Chris on 
Wednesday May 6th, local blues legend Howard Luedtke takes the stage at Malarkeys Pub in downtown Wausau. It is a real thrill for me, because Howard and I have been friends for at least 15 years, and to see Malarkeys come around and bring in the only true Wisconsin blues man is amazingly fortuitous.
I met Howard when I first arrived at Scott Street Pub. His band Blue Max played the very first Halloween that I got to do the door. Back then, live bands drew like crazy; we had hundreds of people in the pub, and people lined up out the door. I had never been a bouncer, but I was a big dude passionate about music and I really found my calling right there at the door.
It was the first Halloween and some guy had too much to drink and climbed on stage with the band. He was doing some dirty dance move or whatever in front of the bass player. The thing is, the bass player was Magic Deb, Howard’s wife. I knew that it was wrong. So, I leapt over the radiator and tore the guy outside. To this day, Magic Deb tells that story often.
On Wednesday, Howard is playing his acoustic, delta show. It is the simplest of things and honestly so very hard. A man and a guitar, singing songs. You can sit back and recall the time you got up at an open mic, and sang a John Prine or Waylon Jennings cover, and think you do the same as Howard, but you don’t. Howard is Wisconsin’s only real blues man. All the others, Otis, Westside, Stulo, Solberg (especially Solberg), Jerry Henry, Rev (okay maybe Rev is okay), well, they are all pretenders. They all have a fall back. An escape plan. Howard does not. Howard has never had a job. His job is playing guitar and singing songs, and he is committed to that.
These acoustic shows are amazing. I often say that Howard is the second best guitar player in Wisconsin, and I am being serious. It is really rare that something as subjective as guitar playing has a clear best, but in Wisconsin, we have a clear and defined best in Greg Koch. Howard is the next guy. His electric playing is fast, powerful, violent and overwhelming. But, the acoustic shows are different. They are delicate and soulful. Howard sings songs of loss and love and travel and whiskey with real passion. His guitar playing, especially his resonator playing, is so amazing and physical, it is beyond words.
I think that Howard is one of the few cats who brings a real sense of this traditional blues form to Wisconsin, and I hope to see many of you down there.
“Howard is Wisconsin’s only real blues man” Until Hubert Sumlin dies this will never be true. And neither will your suggestion that Greg Koch and Howard Luedtke are the two best blues guitar players in Wisconsin. Hyperbole is almost never a good thing.
I do not think Hubert lives here anymore, but thank you for the reminder I had forgotten about him.
In college I went and visited him, as he was still years from the return to form that he had. I was a student at UWM, and it was an amazing thing to experience.
I do not make the assertion that Greg is anything other than what the industry and other players have named him. I agree that hyperbole is never good, though I am a fan of it, in the case of Greg, I think that it is not such hyperbole.
Does Sumlin still live here?
Thanks Dino-I have to say I loved seeing this show, I can’t wait to see it again tomorrow.
Howard is simply amazing, I can’t believe this kind of talent can make it to my place, his solo show is simple and mesmerizing at the same time, I will be there for sure.-Tyler
All respect to Luedtke and Koch, but…
I’m pretty sure that Sumlin still lives here. He definitely did as of a couple of years ago.
I’m not sure if Joel Paterson still lives here, but he did for a long time, and – if he’s still here – he deserves to be included on the short-list of great Wisconsin blues players. (And guitarists more generally.)
Whether or not Sumlin or Paterson live here anymore, Catfish Stephenson definitely does, and he deserves a place on the same list. And I’m sure there are others.
Also, Dino, I reject the idea that to be a “real” blues player, you can’t have had another job, or have ever had another job. Doesn’t that – at the very, very least – disqualify Junior Kimbrough, T-Model Ford, Robert Belfour, and many of the Fat Possum contingent who I know you love? Who’s “realer” than them?
