album coming out next week. Thanks again, Andy for the kind words of support and great questions! Should anyone want to hear the interview, it's available for the next two weeks on the 9/19 episode of the 8 o'clock Buzz via https://archive.wortfm.org/

And should anyone wish to pre-order the new record (many thanks to everyone who already has!!), you can do so via the Bandcamp link here (note: a portion of the profits from this project will be donated to the Wisconsin Humane Society in memory of Hank the Ballpark Pup): https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers

Join us at Screamin' Fest 2026 [Calella, Spain] with Nate Gibson & the Hi-Fly Rangers & Special Guests

I am thrilled to announce that I will be teaming up with my good pals the Hi-Fly Rangers from Finland and several special guests at next summer's Screamin' - 50s Rock & Rhythm Festival in Calella, Spain [near Barcelona]. It'll be a celebration of 30 years of El Toro Records and there are lots of great bands on the bill (like Sweden's Country Side of Harmonica Sam and the Delta Bombers to name just two)! If you love beautiful beaches, rockin' '50s music (think rockabilly, doo-wop, rhythm and blues, rock'n'roll, classic country), and meeting new folks, you won't find a cooler festival. I'd recommend nabbing tickets/hotels early if you want to party with us!

More Details: https://www.facebook.com/ScreaminFestival
Tickets and Hotel links available here: www.screaminfestival.com

The Word is Out and the Word is Brewers

Welp friends, I officially let the bat out of the bag this morning on Back to the Country--I'm releasing a brand new album in just a couple weeks and it's entirely Milwaukee Brewers-themed. The project has been all-consuming these past two weeks because I haven't been able to stop writing Brewers songs. But this week I'm finally moving on from the writing/recording side of things and focusing on mixing, mastering, artwork, legal clearances, publishing, and more... And I'm super pumped to be doing this music project with my nephew Ethan behind the mixing board!

My goal has been to complete this project from conception to completion in just one month. I may fall a couple days short of that depending on a few final details, but it'll be close! I didn't want to wait until the Brewers won the World Series, but rather to create a fun and rockin' soundtrack for the upcoming playoff run.

If you love baseball and classic country music, I think you'll love this album (CD-only for now)! So, I've set up a pre-order on Bandcamp in case friends want to get in at the ground level. And if you know me, you can always order direct from me. I'll hope to be shipping CDs in just a couple weeks! https://nategibson.bandcamp.com/album/fear-the-beer-a-musical-salute-to-the-milwaukee-brewers

Favorite CDs on Back to the Country 9/10/25

Howdy Friends, I'll be back on WORT FM tomorrow (9/10) hosting Back to the Country and this week's theme is "Favorite CDs." I often tell people I'm a record collector and indeed a huge percentage of my radio shows are about records and the record collecting journey. But when the rubber meets the road, I'm really more of a music collector and I'm constantly looking for good tunes on ANY format.

I've recently been thinking a lot about CDs. There are a lot of great albums that have only been issued on CD and tomorrow's show will (almost entirely) highlight some of my favorite CD-only releases. There are so many--Jerry Miller, Sean Mencher, the Country Bumpkins, the Blackstone Valley Sinners, the Spurs, Honky Tonk Happy Hour, and many more! And I'll also include a couple tunes from my favorite CDs I've picked up this year (the Hens, Annie Dolan and Joel Paterson, Western Box Turtles, etc.)... and I just might also bring my guitar and sing you a song or two from my very own upcoming CD project (for which I will discuss publicly for the first time tomorrow morning). I'm so excited about it that I can't hardly think or talk about anything else these days! But these CDs will be a great distraction!

You can stream the show from 9-noon (CST) tomorrow morning (9/10) via wortfm.org or listen via 89.9FM in southern Wisconsin!

Green Bay Packers Star Donald Driver Promotes 101 Hodag Jokes!! Many thanks, Donald!!

Now that the NFL season is officially underway, I suppose it's a good time to share that beloved Green Bay Packers star wide receiver Donald Driver wholeheartedly endorses 101 Hodag Jokes, and so can you! Here he is photographed holding a copy of our beloved little joke book, as well as a hodag postcard he got from The Hodag Store up in Rhinelander. (With many thanks to store owner Ben Brunell for sharing the amazing photo!)

For those unaware, my colleagues Marcus Cederström, Anna Rue, and I wrote a hodag joke book several few years ago and the insanely talented Fred Chao made our insanity come to life with his cute hodag illustrations. Initially, I made just a handful for friends until my friend Lowell Brower convinced me to send some to the Hodag Store a couple years back. Ever since then, we've refilled order after order of them and they seem to be quite popular among joke enthusiasts. And, unlike those familiar with Tim Barney and I's earlier 101 Pirate Jokes book, this hodag joke book is actually appropriate for ALL ages!

As of now, there are only three places you can get 101 Hodag Jokes: In Madison, you can find them at Zip-Dang! on lower Monroe. They have a great selection of WI cryptid and monster art prints as well as rad small-batch clothing. You can also get them directly from me if you see me at a show somewhere. Or, you can get yours like Donald Driver did, from the Hodag Store: https://www.thehodagstore.com/product/101-hodag-jokes/715?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true

Folk and Country Spectacular featuring WORT Show Hosts 8/23 at the Bur Oak 1-4pm

Howdy Friends, Bobbie and Bill C. Malone are back in Madison to celebrate Bill's 91st Birthday this week and they are currently hosting Back to the Country in person on WORT FM. I had to leave to get back to work, but you can still catch the entire 3-hour hillbilly jamboree on WORT's archive https://archive.wortfm.org by looking for the 8/20 episode of Back to the Country (Thanks to Tina Kaske-Sanchez for the photo w/ myself, Bill, Bobbie, and engineer Aaron Scholz).

And if you are in Madison tonight, be sure to swing by Mystery To Me bookstore where Bill and Bobbie will be discussing their brand new book on Riders In The Sky with Doug Moe at 6pm. You can pick up the book at the event, or stream the event online: https://www.mysterytomebooks.com/bobbie-and-bill-malone-conversation-doug-moe

And before they scoot out of town, be sure to celebrate Bill's 91st and WORT's 50th birthdays this Saturday at the Bur Oak from 1-4pm when many of the station's morning DJs, myself included, will be pickin' and grinnin' to raise money for the station (which, frustratingly, just lost its CPB federal funding for the 2026 fiscal year). Friday morning's Mud Acres host Chris Powers will be opening the afternoon, Tuesday's Green Morning Radio host Brian Hirsch will be playing a set with his stellar bluegrass getup the Grazers, I'll do several numbers with friends, and then Bill and Bobbie will be headlining the event (and letting me sit in on upright bass!). It's sure to be a great celebration and I believe there are still a few tickets left. Thanks to Isthmus for a great write-up of the event this week https://isthmus.com/events/bill-bobbie-malone-nate-gibson-grazers-chris-powers/ and the Bur Oak for hosting! 

Tickets are available here: https://theburoakmadison.com/shows/wort-50th-birthday-concert-series-folk-and-country-spectacular

Memorial Union Terrace Gig Tonight 8/14 at 7pm

We've got some beautiful weather here in Madison, WI and the Milwaukee Brewers have the night off from dominating MLB. What is there to do? How about a free acoustic show at the Memorial Union Terrace looking out on the Lake Mendota sunset while the brats and burgers sizzle nearby?

I'll be singin' and pickin' guitar with some of my WORT FM friends from 7-8:15 and there's a great bluegrass band that follows. If you're out on the town, come on by and we'll sing a song for YOU!

Chess Country up next on Back to the Country (WORT FM 89.9)

Last month, Rachel and I went to Chicago and took a tour of the Chess Records historic studio. We saw Leonard and Phil's offices, the studio where Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, and so many more recorded, Willie Dixon's bass, some original recording equipment in the control room, and much more. Many thanks again for an amazing tour, Janine! It's a blues and rock and roll oasis that every music fan should visit.

Though we thoroughly loved the tour, I didn't hear any talk of the great country music that came out on Chess. Between 1950 and 1960, Chess (and its subsidiaries Argo and Checker) released a handful of really great country records including Sam Phillips' first ever country recordings, some gems by Freddie Fender, Leon Russell and Pig Robbins, as well as seven releases on their own 4800- country series between 1954-55 (all Louisiana Hayride artists including one by Elvis Presley's then girlfriend!). Just last month I finally found the 7th and final 45 to complete the set and tomorrow I'll share the A and B sides of all seven. And of course, one cannot forget Chuck Berry and the profound impact he had in the country music sphere!

