Bio

Over the last decade, Milwaukee-based band Listening Party has sought to create songs that deeply resonate with their listeners. Their folk and Americana-steeped sound expertly and reverently takes the pulse and traditions of their genre while adding their own charm. Milwaukee-based Shepherd Express even compared the band to The Avett Brothers and The Lumineers. They’ve stayed busy with shows ranging from dive bars to regular main stage performances at Summerfest. Pounding the pavement for over 120 shows a year throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest has led them to a road-tested live performance.

Much like Bob Dylan and Jon Prine and more current contemporaries such as The Avett Brothers and The Lumineers, Milwaukee, WI-based band Listening Party is indebted to the traditions of folk, rock and Americana and taking those styles to new horizons. At the heart of their sound, storytelling and melody reign supreme, with songs seeking to examine stories rooted in the joys and perils of life.

After earning a Music Education Degree, Jacob Wood decided to move from his hometown in Iowa to Milwaukee to focus on live performance. It was there he met Weston Mueller, a Wisconsin-based singer-songwriter. They formed the band in 2013 in an effort to create and perform original music together.

In 2021, the band traveled to Hartland, WI, to record the new songs they had compiled at Axis Studios, a converted 19th century chapel that sits atop a hill, with studio owner Vinny Millevolte. The non-traditional recording space inspired the songs and led to their latest album Been a Long Time Comin,’ released in 2023. It’s their fourth studio album and first in four years.

Photos by: Jessica Kaminski at The Refinery Photo Studio