Local music critic offers top recommendations for this year's Mile of Music Festival

Scott is the Lester Bangs of the Fox Cities and the unofficial music reviewer and overall chronicler of the annual Mile of Music Festival, which runs from July 30 through Aug. 2. We will highlight Scott's top 35 picks over the next two weeks.                 

Our proud city's original music mega train, the Mile of Music Festival, rolls through town July 30 to August 2 along a one-mile stretch of road in Downtown Appleton. This year, 183 solo performers and bands, as well as 35 Mile of Music Music Education Team educators, will present four days of euphoric music making.

For me, and for so many others, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Part of the experience is deciding which artists to see. I am sharing 35 artist recommendations that I’ve written over the last several weeks. In my experience, that's a reasonable number of acts to see if you plan to listen to full sets of music, all day, all four days. If I write about ’em, I plan to see ’em!

TOMMY PRINE  Americana                                                                                                                                                       "By the way, people say, I look just, like, you." 

As Prine sang that lyric and his acoustic guitar vibrated softly against his voice, Gibson Community Music Hall listeners shed a tear of joy: Tommy Prine, son of storied songwriter John Prine, was acknowledging his father's legacy while carving out his own narrative. Two years after his 2024 Mile debut, young Prine (he's 30 now) returns to Appleton as one of the top acts at Mile of Music 13. "By The Way," from his 2023 album, This Far South, is a subtle shoutout and they certainly do look alike. But while John always had a quirky dissonance in his voice, Tommy's voice is smooth – even lavish – in tone on songs that land as solidly as his dad's. This Far South is a metaphor for Tommy's early struggles with addiction and search for direction, prior to the emotional death of his dad in 2020. 

Soon after, Tommy committed to music as a career, emerging as a newly inspired talent. On the eve of his debut at the Grand ‘Ol Opry in 2023, Prine described it as “walking alongside” his father’s shadow. These are Tommy’s songs, but the dual role his father played in his life – loving parent and famous song man – isn't far from the heart of his songwriting. The first song on his debut, “Elohim,” spotlights Prine’s forthright irreverence in the face of reality. “I don’t believe in God,” he asserts, in a rock-and-roll flourish of honest expression. “I’d rather be a disciple to my memories.” 

The album includes mid-tempo rockers and slow, Jason Isbell-style tunes, pure Americana that highlights the strength of Prine’s voice. The burgeoning songwriter's lyrics are enunciated clearly, with newfound conviction, if not certainty. “Some Things” is both a love song to his wife Savannah, and another lament for the loss of his father. 

“I gotta get used to the things I can’t change. Some things stick around and some things go away.” 

It’s not unlike Prine’s first single, 2022’s “Ships in the Harbor.” But Prine can be jovial and light-hearted, too, as he chortles in his live-show, between-song explanation of "Purple Paint," from his 2025 EP, "Love Circle." 

"She colors my life, when I can't decide or I'm running in circles . . . she gave me purple." 

Prine is a quintessential folk singer for our times. And by the way ...

FARAYI   Americana

Labeling an artist as talented and diversely inspired and educated as Farayi, aka Farayi Malek, is a losing exercise. Still, Americana fits. Immersed in the American songbook (she learned over 200 jazz standards at an arts high school in Idaho), inspired by the cultural heritage of her Zimbabwean father and exposed to folk, gospel and classical music in her formative years, Farayi has earned Grammy nominations in several genres and is now reinventing her way to her roots as a solo artist. Farayi completed her master's degree at Berklee Global Jazz Institute in 2018 and, when not recording and performing, is a professor at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory. Former Berklee president Roger Brown praised her as having a “once in a generation voice.” 

Her debut release from last year, Edge of the Earth, shines a light on that voice: simple, effortless, and captivating in its eloquence. It also highlights her songwriting. On “Tonight,” lyrics flow like a poem from the heart of Maya Angelou: 

“The cold nights get lonely and I know you'd be here with me if you could/And when my moon is rising your sun is shining/And the joys of summer days are still with you and so my heart grows weary/But I imagine your voice whispering sweet nothings in my ear and that tomorrow's here.” 

In a world of dissonance, pain and negativity, the Americana soul of Farayi is a rising moon, a shining sun, a promise of hope. 

FRAIL TALK   Folk

Frail Talk, aka Al Woodchek and Cor Wright, celebrate their musical partnership through side-eyed vocal harmonies. The lyrics are happy and clever, the acoustic folk stylings are rich and their voices blend pleasantly. Throw in some ambient musings, synth sounds, bells, whistles and interesting percussion and a musical goulash has been created for bold, perhaps patient, listeners to ladle up. Both Woodchek and Wright play guitar and a bunch of other stuff while talk-singing tunes just above a whisper. 

“You and I sipping on coffee, except not really just you and me. Because I like tea.” 

On their 2024 full-length debut, Microspirit, “Slam Dunk” is a standout track that gives insight into their unique songwriting methods. The 14 tracks are fleshed out with Tobias Banks on drums and Nathaniel Riley on bass. In concert, it’s an ears-to-the grindstone experience: Listen carefully so you can take in every nuance. But the delicateness and whimsy of their work does not belie their sincerity. Indeed, Quiet Conviction might have been a better name; Frail Talk is just a clever swipe at humility. 

STRAWBERRY LAUNCH   Indie Rock

The sprite electric guitar bursts on Strawberry Launch’s best songs (“Sweet Basil” stands out) are joyful reminders of pop songs from days gone by. There is a confluence of musical creativity in this five-member band that keeps them on fleek. While one song features the melodic voice of band founder Riiza, another jumps out for its ultra-cool synth sounds.

As a college student at New York University in 2018, Riiza set out to form a “girl band.” She subsequently shaped an indie pop quintet, a New York City rock band that has now toured the county, including shows at South By Southwest and, this year, Mile of Music. In addition to Riiza, Strawberry Launch includes guitarist Matrianna Gahol, Taylor Hurt on keyboards, Abby Flicker on bass and Benjy Berkowitz on drums.

“Videos” challenges the happy-vibe of most of their tracks. Another stellar song, “The Sun,” combines the energy of vintage Stone Temple Pilots with McCartney-like fancy:

“Shimmers of the snow/Shimmers on a lake/Shimmers on my skin/Shimmers on my face/I stare at the sun/′Cause I know you're staring at it somewhere.”

Strawberry Launch is a gritty, sister-less sister-act to acclaimed band HAIM with a touch more psychedelia, and joyful exuberance. 

CLAIRE KELLY   Americana 

The last time Claire Kelly came to Appleton, her a cappella version of the Irish standard, “Grace,” misty-eyed a packed crowd already spellbound by her by the marrying of her diverse catalogue of mid-tempo Americana tunes, sumptuous voice and optimistic charm. It didn’t hurt that her dad was among those in the audience singing along. Even as Kelly’s Irish star has risen from shy young songstress to confident, Nashville everywoman, the coquettish smile lingers. As she sings in “Tapestry,” 

"I'm a tapestry/Everyone I've ever loved's a part of me/Woven, piece by piece together/Worn and weathered, it keeps on making me better.” 

Her tapestry of acoustic love and longing songs includes tales of Irish castles, drunk girls, dandelion wine and Jeffery Jones, the hairless cat she once encountered while touring Europe. Her recent project, Be Careful Who You Kiss in Nashville – The Album, is named for the song she wrote based on a post-date experience she had where “they kiss and write, that’s worse.” Back in Appleton for her sixth Mile festival, Kelly speaks to a feeling: The joy of her performance builds throughout her set – hopeful, realistic and emotionally rewarding under the care of her lovely voice.