Tomorrow's Back to the Country on WORT FM show will shine a light on this country side of Chess with three hours of my very favorite Chess country 45s and 78s. Hope you can tune from 9am-noon CST via 89.9fm in southern WI or streaming at wortfm.org

Nate Gibson & the Stardazers to play the High Noon Saloon Patio This Thursday 8/7

Howdy Friends, Nate Gibson and the Stardazers will be playing a FREE all-ages outdoors show this Thursday [8/7] at the High Noon Saloon patio from 5:30-7:30. We love playing the High Noon and this one is sure to go down as a grand time had by all. It's our last Madison gig of the summer and we'd love to celebrate with y'all! [photo from our gig at the Al Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, WI last week by Joe Shaffer].

And speaking of that gig last week, I want to give a huge gratitude shout out to both the Baraboo Concerts on the Square and the Al Ringling Theatre staffs. The Stardazers and I had a blast playing to a great crowd of 250+ folks and we were even treated to a special behind-the-scenes tour of their 1915 architectural gem before being shown to our 11 separate dressing rooms for the night. Ha! I also want to specifically thank Jamie McCloskey (just his second gig as a Stardazer) and Jordan Kowalski (his first!) for crushing it onstage! Lastly, thanks to everyone who came out to honky-tonk with us and we'll hope to see ya in Baraboo again soon, or maybe even Madison (8/7 High Noon Saloon) or Spring Green (8/22 Sh*tty Barn) later this month!

Jordan Kowalski, Andrew Harrison, Jamie McCloskey, Nate Gibson

A great night for honky-tonking in a 1915 theatre

Starry skies for the Stardazers

Andrew Harrison, Nate Gibson, Jordan Kowalski, and Jamie McCloskey

Preaching the Starday recitation gospel

View from the Soundcheck of the Al Ringling Theatre, Baraboo, WI

Make Music Madison Saturday 6/21 - 2 Solo Sets

Howdy friends. Tomorrow is Make Music Madison day and the entire town will be buzzing with live music. Over 400 musicians/bands have signed up and will be performing at more than 100 different venues throughout the day (you can check out the complete listings here: https://makemusicmadison.org/).

I'll be playing two solo sets, the first from 2-2:45pm at Pinney Library on the east side, and then later at Todd's House in Greentree from 4-5:00pm on the west side. Was thinking about booking some morning and evening shows too, but there's so much great music at Garver Feed Mill that Rachel and I want to see in the morning and then of course, Joel Paterson and Annie Dolan will be playing tomorrow night at Kiki's House of Righteous Music (and also tonight at McPike Park Sessions). If not there and then, hopefully later and somewhere else, I'll look forward to seeing and catching up as we're out and about enjoying live music!

Nate Gibson and Asleep at the Wheel at the Stoughton Opera House Three Nights 5/8/5/9 and 5/10

Howdy Friends, I've got some exciting news to share. Western swing icons Asleep at the Wheel are coming to the Stoughton Opera House this week for three nights in a row and I'll be opening up the Ghost Light Lounge for all three shows! I can't wait! But just in case you fear repetition, fear not. Each night will be a completely different show and set list!

Thursday 5/8 - A rare Nate Gibson solo set! All originals. All me. One+ hour. Several brand new songs. I'm somewhat terrified.

Friday 5/9 - Nate Gibson and Andrew Harrison play the Starday classics! It'll be a fun night of Starday songs and stories (including several that didn't make it into the "Y'all Come" Starday spectacular) with one of the best guitar pickers out there!

Saturday 5/10 - In honor of Asleep at the Wheel, the Nate Gibson and the Stardazers trio will be playing our very favorite western swingers. No rockabilly. No honky-tonk. And no classic country, unless it swings west!

All three gigs are from 5:55-7:10 in the Ghost Light Lounge of the Opera House and will be followed by the amazing Asleep at the Wheel! Hope to see y'all for some or all of the shows!

https://www.stoughtonoperahouse.com/events/2025/5/8/asleep-at-the-wheel

photo by Chad at CAH Promotions

Another MUS103: INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC CULTURES OF THE WORLD is in the books!!

Phew! Another MUS103: INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC CULTURES OF THE WORLD is in the books, and this semester in particular was a doozy! I got a puppy, sprained my ankle, learned how to use TopHat to take class attendance, and grew a professor beard.

The 200ish students, however, were much more productive! They read a book and took 14 reading comprehension quizzes about it. They attended lectures and discussion sections. They learned how to use Mills Music Library resources from Public Services Librarian Tom Caw and then wrote an annotated bibliography (archival research!). They curated playlists. They took photographs and told stories with them. They learned how to conduct and record interviews from UW's Distinguished Oral Historian Troy Reeves and then interviewed multiple people. Then they wrote (and edited) transcripts and outlines of those interviews using AI.

