Songs of Experience took flight like fireflies at Cactus Club on an August evening, delivered by Derek Pritzl, Valley Fox and headliners Natalie Sue & The Steed.
I can think of many ways to begin the end of a summer marred by a rising dew point, 1,000-year flooding and unkindly chaos, but none better than warming my spirit to pedal steel and tight harmonies among a packed crowd blessed to believe that summer continues.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Derek Pritzl: Songs Sneaking through the Pines
Taking the stage alone with an acoustic guitar, Derek Pritzl, from Valders, Wisconsin, poured out songs wearing bruised but lovely scars of hard-earned experience and long nights on the road. Under Pritzl’s spell of spare story-songs and soulful singing, I could almost hear the overhead lights flicker as the crowd absorbed his solo set. Pritzl’s set elicited howls and low whistles of agreement among the crowd, many of whom turned to each other as if to say “Hey, dig this guy!” Pritzl’s performance peaked with Valley Fox’s Joe Wais joining in on mandolin, bringing the boots crowd to their feet and a question to my mind: Is it OK to dance like George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou? As Pritzl concluded his set on a high note, the answer was three-letters long: Yes.
Valley Fox: Locked Eyes and High Harmonies
Guitarist/vocalist Laura Bomber and mandolin wizard/vocalist Joe Wais are a daring and dynamic duo as Milwaukee’s Valley Fox: nodding, winking (more about that later) and intertwining harmonies like two woodland snakes coiling around a crackling fire. Their energy was joined by Tori Yocum’s steady bass, and the three-piece Valley Fox flowed with folk and Americana drama in song, such as “Market Man” from their 2025 release, Bear Dance.
Back to the winking: Bomber mentioned having a minor facial glitch while reaching for harmonies, causing her to close one eye. In response to her unexpected winking, Wais countered that he was happily married, which brought a warm chuckle through the crowd. Wais added that his betrothed was currently “at book club.”
Despite a scary hit-and-run event that damaged her upright bass, Yocum added more humor by suggesting she had orchestrated the accident to bring electric bass into the Valley Fox fold. Humor, harmony and tightly constructed songs that bring a smile to your face and a stomp to your boot make Valley Fox an ideal band for brightening any bonfire or night on the town.
Natalie Sue & The Steed: A Band Becoming
Among the countless shows I attend, only a handful offer a Moment of Recognition. A Moment of Recognition is an energy that causes a band and audience to fuse briefly into one. I felt it at the Cactus Club on Aug. 28, as Natalie Sue & The Steed closed their show with a cathartic and purifying performance of “Diamond Jim”. Concertgoers clung curiously close to one another as the band and crowd radiated together, charged from the same exuberant current. Calls for an encore are rare at an EP release show, but headliners Natalie Sue & The Steed stuck the landing, delivering all five cuts from Patchouli and Tobacco, plus six additional songs.
Origin Story: Madrones of Departure & Cicadas of Arrival
Songwriter, vocalist and harmonica player Natalie Sue honed her songwriting skills while traveling as a medical professional, encountering love, loss, long roads and a someone best left behind. Natalie Sue was inspired by the madrones and madness of the American Northwest and the welcoming cicada drones of the Southeast, all of which helped to form the lyrics to her song (and triumphant show-closer) “Diamond Jim”.
During her travels, Natalie Sue also wrote “Lorelei”, a song about losing her mother to cancer when she was just a teenager. Writing the song helped her to navigate the dark corridors of such a loss. “She was a glowing, strong and successful woman,” Sue says. “When someone dies that quick and you’re a teenager, there’s so many secrets and stories, and I hadn’t even come to my own adulthood to know what to ask.”
Eventually, Natalie Sue found her way to Riverwest, where she decided to take a chance on winter’s night by attending a songwriter meet-up at The Uptowner. That night, she met drummer Robbie Sender and guitarist Ian Brook. Brook became a believer instantly. “I remember the night very clearly,” he says. “Natalie and Robbie wrote a song in the corner and played it for the rest of the group. When I heard Natalie’s voice, that was it. I said I’m going to chase this person down and make her sing more.”
Natalie Sue is thankful for that winter night. “We were all brave enough to get off our couches and go there that night,” she says. “Those things can be nerve-racking, but to just show up and be your most vulnerable self, it can be life-changing.” Natalie Sue & The Steed currently consists of Sender on drums, Brook on acoustic guitar, Peter Hair on bass, Morning Malsom on piano and Logan Scott on pedal steel. This winter, using Sender’s living room as a studio, the band recorded the songs on their 2025 EP, Patchouli and Tobacco, with mixing from Maximiano and mastering by Josh Evert at Milwaukee’s Silver City Studios.
Back to Becoming: The Live Show
Live, the six-piece Steeds built “Lorelei” to a cathartic conclusion that caught hold of the crowd, many of whom sang along to Natalie Sue’s lyric “I can’t wait to grow up and learn about you.” The full band brought rich textures highlighted by Logan Scott’s pedal steel and Morning Malsom’s groovy keys. Natalie Sue snuck some spoken-word poetry in between songs, tastefully lit by Brooks’ expert guitar, Hair’s heartbeat bass and Sender gently crashing cymbals. Igniting from the sudden crackle of embers left for dead, Natalie Sue & The Steed brought summer to life with songs gorgeous, assured and spooky.
Natalie Sue & The Steed Setlist: Cactus Club, Aug, 28, 2025
Brown Hawk
Love Burns Hot
Country Man
Autumn Moon
Lorelei
Cinnamon
Wrong Side of the Mountain – Old Pup
Patchouli and Tobacco
Lake of Love
Want For Nothing
Diamond Jim
