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