They negotiated permissions and contracts. They accessed Mills Music Library and Wisconsin Music Archive collections and reviewed radio programs. They met distinguished ethnomusicologists, folklorists, and anthropologists Dr. Langston Collin Wilkins, Dr. Jim Leary, Dr. Portia Maultsby, and Dr. Falina Enriquez and learned about the kinds of work they do and the productions they produce. Then they completed their own audio productions (yay, public programming!). They listened to music from all around the world including Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia, Europe, North America, and South America AND in class heard traditional and modern Ojibwe-Anishinaabe songs from UW-Madison's Folk Musician-In-Residence Lyz Jaakola as well as some beautiful Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms from Dena El-Saffar and Tim Moore.

I think this all qualifies as a doozy!

I owe big thanks to the TAs–Anya, Ezra, and Jordan–for their incredible work all semester. I must also thank Dr. Nadia Chana again for recommending me and the Mead Witter School of Music for employing me! I also want to thank all of our guest speakers--it was a real honor to introduce you and share your work and experience with this class! Y'all are an exceptional and inspiring cast of scholars and humans!! And lastly, a big thank you goes out to several friends who donated their time, expertise, and patience by being interviewed for many of the students' final projects about why music matters and to whom--Julea Thomerson, Mason Meyer, Langston Collin Wilkins, Barry J Neely, Cris Plata, and many more. Y'all are the best and I can't wait to listen to all the final projects!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Queer Country on Back to the Country 4/9/25

Howdy Friends, Just a heads up that I will once again be hosting Back to the Country on WORT FM tomorrow morning from 9am-noon (CST) and that the theme this week will be "Queer Country." In response to the daily onslaught of nonsensical and punitive legislation targeting gay and trans communities all over this country, I think it's (long past) time to shine to a light on some of the amazing LGBTQ+ artists in the country music field.

Sure, there'll be some of the expected jams by Lavender Country, Wilma Burgess, k.d. lang, Chely Wright, and Orville Peck, but there are also hundreds of other amazing and queer country artists to promote. It's an exciting time for country music. The show will feature several hilarious and touching coming-out stories as well as an extended interview with my critically-acclaimed songwriter friend Abigail Austin (formerly Austin Lucas), as well as a tribute to my very recently departed friend Cary Canary (formerly Davy Jay Sparrow--R.I.P., my friend!). Prepare to laugh, cry, get angry, and dance your socks off!

9am-noon (cst) on 4/9. You can tune in via 89.9fm in Southern WI, streaming on wortfm.org or via the WORT app.

Nate Gibson & Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country, Bloomington, IN circa 2011

Cary Canary [formerly, Davy Jay Sparrow] & Nate Gibson, Bloomington, IN 2011

Wisconsin Country Music Showcase this Sunday at Main Street Music in Brooklyn!

Howdy Friends. Back in February I shared the exciting news that the Nate Gibson and the Stardazers show, "Y'all Come: Starday Records in Story in Song," was nominated for a Midwest Country Music Organization award. We were one of of about a dozen Wisconsin acts nominated for this year's Midwest CMO show.

If you'd like to see 11 of the WI nominees from all across the state, we'll all be doing a show together this Sunday, April 6, at Main Street Event Venue in Brooklyn, WI. The show goes from 1-5:00pm and I'll do some kind of 20-minute solo something or other around 1:30. New songs? Maybe. Acoustic songs? Likely. Jaminator songs? Only time will tell!

Other performers on the bill include Lola Blu, Dogtown Hollow, Samantha Grimes, Eric Hagen, Frank Martin Busch, Dan Lepien, McKenna Faith Winters, Dylan Martinson, Mason Meyer, and Bree Morgan. It will most certainly be a great day!

Very much looking forward to hearing everyone on the bill and hope to see some friends out on the town!

Country Reeds Take Me Home on WORT - A history of Clarinet Country 3/12/25

Howdy Friends, I'll be hosting Back to the Country on WORT FM tomorrow morning from 9am-noon (CST) and this week's show is called "Country Reeds Take Me Home." We all know the importance of the clarinet in jazz, symphony, klezmer, and rock music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tr-Uqqn9tk), but I feel like the ol' licorice stick gets short shrift in country music circles.

