JOIN US
Musicians and Citizen Historians
JOIN US
Musicians and Citizen Historians
ABOUT MOBILIZE THE POETS
We are a cross-discipline group of artists and arts organizations that produce and perform “rock and roll history shows” dedicated to building a connection between audiences and everyday people of the past.
ABOUT MOBILIZE THE POETS
We are a cross-discipline group of artists and arts organizations that produce and perform “rock and roll history shows” dedicated to building a connection between audiences and everyday people of the past.
attention: MUSICIANS
THE BAND
(so far)
Ken Fitzsimmons
bass, guitar, vocals
The Kissers, Little Blue Crunchy Things
Kevin Youngs
mandolin
The Kissers, Don’t Spook the Horse (former)
Bryan Elliott
alto sax, low whistle
The Kissers, Little Blue Crunchy Things, Lorenzo’s Music
Drums/Percussion
Cross-genre, jazz, rock, world. Could be a drum set, percussion or both. There’s no expectation regarding the specific instrument setup or method. Singing a plus.
Keys/Piano
Electric piano, organs – Beautiful, funky, willing to improvise and experiment. Playing samples and ambient sounds a plus. Singing a plus.
Sounds/Beats
Ambience, sound effects, beats. The icing that creates an all new feel of electronic, folk, rock, world. Producers and DJs welcome.
Don’t see your instrument, but are interested in joining? Tell us more.
We and the future members of the band get to define the sound. But so far it’s a little dark, a little jazzy. Often lyric focused. At times it gets a little weird and improvisational. Names thrown around include Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Billy Bragg, Lisa O’Neill. But we’re also multi-genre musicians. We might play a polka about Prohibition. Or an Americana rock song about driving around Paris in 1919.
For the most part we play to a click track to be in sync with the video. Mostly memorized, but we may use charts to guide our way. Sometimes the music is an underscore while an actor speaks or something is played on the video wall. As we write and arrange, we think not only about the song, but how it might interact with the other elements of the performance.
We’ve got demos of most of the music. Next step is to solidify arrangements (if this were a musical, this would be the orchestration part of the process). However, these lines get blurred and sometimes an arrangement calls for a newly written part.
We will likely workshop the show in late 2024/early 2025. It will premier in the fall of 2025. After that we will tour it around Wisconsin beginning in 2026. The number of shows in a year is yet to be determined. But for the first year will probably be around 6-8 cities which may include multiple performances in one location.
Send us a message and we’ll share what we’ve worked on so far.
attention: MUSICIANS
THE BAND (so far)
Ken Fitzsimmons – bass, guitar, vocals
The Kissers, Little Blue Crunchy Things
Kevin Youngs – mandolin
The Kissers, Don’t Spook the Horse (former)
Bryan Elliott – alto sax, low whistle
The Kissers, Little Blue Crunchy Things, Lorenzo’s Music
Drums/Percussion
Cross-genre, jazz, rock, world. Could be a drum set, percussion or both. There’s no expectation regarding the specific instrument setup or method. Singing a plus.
Keys/Piano
Electric piano, organs – Beautiful, funky, willing to improvise and experiment. Playing samples and ambient sounds a plus. Singing a plus.
Sounds/Beats
Ambience, sound effects, beats. The icing that creates an all new feel of electronic, folk, rock, world. Producers and DJs welcome.
Don’t see your instrument, but are interested in joining? Tell us more.
We and the future members of the band get to define the sound. But so far it’s a little dark, a little jazzy. Often lyric focused. At times it gets a little weird and improvisational. Names thrown around include Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Billy Bragg, Lisa O’Neill. But we’re also multi-genre musicians. We might play a polka about Prohibition. Or an Americana rock song about driving around Paris in 1919.
For the most part we play to a click track to be in sync with the video. Mostly memorized, but we may use charts to guide our way. Sometimes the music is an underscore while an actor speaks or something is played on the video wall. As we write and arrange, we think not only about the song, but how it might interact with the other elements of the performance.
We’ve got demos of most of the music. Next step is to solidify arrangements (if this were a musical, this would be the orchestration part of the process). However, these lines get blurred and sometimes an arrangement calls for a newly written part.
We will likely workshop the show in late 2024/early 2025. It will premier in the fall of 2025. After that we will tour it around Wisconsin beginning in 2026. The number of shows in a year is yet to be determined. But for the first year will probably be around 6-8 cities which may include multiple performances in one location.
Send us a message and we’ll share what we’ve worked on so far.
attention: CITIZEN HISTORIANS
We have made great strides in finding moving quotes and beautiful images through wonderful organizations like the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. However, we know there’s so much more out there. We would love your help in archival research to help make this show a truly transformative experience.
TOPICS
The current show is about the year 1919, the tumultuous events that occured, and Wisconsin’s role in it all. We do this through headlines, images, and firsthand accounts. Topics include:
- the armistice
- influenza (aka Spanish Flu)
- Wisconsin soldiers fighting in Russia
- immigrants (esp. Germans, Italians, Irish)
- strikes and labor organizing
- African-Americans in Wisconsin and race riots throughout the country
- prohibition
- women’s suffrage
- the red scare and Palmer Raids
- shell shock
- the eclipse on May 29, 1919
WORDS
Letters and diaries provide some of the most impactful quotes. It’s in their words and about their personal experience. If you or your family has something you’d like to share or you know of something (i.e. from your local historical society), please let us know!
IMAGES
Similarly, we are interested in any pictures of relatives or community members that are in some way related to the topics above. These will be displayed on a large LED video wall that will illuminate behind the performers.
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Even with great resources in Wisconsin and nationally, researching to find that great image takes time. Do you love to go to the archives, put on the white gloves, and look for that unicorn photo? Or do you like reading old newspapers, finding out what life was like back then, and finding that headline that really drives home the issues of the time? We are assembling a team of archivists to make this show as impactful as possible.
attention: CITIZEN HISTORIANS
We have made great strides in finding moving quotes and beautiful images through wonderful organizations like the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. However, we know there’s so much more out there. We would love your help in archival research to help make this show a truly transformative experience.
TOPICS
The current show is about the year 1919, the tumultuous events that occured, and Wisconsin’s role in it all. We do this through headlines, images, and firsthand accounts. Topics include:
- the armistice
- influenza (aka Spanish Flu)
- Wisconsin soldiers fighting in Russia
- immigrants (esp. Germans, Italians, Irish)
- strikes and labor organizing
- African-Americans in Wisconsin and race riots throughout the country
- prohibition
- women’s suffrage
- the red scare and Palmer Raids
- shell shock
- the eclipse on May 29, 1919
WORDS
Letters and diaries provide some of the most impactful quotes. It’s in their words and about their personal experience. If you or your family has something you’d like to share or you know of something (i.e. from your local historical society), please let us know!
IMAGES
Similarly, we are interested in any pictures of relatives or community members that are in some way related to the topics above. These will be displayed on a large LED video wall that will illuminate behind the performers.
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Even with great resources in Wisconsin and nationally, researching to find that great image takes time. Do you love to go to the archives, put on the white gloves, and look for that unicorn photo? Or do you like reading old newspapers, finding out what life was like back then, and finding that headline that really drives home the issues of the time? We are assembling a team of archivists to make this show as impactful as possible.