Up-and-coming Milwaukee singer/accordionist Margaret Stutt (a.k.a. Pezzettino) is in the least way conventional. Her primary instrument, an accordion, is normally used as a backing track for modern bands, which meld the sound with guitars, bass and sometimes synthesizers. But Stutt brings her accordion to center stage, creating an intimate and delicate atmosphere for listeners. (Not to mention she plays it upside down; although she contends it's right side up to her).

"With the accordion right over my chest and right over my heart, it feels like it's coming straight out of me," Stutt said. "The sound is amplified straight from my heart; it's physically right on it. So, if I have something to get off my chest, the sound is actually coming off my chest."

Pezzettino is playing its CD release party at Shank Hall, 1434 N. Farwell Ave., 8 p.m. Saturday. Her latest and second album, Lion, was Stutt's first experience recording her material in a studio. Her 2008 debut, Because I Have No Control, was recorded in various places using her laptop computer, she said.

Stutt already has plans for a follow-up album to Lion called Lamb. She said her reasoning behind the concept was that every person has a lion and a lamb inside of them and this is a way to show her inner selves. That being said, Lion is the more aggressive of the two.

She regards Lion as "confrontational and fierce" and "the most personal stuff I've come up with and thrown out there."

Stutt has only been writing her own material for about a year. When she started, she used to write down what ever came into her head and piece together fragments into a cohesive song.

"A lot of those songs came out in little sections and I pieced together little sections," she said. "I feel like when you're first drawing, they're really not confident strokes."

Now, she's a master artist, writing only the best, fully-formed ideas and translating them into beautiful songs.

Stutt's been rigorously touring the Midwest in preparation for the CD release show.

"I feel like when I'm on the road especially I don't want to lose my group; I don't want to lose my grounding," Stutt said. "Or else I just feel like I'm floating around. So I feel like I'm sort of doing the best I can do at my end to stay connected with people in my home base."

Things are looking up for Pezzettino. Stutt recently trekked to Austin, Texas to perform at South by Southwest for the first time. But, she said her favorite gigs were spontaneous sidewalk shows.

"I like playing on the street," she said. "It's really unexpected; people don't usually expect to see an accordion. People are used to seeing music on a stage or art in a museum. I like bringing it out into the real world. It's a different kind of interaction. You really involve the people in the music. It's not a matter of trying to get them to buy anything or get them to go out of their way to see music. You bring it to their lives."

In addition to her CD release show at Shank Hall, Pezzettino is also playing at The Exclusive Company, 1669 N. Farewell Ave., for Record Store Day on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and then recording an in studio performance on WMSE 91.7 at 4 p.m.