americana gazette june/july 2009 issue

One Year Anniversary!MERICANA GAZETTEA

June - July 2009

A letter from Joyce & Andy,

This past year has gone by so quickly, we can’t be-lieve that we are publishing our first issue of our secondyear. We have learned so much about putting togethera publication that we never even considered when Joyceand I started discussing the idea of one. It has and con-tinues to be a labor of love for us and our staff. We weretalking to Jim Smith who is one of our writers about howthe publication has evolved, and how the writing andwriters have all become a voice that screams creativityand independence. Each of us has come into our own.We are very proud and happy with the way the Ameri-cana Gazette has matured in this past year.

Our superb staff has made each issue a higherbenchmark to reach for the following issues. Each timewe think we have hit a standard, the bar gets raised,which our staff handles quite well! Each writer hastheir own voice and style. Joyce and I are so fortunateto have these great people working with us. There isnothing better than creating a publication in whichpeople look forward to reading, and working with peo-ple who are your true friends. To Bob, Jim, Rosemary,Ric, Aaron, Rob, Rick, Erin, Lin, and Danny thank youfor your help and support making this first year betterthan we could ever have imagined.

Some other great people we would like to thank thatmade it possible for the Americana Gazette to thriveand grow are; John Stremikis who has helped beyondour wildest imagination in making our on-line andtechnical dreams come true; John and Anne Miller whohave let us hangout, borrow, use, and live at the Fat CatCoffee Works in New Glarus. It is ours and our staff’shome away from home; To Green County DevelopmentCorp and especially Anna and Suzanne for all theirhelp and support, along with the wonderful award wewere bestowed this year; To the wonderful folks in Brod-head at the Independent Register who do a fantastic jobprinting the Americana Gazette, thanks for making uslook like we know what we are doing. You helped usout when others said no. We will always be grateful forthat; To all the clubs, bars, bookstores, coffeehouses, li-braries, and businesses that allow us to display theAmericana Gazette; To all the artists who allow us intotheir worlds so we can share them with you readers; Toall you fantastic people who read the AmericanaGazette on line and in print. Without you we could notexist; To Roy and Steph Elkins and the Broadjam staff,thank you for all your help and support. Roy and Stephthank you especially for all the early support and help ingetting going. You are the best!; To Lydia Hutchinsonof Performing Songwriter Magazine for being a greatinspiration, and setting the mark incredibly high inwriting and producing the best music magazine ever!Thank you always for taking the time to talk to us andhelp us sail through uncharted waters; To Eric andMary Ann Brace for all the support this past year, andyour friendship, a huge Wisconsin thank you. You guysRock!; To Erin Blumer for being a great intern andturning into a great employee. Thanks for keepingAndy focused and putting up with the boys; To RobKosmeder thank you for all that you do. You’ve turned

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PUBLISHERJoyce Ziehli

[email protected]

SENIOR EDITORAndy Ziehli

[email protected]

STAFF WRITERS/PHOTOSRob Kosmeder

[email protected]

Litt Dubay

Robert Hoffman

Jim Smith

Aaron Williams

Rosemary Ziehli

FEATURE WRITERSErin Blumer

Eric Brace

Peter Cooper

Rick Harris

Danny Tachon

CREATIVE DIRECTORRic Genthe

[email protected]

AMERICANA GAZETTE% ANDY & JOYCE ZIEHLIP.O. BOX 208BELLEVILLE, WI. 53508

OFFICE: 608-424-6300Andy Cell: 608-558-8131Joyce Cell: 608-558-8132

www.amer i canagaze t t e .ne t

MERICANA GAZETTEA

2

into a great writer! Ric Genthe thanks for all the layoutand organizational work you put into the AmericanaGazette. We honestly could not publish without yourskills. Lastly and certainly not leastly we want to thankPeter Cooper. Peter you have always been nothing putsupportive to us. You are one of the finest journalistsever. Thank you for letting us “drop” your name inNashville, and thank you for being our friend. Yours,Eric’s and Mary Ann’s continual support and encour-agement has been beyond beneficial for both Joyce andI. Thank you!

Here’s to another great year with continued im-provements and exciting new features. Thanks againeveryone. Please join us on Friday July 17, 2009 atSchwoegler’s Sugar River Lanes in Belleville, WI to cele-brate our first anniversary. Eric and Peter will be per-forming along with the Raindogs for your listeningpleasure. Please join us from 7:00 until 11:00 inBelleville. Again thank you!

Andy & Joyce Ziehli

www.amer i canagaze t t e .ne t

Welcome to

AmericanaGazette

3

1/2Notes

AMERICANA GAZETTE SUBSCRIPTIONTheAmericana Gazette is a free bimonthly publication and may be picked up at area locations.However if you would like a copy mailed to you,please fill out the following information andsubmit a check for $15.00 to:Americana Gazette, P.O.Box 208,Belleville,Wi. 53508

______________________________________________________________________First Name Last Name

______________________________________________________________________Address

______________________________________________________________________City State Zip Code

1Year Subscription - $15.00 Date:______________________________________

There will be a Musicians/Musical InstrumentGarage Sale on Saturday July 11.2009 at the Fat KatCoffee House on Railroad Street in New Glarus,WIfrom 9:00 a.m until 1:30 p.m. If you have anypieces of gear or musical instruments you wouldlike to sell they cane be dropped off the Fat Katstarting at 7:00 a.m.until 10:00 a.m on the 11th. Ifthis does not work for you can call 608 -558-8131and make different arrangements. Ten percent ofall sales will go to benefit the New Glarus MusicBoosters. Guitars, keyboard, horns, accordions,drums, horns, mandolins, fiddles, basses, folk in-struments, effects, pedals, cases, etc. are welcome.If you have any questions call 608-558-8131.

The 1st annual Americana Gazette anniversaryparty will take place on Friday July 17, 2009 atSchwoegler’s Sugar River Lanes in Belleville. Thisevent will start at 7:00 p.m with music from theRaindogs until 8:00p.m. After a short intermissionEric Brace & Peter Cooper with their band will takethe stage and play until 10:30. This event will beheld outdoors unless the weather is bad. If thishappens it will be moved indoors at the Lanes.Mark Schwoegler is kind enough to have it be aSMOKE FREE evening for us. We thank him verymuch for this generous undertaking. Please comeand join us to help celebrate a wonderful first year.

Beth Kille will be returning toWisconsin inAugustafter a year in Houston as her husbandTony undertook a medical fellowship. BothTony and Beth willbe relocating to Madison in August. We are veryglad to have them both back here and ready to cre-ate music again.

WORKSHOP: Succeed as an artist in these "inter-esting" times:Monroe June 4th &Viroqua June 9th

Tough times force hard choices.And we are in themidst of some the toughest times most of us haveever seen. Anne Katz, director of Arts Wisconsin,will discuss strategies, ideas, best practices, and re-sources that help artists plan and manage - andeven thrive. "The opportunities are out there - wejust have to find ways to make them happen" saysAnne.No cost for the workshops. Walk-ins are wel-come - but please pre-register so that we can do abetter job of planning the sessions.

Thursday, June 4, from 7 - 9 PM at the MonroeArtCenter,Monroe,WI

Tuesday, June 9th, from 7 - 9 PM at VIVA,Viroqua,WI

To sign up or get more information, [email protected] or call 608-342-1314.

