The Ultimate Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Road Trip Playlist

Sara Boboltz
Updated

Spotify has curated playlists reflecting the local flavor of each stop on HuffPost’s “Listen to America” tour using location-based data to find out what people are really listening to in 20-plus cities. Check back for more from Sept. 12 through Oct. 30.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, likes any excuse to celebrate. With a German Fest, Irish Fest, IndyFest and a number of others, the “City of Festivals” definitely lives up to its name ― particularly around the time Summerfest overtakes the lakefront for an 11-day music spectacular, which this year drew more than 800,000 people. A couple weeks later, the Violent Femmes drew a hometown crowd of their own, decades after forming in the city.

An array of R&B and hip-hop acts have also sprung out of Milwaukee; Eric Benet hails from here along with Rico Love and the Rusty Ps.

Rappers Coo Coo Cal and Munch Lauren got their start along the Lake Michigan coastline, too, as did the Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison and a couple names in jazz ― Woody Herman and the Lynne Arriale Trio.

More than other places around the U.S., people in this dairyland city appreciate a mix of country and pop, with country acts Old Dominion, Cole Swindell and Scotty McCreedy getting especially more play in this region alongside the Lumineers, MisterWives, Grouplove and Beck. Finally, some popular Top 40 tracks complete the list: 

Spotify playlists for the “Listen to America” campaign were created by looking at each location’s most popular songs (streaming in the highest numbers at time of publication), distinctive songs (currently being streamed more in this city compared to all other cities in the world) and tracks from local artists. While many picks are data-driven, some songs are handpicked from data lists to assure the playlists reflect a variety of genres and decades, as well as a healthy gender balance.

  • This article originally appeared on HuffPost.