Cover Milwaukee was an event that happened on Friday, March 30th at the MSOE Todd Weir Auditiorium featuring local Milwaukee music by: Sat. Night Duets, Logic & Raze, Couch Flambeau, Dorian Gray, Paul Cebar, the R&B Cadets, Semi-Twang, De La Buena, the Fatty Acids and Trapper Schoepp & the Shades.
WMSE reached their $30,000 Kickstarter goal to keep the Local/Live program afloat and thanked its community by holding “Cover Milwaukee,” a collective of Milwaukee bands covering other Milwaukee bands of new and old. At first glimpse, it seemed the last thing Milwaukee needs is more cover music, especially from the bands that inspire so many by playing inventive, original music, but the kitschy vibe and idea proved hip. Each band played two selections of their choosing and got to talk a little bit about their music and who/why they chose the songs to re-interpret.
The highlight had to be De La Buena, covering Paul Cebar, who performed solo as well as with the R&B Cadets. Re-interpreting would be a modest term. Taking any pop, blues, or rock song and translating it for a ten-piece Latin jazz band is not only a challenge musically, but it also needs to be translated to Spanish! Band leader Dave Wake showed off his compositional and musical prowess, while Paul Cebar himself danced salsa at the front of the crowd. You can catch all these acts around the city, but to see them all making other Milwaukee music their own was quite refreshing. Let’s just hope they all don’t become actual cover bands. Check out De La’s summer schedule @ www.delabuena.com.
by Sean Williamson