WORKSHOPS at River Valley Trading Company:Blanchardville Month of JuneCheck out the splendid assortment of workshopsthat River Valley is offering this summer! Learnhow to blow glass beads,make greeting cards,forgesteel, and use a plasma cutter. Download the Juneschedule from www.RiverValleyTrading.comRVTC also has a monthly acoustic music coffeehouse - May 29, June 26th, and July 31st at 7pm.Free admission. More info from Christine Hulet at608-523-1888 or [email protected] is at www.rivervalleytrading.com

GETTO KNOWValley RidgeArt Studio:MuscodaThey've been offering intensive workshops on top-ics like jewelry, demented toys, anthropomorphicdolls,memento mori, and discovering the creativeself for 10 years. Now the top-notch facilities atVal-ley Ridge are also available for rent. Put togetheryour own program and lead a workshop for yourstudents or just get together with likemindedfriends for an art retreat not too far from home.Call Kathy or Bill at 608-943-6212 or e-mail themthrough the website www.valleyridgeartstudio.com

Local Night at The Shed begins June 4th and con-tinues every Friday Evening all summer long.Check with them for a full schedule. Local food,local beer, local talent.Tonight: Lost Conversation.Food starts at 5:30pm, music starts between 6-6:30pm. No cover charge. The Shed, 123 N. Lex-ington Street, Spring Green FMI: 608-588-9049

June 12-14,11am-5 pm SpringArtTour. Professionalartists in Mount Horeb, Blue Mounds, Black Earth,

TABLE OF CONTENTSFEATURE STORY16 Fats Kaplin

WHERE TO LOOK:

3 1/2 Notes

4 Litt DuBay’s Slant

5 5 Places to Visit

6 Nancy Griffith

8 Irish Music

9 Todd Snider

9 CD Review

10 3 for 1

12 A Pet Note

13 Aaron’s Anecdotes

14 Women InThe Round

15 Elecrtic Blue

16 Fats Kaplin

18 Kathy Mattea

19 AaronWilliams and the Hoodoo

20 Swing Baby, Swing

21 The Lady in the Juke Box

21 Let’s go to the Movies

22 Madison’s Music Scene

22 The MAMA’s

23 Marty Stuart

24 Independent

24 Eric Brace

24 Peter Cooper

25 The Pyramid

26 Dan Sullivan

28 Ruth Barrett

continued on page 30

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LittDuBay’sRant!

by Litt DuBay

ter for a long time. The president is doing every-thing he can to make a change. Give him the re-spect and time he needs to get things going. Thismess did not pop up over night and will not goaway tomorrow. Be patient. Take this time to re-flect on your good fortune that you have a job andif you don’t take this time to retool your skills soyou can get one. Everyone is pretty much in thesame boat so let’s work together to get throughthis. One way to keep playing and bring some hap-piness back into our lives is to host a house con-cert. Kiki Schuler has been doing it for a whileand really loves it. It’s a great idea that has beencatching on all over the U.S. Google it and see if itwill work for you.

Well before I sign off let me tell all of you thanksfor reading old Litt. We just got the results off ouron-line readership and Litt Dubay is the most pop-ular feature in theAmericana Gazette on-line. HeckI’m a celebrity in Europe, Russia, South Africa,Aus-tralia, and Canada. I may have to start chargingmore for my services. Maybe I’ll get my own sec-retary. Heck the least the Ziehli’s can do is ac-knowledge me on the street when they see me.Maybe that preacher in New Glarus will see thatI’m not the person he described in his sermon.Canadians love me!!! Maybe too John Miller willstop charging me for the business he claims I ranoff because of my spread of the love rant. Oh wellthat’s life.

This is Litt Dubay saying “have a great summerand go support local live music!”

By: Litt Dubay

Hello everyone!!!Well all it’s been a year since I wrote my first col-

umn for the Americana Gazette. I have ranted,raved, stumbled, insulted, broke the rules, and gen-erally had a great time giving you my opinions oneverything. The only feedback I got for the wholeyear though was that I was too mean to Carrie Un-derwood. Well don’t fret any Carrie Underwoodfans. Old Litt’s comments don’t seem to have hurther any. She just won a slew of awards at theACM’sincluding the big burrito itself, Entertainer of theYear! I could comment but I won’t.

Saw Todd Snider in April in Madison. Lookedgreat, sounded great, put on one hell of a show.Someone in the audience was partaking in someherbal pre-show remedy that drifted through thetheater. Ah the adventurous youth of today. It re-minded me of the coliseum in the 70’s! Good thingthere weren’t any hard core Downtown MadisonLiberals in the audience of the 1970’s vintage. Ohwait maybe there was!

I’m sort of disappointed in the number of realAmericana/Alt-Country bands and musicians inSouthernWisconsin. Come on guys get out of yourbedrooms and basements and take back the stages.Let’s run these 80’s cover bands back to whereverthey came from. Let us too show the world ourtrue talent by packing the clubs the way we usetoo. Club owners give us a chance to prove our-selves again. Americana is the fastest growing genreon the airwaves inAmerica. Madison,Monroe,Plat-teville,Whitewater,Baraboo,Dodgeville,and all theother places where there are radio stations one ortwo of you switch to Americana Music! Please inthe name of everything holy someone start anAmericana radio station!!! Okay so I’m a little dra-matic. The truth is we really need one here. Don’tlet us down.

Reciprocity is missing in today’s world. Youknow, I scratch your back you scratch mine. I’llhelp you out with equipment and when I need ityou can return the favor. You get the point. I haveheard stories and seen first hand on howmusiciansand bands don’t help each other out anymore.Competitiveness has reared its ugly head in South-ern Wisconsin. Come on folks. Let’s play nice.There is plenty of work for all of us.

The economy is not going to get a whole lot bet-

Dan Baird & HomemadeSinFEATURING WARNER E. HODGES

ALL THE WAY FROM NASHVILLE(Jason & The Scorchers lead guitar player)

APPEARING TWO NIGHTS INWISCONSIN

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009 • SPATZ • MIDDLETON, WISATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2009 • KNUT’S BAR & GRILL • ORFORDVILLE, WI

( ( ( BWG ) ) )Black Water Gin

Texas Rock with BiteBWG Entertainment 608-574-2916www.myspace.com/blackwatergin

5www.amer i canagaze t t e .ne t

These days the wallet might be feeling a little thin,but this summer there are plenty of things to dothat won’t break the bank.We are bringing you thelist of the 5 best places to visit for country musicand the best part is... they are within driving dis-tance!!!

#5 - Cleveland, Ohio- The home of the Rock andRoll Hall of Fame. It’s an economical getaway;a daypass is only $22 dollars.They also offer summer spe-cials and hotel packages, visit www.rockhall.comfor more information.

#4 - Brown County, Indiana-A little more off thebeaten path, Brown County, Indiana, also nick-named “The Little Nashville”; is home to many en-tertainment venues’ for blue grass, gospel andcountry.They feature “The Little Nashville Opry”,Dance Barns, Country Gospel Music Jam’s, TheChateau Thomas Winery, various art galleries, andmany many many places for live music. A lot ofthese choices are free to attend. Check outwww.browncounty.com for a calendar of events,lodging information and information on more whatBrown County has to offer.

#3 - For # 3 you don’t have to travel far from home.Right here in Wisconsin we feature some of thebest Country Music Festivals around. We countedat least 9 !) These festivals usually start about thebeginning of June and go almost all summer long.

Country Fest - Cadot,WI -www.countryfest.comCountry Jam USA- Eau Claire,WI -www.countryjam.comCountry Music Fest - Porterfield,WI-www.countrymusicfestival.comCountryThunder- Twin Lakes,WI-www.countrythunder.comCountry USA - Oshkosh,WI -www.countryusaoshkosh.comHodag Country Music Festival- Rhinelander,WI -www.hodag.comStar Spangled Country Music Festival-Richland Center,WI -www.starspangled.comLake Superior Music Festival- Ashland ,WI -www.bigtop.orgSummerfest - Milwaukee ,WI -www.summerfest.com

There is also a great Festival of Music in Chicagofeaturing a lot of different types of music including

country, blues,Celtic music and jazz.

#2 - Branson, Missouri- Couldn’t leave this oneout! Branson MO, offers bright light shows, acro-bats, Medley Shows of music you love from thePresley’s, Johnny Cash and Family,Broadway Showsand much much more.Vacation Packages for theweekend start at around $200 dollars from June -August. Branson Tourism Center offers easy to puttogether vacations that you can plan online, thesevacation plans include lodging, meal vouchers,coupon books, and best of all tickets to shows,check out www.bransontourismcenter.com andwww.explorebranson.com for more information!

