Independent singer-songwriter Jeremiah Nelson is bringing Midwestern-style folk and blues music back to his hometown of Rochester.

Nelson will perform as part of the forWARD Neighborhood Park Concert series on Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. at Roy Watson Youth Sports Complex, 1000 Essex Parkway NW. Americana band Jealous Brother is the show’s opener.

Best known now in Madison’s music scene, Nelson’s music history mixes solo ventures and collaborative efforts. First releasing the album Take Me Down the Interstate as a singer in the band Patchwork, he released his solo album Drugs to Make You Sober in 2011, later followed by his EP Whittier in 2014. His latest album, Charades, was released in 2017 as part of his new project Hope Simulator Pro.

Reporter Haley Handelman recently spoke with Nelson to learn about his musical influences and how he creates his music.

MCB: Could you tell me about your history with music and how you first started?

Nelson: I'm from here; I grew up in Rochester, and I played music as a kid and stuff. For the first actual paid music gig I had, I was a mandolin player in a band called Stage Fright. And then I moved to Wisconsin, back moved back, moved to Los Angeles, then to Minneapolis, then back to Madison — I kind of bounced around a lot. But I’ve always been trying to do music, it’s been a pretty consistent thing in my life.

MCB: What artists can you point to that have significantly influenced your style of music?

Nelson: Blues and folk music has been the bedrock of a lot of stuff I've been involved in. I always like to pay attention to new music as much as I can and learn new production techniques. You look at people you see who are successful and you try and learn from what they're doing. Also, there's a lot of folk musicians in this area so sometimes I try to use that as a framework and build on it — add some more bells and whistles. As for specific artists, it's always changing. Sometimes I'll specifically not listen to something if I feel like there's too much of it out there. Bob Dylan was a huge influence early on; Gil Scott-Heron also. I feel like I always hear about music from my friends that turn me on to it, more so than I hear on the radio or internet.

MCB: You produce your own music as a singer-songwriter. What motivates you to write your songs and what are they about?

Nelson: That’s a great question. I don’t think songwriters always have an underlying specific point A to point B reason for writing. If I’m working collaboratively with someone, that’s different. I just did a song with (award-winning singer-songwriter) Brad Hoshaw and we wrote it a long time ago — but working on it I said, “This is gonna be a Brad Hoshaw song. Let's make this as Brad Hoshaw like as possible.” At the time he had a bunch of slower and mid-tempo songs, so we wanted to do something that was a little faster. I try to figure out what's missing from the equation and help the artists do that, I also try and do that with my own stuff as much as possible.

An analogy I heard for songwriting is that a good song can function in any style and then the production is the outfit you dress it up. So theoretically, a good song can work in any genre. I would say folk is my focus — maybe it's just being from the Midwest, but I’m well anchored in that world.

MCB: Will you be performing solo at your Rochester show — or with a full band?

Nelson: We’re going to have a full band. We will be playing a bunch of my songs as well as other people’s, so it will be a collaborative atmosphere.

MCB: How are you feeling about coming back to Rochester to perform?

Nelson: I’m feeling good! … We had one other band show earlier this year that went pretty well. So, I just hope some people come out and that the weather’s good. It would be great to see everybody.

Watch Jeremiah Nelson live in concert this Wednesday in Rochester. Details here.

✍️ Interview by Haley Handelman

About the opener: Jealous Brother

Jealous Brother is an alternative Americana band based in Rochester, and draws from influences such as The Jayhawks, Wilco, Tom Petty, Neil Young and Dolly Parton. Their self-titled debut album, released in December of 2020, features renowned drummer Noah Levy (Honeydogs, Brian Setzer, Golden Smog), and their follow-up, Back in Session, was released in May of 2021.Their original music is inspired by odd and tragic news stories, current events, and unique life experiences. They bring audiences and listeners a combination of lyrical twists, vocal harmony and instrumental flourishes.