I’ll start by saying blues music doesn’t do a thing for me (I can appreciate it, but for me it doesn’t “move the meter”, so to speak. It’s just how I am). However a few years ago I stopped in to grab a pizza at Mickey’s and Howard was performing (electric). His playing stopped me dead in my tracks, literally.
Wow, this was something else altogether. Incredible sonic bombast and technical skill, plus Howard did none of the cheesy “lead guitarist” facial expressions or gyrations. As if to say “I’ve been here before”. I had to leave, so I only saw about 2 minutes of one song, but I remember it today.
First timer here, so I can use all the help I can get. Anyway, I saw the show last night. Pretty good stuff! Really is a step back into history. I didn’t know Howard had that in him. I was really quite impressed. Thanks, for the heads up. Please pass along any other “must see” shows that come up. They sneak by all too often in this fast paced world.
Also….what’s going to happen at the Fillmor?….Nomor? Dino…you could make that place rock. Take the leap…you’d probably get a good deal right now.
Saltpeter,
Thank you for the confidence. I think that the process with the Fillmor is going to be a long drawn out one, that involves banks, lawyers, politics.
I know I could make that place work as well. I helped them for a minute. My good friend Scott Holt played there, and 700 people showed up.
So that sounds like success.
It will work out. I have confidence in the room.
Dino,
I just wanted to add a thing or to about our local music scene… I sincerely miss the days of the Pub, but probably not the Pub itself… The days I remember best were probably the days when you were running the door.
So many great artists of all types of music graced that stage. It rivals many great venues of bigger cities to this day!
I don’t get out as often as I used to back in the day, but your assetions about Howard and Greg Koch are right on!
I do like Tyler’s venue… I don’t get there as often as I like, but then again I don’t seem to have the funds to blow like I did a decade ago… Funny when priorities take over!
I haven’t seen Howard in his Acoustic or Electric show for quite a few years… I really wish they could get him for one of the 400 block shows or at the Blues Fest. I especially loved the electric show! And Greg Koch…. There’s a name which I haven’t seen play up this a way in a couple of years again…
I’m not all about blues, however. My favorite Wisconsin band came to the Pub years ago and continues to play at venues near by… And Tyler, you had the good sense to bring them around and hope you will do so again. Copperbox rocks!
And man do I miss seeing the Stellanova (Moon Gypsies).
Our local music scene used to be dominated by the Blues. Now it seems to be saturated by harder rock bands…
I had such hope for the Fillmor when it was first announced. I can’t imagine how they managed to make a payment on the place for the three years it took for them to goof around trying to do the construction on the place themselves. For the Millers to complain that they tried to bring a variety of music is laughable. And to say that people didn’t give them a chance is also rediculous. What they needed was a business plan. Perhaps they had one, but apparently the only people that bought that plan was a bank in California! Seemingly just like their talent, they couldn’t even get their loan locally!
I hope that when that venue does finally come into qualified hands of ownership, that it will stay a music venue, but be run in a way that works. Dino, I believe you could do that! I believe in you… I hope you or anyone else with that passion for music will buy the “Fill-No-More” and run it the right way!
Sorry, Miller’s, but I think you’ve proven that your vision doesn’t work, and I think you should stop acting like it’s everybody else’s fault… Sell out and get that long painful death of the Fillmor overwith!
Jon,
Thanks for the kind words.
My assertion about Greg is based not on my feelings, but on Fender’s feelings. When Fender unveils a new guitar or a new amp at a music trade show, their show horse is typically Greg Koch.
So, I assume Fender knows what they are talking about.
In regards to the Fillmor, while I am not made of money, I would love to be involved. I tried to help Bill and Dan as much as I could. I think that the damage done by Bill initially was so extensive, and the damage done by Kristy whoever she was, was so extensive, they had no choice but to die this slow death.
I am proud that Scott Holt, Mean Tooth Grin, Corpse Show Creeps, Cool Hand, and Aaron Williams got to play there. Seeing Sunspot on the big stage, that was awesome.
