Violet Wilder: A Special Live Recording Concert
About this Event
This will not be an ordinary Violet Wilder show. A small audience is being invited inside White Lilac for an intimate concert that will be professionally recorded and filmed live—giving those in the room the rare opportunity to become part of the performance itself.
Formed in 2019 by college best friends Kimberly Hetelle, Melissa Hardtke, and Jayna Hagan, Violet Wilder grew from open-mic appearances around UW–Parkside into one of southeastern Wisconsin’s most compelling harmony-driven bands. All three are vocalists, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists, weaving piano, guitar, viola, flute, and mandolin into music that moves freely between indie folk, alternative rock, and richly textured Americana.
Their defining sound is the kind that can stop a room: three distinct voices locking into sumptuous harmony, carrying songs filled with vulnerability, restless creativity, heartbreak, anxiety, resilience, and the complicated business of being human. Breaking and Entering praised the band’s “lush three-part harmonies” and immersive storytelling, while Mark Hubing of the Local Cords Podcast called their music “touching, progressive and raw,” noting the way they push folk traditions toward jazz and alternative expression.
Violet Wilder has carried its Kenosha roots onto increasingly prominent stages throughout the region, including Summerfest, Milwaukee’s MKE Music Night at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Falcon Bowl, Chill on the Hill, Homegrown Music Festival, Hawthorn Hollow’s Pike River Benefit Concert Series, and the GuitarTown Music Festival. Their MKE Music Night appearance was also selected among the Milwaukee Record’s recommended events of the week.
The trio released its full-length debut, For the Record, in 2023—a collection created over several years in a home studio and shaped by major life changes, emotional upheaval, and three individual songwriting voices. Their catalog also includes the 2024 single “Always & Never,” along with collaborations featuring Wisconsin artists Haley Klinkhammer and Ben Mulwana.
For this special performance, Violet Wilder returns home to Kenosha and into one of its most intimate listening rooms. With cameras rolling and every harmony being captured, the audience will not simply watch the concert—they will help create the atmosphere preserved in the finished recording.
Attendance is intentionally limited. Come be part of a singular night with a hometown band whose music has steadily traveled beyond Kenosha while remaining deeply connected to where it began. This is Violet Wilder up close, completely present, and captured live for the record.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 24.45
