Blues
Blues music has been popular in Milwaukee for a long time. A major stop for musicians travelling from Grafton to the Paramount studios in Grafton in the 1920s, Milwaukee had its share of important blues figures play here. The Delta blues musician Aleck "Rice" Miller, known as Sonny Boy Williamson II, moved to Milwaukee in 1955 and lived here for most of the last ten years of his life. The second Milwaukee Slim, Silas McClatcher, a Mississippi native, lives in Milwaukee, and his band, The Milwaukee Slim Blues Band, has cut some records locally as well. Local artists also abound in the area. Jim Liban played with the Milwaukee blues band A.B. Skhy when they moved to San Francisco in 1968. The band played a gig in L.A. in which Jemi Hendrix sat in, and they changed their style to the popular psychedelic rock. Liban chose to return to Milwaukee where he formed Short Stuff, playing blues until 1984.
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R&B and Soul
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Milwaukee has proved to be fertile ground for R&B and Soul. Several popular local acts have done well on the national charts. The Esquires was one of the city's first R&B groups. It was formed in 1957 and went through many lineup changes before releasing their 1967 hit "Get on Up." They followed that hit with several more top 40 R&B hits while performing into the 1990s.
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Ragtime
Ragtime is the immediate precursor to jazz that emerged at the turn of the 20th century, primarily influenced by African American musicians. The genre gets its name from the unusual and unexpected "ragged" style of rhythm within the music. Throughout the early 20th century, ragtime music was enjoyed in the city. Adaline Shepherd, an Iowa native, later moved to Milwaukee where she composed the popular "Pickles and Peppers Rag" in 1906.
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Watch the video below to gain a better understanding of the diversity of Milwaukee artists from these genres!