Sure, there's some great western swing clarinet. And some stellar whiz-bang novelties and even dixieland-inspired country tunes, too. But the well goes deep and tomorrow morning we're jumping in! Tune in for three hours of my very favorite Country Clarinet tunes spanning every decade from the last 100 years. Available in southern WI at 89.9FM or streaming at wortfm.org and the WORT app.

Nate Gibson w/ Jerry Miller and Matt Murphy at the Stoughton Opera House TONIGHT 3/6/25!

Howdy Friends, the plan for tonight's gig at the Stoughton Opera House has changed at the last minute, but it is still going to be a very special occasion. I'll be opening the Ghost Light Lounge before the big Eilen Jewell show from 5:50-7:00pm and I'll be joined by some very special guests: Jerry Miller and Matt Murphy--both Boston music LEGENDS!

Jerry played in the Spurs, the Coachmen, the Sacred Shakers, Jack Smith and the Rockabilly Planet, the Fathoms, and of course, Eilen Jewell, and every single show was a CAN'T MISS show! He's also an honorary member of Los Straitjackets and his guitar playing just blows me away every. single. time. We got to play music together a few times (including a show with Rex Trailer) in Boston and when I moved away to Bloomington, IN, I was elated to find out that Jerry was moving to Bloomington as well! We played shows together for many more years and even made a few records together and I consider myself insanely lucky for every one of those opportunities.

My pal Matt was a founding member of the iconic New England rockabilly group the Raging Teens--one of my very favorite bands. When my good friend and Gashouse Gang bass player Jon Johnson passed away unexpectedly, Matt was the first upright player to fill-in and we had some great times playing the Cow Island Music CD release party with Rex Trailer. Many years later I even got to be labelmates with the Raging Teens when Swelltune Records released our 7-inch singles back to back (many thanks again, Beck Rustic, for the honor!).

Tonight, I get to reunite and play some tunes with both Matt and Jerry before their big show with Eilen and it'll be fun to see how many of those tunes from 10-20 years ago I still recall without any rehearsal! At the very least, I'm sure we'll play at least a couple Rex Trailer tunes! And be sure to stick around for their show with Eilen, as that too, is a CAN'T MISS show! Hope to see y'all there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihyDAobHZFU&t=1s 

(video of Jerry Miller (guitar), Tim Moore (drums), Nate Gibson (guitar), and Mike Lee (upright bass)

Steve Toebes (piano), Nate Gibson (with Sean Mencher's guitar), Rex Trailer, Tom Long (drums), and Matt Murphy on upright bass

Nate Gibson & the Stardazers and Eilen Jewell at the Stoughton Opera House 3/3/25

Man, Rachel and I saw one of the most AMAZING concerts last night at the High Noon Saloon! Jesse Welles tore the sold-out house all the way down w/ his mighty pickin', harmonica blowin' and killer tunes.

Jesse Welles at High Noon Saloon 3/3/25. Photo by Nate Gibson.

And what's even more exciting is that another incredible songwriter is coming to town later this week--the great Eilen Jewell and her most rockin' band will be playing this Thursday at the Stoughton Opera House. My dear friend and long-time musical collaborator Jerry Miller will be slinging his six-string with 'em at this Can't-Miss show.

Jerry Miller and I at the Stoughton Opera House. 2019.

And what's even more exciting than that? Nate Gibson and the Stardazers will be opening up the Ghost Light Lounge before Eilen and the Gang's show from 5:50-7:10. Full band on hand! Sadly, it'll be one of our last two shows with "Spider" Mike before he heads to East Lansing for a new job at MSU.

I hear Jerry may even sit in with us for a few tunes. My friend Yvette will be there with her delicious Take Two Bakery treats. And it will surely be an amazing night for everyone present. And what's more exciting than that? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Hope to see you all Thursday night at the Stoughton Opera House!! We're on at 5:50...

Eilen Jewell Midwest 2025 Tour

RIP Jim Kirchstein, Founder of Cuca Records

Today was my friend Jim Kirchstein's funeral in Sauk City. He lived to be 93 and led an amazing life. For those of you who didn't know Jim, he was the founder of Cuca Records--one of Wisconsin's most important record labels of the 1960s and '70s. Sadly, his 93-year old cousin "Cuca" in New Mexico, for whom his record label is named, also just passed away this month.

