On Valentine's Day, The Midwest Beat bid adieu with its fourth and final album "Incantations." This is no big surprise—the Milwaukee/Madison band, and its fans, knew this was coming. The group hadn't been as active since its 2014 release. Then, Matt Joyce moved to Colorado earlier last year, officially sealing the deal.
The Midwest Beat has had an incredible musical career since 2005. The band played over 294 shows, released four full-length albums and long list of singles and compilations, toured internationally multiple times (Kyle Denton actually met his wife in Italy on their first European tour and now they forage herbs & own Tippecanoe Herbs in Walker's Point), opened for bands like The Dictators, The Black Lips, The Dirtbombs, played a wedding in a barn in the Black Forest of Germany, explored castles in Bolzano, Italy and played in a packed outdoor tent during a rain storm in Beloit.
With all the band's travels and experiences, it's the people that stood out while noting their love for Milwaukee's home base. "Best parts were all the good friends we spent time with, people that traveled with us or would host us. Lots of unforgettable people along the way," Chris Capelle says. "Splitting a bill with old Milwaukee friends usually makes for the best/most fun shows." The Midwest Beat recorded this album in Madison with Kyle Motor and had it mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering. It's essentially a compilation of the best tracks from what they've recorded since their last LP " Free of Being" in 2014. Chris does mention that there are some more tracks from where these came from and hopes to release those eventually as well. The final album is a 13-track compilation that rallies together "honorary band members," as Kyle mentions, and it's the first release where all four members contributed a song for the album. "We kinda beat ourselves up at the end trying to finish it and eventually it just sat there all done," Kyle says. Listen to the goodbye below: