Carnival of Soul

It will be an early show, running from 6 TO 9 P.M. out in the beer garden, weather permitting.

Although still quite young, it seems as if the singer/multi-instrumentalist/performer has been around forever. Maybe that’s because she started performing with Kenosha favorites The Real Deal at an astonishing 13 years of age.

Cutting her teeth in Chicago blues clubs, she has shared stages with many legends including Buddy Guy. “Chicago’s Blues Kitten” performs with total respect for the Chicago blues sound but also adds her touch incorporating R&B and Soul. The lady can play a mean guitar and has a sweet voice.

A lot of talk about beer gardens these days. Most of the live music shows nowadays are outside on the patio or in the beer garden.

The BarrCasters will be performing from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Randy & Lisa’s Beer Garden. Tom Barr (guitar), Tom Van Caster (drums) and Tom Belotti (bass) have been playing for a long time and have a great wealth of material from which to choose. Their specialty is classic rock.

Speaking of beer gardens … Local singer/songwriter Ben Mulwana will perform Sunday at the Petrifying Springs Biergarten from 3 to 6 p.m.

Ugandan-born Mulwana is a super soulful writer and performer who easily draws audiences in. His set will usually mix together his originals with songs by artists who have inspired him. Mulwana says his songs are about love, growth, struggle and overcoming. Perfect stuff to listen to after a long weekend of boom boom noises.

You country music fans are sure to be familiar with Stetsin & Lace. The WAMI nominated band is known for its high energy takes on classic hits as well as current tunes.

Sure, you know all about the versatile and talented lead singer Geoff Landon of Geoff Landon & The Wolfpack. Heck, he has a Male Vocalist of the Year WAMI on his shelf. You may not know that the band added co-lead singer Samantha Jo to the fold. That adds a lot of material for the band to perform. And of course there is also The Sweet Tarts lineage of bassist Gus Alvarez Jr and guitarist Angelo Petropoulos. Yup, something for all fans of hit music. Anyhow, burying the lead again.

There are a handful of bands whose names are recognized by pretty much anyone who has been going to shows for a while. One of them is Boys and Toys. For 30 years now the band has rocked classic hits from the debut show at Summerfest to countless festival stages, clubs, rock dives and now a motorcycle dealership. No, not Harley. Boys and Toys have a couple of shows this weekend.

On Friday they will be the featured act of Racine’s Music on the Monument series at The Nash located above the Indian Motorcycle dealership, 522 Sixth St. They perform from 6:30 to 10 p.m.. Then on Saturday you can find them out at the Lily Lake Resort, 7910 328th Ave in Burlington, from 4 to 7 p.m.

A little shout out to my old bud Cy Costabile. The man has performed on drums with pretty much everyone in the area including Victor DeLorenzo, Ashcan School, Jill Plaisted and Big Nick & the Cydecos. These days he has a Sunday residency at the Union Park Tavern. Cy’s Piano Jams runs from 4 to 7 p.m. and serves up a gumbo of musical styles. The UPT is located at 4520 8th Ave.

That’s it for this week. Bands, artists and venues, please email me at pjfineran@gmail.com; send in your gig listings, event posts, bios, Facebook event invites or anything else you think might be useful to me to write you up. If I don’t know about it, I won’t write it up. Thanks for keeping music live. Concert-goers, please make sure to double check with the band or venue. Things can change. Stay Safe.