Marielle Allschwang

Marielle Allschwang—songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and member of some of Milwaukee’s finest ensembles (Collections of Colonies of Bees, Hello Death)—sits at the center of the band she has named The Visitations, where she "[commands] the stage with hushed intensity" while, together, her formidable ensemble “[make the past 20+ years of Milwaukee post-rock] thunder and glisten” (Evan Rytlewski, Shepherd Express). At times gentle and beautiful, at others brutal and terrifying, “Allschwang’s voice seems familiar: it’s a timeless instrument, full of sadness, beauty, and independence, rooted in the fertile ground of Americana but twisted into the wilding sky of the avant-garde” (Matt Wild, Milwaukee Record).  

Allschwang’s debut album, Dead Not Done, was released on cassette on Gloss Records in 2015; it was featured on year-end “Best Albums of Milwaukee” lists by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Shepherd Express, and Milwaukee Record, who lauded its “Lynchian beauty and grace." Allschwang re-released Dead Not Done on vinyl in 2016: this would be the first of three self-released, critically acclaimed LP’s under Allschwang’s authorship. Allschwang's video for "Aquarium," which she produced alongside its director, Heather Hass, received RadioMilwaukee's 2017 Music Video of the Year Award and screened at film festivals internationally.

In July 2017, Allschwang recorded materials with her band The Visitations and engineer Jaime Hansen at the Chair Company (Milwaukee, WI) to create what would be the "Marcus & Ramona/Married" ep (rel. June 2018) and her sophomore full length record, VISITATIONS IV (rel. May 8, 2019). The latter got top honors from Milwaukee Record (#1 album of 2019). Night Gathering: A Ritual in Four Acts was self-recorded and released October 17, 2018. Allschwang and The Visitations quickly followed up VISITATIONS IV with the release of Precession of a Day: The World of Mary Nohl, a double-LP song cycle dedicated to the life and art of legendary artist Mary L. Nohl, which was named #5 and #8 in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Tap’d Milwaukee’s “Best of 2019” lists respectively—thus putting two very different Visitations full length albums in the city’s “best-of” roster. Piet Levy says of Precession of a Day: “Allschwang's songs, like Nohl's creations, are spellbinding works of art in their own right” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Previous to contributing vocals and dance (the latter in collaboration with choreographer Dawn Springer) to Collections of Colonies of Bees and violin, guitar, and vocals to Hello Death, Allschwang performed violin and vocals in Group of the Altos, having recorded on both of their full lengths "Altos" and "R U Person or Not." She also was with Altos for their milestone performances of ALTOS: EARTH—a live original score to Aleksandr Dovzhenko's masterpiece "Earth (Zemlya)" (co-commissioned by Alverno Presents and Milwaukee Film)—and Joe Westerlund's "Grandma Sparrow and the Piddletractor Orchestra" (Alverno Presents). Allschwang performed in Jon Mueller's Death Blues "No Time Like the Present," "Here," and "Ensemble" iterations. 

Allschwang's violin contributions range from folk/pop to (primarily) avant-garde projects: her instrumental cv includes a guest appearance on Field Report's "Fergus Falls", a collaboration with Druome on a split CD shared with Daniel Menche, a performance with Ken Montgomery (Generator Sound Art Gallery), Andrea Beeman (Crash Course in Science), and Adam Michael Krause on "Moon Ragas" (performed live at The Stone in 2013), and, most recently, improvisational contributions to Tom Hamilton's latest work, "City of Vorticity" (performed alongside Hamilton, Jon Mueller, Rick Aaron, and Steve Nelson-Raney) as part of Woodland Pattern's Alternating Currents Live series curated by Hal Rammel. In addition to ongoing sonic explorations, Allschwang is also a writer of essays and a multidisciplinary artist, having performed contemporary dance to thousands of audience members with Collections of Colonies of Bees while opening for Bon Iver at the Bradley Center and while on tour with Sylvan Esso, exhibited work in video and print media in Boston, Wellesley (MA), and Milwaukee, and created/mentored/taught as a resident artist at RedLine MKE.