#! - And the #1 place to visit for country musicis....You Guessed it ! Nashville and Memphis,Ten-nessee...

Home to historic places such as the Grand OleOpry and Graceland,these places are definitely thenumber one spot to visit for country music fans.Werecommend visiting the Country Music Hall ofFame and The Nash Trash Tours with the Jugg Sis-ters sound fun. Suggestions include The NashvilleVisitors Bureau,All of lower Broadway,The RymanAuditorium,TheWildhorse Saloon,Tootsies OrchidLounge (The Original Honky Tonk), Printers Alley,and the Hatch Show Print Shop. Want to travel alittle bit out of the city? Check out Fall Creek FallsState Park, Country Legend’s Loretta Lynn’s DudeRanch,Lookout Mountain and the Jack Daniels Dis-tillery.

Written by: Erin Blumer

5 BestPlaces ToVisit forCountryMusic...

Carol Spelic608.342.1314

[email protected]

We are a regional advocacy, technical assistance and networking program for all types of creative entrepreneurs – including visual artists, composers, musicians, writers, actors, dancers, and choreographers. We connect artists and arts leaders throughout southwest Wisconsin.

offerings on entrepreneurial skill topics

artists and arts groups via email updates containing information about grants, workshops, and opportunities.

creative entrepreneurs increase their visibility.

Raindogs SummerSchedule 2009Date Location VenueJune 7, New Glarus Private PartyJune 27, New Glarus Heidi FestJune 28, Benton New Diggings General

Store & InnJuly 5, New Glarus Fat Cat Coffee WorksJuly 17, Belleville Americana Gazette Party

Schwoegler’s SugarRiver Lanes

August 1, Dodgeville Pleasant Ridge StoreAugust 16, New Glarus Fat Cat Coffee WorksAugust 22, New Glarus Toffler’s Pub & GrillSeptember 26, New Glarus, WI Oktoberfest-New Glarus

The Audition with Erin Blumer is an in-formative and entertaining look at today'stop SouthernWI singer-songwriters. Eringets to the heart of what makes this tal-ented folks tick and the inspiration fortheir songs. Each Show is filled with di-verse conversation, phenomenal originalmusic, and heartfelt stories from each ofher guests. Tune into the Audition atwww.americanagazette.net and click onour Radio Show tab. A new show isposted every two weeks starting June 10,2009. Check out the Audition! If youwould like to be a guest on the Auditionplease send us a copy of 3 of your origi-nal songs toAmericana Gazette,TheAu-dition, and P.O. Box 208, Belleville WI53508.

The Audition withErin Blumer

LosAngeles,California – Nanci Griffith’s clas-sic sound – folk/country melodies built around sto-ries that aren’t afraid to tackle big subjects alldelivered with the artist’s signature vocal style – re-turns in fill bloom on THE LOVING KIND,her newalbum scheduled for release on June 9th fromRounder Records. Featuring thirteen new songs,THE LOVING KIND is Nanci’s most politically out-spoken release in years, and underscores herstature as one of the music world’s most esteemedsinger-songwriters. The release of THE LOVINGKIND will be accompanied by a U.S. tour.

With a recording and touring history thatstretches back more than two decades,Griffith hasestablished, what Madison Avenue would call, a“brand”. But her signature music is much moreabout art than commerce, which is why her fanbase remained incredibly loyal – fans include con-temporaries such as Bob Dylan,Willie Nelson, andEmmy Lou Harris,all of whom have either recordedher songs or insisted she record theirs.

With her last CD (the critically-acclaimed Ruby’sTorch), a torch song tribute,THE LOVING KIND isher first studio album of original and contemporarycover material since 2005’s Hearts In Mind. Thetitle track, emblematic of the album’s story songs,refers to Loving v.Virginia, the 1967 landmark civilrights case and for all ended the ban on interracialmarriages in the U.S. Richard and Mildred Lovingwere a married white man and black woman whowere forced to leave their native Virginia underthreat of arrest because of the state’s Jim Crow lawprohibiting marriages between different races.

“I read Mildred Loving’s obituary in The NewYorkTimes last year and it just floored me,” recallsGriffith. Tragically, Richard died in a tragic car ac-cident just months after the U.S. Supreme Courtruled in the couple’s favor. “She never remarriedand in her last interview, just before she passedaway, she expressed hope that their case wouldeventually be the open door to the legalization ofsame sex marriage.”

Another track on the album, “Not InnocentEnough,” is also built around a political and legalcontroversy,namely the celebrated death row caseof PhilipWorkman,who was convicted in 1981 ofkilling a Memphis police officer. Despite new evi-dence that proved his innocence,which he always

maintained through his five scheduled executiondates,Workman was put to death by the State ofTennessee on May 9, 2007. Fellow singer-song-writer John Prine joins Griffith on this track,backed by a chorus that also includes tunesmithsElizabeth Cook andTodd Snider.

“I started writing this song long before Philipwas executed, but just couldn’t finish it until thatfinal injustice took place,” says Griffith.

On a more personal note,“UpAgainst The Rain,”co-written with her longtime collaborator CharleyStefl, is Griffith’s tribute to her mentor,country folksinger and poet Townes Van Zandt. But on abroader level, the song,“could be for anyone’s heroand with me, I also lost my dear, beautiful stepfa-ther just before Christmas of last year, and werecorded the song the day I returned from his fu-neral in Austin. So, it’s very close to my heart.”

THE LOVING KIND was produced by Pat McIn-erney andThomm Jutz and features McInerney ondrums and percussion, Jutz on guitar,Matt McKen-zie on bass, BarryWalsh on keyboards, Shad Cobbon fiddle and Fats Kaplin on pedal steel guitar,man-dolin and fiddle. For more information on THELOVING KIND visit www.NanciGriffith.com.

------------------------------------

Now for my chat with Nanci:

By: Joyce Ziehli

Now that I have you all excited about NanciGriffith’s new CD,which you will all be darting outto purchase, let me fill you in on Nanci Griffith theperson. Nanci and I caught up with each other,andI was able to do an interview with her. Nanci is avery beautiful, caring person; multi-talented as asinger,songwriter-performer. I grew up listening toNanci’s songs andAndy and I had the pleasure of at-tending one of her concerts at the Birchmere dur-

ing our vacation toWashington DC last year. Nancijust performed at the Barrymore inApril but due toa family emergency,with regrets I was unable to at-tend.

Nanci has been in the music business for thepast three decades. Nanci has a way with herwords and phrases, to make you feel that you areliving the moment with her as she sings about emo-tions and different characters, places and happen-ings in people’s lives. Nanci’s band,The Blue MoonOrchestra has been with her since 1986. Nanci isa very intelligent individual and a joy to visit with.(Thanks Nanci for the great interview and we wishyou well with your CD release and tour.)

Read on and see what Nanci had to say:

AG: You were born in Austin. Did you come froma musical family?

NG: I come from a family of amateur musical peo-ple, except for my stepfather,who was a big bandplayer before entering the service and after theservice. He was the“piano bar guy” in Austin.

AG: Nanci, you started performing at age 14. Whowas your inspiration?

NG: I started playing guitar at age 6. I learned bywatching PBS and watching Ms. Laura give guitarlessons on Saturday mornings.

AG: You play guitar,piano…any other instruments?

NG: I play guitar. I play piano, but not on stage. Istarted playing French horn in school and camehome one day and it was gone! I never took it upagain.

AG: Nanci, when did you write your first song?What was it?

NG: I don’t know. I really don’t know. Someone

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NANCI GRIFFITH’S The Loving Kind


else just asked me that also and I honestly don’tknow what it was. I’m a writer and I just compul-sively write, I’m always writing.

