Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere presented by The Cooperage connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
We saved something special for our final Milwaukee Music Premiere of 2024. Something different. Something that very much fits with our non-commercial, genre-flexible history.
After 12 months of sharing tracks from Milwaukee artists that range from psychedelic to barnstorming bluegrass and from rap to rockabilly, we’re going full-on classical for this year’s 30th and last premiere: “Ephraim” from Alicia Rytlewski.
It’s not as much of a departure for us as you might think. When I first listened to the song, my brain jumped straight to the Ben Folds section of my music library. Considering “Ephraim” is carried entirely by Rytlewski and her piano, it’s an easy comparison but also an apt one.
With very little effort, I could imagine Folds-ian lyrics layered onto the track, telling the story of a garbageman with pastry chef aspirations or a trip to the pharmacy that somehow ended in a Winnipeg bus station. He also loves a good waltz, and unless my admittedly novice music education has totally led me astray here, “Ephraim” is built on that 3/4 time signature (for reference, think about every “clumsy guy learns to ballroom dance” scene in any movie ever … “one-two-three, one-two-three”).
Rytlewski didn’t compose “Ephraim” with a twirl across the dance floor in mind. Rather, it was a gift of sorts for her uncle’s wedding, which took place in the village of Ephraim in Door County. As guests gathered for the lakefront affair near a graffiti-covered barn, Rytlewski debuted a song that has a “looking out over a vast body of water” feeling. It is, at times, gentle and insistent and soothing and stirring, with a melody that recurs at key points to anchor you throughout.
While Rytlewski created “Ephraim” years ago, it wound up setting the tone for an entire album fueled by scenes and settings across Wisconsin — “from a biodynamic farm in rural Campbellsport to the snow-blanketed streets of Milwaukee,” as stated in her announcement for When We Were Bears.
While we wait to hear what emerged from those travels, we have this track inspired by Door County and joyful life moments. Listen to “Ephraim” using the player at the top of the page, and visit Alicia Rytlewski’s digital home to hear more from the upcoming album, which will be out in full Jan. 24.