As soon as I moved to WI eight years ago, I began collecting Cuca Records for Mills Music Library and quickly struck up a friendship with Jim. About a year later he donated his entire collection--records, recording contracts, publishing and leasing agreements, photos and more--to Mills Music Library (the searchable finding aid is now complete and online: https://shorturl.at/HfkzQ)

The first time Jim invited me out to his place in Mt. Horeb to do an interview about Cuca Records he showed me his basement, which was filled with 400+ marionettes hanging at eye level, and for the next couple hours I completely forgot to ask about records. Instead, we talked about puppets, art, important figures in his life, his service in the Navy, his engineering degree from UW-Madison, and paper mache. He later introduced me to his friend Ken Vogel, the master puppet maker, and that spark was the inspiration for the Nate Gibson & the Stars of Starday puppet artwork (Ken made all the puppets and backdrops for that project, as well as the hundreds of puppets in Jim's collection).

Over the years Jim and I bonded over our mutual love for Ken's puppets, local music, playing trumpet, western wear, Mills Music Library, and even going out to see live music by artists who formerly recorded for Cuca Records. Jim was a guest host on Back to the Country with me a couple years back and we did several hours of recorded interviews over the years. I'm honored that he trusted me, and also my colleagues at Mills Music Library, to tell his story and to preserve the Cuca legacy. Since then, I've given numerous Cuca Records talks at conferences and lectures for classrooms, continued collecting and trying to complete the label for Wisconsin Music Archives and Mills, and hope to complete a new book on the label in short time.

Jim Kirschstein, Raylene (Bartel), and I. This was the first time Jim and Raylene had seen each other since she recorded for Jim's Cuca Records label in the early and mid '60s.

I could go on and on about all the great music on Cuca, but if you'd like to know more about the label, PBS Wisconsin did a great 8-minute segment (which still gets TV airplay now and then) as part of their Sauk Prairie Hometown Stories documentary and Jim and I both got to be the talking heads in it. If interested, you can watch it here: https://pbswisconsin.org/watch/wisconsin-hometown-stories/sauk-prairie-sound-wisconsin-7eybfr/ RIP Jim, and many thanks for all the great memories and music!

Jim Kirchstein showing off his puppet collection and holding a photo of his parents and siblings, the photo for which the puppets above it were modeled from.

Y'all Come: Starday Records in Story and Song at UW-Madison Saturday 3/8 7:30pm

Hey there, friends: I'm excited to share that Nate Gibson & the Stardazers, along with special guests Art Stevenson and Eddie Rivers (Asleep at the Wheel, Best Westerns), will be reprising our Starday Records tribute show, "Y'all Come: Starday Records in Story and Song" next month on Saturday March 8th.

Not only will we be performing in the beautiful new Hamel Music Center on UW-Madison's campus, the show is being co-sponsored by the General Library System, the Mead Witter School of Music, and the Folklore Program in GNS+, which means that the show will be FREE and open to the public! It'll also be a chance to show off all the cool Starday stuff we have in Mills Music Library including rare Wisconsin 45s, scarce 78s, LPs available for circulation, as well as physical and online access to the The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built.

Collins Recital Hall. 7:30pm. Saturday 3/8. Mark your calendars now! Rock and roll goes concert hall! https://www.library.wisc.edu/music/2025/02/06/concert-nate-gibson-the-stardazers/

A Feline Frolic on Back to the Country 89.9 WORT FM 1/8/25

Just a heads up that I'll be hosting Back to the Country on WORT FM tomorrow morning and that the theme this week is a Feline Frolic! 

I did a dog show last year and there were hundreds upon hundreds of country dog songs to choose from. But country cat songs? Not so much. Sure, there's a plethora of songs about bop cats, hep cats, cool cats, copy cats, and fraidy cats and there's even a bunch more about bearcats, tomcats, wildcats, pussycats, and kittens, too. But all too often these are actually songs about human beings *acting* like various cats. Well, I've got no time for that. I want cat songs! And don't even get me started on all the country musicians named after felines like Cat Stevens, Tabby West, the Country Cats, Go Cat Go, Stray Cats, the Ol’ Tiger Benny Martin, or Kitty Wells!

The good news? I think I've found three full hour of songs that are about actual cats! Meeeooow! Tune in to the feline frolic tomorrow morning from 9am-noon (CST) on 89.9 in southern Wisconsin or streaming worldwide via wortfm.org 

photos w/ adorable internet sensation Lil Bub by Erin Colligan Lee and Mike Bridavsky