Tony Memmel & Band - new music, bigger sound

We are VERY happy to have Tony Memmel back at Stumpjack this Friday, March 4th (7pm). I think this will be his 3rd, maybe 4th, appearance at the Stump. Each and every time it's been an absolute joy. AND I think this time Tony will be performing with an expanded band as drummer Brian Farvour is now touring with Tony and his wife/keyboardist Lesleigh Memmel. Here's a little bio about Tony from his website (btw, check out Tony's excellent website for images, info and a taste of his music: http://tonymemmel.com/wp/):

Tony Memmel is a songwriter and performer with unique charisma and creativity. He was born missing his left forearm and taught himself to play the guitar, piano and harmonica. It is my contention that if you heard a song of Tony’s on the radio or on one of his CDs (“The Tale of an Underdog” (’08), “Potter Road” (‘09) or his brand new album “Here We Go”) and were not aware of his being an amputee, you would never know the difference at all. In fact, many people are often shocked to learn of it and/or don’t even notice at his live shows until he wipes the sweat from his face with the two characteristic arm bands that he wears on his left bicep.

Though you will most often see Memmel playing solo, his band has rapidly worked its way onto the scene. In 2008, drummer and longtime friend Brian Farvour began collaborating with Memmel. Tony soon recruited his wife Lesleigh Memmel to join the cast. She contributes backing vocals and piano/keyboards to the group’s signature sound.

Memmel has toured extensively and is making a name for himself in such places as Milwaukee, Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Minneapolis. During the course of his latest tour he was honored to take first place in a prestigious singer-songwriter competition in Boston. He’s sold hundreds of CD’s and t-shirts, out of his trusty brown leather suitcase, to a growing national fan-base.

West of East

We're very happy and excited to have West of East (Tim Suchoki & Sara Moilanen) return to Stumpjack.

One of the best recordings released in the last year or two, in our humble opinion, was West of East's "Love in the Twilight Zone." Check out some of the excellent tunes on their facebook site under "Artist Profile": http://www.facebook.com/westofeastmusic or at http://www.westofeastmusic.com/fr_home.cfm.

Tim and Sara will be performing with their friend and special guest Ricky Ganiere (http://www.facebook.com/ricky.ganiere).

$3 cover charge.

We highly recommend you join us this weekend, but only if you like really excellent musicianship, well-written songs and beautiful vocals.

Kimmes & LaForce of Nature

We've been trying to get Joe LaForce and Mark Kimmes on the music event calendar for a few months now and we finally did it: Saturday, Feb. 5th at 7:00pm.

I can't say enough good things about these guys. When Joe and Mark (and with Michael "Doc" Retzinger occasionally making it a trio) perform it is just one of the most pleasant and satisfying evenings of music you would care to hear and see. As a duo, they're one of the few local acts who we go to see at other venues outside of Stumpjack when we're able to (we've done so much live music over the years that when we have a night off we often prefer to have a quiet, music-free night...but if we are able to catch Joe and Mark performing somewhere we try to make sure we do, for the reasons I just mentioned: they play familiar songs with amazing ease and confidence, and they are always excellent).

Joe is an excellent guitar player and Mark plays an electronic drum-tapping-machine-thingy with his fingers that is cool to watch (sounds like a full drum kit and more). Joe & Mark have performed together at Stumpjack a few times now and they always bring people in...which is to say that they have built a reputation as great musicians who put out great music. Please join us this Saturday evening at 7pm for some wine or beer and some mighty fine music.