I am also proud of the teen bands that we found like Freedown, and The Wrath of Girth (one of my favorite wisco bands ever).
The idea that they are shopping that letter around and telling people that they did not come, so it is the peoples fault boggles my mind. I could have gotten them anything they wanted.
Johnny Wadd played there, and no one came. Johnny Wadd plays at the Bar in Mosinee, and 500 people come.
So, the band is the same…what is different? Ahh…the venue.
This death cycle is going to be long and protracted.
Dino -
your assertion that Fender thinks Greg Koch is the best blues guitar player in Wisconsin is another example of hyperole. Go to their website and notice how many artists they feature. Read what they say about Greg Koch. there is nothing that makes any claim about him being the best guitar player anywhere. They have 25 artists model guitars. No Greg Koch model, What evidence do you have that Fender considers him to be the best? Because he works for them? Recall I said Hubert Sumlin is the best blues guitar player in Wisconsin. Let me offer two bits of evidence. One, when Rolling Stone picked the top 100 guitars players, Hubert Sumlin ranked 65. No Greg Koch. No one else from Wisconsin. Eric Clapton was asked who his blues guitar influences were. He identified Buddy guy, the three Kings, B.B. Albert and Freddy and Hubert Sumlin. Incidentally, Hubert plays a Les Paul Gibson guitar. I guess Fender wouldn’t include him in their stable. Picking any single artist to be the ‘best’ is always a risky propostion. But you’re the one who did it. And you base it on “Fender’s feelings” which is really nothing more than your interpretation of the fact that they employ Greg Koch.
I’m the best blues cowbell player in wisconsin that doesn’t play blues.
Matthew,
Thank you for your response. I do not think that Greg is the best blues guitar player in Wisconsin, I think that Greg is the best guitar player in this state, and possibly in the top ten guitar players in this country.
My belief is based on the fact when Fender chooses to unveil a new product, and have access to people like well Clapton, they choose Greg Koch.
While I am willing to conceed that many things go into making this decision, I am also willing to say that no one else from Wisconsin is chosen by the industry leader to unveil musical products based on the guitar.
I think that subjectively we can go around and around about this. But objectively, Fender has access to everyone that plays a Fender guitar, which includes people in Wisconsin, and they choose a guy from Waukesha.
I think this choice, and the other options avaailble to a company like Fender indicate that Greg might be of some sort of national significance.
I also think that you can point to the fact that Greg is a internationally know clinician, studio musician, and sought after endorser of product. Which moves us beyond the subjective, and into the objective.
No other guitar player is regarded in this way in Wisconins, not even Hubert. My assertion is not based on my subjective like or dislike of Gregs playing, but rather the way that the industry has responded to him, and the way he is held by his peers.
While we can differ on our opinion on who the best is subjectively, the objective part of this discussion seems clear to me.
Objective info:
Rolling Stone magazine #65 best guitar player of all time – Hubert Sumlin.
Objective info: Greg Koch won the WAMI award for best guitarist for the last time in 2005. Since then these people have won:
2009 award Evan Christian
2008 award Alex Wilson
2007 award Jack Grassel
2006 award Chris Dame
An objective case can be made that any and all of them are more highly regarded. After all they won the last four years.
You can say that because Greg Koch works for Fender somehow is a sign of greater stature than Eric Clapton putting Hubert Sumlin in the same category as Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert King and Freddy King. I guess it boils down to whether or not you know more about playing guitar than does Eric Clapton.
I’m sorry, but to suggest that Greg Koch is “objectively” better than Hubert Sumlin is preposterous. Matthew’s right: to suggest that anybody is “objectively” the best at anything is extremely suspect, but to argue, specifically, that Koch is better than Sumlin, who is routinely considered – by his peers – one of the best and most significant players of the 20th century, is going too far.
