You might reckon Milwaukee is historically a polka kind of town, but a new trend is rolling like a tumbleweed across the city, from Riverwest to the shores of Bay View, from Oconomowoc to Wild West Allis. That’s right, country line-dancing is shuffling across the area like a grape vine.
There seems to be a dispute on how many hoedowns this town can handle, though.
Paul Robbins, creator of Robbins’ Roundup, a “honky tonk takeover,” is of the strong opinion that there is plenty of room. His Roundup night takes place regularly at Riverwest’s Falcon Bowl and Bay View’s Club Garibaldi. Admission to the night includes line-dancing lessons, followed by a set by Robbins’ honky tonk band, Convoy, who sing boot scootin’ tunes like “Everything’s Bigger in Texas.”
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Robbins says the goal of creating the event was to provide a fun time, especially to line-dancing newbies.
“Our crowd is new to it and casual I would say,” Robbins says. He wants the event to appeal to those who are curious and might be intimidated by not knowing the moves. “I went to a Texas two-step night once and no one would dance with me so I could learn because they were all too good for a beginner.”
Robbins began hosting the Roundup late last summer. The night quickly grew in popularity, sometimes drawing upwards of 90 folks. Everything was going as smooth as a buzzard gliding on a lazy breeze, but then Robbins’ dance instructor (we ain’t gonna name names) said he felt pressure from another line-dancing group he trucked with.
The group felt he was horning in on their territory, and feeling about as low as a rattlesnake belly, this fellow hung up his hat. Around this same time, Convoy’s drummer decided it was time to skedaddle. Robbins thought the Roundup’s goose might be cooked.
An anonymous source says the group that had a bee in their bonnet is Redd’s Line Up, but when asked about it, the group’s namesake (“I only go by Redd”) flatly denies it. “I’ve never heard of them.” Redd, a former figure skater, got into line-dancing when she was 14. “I had a crush on a boy who liked country music,” she explains.
Redd has been all over the country, and everywhere she went, she line-danced. A DJ eventually took her under his wing and she started Redd’s Line Up with a dance team of about ten a little over two years ago.
Redd keeps a full dance card, developing a following with her weekly events: Tuesdays at Shotzy’s in Oconomowoc, a beginner class Wednesdays at the Oak Creek Community Center and another open dancing night Thursdays at Shotzy’s II in West Allis, as well as regular nights at Kelly’s Bleachers II in Wind Lake, Water Street’s Red Rock Saloon and other locales.
At a recent Sunday evening at Red Rock Saloon, the dance floor was packed. Redd, wearing a black cowboy hat and a sparkly, fringe covered vest, shouted stomping orders into a mic from the DJ booth, as an energetic blast of fiddles and banjos played through the speakers.
“Stomp! Shuffle! Shuffle! Put ‘em up, put ‘em up!” Redd instructed as the crowd moved side to side, with a stomp and a clap clap.
“Line-dancing has taken off like wildfire,” Redd says. “I got to give a lot of credit to TikTok.”
Regarding the conflict mystery, Redd says there are a few other line-dancing groups in Southeastern Wisconsin and that “there’s always drama with groups like this.” She mentions that she knows of at least one other instructor that she’s heard dislikes her. “I don’t know why. I don’t know if it’s territorial stuff or if people feel threatened. I just think it’s really unnecessary. Community is important to me, that’s what makes line-dancing so fun.”
As for Robbins, he was able to find a replacement instructor and says Convoy will find a new drummer or will switch in guest bands. He’s got a long string of Friday nights booked at Club Garibaldi and is working on Falcon Bowl dates, too.
And if that ain’t enough, there’s a new line-dance night just two hoots and a holler across the street from Club Garibaldi at Cactus Club, the Slap Leather Saloon Queer Line Dance Night. Here, both Robbins and this group agree that Wentworth Avenue is big enough for the both of them. As the name suggests, the night was created to be safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, says Ali Henderson, who hosts the event with dance instructor Collin O’Brien. The event premiered earlier this week, with a second installment scheduled for May 22, and after that it’ll be a quarterly hootenanny.
“Line-dancing has a really rich history in the queer LGBTQ+ space, as far back as the ‘70s, maybe earlier, it’s been a safe haven,” Henderson explains. “People could just come and be themselves and meet other people.” Henderson attended a “queer farming convergence” where one of the activities was line-dancing. She had a blast and got hooked on the idea.
“I was like, I wish Milwaukee had something like this, more spaces where we can have fun and forget about everything going on,” Anderson says.
And with the garshdern world in the state it is, that just might be the best thing line-dancing provides, whether you’re down with Robbins, Redd or the Slap Leather Saloon: it’s a chance to dance those ever lovin’ worldly blues away.
