Artist Eats with Kennita Hickman: Roxi Copland

By / Photography By | November 23, 2018
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Roxi Copland

Roxi Copland is one of the hardest working independent musicians in Milwaukee. Her Twitter account has over 2,500 followers, who get to see her daily musings on her dog Haggis McHound and Odin Van Pooch, married life and food. Her social media platforms and music are vehicles to share her values: love, access and community.  

Roxi is a lover of local food and great wine, so for our final outing before she relocated to Austin, Texas, we visited Double B’s BBQ Restaurant in West Allis, which is one of her favorites. While scrolling through Roxi’s social media, it’s obvious that a good meal means more to her than just culinary perfection. “When I come to a new city, my husband and I want to find the cool local food and music spots.”

Our conversation started on a serious note as Roxi reflected on her life growing up poor in Aberdeen, Washington.

Aberdeen is a rural fishing community. A weak economy and a plummeting real estate industry depleted her family’s wealth shortly before her birth. As the oldest sibling with three younger brothers, she grew up fishing, gardening and hunting as a way to supplement her family's grocery expenses. Hunting and fishing were often done as communal activities in Aberdeen, and she often ate with those same community and family members. Her extended family had a bit more affluence, so she grew up a dual citizen of sorts.

Although she grew up on the coast literally harvesting her own seafood, she also saw how people in nearby Seattle would pay top dollar for the same cuisine.

“I would pick my own seafood with my family. When I would go to Seattle, my aunt would take me to an expensive restaurant and I would see people paying all of this money for the same thing I fished for. Didn’t make sense to me”.

That started to cement her thoughts on haves vs have-nots, and shaped her idea of food accessibility.

“I'm still very careful about how I spend money. I'll tip the hell out of waiters and baristas. I also get very nervous when the pantry or fridge is low. That's stuck with me from the days when I was trying to figure out if I could afford BOTH bread and milk and felt like I was splurging horribly if I got a banana or a couple apples.”

BBQ ribs and brisket with sides

Though she no longer considers herself to be living in poverty, the lessons she learned during that time have stuck with her. As we ate, we discussed how Milwaukee’s music scene has its own sense of poverty.

Roxi understands that as a jazz pianist with folksy flair, she’s afforded access to a wider variety of venues than other genres. Milwaukee has an easier time appreciating Americana, folk, jazz and cover bands. As a Milwaukee transplant, Copland has conquered much of Milwaukee’s music scene. She’s self-managed, meaning she schedules her own radio and press interviews. She creates her own routing and logistics as well as spends four to eight weeks during warmer months touring to promote her independent releases. When Roxi’s not on the road, she’s gearing up for her next release.

When she moved to Milwaukee, however, she found it difficult to find a creative community comprised of artists who propel each other to success. Milwaukee is interesting in that way. While we are home to Summerfest, the World’s largest music festival, we lack the foundational support many artists need, including management.

“Having a manager or someone to handle touring would be so great. I already do those things though, so for me to hire someone… they’d really have to be able to open doors.”

Access to food also matters when you’re a touring musician. Roxi spends approximately 8 weeks a year on the road and figuring out what to eat can be tricky. To stay healthy (and save money), items like granola bars, apples and nuts regularly accompany her when she tours. She still holds an impoverished mindset when it comes to food, but she admires the way Milwaukee’s culinary world operates.

“[What I love about] Milwaukee’s food scene is that it lacks pretension. Milwaukee has a blue collar background and people aren’t willing to pay an arm and a leg for dinner.”

In Milwaukee, poverty and food access are directly linked. According to the Institute of Research on Poverty Wisconsin’s 2015 statistics, 9.7% of Wisconsin’s population lives in poverty. In Milwaukee, the poverty population is 16.3%; almost double the state average. Having been on both sides of the pendulum, Roxi connects food with community.

Roxi believes that the affordability of a culinary experience makes indulgence more accessible for everyone, propelling Milwaukee’s food scene to the top of the market.  

Since this was our last food outing before she relocated to Austin, Texas (she’d been packing between gigs and our interview), I had to ask… what were the restaurants she’d miss?

“I think Milwaukee's food scene is great and getting [even] better. There are a number of fantastic places to eat in the city—some of my favorites across the culinary spectrum include Braise, Odd Duck, Balzac, EE Sahn and Double B's BBQ.”

We sat and talked over our delicious meal, enjoying every last bite. Just don’t mix the beer with sweet tea; a rookie mistake on my end that made Roxi both laugh and gag.

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