Dino, to suggest that someone is “objectively” better because a major corporation uses them to advertise their products is not only logically unsound, but it seems to contradict the spirit of artistic independence that you’ve nobly celebrated in the past. Besides which, Koch is not alone in being used by Fender to showcase their guitars; just because Eric Clapton, for example, doesn’t get paid to hype Fender guitars at trade shows doesn’t mean that Koch’s somehow more qualified or revered. Also, as Matthew points out, what about the people who play Gibsons, or any other guitar models? Where do they fit?
Koch is a great player; there’s no doubt about it, and I wouldn’t have any objection if you suggested that he’s one of the best players in Wisconsin, or even the nation. In fact, I wouldn’t have objected if you said that *subjectively*, Koch is better than Sumlin. (I wouldn’t have agreed with you, but that’s a matter of personal taste, in which all points of view are valid.) But Mr. Sumlin’s contributions to American music are vastly, vastly superior to Mr. Koch’s, and to assert that Sumlin’s “objectively” less good than Koch is simply wrong.
If Greg Koch and Hubert Sumlin both came to Wausau on the same night, who would you go see, Dino? More importantly, whose show would you promote?
Matthew,
I believe that Greg has been retired from consideration from that category. Yes, I am sure I know that.
I have not said that Greg is of as high stature as Clapton. I have said that Greg is of high stature than other guitar players in Wisconsin.
Let us be clear, Greg does not advertise these products. When a company wants to show what it is capable of doing the press and buyers, Greg demonstrates that.
No other guitar player in Wisconsin does that. No one is considered for that. As such, I believe that this is a significant point of separation for Greg versus the rest of the state.
We shall agree to see this vastly different. I make no claims to his relevance in the tapestry of modern American music. Sumlin will be seen as a far more significant factor. But, when the largest guitar company in the world seeks out a show pony, they chose Greg. This is significant. It is also significant that NO ONE else from Wisconsin is chosen.
To answer the question, if I had to pay my money to promote one…I would promote Sumlin. If I had to bet on which would draw better, I would bet on Greg.
If I had to chose which to see, it would be Sumlin.
If I had to ask who was a better guitar player, well I would never answer that. Your criteria for significance in claiming that Sumlin is more good or less good than Greg is different than mine.
Thank you for the discussion.
Come on. When Greg Koch demonstrates the capabilities of a Fender electric guitar for – in your words – “the press and buyers,” it is ABSOLUTELY an advertisement for the guitar. Why else would they ask such a talented player to demonstrate his skills on one of their products?
Sumlin has done instructional videos for Gibson, performed on Gibson-sponsored tours, and Gibson recently built a custom Sumlin model. Where does that figure into your thinking, Dino?
The bottom line is that there is probably no blues fan, and very few music fans, whose record collection doesn’t contain the playing of Hubert Sumlin. Can the same be said for Koch?
Hubert Sumlin has been name-checked by Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Prince and most of the great blues/rock guitar players of the past half-century as one of the greatest and most influential. Can the same be said for Koch?
The point is, Dino, whether or not you like Koch more than Sumlin (which, again, is your valid opinion), to suggest that Koch’s “objectively” better than Sumlin because Fender occasionally hires him to play their guitars at trade show isn’t much of a case.
Thanks, guys, I just remembered what I don’t like about the blues :)
Yeah, I agree with Tom here.
Thank you Charles. I believe we are talking about apples and oranges.
I have to make a correction. In the post I mistakenly said Howard has not had a job. This is untrue. Howard has worked in a factory for a short period of time, and drove a dump truck and was a Teamster for a few years.
He told me that just recently. I had no idea.
Howard is playing in Eau Claire in Owen Park on May 26th. He is the first act of the summer long Tuesday Blues in Owen Park. For info on the concert series, go to VolumeOne website.
http://volumeone.org/magazine/articles/556/Feeling_the_Blues_in_Owen_Park.html/page/2
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