Allschwang continues to combine her visual arts and music practices through her artist print editions of Night Gathering, and a multimedia project commissioned by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center—a song cycle and film co-directed with Adam Michael Krause about revered Milwaukee-based artist, Mary L. Nohl—called, Precession of a Day: The World of Mary Nohl. The double LP recording and hardcover book of “Precession of a Day: The World of Mary Nohl sung by Marielle Allschwang & The Visitations” was acquired by the Wisconsin Music Archive and the UW-Madison Mills Music Library.

In March 2020, Allschwang and Krause debuted an exploratory home recording project under the moniker of LOMIRA, whose songs have been featured on Sean Williamson’s “Blight” podcast and other limited edition compilations.

In October 2021, Marielle Allschwang & The Visitations were recognized by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) as Best Alternative Rock Artist of 2020. While the Visitations don’t feel they fit into the “alternative” genre either, the alterity is fitting and pretty meta.

Allschwang is the inaugural artist in residence for Rise & Thrive, a survivor empowerment service offered by LOTUS Legal Clinic, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit organization that serves survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking, both sex and labor. Through conversation, collaboration, and close readings of poetry written by four survivors in Rise & Thrive, Allschwang created the songs that make up Marielle Allschwang & The Visitations’ forthcoming EP, “Somewhere to Swim,” out now on digital and 10” vinyl.

a conversation with the cedar

“My first band” podcast interview

marielle allschwang & the visitations

Adam Michael Krause’s writing and solo recordings are one-of-a-kind: powerful, surprisingly moving, direct, concise, eloquent. In addition to his published works on art, politics, and activism, Krause founded Red Earth Press to serve as producer and purveyor of DIY books and art on environmental issues. He contributes guitar, musical saw, tape loops, and auxiliary percussion to Allschwang’s debut album and Visitations-era recordings and live performances. Krause is editor (while also sharing directorial and cinematographic credits) of the experimental feature film Precession of a Day: The World of Mary Nohl, commissioned by and screened (with live original accompaniment by the Visitations) at The John Michael Kohler Arts Center, the Wisconsin Union Theatre (UW-Madison), Milwaukee Film’s historic Oriental Theatre, and The Cedar Cultural Center. Often performing with Allschwang as a duo, Adam and Marielle have recently been exploratory home recordings under the moniker LOMIRA.

Kavi Laud is a generous musician with a wide stylistic range, playing a vital role not only in Allschwang's Visitations, but also in Milwaukee bands WORK and Sugar Ransom & the secret pistols. He now lives in Austin, TX.

Nathaniel Heuer is the founder of Heuer Woodworking and a formally trained upright bassist. He is the principle songwriter for Milwaukee band Hello Death, of which Allschwang is also a member, and has recorded and performed in Group of the Altos and Death Blues. An engaged organizer and collaborator, Heuer has directed video and co-curated Alverno Presents: Prince Uncovered, among many other things. In 2017, Heuer opened The Chair Company, a studio space founded in partnership with composer and engineer Lawton Hall, in Bay View, WI. Heuer released the first songs for a new collaborative solo project called Name Hymn in April 2019.

Ken Palme is a formidable guitarist who has lent his unforgettable voicing to Group of the Altos and Jon Mueller's Death Blues. Palme balances his incendiary technical abilities against restrained and careful compositions, making him a secret weapon.

Thomas Duffey is a majestic drummer and the funniest person we know. He is a founder of his own web design firm, a founding member of Group of the Altos, and now he is a Visitation.

Essays & other publications By Marielle Allschwang

Our Feral You: A Love Letter to Werner Herzog’s NOSFERATU: THE VAMPYRE Milwaukee Film “Staff Pick” blog, January 18, 2019

"Is there any real sound?" A conversation with electronic composer Suzanne Ciani Milwaukee Record, Oct. 7, 2017

Closer To The Source: Marielle Allschwang's Experience At Standing Rock Red Earth Press, Nov. 2016

Reading Carrie Schneider's 'Reading Women' Milwaukee Record, Feb. 2016

Death Blues: Ruminations written in participation with Jon Mueller's Death Blues, Jan. 2013