Wisconsin musician, Miles Blvd, returned to his roots on Friday, Oct. 8 at The Brickhouse in Eau Claire. This performance was his only show in Eau Claire this year.

Miles Blvd performed with artists TeawhYB, Skotty Benz, Noah Estraada, and westkorea.

Miles Blvd said he has been rapping since he was 16, and performing since he was 18. He grew up singing and writing poetry. He was in choir since he was young, and would flirt with girls by writing them poems.

Miles Blvd said no matter what phase he was going through, music was a constant.

In 2014, he went to a Mac Miller concert and said that he was taken aback by the energy and the different types of people there to share their love of rap music. He said he wanted to be the person bringing people together.

Miles Blvd said that Eau Claire has a great music scene.

“I think it’s so vibrant,” he said. “I think there’s so much talent here.”

Miles Blvd said he was most excited for the show so he could finally take a breath with all his best friends around and have fun. 

He met his fellow performers through networking and performing shows, and they are some of his favorite artists. 

Despite his love for his music, Miles Blvd said he still faces hardships in his career.

“Balance, or the lack thereof, is the biggest struggle I’ve had to face as a person or an individual,” Miles Blvd said.

He said he is very intense and passionate, and that if he loves something, he is all the way in, which can be a detriment to relationships, as well as with personal struggles.

In the past year, he said he worked hard and took time to self-reflect both spiritually and emotionally, and that he is trying to be a better person all around.

TeawhYB has been playing music for over 10 years, and said he has been taking it seriously for five.

He grew up in Green Bay, Wisc., and said there was not always a lot to do as a teenager, so he started teaching himself to freestyle rap. He downloaded beats and instrumentals and turned poetry into songwriting.

TeawhYB said he wants people to be engaged and involved during his shows, and he tries to make a connection with the audience.

“My favorite part about performing is getting people up and dancing,” he said.

Chris Johnson runs a podcast called Passion Pod, and Miles Blvd was his first-ever guest.

Johnson said that Miles Blvd, TeawhYB and the others who performed at The Brickhouse with them Friday are the best performers in Chippewa Valley. He thinks everyone who lives here knows that, and that they are the area’s best-kept secret.

Miles Blvd performs with only beats behind him, according to Johnson, who said that he has never seen someone perform on the same level.

Johnson said the performers are very passionate about their art, which makes them exciting to talk to.

“I think they’re all very original people,” said Johnson. “They don’t try to emulate anybody.”

Miles Blvd said the performance Friday was a last hurrah before dropping a project next week.

He said he is also dropping a project in February that he worked on for four and half years called “Language That I’m Deeply Ashamed of and Will Regret Forever.”

“It is a delightful distorted dissertation on the daily disillusionment of my (existence),” said Miles Blvd.

Price can be reached at [email protected].