AG: What inspires you to write? Some people Ihave spoken with get ideas from movies, listeningto people in bars, etc. What does it for you?

NG: From all of theses places. But mostly fromnewspapers. What inspires me the most is justwaking up and being alive. My new CD, The Lov-ing Kind, this is the case that did away with inter-racial marriages. Mildred Loving died last Spring,and I read her obituary in the NewYorkTimes andit brought tears to my eyes. The song wrote itself.

AG: Do you usually write by yourself or with oth-ers?

NG: I write a lot with an old friend, Charley Stefl,who was Townes Van Zandt’s best friend. I haveknown Charley since I was about 16 years old. Ialso write with my band members because weknow each other so well and our thoughts just passbetween us. I have had the same band membersfor years, my drummer has been with me for 21years.

AG: Like a marriage?

NG: (Nanci laughs) It has lasted longer than mostmarriages.

AG: Where was the most exciting place you per-formed at?

NG:The schools of North Belfast. I have attendedthe Belfast National Songwriter’s thing every year, itis like South by SouthWest. This is the most trou-bled area,and working with the 11 year old Protes-tant and Catholic children together is so fulfilling.I have been going to Ireland since the early ‘80’s.To see the country at peace is a great thing and towork with the children and sing to them. When Ising songs like It’s a Hard Life or From a Distancewith them, they know every word. It’s amazing.

AG: Tell me about your new CD being released inJune –The Loving Kind.

NG: It is my first record in 8 years that’s all newsongs. I am excited to be writing again. There wasa period of time when I didn’t agree with the Pres-ident and couldn’t get myself inspired. My mindfroze. This record is very political and socially con-scious. The song,“Not Innocent Enough”was thecase of PhillipWorkman accused of killing a Mem-phis policeman. Phillip was executed. This CD is arecord of folk songs.

AG: Nanci, does your audience ever get upset orsay negative things about your political songs orviews?

NG: No,my audiences are pretty politically aware.I don’t express an opinion, I state the case.

AG: Our mutual friend Peter Cooper had some in-volvement in this CD?

NG: Yes, in fact Peter sang on “Not InnocentEnough”. Others participating as well were ToddSnider and John Prine. In fact some of my bandmembers are in the studio with Peter Cooper andEric Brace today. I met Peter through my ex-hus-

band, Eric Taylor.Peter’s a great guy,greatwriter.

AG: What do you do forfun or to relax?

NG: I read a lot. I’m abig reader and I havedogs. I spend a lot oftime with my dogs.

AG: Any other hobbies?

NG: No, reading ismainly it. I do love togarden though.

AG: You mentionedyou had dogs. Howmany and any otherpets?

NG: I just lost a dogabout a month ago. Itwas my 15 year old JackRussell named Peaches.This was my only dogthat I hadn’t gottenfrom a rescue program.I have two other dogs,a7# nobody knows what it is dog that came with thename Abby Road, and a Miniature Pinscher rescuenamed, Hank. I also have a 20 year old mute cat,named Etta James. I named her Etta James becauseI wanted her to have a voice. She has so much per-sonality, she’s an alley cat that you can’t keep in thehouse. She’s a great cat.

AG: Do any of them go on the road with you?

NG: Abby Road goes on the road with me. All ofthem know Emmylou. I think they are pretty wellbehaved.

AG: Nanci, if you could perform with anyone,whowould it be? (Could be someone who has alreadypassed on.) And why?

NG:LouieArmstrong. Just because he was so beau-tiful.

AG: If you could meet or could have met anyone inthe world,who would this be?

NG: Robert Kennedy. Barack Obama would beokay to meet also, but Robert Kennedy is the bigone for me.

AG: What are your futuregoals?

NG: I am just glad to be writ-ing. I’ve gone from a sad pe-riod of my life over the past 8years. My stepfather passedaway last December and thatwas very hard for me. Hewas my stepfather, but hewas a real Dad to me.

AG: What advice would yougive to a young woman todaywanting to get into the musicbusiness?

NG: Never write when you are young what youdon’t want to sing when you are 60 years old! (Weboth laughed.) Stay true to your heart.

AG: Thank you Nanci for your time. I wish you thebest of luck with your new CD and continued ca-reer. Is there one last thing you would like yourfans and our readers to know about “Nanci Grif-fith”?

NG: I’m just a basic knucklehead. I live a prettynormal life and I enjoy every day of it.!

Great words Nanci. Great CD as well. It has foundits own spot in my car CD stack.

Nanci is going to be a very busy lady this sum-mer. Check her website for more information,hertour dates and a listing of her award winning pastalbums @ www.NanciGriffith.com .

Even better – Buy her new CD – THE LOVINGKIND – coming out June 9, 2009……..

Photos supplied by Rachel Dierks

CD Release set for June 9th

The Loving Kind CD is Nanci’s 19thalbum and the first album of allnew material since 2005.

(This CD information was providedby Alisse Kinglsey of Muse Media.)

Hello friends and neighbors! With St.Patrick’s Day a faint memory and the green beerout of our systems by now I feel saddened. I’msure some of you do to. It’s a pity St. Patrick’s Dayonly comes once a year. But don’t despair. I havesomething to help you get through those other 364days of the year, and that’s a dosage of music! TheIrish have a musical past so rich that it has carriedon for hundreds of years, continuing on to presentday music. From songs filled with twisted humor,to ballads that would make you weep, Irish musichas a little bit to say about everything. So here area few albums that help you get through these tryingtimes.

This first album is the album that got me inter-ested in Irish music, and that is Flogging Molly’s“Drunken Lullabies.” This band takes traditionalIrish music and mixes it with a bit of rock,and a bitof punk which creates a frenzy of fiddles, accor-dions, guitars and more. The main songwriter isDave King, who hails from Ireland. Many of hissongs are from memories or feelings of home.“Drunken Lullabies”has an equal mix of energeticand mellow songs.

The Pogues are a legendary band in the Irishmusic genre. Their second album on my list is “If IShould Fall from Grace with God”.This band alsoused punk and rock in their music, but a bit moreacoustic. It may take a more open mind to get intothe Pogues,because of their rock and roll star frontman Shane McGowan. His slurred and lightly offkey vocals may be offensive to some ears, but hislyrics can be stunning. The Pogues were formed inthe early 80’s in Britain,so the punk movement def-initely had its effect on the band members. Thisalbum is not all fast hard songs.The most beautifulsong on this album even in the Pogues song arsenalis “Fairy Tale of New York”. It is a duet betweenShane and Kristy McColl.The song is a ballad abouta Christmas time gone wrong.

The third album on my list comes from a localband Rising Gael. Its title is “These City Walls”. Iwas given this CD by a friend,and it blew me away.The group does covers of old songs, recent songs,and they also do originals. This album is much

more traditional than my last two picks.Consistingof a guitar, a bodhran (Irish flat drum), fiddle, andwhistles, these performers create a simple, butdeep sound.This band hails from Oregon,Wiscon-sin. They used to play mostly in southernWiscon-sin, but as their reputation grew so did theirtouring circuit. Each member of the band bringsdifferent strengths,but the one member that sticksout the most to me is vocalist Erin Ellison. She hasa powerful yet gentle voice that is beautiful andmoving. The instruments are simply stunning aswell. Rising Gael has just recently released a newalbum and has been nominated for five MadisonArea Music Awards (MAMA’s) this year. I’m suretheir bound to take a few home.

This next choice is a good old standby. Thisgroup has been at the top of Irish Music for yearsand they don’t seem to be going anywhere.GaelicStorm started as the party band in the movie Ti-tanic. I’m not a huge fan of their newer stuff, so Irecommend an older album, the self-titled,“GaelicStorm”.I’ve seen Gaelic Storm numerous times andthey always put on a great show.I guess they are ti-tled“world music”,but I’m not quite sure what thatmeans. There are no discrepancies on what part ofthe world they are from. Good old Irish music iswhat can be found on this album.

