Empowered multimedia art
Installations co-curated by Gabrielle Tesfaye & Abbby Jeanne
Presented in partnership with WMSE 91.7, 88nine Radio Milwaukee, Milwaukee Record, Cactus Club Presents, Thunderbird Wine
Saturday: 5 pm doors // 6 pm music
Sunday: 2 pm doors // 3 pm music
I am just a product of a haunted jukebox and the golden heart degenerates. Nothing beats writing the narrative for the cosmic radio and thriving off of the lust for life. Dreams, schemes and traveling the world. It’s Rock N’ Roll for the dreamers soul. Every note feels like a sanctified connection echoing into the chambers of heart ache and passion.My spirit is made from the fire of rebellion, and the desire to spread it wild. Tho my character may translate as a one with rigid strength and angst, in truth it is just the golden armor of a powerful woman who fights fear with courage head on. Love is the key and music is my language. With this tool I hope to heal and translate the traumas of our lives.
-Abby Jeanne
Lucky For You is Bully’s most close-to-the-bone album yet. It’s an album that’s searing and
unmistakably marked by its creator’s experiences, while still retaining the massive sound that
Alicia Bognanno has become known for over the last decade. Her fourth album draws from
personal pain and the universal struggle that is existing, learning, and moving on—and it’s all
soundtracked by Bognanno’s rock-solid melodic sensibilities and a widescreen sound that’s
impossible to pin down when it comes to the textures explored. These ten songs are simply the
most irresistible Bognanno’s put to tape yet, making Lucky For You her greatest triumph to date
in a career already packed with them.
Work on Lucky For You began last year, when Bognanno brought some in-progress demos to
producer J.T. Daly in his Nashville studio to see if they could strike creative kismet. “Authenticity
is always on my mind, without even knowing it,” she explains while discussing their recording
process together. “If I’m doing something that doesn’t feel natural or right, I’m quick to shut it
down. So it was great with J.T., because I could tell he was a genuine fan who wanted to
emphasize what’s actually good about my writing instead of changing it. I could tell how much
he cared about the project and it meant alot to me.” The album came together over the course
of seven months, the longest gestation process for a Bully record to date: “I was freaking out
about it at first, because taking my time was so new for me. But a few months in, I realized how
crucial that time ended up being. I got songs out of it that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
“With every record, I feel more and more secure in terms of doing what I want,” Bognanno
continues. “For this one, I wanted to be as creative as possible with these songs.” She got her
wish: A kaleidoscopic rock record spanning punk’s grit, the crunchy bliss of shoegaze, explosive
Britpop, and the type of classic anthems Bully has been known for, Lucky For You’s thematic
focus also zooms in on grief and loss. The record is largely inspired by Bognanno’s dog Mezzi
passing away, at a time when her life already felt as if in metamorphosis.
“Mezzi was my best friend,” she explains. “She made me feel safe and empowered, she showed
me that I was worth loving and never judged me or viewed me as a let down. I always felt
accepted, understood and so much less alone. Mezzi was living, breathing proof that I was
worthy of being loved.” And the oceanic first single “Days Move Slow” was written shortly after
Mezzi’s passing, reflecting the persistence of Bognanno’s incisive wit even while facing
adversity. “There was nothing else I could do except sit down and write it, and it felt so good.”
“Hard to Love” stomps and lurches with awesome abandon, resembling one of the most
sonically left-field tunes Bognanno’s put to tape as Bully; and then there’s the passionate
opening track “All I Do,” which kicks in the door Bully-style with huge riffs atop her lyrical
reflections on three years of sobriety. “I’ve been living in this house for seven years,” she says while discussing her current Nashville abode. “Once I stopped drinking, I felt like I was still haunted by mistakes and things that had happened when I was drinking, and it’s still taking me a long time to forget about that while existing in this house. How do I shed the skin from a path I’ve moved on from?”
In that vein, Lucky For You is a document of perseverance in the face of the big and the small
stuff. “I’m so overly emotional and sensitive, it’s a blessing and a curse” she says with a laugh,
but there’s no downside to her expressions of vulnerability on this record; it’s the latest bit of
evidence that nothing can hold Bognanno back.
Lydia Lunch and Weasel Walter present “Brutal Measures,” a longform composition featuring tense spoken word versus manic free drumming outbursts, glued together by cryptic electronics.
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career was spawned by the New York no wave scene.
The Shivas are a rock and roll band from Portland, Oregon formed in 2006. In the years since forming they have brought their raucous dance party to almost all 50 states, and over 25 countries worldwide, meanwhile releasing five full-length albums and three EPs on labels such as K Records and Burger Records.
"From the passion in her voice to the delicacy in her strut, she is a dark sparkle with a dominant presence. Needless to say, Silver is a force to be reckoned with."
-Huffington Post
"Fiona Silver’s sexy, seemingly cigarette-stained voice makes her instantly recognizable as an honest-to-god East Village girl. Yet though her 60s-girl-group-meets-David-Lynch guitar-pop is gritty and sexual, a significant part of her appeal is her willingness to reveal an underlying vulnerability."
-Black Book Magazine
“The next big artist to land on the music scene...be prepared to watch this rising star burn brightly in a big way.”
-Inked Magazine
"...this kick ass girl has a Presence, with a capital P."
-Galore Magazine
Immortal Girlfriend is an alternative electronic brother duo from Milwaukee Wisconsin.
Starting in Madison, WI as the musical culmination of a decade of friendship and playing in punk bands, C Nelson-Lifson (they/them) and Tyler Fassnacht (he/him) began writing the first of Proud Parent’s jangly, garage infused pop tunes in C’s living room in 2014. Shortly thereafter Heather Sawyer (she/her) joined on drums and vocals, turning the songwriting duo into a trio, and they quickly garnered a devout following both locally and regionally and gained a reputation throughout the midwest as a live power-pop force to be reckoned with.
If you take Dolly Parton, Jefferson Airplane, Iggy & The Stooges and put them all in a blender…
