2022 Live Music & Performances

Bill Miller

Friday, June 10, 6 pm

Artspire is a free community arts festival and that includes this Bill Miller performance on Friday and workshop on Saturday.

With the entire planet in desperate need of his legendary healing messages in 2021, Bill Miller is returning to music after a 10-year absence of new releases. His first single, “Stone Tree,” is now available on all streaming platforms.

General Admission, No Ticket Needed

Bill Miller Workshop at the Pump House Theater on Saturday, June 11, 2 pm

“Focusing on the Native American flute and speaking some history on this instrument as well as the history of the instrument in my own musical career I will share how I was taught to play in a traditional way by elders in northern Wisconsin in the mid 70s. I will share the stories of recording soundtracks background music on very famous recordings. I will show and play the techniques I have learned throughout the years and if anybody wants to bring their native flute to the workshop I’m going to teach them a song and possibly bring them up on stage to perform with me I will do several flute pieces in different keys and styles and I will show how this instrument turned me around to see that I am in instrument myself, I am an instrument of peace so is the flute so is my voice so is my presence so is my guitar and so is my spirit I will take questions concerning the connection between my heritage and my music.”

Free For All to Attend

This workshop is supported by the
Arts Midwest GIG Fund, a program of
Arts Midwest that is funded by the National
Endowment for the Arts, with additional
contributions from Wisconsin Arts Board.

Bill Miller Bio

Bill Miller is an award-winning Native American recording artist, performer, songwriter, activist, painter, and world-class native flute player. Over the entirety, Miller has produced over a dozen albums, received three GRAMMY® Awards, numerous Native American Music Awards & Association (NAMA) awards (including a “Lifetime Achievement” Award) and led Wisconsin’s La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Overcoming the hardships felt by the global community in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021 finds the living legend living life — stronger with a renewed focus on healing through song, art, and speaking — as he prepares to release a fresh EP.

Ho-Chunk Singers and Dancers

Friday, June 10, 7 pm

Cloud Cult

Friday, June 10, 8 pm

Artspire is a free community arts festival and that includes this performance of Cloud Cult on Friday, June 10, 8 pm

General Admission, No Ticket Needed

New York Times: “A sprawling kaleidoscopic invocation of the life force with songs that veer from jubilation to simmering prayerful meditation.”

Rolling Stone: “The instrumental arsenal of the Arcade Fire mixed with the gentle electronic throb of the Postal Service.”

Los Angeles Times: “Deserving of loud, boisterous cheers.”

The Cloud Cult band is:

Shannon Frid-Rubin: Violin
Jeremy Harvey: Drums
Connie Minowa: Live Painter
Craig Minowa: Singer/songwriter, guitar
Shawn Neary: Bass, Banjo, Trombone
Sarah Perbix: Keyboard, French horn, Trumpet
Scott West: Live Painter
Daniel Zamzow: Cello, Mandola

Minnesota’s Cloud Cult has a rich eleven-album history of bucking the mainstream music industry in favor of independently releasing music via their environmentally-conscious record label Earthology Records. Hailed as one of the Top 10 Green Bands by Rolling Stone, the band’s philosophical lyrics and alternative-orchestral-folk-rock sound has been lauded by critics as “insane genius” (Pitchfork) and “an invocation of the lifeforce” (New York Times). Cloud Cult began as Craig Minowa‘s solo studio project after the unexpected loss of his son and has grown to the present day with an evolving lineup of incredible musicians. Known for incorporating live painting into their concerts, Cloud Cult are pioneers of multimedia artistry. This is most recently highlighted with the feature film release of The Seeker – starring Josh Radnor & Alex McKenna – which accompanied the band’s 2016 album, landed on Entertainment Weekly’s Must List, and garnered prestigious awards on the indie film festival circuit. Now six years later, Cloud Cult returns with their transformative new album Metamorphosis.

B2wins

Sat. June 11, 7 pm

Artspire is a free community arts festival and that includes this performance of B2wins on Saturday, June 11, 2022, 7 pm.

General Admission, No Ticket Needed

Violin twin brothers Walter and Wagner Caldas from the slums of Brazil on a mission to make the world smile through music.

“We came from a reality in which some days it was hard to smile. Our desire is to positively impact the world and bring a smile to everyone we encounter. “

Growing up in the violent, impoverished slums of Rio De Janeiro, the Twins began playing classical music on violins their father handmade. They used music as an escape from their reality and began teaching others in their neighborhood to do the same. After being featured on National Public Radio, the Twins were invited to the US on full ride music scholarships
in 2008.