Well I think that that should be enough Irishmusic to tide you over until next St.Patrick’s Day. Ifyou don’t think so a few other bands you can checkout areTheTossers,The Kissers,The Dropkick Mur-phy’s, and the Dubliners. I’m sure there are manyothers, that some of you know of that I have yet todiscover. I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick’sDay. I hope this list can help you make it throughthe rest of the year.

Bottoms up and glasses down!

Written by:Rob O’Kosmeder


Irish Music:

Remembering the Old,Discovering the New Sugar River Productions and the Americana

Gazette are looking for Songwriters for two CDcompilation projects to release this year. If youwrite in theAmericana,Bluegrass, Folk, Indie Rock,Country, or Rock a billy styles please send a CDwith no more than 3 songs and lyric sheets to beconsidered for these projects. The songs do nothave to be professionally recorded. Simple demosare fine. All songs will be re-recorded in SugarRiver Studios by the writers/artists.

Our staff will choose the best 30 songs to be in-cluded on the CD’s which will be sold to raisemoney for local charities in Southern Wisconsin.The dead line for submission is June 25, 2009. NoCD’s will be returned. All songs selected in the final30 will be copy written by the authors before theywill be re-recorded. Our staff will help you withthat if you need it. Pass the word onto your song-writing friends!

Send lyric sheets and CD’s to

Americana GazetteSongwriters CDPO Box208 Belleville,WI 53508

Looking forSongwritersin SouthernWisconsin!

Attention all bands, soloist, artists, etc. The Ameri-cana Gazette is in the process of setting up a con-tact page to make it easier to find the above. Pleaseemail or mail us your name, email address,web ormyspace page address,and style of music or art youperform or create using the following as a guide.

MusicAmericana, Folk, Roots, Country,Alt-Country, Blue-grass, or Rock

ArtPainting, Jewelry, Pottery, Watercolor, Ceramic,Weaver,Quilt Maker,Metal,Wood, etc.

We want to have our first listing of area artists inour 1st Anniversary Issue that comes out in June2009.

Send information to [email protected] toAmericana GazettePO Box 208Belleville,WI 53508

Looking for ContactInformation

Saturday evening, April 11thfoundAndy and I snuggled in at the Bar-rymore Theatre in Madison at anotherfantastic Todd Snider concert, I think itis the 5th or 6thTodd Snider concert wehave attended. I have seen my friendTodd perform many different times,andhave never left a concert dissatisfiedwith his performance.

The evening started out with anopening act,Pat McDonald. Now if youhave never seen him perform,this is something worth watching as well.He is a one man band, playing a Cigar Box guitar McDonald was doinghis best in getting the audience all revved up forTodd. Pat did have awoman singing backup with him and playing a tambourine,which thatin itself was quite entertaining at times.

The crowd shouted out greetings to“Elvis”asTodd’s stage hand Dave(nicknamed Elvis) tuned upTodd’s guitars and got everything ready forTodd’s grand entrance. As usual Todd entered the stage in his favoritefootwear, barefoot and burst right into a familiar Todd Snider song.To-wards the back of the stage,on a table top,satTodd’s unique brown hatand a vase of flowers. A typical site at aTodd Snider concert. Todd per-formed many of his regular songs, including Play a Train Song, SeattleGrunge Blues, and Beer Run. Todd played songs from his Peace QueerCD including his cover of Fortunate Son by CCR,along with a new songwhich received a positive crowd response. The crowd began to yellout requests, which Todd asked if he could finish what he wanted toplay on his song list first, then he started honoring the requests. Toddreally knows how to please his crowd. Todd shared some stories abouthis songs,not going on for 18 minutes or so, (as he has been known todo) and reminded all of us that all these stories he told us tonight were“true”. Todd thanked the crowd,politely bowed from the stage, thenexited. Meanwhile the crowd continued the applause, and chantingbegan for moreTodd Snider. Todd graciously reappeared and did an en-core for all of us. What an“alright guy” indeed!

Across the aisle from us sat another Americana Gazette staff writer,Mr.Rob Kosmeder. And by the look on his face, I could see he was en-joying the music as much as Andy and me. The crowd was enjoyingthe atmosphere. What more would you want on a Saturday night, aglass of wine,a beer, sitting amongst friends,people thumbing throughtheAmericana Gazette,andTodd singing on stage. (Andy and I had beenin contact with Steve Sperling,General Manager of the BarrymoreThe-atre prior to this event, and he asked us to drop off copies of our cur-rent magazine. It was nice to see the crowd perusing our AmericanaGazette during the intermission.)

Todd Snider is working on a new CD,(The Excitement Plan) and assoon as information becomes available on this, I’m sure he or his pub-licist, Vickie will get the information to me to share with all you ToddSnider fans. Watch for upcoming articles in this magazine!!!

Meanwhile, check outTodd’s website,buy his CD’s, (Peace Queer isthe latest and a great addition to your CD collection), and try to catchhim at a live show. The music is great and he is a very entertaining fel-low to say the least.

Story by: Joyce Ziehli


If You Weren’t at theBARRYMORE THEATRE on April 11TH.You Missed Out on a GREAT CONCERT...East Nashville’s TODD SNIDERwas OUTSTANDING!! Matt Belknap ♪♪

A Different Trip

Style: Funk/Folk

I listened to Matt’s newestalbum first,so I got to hear wherehe is at today.Then after listeningto “A Different Trip” his secondCD I got to see if he had grownas a songwriter. He starts thealbum with “Superhero Stevo” asong which just put a smile onmy face. I was happy to see thatMatt had always written with such interesting imagery in his songs.

This album also had the same variety to it, but at the same time they all soundedfamiliar. Not in a plagiarism way, but in I’ve been down this road before kind of way.Anyways, then came the fourth song,“Bad Inside Joke”contained watermelon seeds,giraffes,haters,and a“happy little world splitting at the seams”.By the end of the songI couldn’t even try to put all of those images together. Next came a good old bluessong,but with a Belknap twist.Then I was again subject to more wild imagery.The titletrack,“A Different Trip”definitely holds up to its name. I couldn’t even want to try toexplain it. Next was the beautiful Spanish ballad,“Gasoline Pan.” Sorry again, I can’ttell you what it’s about. “You know I don’t speak Spanish!”

Near the middle of the album the songs started to sound too familiar.There seemedto be a constant similarity and déjà vu between the songs. This album has all goodsongs, just some a little too much like each other. His song writing has grown overthe years,which is what a songwriter would want.Always growing, always getting bet-ter.

This Album is interesting and should not be ignored. I just like Matt’s second CDmuch better.

Review by:Rob Kosmeder

CD Review

Matt Belknap ♪♪♪City of Bony Shoul-ders

Style: Funk/Folk

Listening to this album canonly be explained as a journey.Every song is like every turn inthe road. It revealed somethingdifferent and interesting. Eachsong has its own personality, allfriendly, but all different. Maybebeing a teacher Matt has beenshown a vast and unique world.Maybe…Most of these songs arejust Matt and his guitar.There is abit of second guitar sprinkledhere and there, but it’s prettystraightforward.

So as you begin the journey the song,“Deep Blue”paints a wild picture in front ofyou.A vision of giant waves crashing over the city of Janesville, followed by a killerlightshow.You are brought back to reality by a melancholy song about a working girlduring wartime. But a sweet song called“Don’tYouWorry”brings the mood back up.



Type in the name “Mike Niemiec” in any inter-net search and you get a ton of hits.Mike has beenin the music scene since he was about fifteen yearsold, and now at twenty-five he is no newcomer tothe world of music. Playing an instrument since hewas eleven,Mike has had plenty of time to perfecthis songwriting, guitar playing, and all around mu-sicianship. His first taste of success came with theband“Non-Existent”, a pop-punk four piece out ofRacine. Now his main project is “The Frederick-son’s” out of Milwaukee.

