Local Live | WMSE

Jeff Mitchell is a native of rural Minnesota transplanted to Milwaukee. His time spent living in small towns is essential to his songs and is obvious to listeners from out of the way places. He is a lifelong devotee of early music and singing old country songs passed down in his family. He also came of age in some gloriously ragged garage bands. Over the past 20 years or so, his interests in writing and experimentation have grown to combine his portraits of Midwestern life with a strange undercurrent of dark, electronic psychedelia. Jeff is perhaps best known as collaborator with others. He was a founding member of Field Report and is also known for his live work with Duluth finger-picker Charlie Parr. Most recently, Jeff has been performing with the instrumental group, Dryhouse Ruins, with Damian Strigens (ex. Field Report, Testa Rosa), Jim Warchol (Death Blues) and Ben Derickson (Collections of Colonies of Bees, All Tiny Creatures). While Jeff may remain obscure as a solo artist, he continues to build a body of work which resonates very deeply with certain people. His songs are stark in their honesty and vulnerability but filled with an eerie beauty revealed by careful listening. Tune into WMSE’s Local/Live on Tuesday, October 9th to listen to new music from Jeff Mitchell’s soon-to-be-released Greyhound EP. WMSE.org to stream live or in the archives, or simply tune your radio to 91.7FM at the 6 o’clock hour. Local/Live on WMSE is sponsored by Club Garibaldi’s