It’s time for a Music Maker Monday showcase with two of Appleton’s favorites and a special visit from out west! Host for the evening Adriel Denae will be joined by Julia Blair as well as Izaak Opatz, making his Gibson debut all the way from the great city of Missoula, Montana!

Who: Adriel Denae, Izaak Opatz, Julia Blair
When: Monday, July 25 at 7:00 PM (Doors at 6:30 PM)
Where: Gibson Community Music Hall (211 W College Ave, Appleton)
Admission: $10 at the door; Free for Mile of Music Music-Makers and Downtown Appleton hospitality workers

ADRIEL DENAE:

Adriel Denae grew up in an old hotel in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago within a philanthropic, musical family and spiritual commune surrounded by relics of the gilded and jazz ages. Gospel, folk, blues, jazz, and the sounds and experiences of a uniquely diverse neighborhood pointed her sensibilities towards timelessness and mystery.

IZAAK OPATZ:

Like many of his favorite songwriters (John Hartford, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy), Izaak Opatz is an ungulate in life’s winter pasture, chewing on and metabolizing disappointment, heartbreak, and the other tough stuff into enjoyable musical carbohydrates.

A compulsive metaphorager (and inveterate wordplayboy), Opatz breaks it all down with enzymes of wry humor, thoughtful simile and close observation – a therapeutic process of narrativizing his own life that, almost as a byproduct, turns out savory nuggets of literate, confessional pop.

JULIA BLAIR:

Julia Blair’s been a staple of the Fox Valley music scene for years, gaining notoriety through playing in Holy Sheboygan and Dusk before releasing a few short solo collections. Being the co-owner and operator of renowned Appleton recording studio Crutch of Memory (which now also operates as a record label and boasts a literary arm), has further heightened Blair’s profile. A dynamic vocalist and preternaturally gifted stage presence with an endearing oddball nature, Blair’s personality has occasionally been pushed to the sidelines of her various projects’ collected work. On her first solo full-length, Better Out Than In, that personality becomes the engine.