The Frederickson’s may sound like a group,butThe Frederickson’s is made up of only Mike,unlessyou are lucky and catch a show when he has awhole band backing him. For the most part thetransition of the music from acoustic to rock hasbeen a fairly easy one for Mike. Mike’s roots lie infolk and old rock and roll. There is no denying thatonce you hear his music. Smooth and melodic,hismusic sticks out in the Milwaukee music scene andanywhere else he goes. The music that comes fromthe stage seems to transcend genres, catchingeveryone’s ear.

I had the pleasure of playing with Mike in a fewprojects, and the two things that he brings to anyproject that he works on are feeling and flexibility.Able to adapt to any band surroundings,Mike playsa rock show one night, and the next night playsdrums in an Americana band. With the Frederick-son’s it’s time for Mike to be a little selfish.He cando whatever he wants with the music, and isn’tafraid to. If you listen to the Frederickson’s I’m sureyou wouldn’t want him to change a thing. Everynote is given hard thought by Mike before it evergets put into his songs. Every song is given hard

JimmyVoegeli is a Blues man. JimmyVoegeli isa Dairy Farmer. Jimmy Voegeli is a busy guy!Voegeli is one of the top Blues keyboardists in theU.S. His Hammond Organ playing has gracedGrammy nominated albums. He is a much in de-mand session player that has to balance his musicwith his other passion being a Wisconsin DairyFarmer.

Voegeli and his brother are fifth generation dairyfarmers where they work 1400 acres of crop land,milk 140 Brown Swiss dairy cows, and export em-bryos, bull semen,and live animals throughout theworld. They show and exhibit dairy cattle through-out the United States.Voegeli’s grandfather, father,and his brother were and are world renowneddairy geneticists. Their Brown Swiss Dairy herd canbe seen as you drive along Hwy 69 South betweenNew Glarus and Monticello,WI.

The ability or non-ability to read music has notstoppedVoegeli frommastering his instrument. Hissignature Hammond Organ can easily be distin-guished between his contemporaries playing. Hissoulful voice cuts through the mix. He has touredEurope and the U.S.many times bringing his musicto the world. Not bad for a farm kid fromWiscon-sin.

3 for 1

Jimmy Voegeli

Lloyd GreenMike Niemiec

In the future when they list the steel guitar inan encyclopedia there will surely be a picture ofLloyd Green next to it. Green without a doubt rev-olutionized the steel guitar and made it the instru-ment that is most associated with Country Music.His unbelievable licks have dominated 115 # 1Country Hits since the early 1960’s. Including Girlon the Billboard, D-I-V-O-R-C-E, Easy Lovin, PureLove, Jose Cuervo, and RememberWhen. One ofhis signature songs that did not make # 1 FarwellParty is a classic song itself. He played in FaronYoung’s and Ferlin Husky’s road bands. Green hasplayed on thousands of recordings from the 1960’sup to date.The creativity and tone that he displayedon these records is unequaled. Some of his bestknown work includes the traditional Countryrecords of Charley Pride, Mel Street, Johnny Pay-check, GeneWatson, Freddie Hart,Cal Smith,DonWilliams,The Oak Ridge Boys and countless othersGreen worked with pop musicians as well, includ-ing Vera Lynn, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, aswell as on the Byrds' seminal Sweetheart of theRodeo album.

In February of 2006,Green was the first memberof the famous Nashville "A Team" of studio musi-cians and session players to be featured in a newseries of events at the Country Music Hall of Famein Nashville. These presentations featured CountryMusic icons talking about their amazing careers.Green also provided live examples of his magicplaying. Green has played Steel Guitar and Dobroon more than 10,000 recording sessions. Thismeans,on an average of three to four songs per ses-sion he has played on over 30,000 songs.

thought before it gets put into an album,which iswhat Mr.Niemiec is up to right now recordingTheFredrickson’s first full length album.

If you like to check out Mike’s music, you canvisit him at www.myspace.com/itsthefredricksons.There you can get a feeling for Mike’s music.But ifyou really want to enjoy his music check him outthe next time he comes through your town. Be ithis acoustic show, or electric three piece bandyou’re guaranteed to enjoy yourself.

Written and photo by:Rob Kosmeder

Green worked steadily until the late 1980’swhen an ear infection caused him to retire fromplaying and recording. After a long hiatus Green re-turned in the early 2000’s to record and play on theGrand Ole Opry. He has recorded with Allan Jack-son, SteveWarner,and Peter Cooper. In fact,Greenand Cooper have recorded two albums togetherand another with Eric Brace. Green always theSouthern Gentleman is easy to talk to. His SteelGuitar playing has only aged like fine wine. He isalso member of MENSA. A terrific web site tocheck out on Green is www.lloydgreentribute.com.All the folks he has played with and lists of his #1songs along with top 10 hits are also listed. Thereare plenty of pictures and sound bytes to check outtoo. Green also has a myspace page you shouldcheck out, along with a great CD "Master of theSteel Strings the Little Darlin' Sound of LloydGreen.”

Story and photo:Andy Ziehli


John Doe and The Sadies♪♪♪♪1/2Country ClubYEP Records

Style: Country, Americana

John Doe has been around in the music com-munity ever since the 70’s. He was a foundingmember of the Punk Band X, made a movie withGeorge Strait, played in the Knitters, did a videowith Kathleen Edwards, sang in the Gram Parsonstribute concert, and has been knocking aroundplaying his brand of Country Music. The Sadies areaCanadian Band mostly known for backing NekoCase,which is not to say that they are second rateby any means.

This CD is an incredible work of sonic art. Greatsong selection, excellent recording, and enoughsoul to power Memphis for 10 years! This is a fan-tastic true Country album. From the first song acover of Waylon Jennings Stop the world and letme off to the ending Pink Mountain Rag this CD

www.amer i canagaze t t e .ne t 11continued on page 19

Then came the quick funny song about a love gonefrom shear bliss to something terribly wrong. Afteranother slow sweet song,Matt throws a quick bendin the road, and gives us “I’ve Got A New Way”.Belknap paints another trippy painting for us, butthese images stay with you for awhile.“The system’sgot a glitch”sings Matt,and he sounds like he mightknow something we don’t.Maybe he’s just pointingout something that’s right in front of us.

Good songs,good ideas make this a good album.Sometimes it gets a little corny, but it’s all in goodfun.The only thing that needed work was the mix.It got a little distracting at times, but the point stillgets across.As I listened I can’t help but wonderwhat the album would have sounded like if theywould have added a few more instruments.

Belknap is a great performer live. His show atthe Fat Cat last summer was one of the best in thatconcert series. He’ll be back again this year, socheck the schedule in this issue and make plans tosee him.

Written by: Rob Kosmeder

Todd Snider ♪♪♪♪♪The Excitement Plan

Style: Americana

It was less than a year ago when Todd Snidercame out with his politically-fueled and rhyming-opinion laced album Peace Queer, this CD he tack-led topics like war, death, and even high schoolhierarchies. But with his new album “The Excite-ment Plan”Todd sings about more personal things.I’m not saying war and death aren’t personal, butmaybe some people have never experienced them.With his new album every song can be related to.Well maybe not so much for track eight,Unorgan-ized Crime. That one might be a little harder formost of us to connect with. I’m not “the one whokilled SlickWilly”.

The album starts out with a Kristofferson-ishcount down and then quickly comes Todd’s signa-

ture witty lyrics. This first song was a nice transi-tion from old to new. It’s almost like he’s slowlyeasing us in to his new ideas because as soon as thefirst song passes.You hear something different andfresh. Instead of Todd’s guitar taking the front seathe shows us his piano skills that for the past yearsof touring he has shown at only a few shows.Greencastle Blues is a new style of song forTodd’sfans and it definitely stood out, but in a good way.Then he hits us with another great song, America’sFavorite Pastime is the story of Doc Ellis, a majorleague pitcher,who threw a no-hitter under the in-fluence of LSD. The imagery in this song as you canimagine, is excellent. The halfway point of thealbum is marked with my favorite song of thealbum Corpus Christi Bay (A Robert Earl Keensong) done in a more laid back style than the orig-inal or live Keen version.

