Your quick guide to Milwaukee concerts in spring 2026
Here’s a look at some of the top acts coming to the Milwaukee area from March through May 2026.
A music scene veteran ending a dry spell, a singer-songwriter pivoting (and protesting) after an injury, and a prolific artist in the midst of an ambitious creative challenge are among the eight Milwaukee artists with the best new albums, EPs and songs to check out in March. Our recommendations are listed below in alphabetical order.
With production support from veteran genre-pushing artist Cullah, Mie puts on a grand show with “Freakshow,” the single offering up bombastic rock touches (with appropriate pipes to match), although the song’s unnerving sense of dread is the main attraction.
The globetrotting blues rock band – a festival appearance is happening in India next month – continues to satisfy on their eighth studio album more than two decades deep into their career. Jeff Taylor remains a classic robust singer, Jeff Schroedel’s guitar licks are steeped in genre tradition – but there’s plenty of wit and soul in the songwriting that keeps Altered Five fresh.
Ian Olvera has stayed plenty active in Milwaukee’s music scene as a producer, sound mixer and recording engineer, but his own musical output has understandably slowed. The dry spell is finally over with his project’s Daydream Retrievers’ latest single with its relatable, melancholy sentiment going down smooth with Olvera’s catchy pop hooks. (Not surprisingly, he plays almost every instrument too.)
“Lost My Mind,” Mia Hart
The 21-year-old senior at the University of Southern California recalls Maggie Rogers on this vulnerable, absorbing, instantly memorable pop song, suggesting great promise for a debut EP currently in the works.
The singer-songwriter can’t play guitar right now – he’s on wrist rest due to an aggravated nerve – but that’s not keeping him from creative challenges and expression, and from protesting in song, with this keyboard-led track penned after Renée Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
In the wake of his beautiful and contemplative project “Nary A Care” that saw him process the passing of his father, Travis Whitty has returned with another captivating song collection that this time finds inspiration from his grandparents, and is manifested in different ways, from the gentle opener “Precocious Rhododendron” that makes a surprise turn, to the emo-infused, ripping rocker “Song For Dolores.”
As if the prolific Andrew David Weber wasn’t busy enough playing in multiple area bands and with his solo material, he’s giving himself the daunting challenge of releasing a new song every week this year. There’s already plenty of good stuff to catch up, but we’ll steer to you to this quirky toe-tapper “Only The Dark” to get you started.
Don’t let the title fool you – the power-pop-seasoned punk band has plenty of energy on this four-song EP, from vocal-soaring opener “Spill Your Guts” through dreamy thought-provoker “All The Time” at the end, with its sweet lyric, “If you’re listening to this, I’m just glad you exist.”
“Must-Hear Milwaukee Music” runs on or around the first of every month in the Journal Sentinel and at jsonline.com. If you have a new album, EP or song coming out, contact Piet Levy at [email protected] for review consideration. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.jsonline.com ’
