The Wildbirds are a 5-piece rock band from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

founded in 2007.

History

The original line-up was formed by Nicholas Stuart, Matthew Reetz, Michael Ziemann, and Jon Jon Fries in 2006 in Appleton, Wisconsin. Each had previously been a part of the indie-rock band Number One Fan. Shortly after the recording of their debut album, Michael Ziemann left the band and was replaced by Hugh Masterson. Their debut album Golden Daze, released on

Universal Republic Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

in 2007, was written in Matthew Reetz's hunting cabin in north woods Wisconsin. It was produced by

Greg Fidelman Greg Fidelman (born September 4, 1965) is an American record mixer, engineer and record producer. He is a frequent collaborator of producer Rick Rubin, and has worked with many bands in various genres, including Metallica, Slayer, High on Fire, B ...

( U2,

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

) and engineered by Greg Gordon (

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, JET,

Hot Hot Heat Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, formed in 1999. The band was signed by Seattle label Sub Pop in 2001 and released its first EP, ''Knock Knock Knock'', and first full-length album, '' Make Up the Break ...

). The album was reviewed by

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

in the January 24, 2008, issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''. The Wildbirds spent only 6 months on tour before taking an undefined hiatus in early 2008. Stuart relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then to Portland, Oregon. Fries moved to Woodstock, Illinois, where he pursued other musical interests. Reetz settled back in Appleton, Wisconsin, with his wife, Emily. Masterson spent time traveling between New York, Baton Rouge, Los Angeles, and Wisconsin. In February 2010, singer Nicholas Stuart announced The Wildbirds were once again active with an entirely new line-up. Stuart had reconnected with Masterson and moved to Milwaukee to begin writing music. The result, a 6-song EP entitled "Sunshine Blues", was released on July 22, 2010.

Publicity

Their song "Suzanna" was featured on Little Steven's Underground Garage 'The Coolest Songs in the World Vol. 6'. The song "421 (Everybody Loves You)" was played on national television when

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

threw his record-breaking 421st touchdown pass on October 1, 2007. The band cites this number was a mere coincidence. The band performed at the 2008 Winter

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

in Aspen, Colorado. The song "421 (Everybody Loves You)" was featured in

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's commercials leading up to the event, and "Hard on Me" was played during a feature on

Levi LaVallee Levi LaVallee (born August 31, 1982) is an American snowmobile racer. He won the Winter X Games VIII HillCross gold medal in 2004. At Winter X Games XII in 2008, LaVallee won gold in the Snowmobile Speed and Style event.Willoughby, Scott. "LaV ...

Discography

* Suzanna EP (2007) * PRC (Pat's Record Co) * Golden Daze (2007) * Sunshine Blues EP (2010)

Compilations

Little Steven's Underground Garage 'The Coolest Songs in the World Vol. 6' (2008)

References

External links

The Wildbirds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wildbirds, The Rock music groups from Wisconsin