Someone told me that they thought this albumwas similar to Todd’s 2004 release “East NashvilleSkyline”,but I just don’t see it. This album is full ofnew song writing styles, and not a single one ofthem stumbles. Each has its own charm and wit.Another great track is the piano rock duet, Don’tTempt Me. This one you may not want to admit torelating to, but you know it’s happened. But thatcan be your secret. Every song on this album seemsfresh and inviting. It’s hard to believe that Toddfinds time to sit down and make an album with hisintense touring schedule,but he does. And not onlyan album,but a great album. Keep an open mind tothe new stuff,and this record will definitely be oneof your favorites in no time.

Reviewed by:Rob Kosmeder

Nanci Griffith ♪♪♪♪The Loving KindRounder Records

Style: Americana, Folk

First of all Nanci Griffith cannot put out a badCD! Period! Her past work speaks volumes of howtalented a writer that she is. Her peers honor herwith accolades and praise. Her stage show is won-derfully entertaining. This CD The Loving Kind isanother masterpiece.

From the first cut of this CD to the last I was inawe of Griffith's writing and song selection talent.Each song draws you in and if you close your eyes

and listen (but not if you are listening while driv-ing!) you can see the images in your mind’s eye thatGriffith and co-writer Thomm Jutz have put uponpaper. Other writers on this CD include CharleyStefl,GaleTrippsmith,Edwina Hayes,Clive Gregson,Dee Moeller,and Pat McInerney. The song selectionis a wonderful trove of imagery and soothingmelodies.

Now this CD also as an upbeat style to it. Thereare two genuine rockers included here AcrossAmerica and Party Girl. A great country weeperin Pour me a drink and a two step in Tequila aftermidnight. The opening cut The Loving Kind is awonderful song that is sure to touch your heart andmake you think.

Nanci Griffith is a treasure to all of us. Her songinterpretation and story telling ability has fewpeers. This is a fine addition to your collection anda great place to start if you are unfamiliar with Grif-fith and her volume of work. Take the time to buyand enjoy this CD. It is a fantastic example of whattrue Americana music is all about.

Reviewed by: Andy Ziehli

cd review... continued from page 9

CD Review


Guess who I am???? I am thelatest family edition to theAndy & JoyceZiehli household. Let me tell you how Ifound my new home. My name isWylieand I am 8 weeks old;and this is my very“short” life history.

I am one of a litter of eight. My Momis Springer Spaniel Annabelle, and herhuman parents are Pat and Kim Cockroft,some of Andy and Joyce’s best friends.NowAndy and Pat go back a long way, infact they were best friends in highschool and still remain best friends tothis day.You should hear them talk whenthey get together on Saturday morningsfor breakfast. Some stuff is not always fitfor my little ears to hear. NowAndy and Joyce hadalready gotten a Springer Spaniel named Duncanfrom the Cockrofts about 6 years ago who joinedBailey, the 9 year old Golden Retriever, and Mulderthe 12 year old Black Panther cat. In fact,my Mom,Annabelle is Duncan’s sister! I guess that makesme Duncan’s nephew?

Now my 7 siblings and I are so cute that Pat andKim Cockroft said to the Ziehli’s you just have tostop in and “just look at them.” Well, the Ziehli’sstopped in when we were only about a week old.Not much activity going on, our eyes were closed,and all me and my siblings wanted to do was eat,gopotty, eat, go potty, eat.Then the naps set in. Wewere cute,but nothing to write home about at thistime. Now the Ziehli’s stopped in again aroundMother’s Day and we all put on our best behavior.We pranced around, jumped around in our pen,sat

up very cute like with our darling little eyes andwhimpered to be picked up.You know, the typicalcute puppy stuff. (Somehow we just all knew ex-actly what to do.)

Some of my siblings already had colored collarson which meant they have already been spokenfor. I immediately tried to push my way up front,saying to my siblings you guys already have homes,get out of the way for the rest of us. Sometimes Ijust don’t understand my siblings! Kim and Patasked Andy and Joyce which of the “unspoken”ones (ones without collars) they liked best? I sawthe opportunity arise and I sat straight up, lookingas cute as I could, I knew if I caught Joyce’s eye, itwas a shoe in for me. Yes,my eyes locked with hers,I saw her hands reaching for me and yes, and I wasin her arms. I quickly looked up at her and gaveone of those precious puppy kisses. I saw her

throw that“certain glance” towardsAndyand that was it – the showwas over. Kimhanded Joyce a lime green colored collarand said put it on him – he’s yours! Andthat is how I came to live with theZiehli’s. (That human thing that I’m justgoing to look at them never works. Oneof us always goes home with them sooneror later.)

The Ziehli’s keep coming out to visitme at the Cockroft homestead. I hear myMom’s voice and I come a runnin’ to her.They tried to get me to pose for some pic-tures, but I was a little busy at the timehelping with the flower beds Kelly wasworking in. Well the day finally came. Ipacked up my personal belongings in mylittle blue knapsack and jumped inAndy’s

big red truck to move to the city!

Now I am really too little to have much of a lifestory to share with all of you. I am just learning mysocial skills from my older brothers, Duncan andBailey. But they are very good teachers and theyhave a lot of toys,treats and pretty much – the goodlife. The cat Mulder just doesn’t quite know whatto think of me, but I know I will grow on him. Ithink I am going to like living here!!!! All my newbrothers seem to be quite spoiled, so I think this isgoing to be good for me!!!

I have to go now, I have puppy school everynight to learn the basics. I never skip school asthere are always good snacks involved. I thinktonight we are working on sit – come!!!!!

Written and photo by: Joyce Ziehli

APE

TNO

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www.amer i canagaze t t e .ne t 13

THE LIFE OF AMUSICIAN –

and so itbegins…

Musicians are weird. I could end this article right here and most people wouldunderstand that simple sentence.For centuries mothers have always said to their daugh-ters, “whatever you do, don’t marry a musician.”We are a different breed of people, wedon’t like sunlight,we crave dark stinky bars and we’re all great at pool.

It also takes a special person to get up in front of people you’ve never met and createa sound that’s never been heard.What’s even more intimidating is having those exactsame people listen and watch for five seconds and judge you.The people in the crowdare judging you on what your voice sounds like,how you play your guitar,how your hairis combed,what kind of clothes you’re wearing and the list goes on. It’s the life of a livemusician. It can be an absolute beautiful thing as well, seeing your music create an emo-tion in a person watching you,and there are very few things in this world that can matchthe feeling of moving someone with your music.And so it begins.

I’ve just released my first full length album and I’m sending it out to countless radio stations, news-papers and magazines. It got me thinking about how stressful of a situation that can be. Sending out apiece of work that one has worked months and months on,writing the songs, practicing them, record-ing them, and then listening to them over and over as you mix and master the songs. By the time you’redone with your CD most of us are sick and tired of hearing it.We just want to get it done and get it re-leased, by that time we are ready to show off our piece of artwork. I believe that once the CD is doneyou just put it out there and let people think what they think.You simply can’t please every-one and if you try and do that, you’ll fail miserably.

It reminds me of a show we once did.The crowd was pretty light the whole night and bythe third set there were a handful of people there. I admit we were trying a few things mu-sically on stage and experimenting a bit.As our last song came upon us we all decided to justtake the song to wherever it flowed. By the end of the song I looked around the stage andfound myself beating my guitar up with a drum stick making some god awful sounds. Z, ourbass player was actually on top of his bass amp crouching on it as though he was a hawksearching for his prey, Shack our drummer was playing with a beer bottle and one drumstick…..you get the picture. It was out there to say the least.As we finished the song thecrowd came up to us and said things like,“wow, that was unbelievable, I’ve never seen any-thing like that!” or “that was one of the coolest, craziest things I’ve ever seen live, just awe-some!” For the most part people loved it.However, as we were packing up our gear one ofthe patrons in attendance late that night was getting up to leave, as he exited the venue hewalked by the stage looked at us plainly while shaking his head and simply said,“freak show.”Nothing else.That isn’t the typical response a musician will get, but it’s what we strive for, in both caseswe’ve created an emotion in someone and moved them bad or good.

