The Traveling Suitcase

Everything Must Begin And End - Daytrotter

The rock band "The Traveling Suitcase" is wrapping up the month of August with a number of show for fans.

Here's a look at some upcoming gigs:

Saturday, August 24
Dog Dayz Afternoon Motorcycle and Car Show
Memorial Park, Neenah
12:45 p.m.
Monday, August 26
The Crunchy Frog, Green Bay
9 p.m.
Friday, August 30
Glass Nickel Pizza, Oshkosh
9 p.m. - Fox 11 News

For me, the biggest surprise was one that was right under my nose. The Traveling Suitcase was simply mesmerizing. The Oshkosh-based trio is a full throttle, loud, in your face, bona fide rock band.

I think my wife said it best about Nicole Rae’s voice — it’s cinematic. You mix that with Bill Grasley’s confident guitar skills and Brandon Domer’s stellar bass and keyboard playing and you’ve got a band with infinite promise.



I think it’s amazing that Mile of Music not only helped discover artists from across the country, but also helped me find a gem right in my own backyard.

I approached Rae after the band finished loading up and she clued me into the group’s origins.

“There used to be seven members of the band. I used to play guitar and sing. Drummer moved away, things got really weird. Tried to keep it going. I was just like fuck it, I’m going to play drums and sing. Then slowly but surely it blended into a three piece. I feel like it’s great. There’s less souls involved.”

She went on to say, “The thing to embrace about music and being in a band is always embrace change and not expect anything but to grow with your music and with your bandmates as friends.”

As with the other artists I interviewed, Rae couldn’t refrain from praising the efforts of the Mile of Music organizers.

“Mile of Music is incredible. I think the communication between all of the volunteers, the bands, the sound crews. Everyone that’s involved generally knows a lot of what’s going on, which is good. You have a lot of festivals where there’s lots of miscommunication. Bands and people are pissed off. The communication is great. Cory (Chisel) is a very good person. I have nothing but infinite gratitude toward him and Dave (Willems), the guy who really really helped push a lot of other things along financially. Which is beautiful. What he’s done for Appleton is incredible. Same for Cory. I just think this is a great thing to have and I hope it happens next year.”
- WhooNew

Appleton, WI (PRWEB) August 15, 2013

An estimated 10,000+ music lovers flocked to Downtown Appleton from August 8-11 to take in more than 100 live performances during the first-ever Mile of Music festival.

The event, a huge success according to lead organizers, featured four days of original music from a host of local to national recording artists who appeared at 42 different venues along the one-mile stretch of the City’s College Avenue.

In the first of two headline shows, festival co-founder and curator Cory Chisel – a Nashville-based singer who grew up in Appleton – performed to a sold-out crowd with his band, The Wandering Sons. He was joined on stage by the Hillary Reynolds Band, Spacewoman, The Candles and a solo act from his band-mate Adriel Denae. A surprise to the audience, Grammy-award winning musician Norah Jones also made a special guest appearance as she played guitar and piano during multiple sets and sang back-up vocals with the bands.

Saturday’s headline show at Lawrence Memorial Chapel featured music by Mel Flannery Trucking Co., Christopher Gold, Nicole Atkins and Justin Townes Earle before country crooner Rodney Crowell performed. Toward the end of the show, Chisel joined Crowell for a few songs.

Throughout the four-day event, feature stage artists like Communist Daughter and Field Report played to near-capacity audiences at bars, restaurants, coffee shops, cafés and outdoor patios lining Downtown Appleton. Chisel and other performers also made impromptu acoustical appearances at various locations.

As event co-founder Dave Willems of Appleton’s Willems Marketing explained, “We were overwhelmed by the positive response our community showed in this first year of the festival. People came out in droves and our event sponsors, organizers and volunteers really rallied around us.”

Willems gave local business partners and host locations a lot of credit for trying something new. “It’s hard to predict the outcome of any new event in its trial run and I appreciate the fact that so many people came on board and were willing to test this concept with us.” Willems added, “I think we can all agree that it exceeded our expectations.”

Appleton proved to be ready for a festival of this size as original estimates show over 10,000 people came to the 100+ events with many traveling from across Wisconsin and beyond to attend.

