Soul Asylum to play Green Bay Distillery

You have to go all the way back to the Pavilion Nights tent at Oneida Casino for the last time “Runaway Train” rolled through town, so to say Soul Asylum is due for a stop might be an understatement.

The Minneapolis quartet will play its first Green Bay show since 2006 when it headlines June 28 at Green Bay Distillery. The band is at Summerfest the next night, so convenient routing likely was a factor.

Tickets are $25 in advance and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at eventbrite.com.

Founding frontman Dave Pirner and longtime drummer Michael Bland will be joined by Winston Roye on bass and guitarist Ryan Smith for the current lineup. Founding bass player Karl Mueller died of cancer in 2005.

The alt-rock band released its 11th studio album, “Change of Fortune,” last year and played the South by Southwest Music Conference in support of the release.

Before the band found mainstream success with the “Grave Dancers Union” album in 1992, it once played Lefty’s bar in Green Bay in the late ’80s for as little as $200. The floor of the bar is featured on the back of Soul Asylum’s 1988 “Hang Time” CD.

Pirner spent time in Green Bay growing up. His mom and her family are from the city, and he would frequently visit to see his grandparents and cousins.

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EastWest takes a summer vacation

The EastWest Music Fest won’t return to De Pere this summer.

The city is taking this year off from the free indoor concert series, said Tina Quigley, executive director of Definitely De Pere. It debuted in 2015 as part of the De Pere’s 125th anniversary celebration and returned in 2016 in a revised format,

There will be a continued focus on encouraging live music venues in the city to bring in original artists, but the EastWest event will not be back in its current format as Definitely De re-evaluates the event and its future, Quigley said.

During its inaugural year, EastWest Music Series featured Americana-style bands, duos and solo artists, primarily from Wisconsin, playing original music at eight venues on both sides of the Fox River in De Pere on six Fridays June through August. It was a joint production of the City of De Pere, Definitely De Pere and Mile of Music Productions.

Last year, Mile of Music Productions announced EastWest would return as Unison Credit Union’s EastWest Music Series, featuring local and regional singer-songwriters on 10 consecutive Thursdays at four venues June through August.

Indoor programming in Green Bay in the summer can sometimes be a hard sell, particularlywith so many free outdoor concert series all over the city.

On the festival front

» The Burning Cow Music Festival is turning it up for this year’s lineup. Autograph, the rock band known for its 1984 hit “Turn Up the Radio,” is among the acts featured at the blues, alt-country and rock fest held July 27-29 on 40 acres north of Sturgoen Bay.

Acts are still being added to the lineup, but Skinny Molly, Eric Sardinas, Diemonds, The Plott Hounds, The Righteous Hillbillies, Rebel Soul Revival, Perry Hutchins and Nick Bifano & The Innocents have already signed on for the event that ends with the burning of an enormous wooden cow.

Three-day tickets are on sale for $40 until July 26 at ticketstaronline.com, (800) 895-0071, Resch Center box office and The Exclusive Co. They’ll be $50 during the event, and single-day passes will be available at the gate only. All tickets include free camping on site.

» Garland Jeffreys will headline the 39th annual Metro Jam — still a free gig — on June 17 at Washington Park in Manitowoc.

You can always count on the eclectic free fest to come up with a national headliner that can’t just be defined by a radio hit or two.Jeffrey, 73, has been described as a true Renaissance man and a musical poet. He’s also the artist Bob Marley once called the only American who could really sing reggae. Known for spanning genres from blues and soul to Americana and rock, his “Wild in the Streets,” recorded in 1973 with Dr. John and his band, has been called timeless.

Remembering Paul O’Neill

I was sad to hear about the death last week of Paul O’Neill at age 61. He was the founder and mastermind behind Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which has been a longtime draw in Green Bay, dating back to its first holiday tour stop at Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena in 2000. It sold out a pair of shows as recently as December at the Resch Center.

His vision for the over-the-top pyrotechnics and the live show spectacle aside, he was also one of my favorite people to interview. It seems like we connected every couple of years, and somehow — one can only imagine how insane his schedule was — he would remember what we talked about the last time. Those phone interviews were always warm, personal, conversational and often veered off topic. He struck me as a guy with a huge heart.

O’Neill was well-known for his generosity. During one of the TSO tour stops at the Resch, he randomly handed out rare coins and $100 bills to children in the corridor to encourage them to pay the holiday spirit forward. In 2014, TSO sent a 9-year-old from Howard home with an electric guitar autographed by the band.

kmeinert@pressgazettemedia.com and follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert