You’ve heard of Thirsty Thursday, but just in time for finals week – and giving enough of a recovery time from Mifflin – The Project Lodge will be serving up a new excuse to drink on a weekday, with its second run of “Whiskey Wednesdays” on May 11. The event will charge $7 for three bands: Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps, The Loom and Christopher Paul Stelling.

The event is the product of a booking endeavor by Madison-based band Pioneer, which consists of Kenny Monroe on acoustic guitar and vocals and Jacqueline Kursel playing cello, backup vocals and the glockenspiel. The two united as a band last summer but through their solo work are familiar faces to the city’s music scene. However, it is one of the first times that a band they booked are not friends of theirs – Caroline Smith will be traveling with her band from Duluth, and the others hail from New York. Concert booking became a natural addition to their own performances, they said.

“We play shows that we don’t book, and it gives you a good idea of what makes a good show for the artist … They get more and more successful I feel like, [but] it’s hit or miss,” Monroe said. “It has expanded beyond the point where it’s just a favor for a friend.”

“It gives you more control and opportunities,” Kursel added. “If you’re setting one up you feel responsible for how many people show up even if it’s out of your control. It’s about finding a method to the madness.”

The members of Pioneer also book house shows, which they say will start up again now that the last snows have thawed. They enjoy what The Project Lodge space has to offer for musical performance, and Kursel volunteers about twice a week to run sound, stamp hands and help bands set up. The concept for the first Whiskey Wednesdays came easily to the pair, as there was a clear synergy between Wednesday – the day of the week the show fell on – and whiskey – a beverage beloved by many college students.

The Project Lodge venue is not legally allowed to sell alcohol. However, the name is “Whiskey” Wednesday, so perhaps concert-goers should take that to mean what they will. Kursel and Monroe hope live music enthusiasts will take time out of their week to relax and experience the unique offerings of a more intimate venue.

“The last [Whiskey Wednesday] was very atmospheric; it definitely had a very unifying theme,” Monroe said. “I would almost go as far as to say this music is ‘fun.’ She’s a poppy folk musician with a whole band. And if people haven’t been to The Project Lodge before…the bands are right there. There’s no separation.”

Kursel described it as a beautiful and intense “get drunk and cry” type of show, which may differ from the styles of next week’s event. Monroe said the genres of the three bands, such as The Loom, which spans from indie rock to “orchestral folky pop,” are separate and distinct from one another.

The Loom consists of John Fanning, Sarah Renfro, Lis Rubard, Dan DeSloover, Jon Alvarez and Alex Greiner playing a wide array of instruments. This will be their first time playing in Madison, which will be the westernmost stop on their current tour.

“We have a record [called Teeth] that’s done but won’t come out until probably the fall,” Fanning said, speaking to The Badger Herald from his new, as-of-yet electricity-free, apartment in Brooklyn. “At that point it’ll make sense to tour for longer stretches in relation to record being out, but in the meantime we’ve been trying to tour just as much as we can in smaller doses so we don’t get fired from our various part-time jobs.”

Although there is still some time before listeners can buy the album, four songs by the Loom can be found on Daytrotter to give a good indication of what the band currently sounds like. Fanning reports he and the other band members have been playing material newer than what is on Teeth, so its next album should have far less of a lag before it can be released.

“We would have all lost our minds if we had not continued to play new music,” he said. “We’re writing all the time, and in truth it’s a positive problem.”

Stelling is touring with The Loom, and they will be collaborating for a few numbers during Whiskey Wednesday, something the band has enjoyed in the past.

“We always like playing places where the bands are sort of involved in putting the shows together,” Fanning said of Pioneer’s involvement in Whiskey Wednesdays. “I’m excited to play there; it seems like a cool space and cool group of people who are playing.”

Monroe concurred with what The Loom band member had to say, though unknowingly as the two have not yet met in person.

“If you’re prematurely celebrating the end of finals or trying to drown your sorrows, it’s going to be a good time,” Monroe said.