With plenty of shows for adult fans to check out, Mile of Music also catered to younger audiences with a variety of hands-on Music Education Events. The music-filled weekend featured a series of free sessions that allowed kids to get in on the excitement. Events like Balinese Gamelan and World Percussion along with Rhythm Sticks, Parachutes and Wonder Whacking encouraged even the youngest ages to interact and experiment with drumming and dancing.

A non-profit festival, Mile of Music plans to funnel funds right back into the community as proceeds will be split into two recently-established funds. The Creative Downtown Fund has been organized to provide seed money to artistic-inspired projects in Downtown Appleton. The Mile of Music Fund – set up through the Appleton Education Foundation – will provide funding for more music opportunities within the Appleton public schools.

The Mile of Music is a new artisan festival that kicked off in August 2013 and featured over 100 singer-songwriters and bands performing live in Downtown Appleton, Wis. It is a collaborative effort headed up by Nashville-based national recording artist Cory Chisel and organized among several organizations and individuals throughout the Appleton area community. For more festival information, visit http://www.mileofmusic.com.
- PRWeb

Over the weekend of August 8-11, Appleton (WI) was the destination for the inaugural Mile of Music Festival which featured 100+ musicians playing in more than 40 different venues scattered across College Avenue. The mastermind of the festival was hometown singer/songwriter Cory Chisel whose vision was to bring original music to Appleton and give the community an event where people could have fun, listen to music, and party with friends. Mission accomplished, Cory.
The Mile of Music Festival showcased musicians of various genres, including Americana, indie rock, country, jazz, soul, folk, and more. Local band Greg Waters & The Broad Street Boogie kicked off the festivities Thursday evening in the newly renovated Houdini Plaza. The group played a bunch of fan-favorites out of their original catalog and helped set the pace for a stellar weekend.
Chicago indie rockers California Wives had multiple sets over the course of the weekend, but really stole the show at Chadwick's Bar with a blistering set that included their hit song "Purple." As frontman Jayson Kramer belted out the lyrics "Will you break until you quit it?", the packed crowd most certainly did not want to quit dancing all night. Look for these guys as their fall tour schedule will be announced shortly, and we hope to have them back at next year's Mile of Music.
In typical Orbit Sound fashion, we've produced a Mile of Music Playlist that features tunes from some of the great artists that graced the stage this weekend. The first year was a success and we are stoked for next year, as plans are already in the works for the second Mile. Enjoy!


Mile Of Music 2013 Playlist

1. The Blakes - Don't Bother Me

2. Phox - Slow Motion

3. California Wives - Purple



4. Bright Kind - Documentation

5. Dead Horses - Glitterbug

6. Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons - Times Won't Change



7. The Candles - Blind Light

8. Orange Iguanas - Tell Me More (Demi Moore)

9. JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Rouse Yourself



10. The Traveling Suitcase - King Eliot

11. Those Darlins - Oh God

12. Norah Jones - Happy Pills

- Orbit Sound

Grammy winners and grandmas shared VIP status during Appleton’s Mile of Music, a four-day festival that celebrated both music and the Midwest, elevated new talent and encouraged Nashville’s stars to feel like one of us.

Molly and I saw 29 bands in four days; we sang along with old friends, discovered new favorites and expanded our music library exponentially.

We heard a sweet Norah Jones feigning shyness and filling the Lawrence Chapel with her distinctive voice, we saw Grammy winner and Sugarland drummer Travis McNabb smoothly playing percussion with a couple of knives and a napkin canister during a flash concert at the Queen Bee diner, and we felt the trajectory of Swear and Shake, whose talent and euphoria made them, in our opinion, one of the festival’s break-out stars.

We witnessed an emotional homecoming when Brooklyn native Mel Flannery brought her soulful jazz back to Appleton and shared the stage with her musical mentor and father, Post-Crescent executive editor Dan Flannery.

In fact, family turned out to be the theme, as Christopher Gold gave a playful shout-out to his four-year old son, who waved from the chapel balcony, Hillary Reynolds recruited her dad Ric Reynolds to play base guitar for their Friday night set, which ended with a sweet tribute to her mom Trina Reynolds, and Tanya Winch sat in with her brother Sam Winch the Lullabadeer during both his Friday and Saturday night sets.

Those who weren’t related by blood, found themselves related by music and warmly embraced by one of its most passionate ambassadors, Cory Chisel.

While the festival’s one caveat, that its artists must perform original music, may have eliminated some talented musicians, it also exposed a grateful audience to the poetry of a well-phrased lyric and the melody of a well-placed chord.

Molly and I popped into Copper Rock Friday afternoon and caught a powerful set by Nicole Rae, a drummer for the Traveling Suitcase. Nicole apologized for her nerves and then belted out a series of tunes so raw and moving we’re still thinking about them today.

Midway through the festival, an optimistic adjective casually attached itself, which should be good news for all of you. The first Mile of Music became the first annual Mile of Music and we hope to see you all there! - Molly B and Me

APPLETON — When plans were unveiled for Mile of Music in May, it was an ambitious undertaking and many wondered whether the Fox Valley would respond.

Boy, did they ever.

“Amazing,” Mile of Music co-founder and Appleton marketing executive Dave Willems said of the four-day festival that took over more than 40 venues in the downtown. “I think probably as well as we could have expected and probably more than Cory (Chisel) expected, I think. He is blown away by the community’s response and he’s excited that people have embraced it so much because it means we’ve got this great future.”

The inaugural event, organized by Willems and the Fox Valley native singer-songwriter Chisel, packed downtown bars, coffee shops, restaurants and other venues with performances from more than 100 acts throughout the weekend.

Patti Coenen, owner of Fox River House, said she expected the weekend to be busy but it exceeded her expectations “beyond belief.”

“The crowds were great and they were very respectful,” she said. “I have talked to several business owners and they all had the same reaction and they were just elated with the success of the weekend.”

Copper Rock Coffee manager Emilee Mortimer, who worked three of the festival’s four days, had a similar reaction.

“It was absolutely insane. ... It’s been amazing,” she said. “We’ve been running out of everything. It’s been way more than expected.”

Those taking in the slate headlined by a Friday performance by Cory Chisel and a Saturday show from Rodney Crowell were not just singing along to the original tunes, but also singing the praises of the first-time event.

A highlight for some likely was the Friday night appearance at the Lawrence Memorial Chapel by multiple Grammy Award-winner Norah Jones. Others may have been just as fond of the dozens of smaller-scale shows that came without an admission fee.

“This was my kind of event. I’m not real big on cover bands. ... I like the scope of original music,” said Bill Tracy, a Neenah resident who purchased a VIP ticket to gain access to all of Mile of Music’s offerings. “If you wanted to see blues, folk, indie, atmospheric, even jazz to some degree, it was there for you.” - Fox Cities Hub

APPLETON - People are moving and grooving along Appleton's College Avenue this weekend for the first Mile of Music festival.

More than 100 local and national bands are in town for the event.

It includes some big names, including singer, Norah Jones, who played Friday night.

The event's co-founder says despite it being the first year, Mile of Music is already pulling people in.

"We're thrilled. The people who have been coming down have the right attitude, the right philosophy about this - which is the music, to have fun and feel it out for the first year. The numbers have been stronger than I would say we expected, but maybe even hoped," said festival co-founder Dave Willems.

The festival will host its fourth and final day of music Sunday, starting at 11 a.m. - Fox 11 News

4. The Traveling Suitcase (9:45 p.m. Friday, Mill Creek, free; 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Anduzzi’s, Feature Stage): I love rock bands with female lead singers because I feel like there’s so much emotion and power in their songs. Nicole Rae as frontwoman of The Traveling Suitcase is no exception. The Oshkosh band caught my interest with the playful “Frog.” - Appleton Post Crescent

4. The Traveling Suitcase (9:45 p.m. Friday, Mill Creek, free; 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Anduzzi’s, Feature Stage): I love rock bands with female lead singers because I feel like there’s so much emotion and power in their songs. Nicole Rae as frontwoman of The Traveling Suitcase is no exception. The Oshkosh band caught my interest with the playful “Frog.” - Appleton Post Crescent

For the Eastside Music Tour they made their 5:00p slot feel like headliner, that’s a pretty good sign of gnarl even if day drinking is involved. Give them shades from other bands of now, or the future, and their eyes will blaze through those tinted lenses and burn your face off. The Traveling Suitcase rallies harmonic, desperate, and mercurial spirits. Spreading themselves as thin as artistically possible, they’re getting around the Midwest for live shows, keeping their edges tattered. - Local Trolley