Musicians have tough skin;we are used to people yelling at us while on stage or starting a song andhaving half the crowd leave; or having a young attractive college coed come up to you after listening tothree hours of us playing rock and roots songs,only to have her ask for a song by George Michael.Musi-cians have seen and heard it all, that’s part of the fun of it.When you’re on the road it just happens andyou learn to deal with it. In fact we ask for it and wouldn’t want it any other way.We put our music out

Aaron’s Amusing Anecdotes

there for fans to judge,we send our CD’s to musicwriters taking the chance that they will rip us apartto get a good review.We play our songs, record ourCD and just accept what happens next. It’s the lifeof a musician and it’s what we asked for.Life on theroad has helped us all out and makes us tough. It’sfear of the unknown as well.When releasing a CDthe artist is obviously happy with the material, no

one purposely releases a sub par CD.Weas the artist believe it is good and wantpeople to enjoy the labor of our love.What happens next is exciting, thechance of a hit or the defeat of a bad re-viewed CD; it’s all part of the game wejoined in long ago.And so it begins.

I’m ready to hear the reviews of ournew CD;I’ve lifted weights, taken a fewkickboxing classes and shaved mybeard with a rusty spoon. I’ve combedmy hair,bought a new pair of jeans fromthe Gap and got some new Brutcologne.I’ve whitened my teeth,got mytips frosted and took a Tony Robbins

motivational class. I’m ready. I’m ready to get infront of the crowd and face the music……I’m amusician and I’m weird.

Written by: AaronWilliams


For any of you who had followed BethKille’s career, or the Clear Blue Betty Band, youknow that Beth, her husbandTony and Buddy (thelab) moved to Houston, Texas for one year forTony’s job. As her 1 year stay comes to an end, Imyself wondered how things went for her and ifshe carried on her musical career. I thought maybeyou readers might be interested in this as well. SoI emailed Beth with a few questions and followingis the update. The email interview went a little likethis:

AG: What was it like for you when you first movedtoTexas?

BK: I have to admit, it was a little scary to go some-place where I didn’t know a single soul,but I’m notone to sit around and wait for things to happen.We’d been here for 3 days and I decided to hit anopen mic at a venue called The Mucky Duck. I in-troduced myself to the guy that ran it (WayneWilk-erson) and told him I’d just moved fromWisconsin.He told me he’d done some studio work for TretFure (a Madison artist). Made me feel like it was apretty small world. I knew after that I was going tobe just fine.

AG: Where did you go to listen to some goodmusic?

BK: There are a ton of great venues here – partlybecause it’s a city of 4 million people, but also be-cause this entire state is crazy about live music. Myfavorite small Houston venue for national acts theaforementioned Mucky Duck. Tony (my husband)and I went to the Austin City Limits Music Festivalin September (130 bands on 8 stages in 3 days –that’s my kind of party!). We also went to theRodeo here in Houston in March & saw KeithUrban.There’s a lot of great places -too many to list!

AG: Was it easy to meet other musicians inTexas?

BK: Yes, amazingly so. First off,“Southern Hospi-tality” is not a myth. People are ridiculouslyfriendly & welcoming here. I met tons of greatwriters within a few weeks by going to open mics& hitting the different songwriter groups in thearea. Then of course, there’s my “Texas Angel” –Connie Mim’s. She’s like the Mother of the Hous-ton-area music scene. She’s a great writer,great per-former and a truly wonderful woman who took me

under her wing & made sure I got connectedwith as many opportunities as possible.She ac-tually, indirectly, got me my first gig here intown, asked me to be a featured artist on alocal radio show,she set me up to be an in-structor at the Grammy Career Day at theUniversity of Houston and got me my firstpublisher meeting in Nashville by pre-senting one of our co-written songs at aconference. I really could never repay herfor all the kindness. I know I wouldn’thave had half these opportunities if it had-n’t been for her.

AG: Did youjam with any-

one while youwere there?

BK: Yeah, a bunch!I’ve done some per-formances withsome amazing fe-male artists likeConnie,Debbie For-rest, Season Am-mons and I had thechance to do a littlehome studio workon a duet with aguy named MarkBeets. Jessi Lynn(formerly of Madi-son) came herefrom Nashville inApril to do a Texastour with me & wejammed like a cou-ple of crazy womenall over this state.It’s been a blast.

AG: What wereyour feelings aboutleaving behind“Clear Blue Betty” for a year?

BK: The boys of Clear Blue Betty gave so much oftheir time & talent to the band that it was reallytough to let go. I have so much love & admirationfor every one of them. Leaving the band behindwas a big transition, but I feel like it really forcedme to grow as a performer and a writer. I can’thide behind anyone when it’s just me & my guitaron the stage. It was an unbelievable ride with CBB,I don’t regret any of it for a second,but I’ve enjoyedexploring this new solo thing a lot.

AG: What have you been doing musically sinceyour move?

BK: I have been playing some solo shows aroundTexas,but mostly I’m writing up a storm (I actuallyjust counted & I’ve worked on over 80 songs sinceI moved here in June). I’ve been doing a lot of co-writing with folks from all over the country -seri-ously, I’m writing with folks from Nebraska, NewJersey, Illinois,Tennessee,Massachusetts &Texas atthe moment – amazing what you can do with email,mp3s & video conferencing! It has been a real giftto connect with all these other writers and learnfrom them.

AG: Tell me about your trips to Nashville.

BK: I’ve been to Nashville 4 times in the last 7months. Every time I go, I learn a bit more andmake some more connections. I’ve attended sev-eral workshops, had some demo work done, donesome writing, played (demos) for some publishersand heard some incredible performances. It’s a bigwhirlwind every time I go there. I’m trying to fig-ure out exactly where I fit in & what I have to doto get my songs to measure up. I’m just hopingsomeone thinks I have something to offer as awriter! I’m really hoping that I can start gettingsome cuts with artist’s who have record deals, butI’m not delusional, I know it’s extremely competi-tive and I’ve got to work at it every day.

AG: You have decided to dissolve Clear Blue Bettyaltogether. Are you tryingit solo or going to start another band upon your re-turn?

BK: True, I don’t have any current plans to startClear Blue Betty back up,but I’ve learned to neversay never. My primary focus right now is to be asongwriter that pitches songs in Nashville and sec-ondly to be a solo performing artist. I don’t have aplan to start up another band right now, but I’mopen to whatever opportunities present them-selves.

AG: What will be the future plans of Beth Killeupon her return toWisconsin?

BK: Man, do you have enough space for all this? Iseriously could write you a book (my business planis about 20 pages long, no joke). In a nutshell,mygoals are to continue to write,pitch my songs,startwork on a solo album,play some shows and hope-fully have the opportunity to teach up-and-coming writers in the Madison area. I’m also goingto be helping Belleville native Gerry Grothues co-coordinate the Madison Chapter of the NashvilleSongwriters Association International. I’ve had alot of people ask if I plan to return to my day job &the answer is, at the moment,no. I do miss being aphysical therapist at times (and all my wonderfulformer-colleagues and patients at Monroe Clinic),but most the time I’m too busy to think about it.I’ve got a new career path.

ONE ON ONEWITH BETH KILLELIVE FROM

HOUSTON, TEXAS



The Rock & Roll band Electric Blue has asecret. That secret is that age equals experienceand that equals a good time. This is a band of sea-soned master musicians who are not afraid to letthe gray show in their hair. They let their instru-ments do the talking and the good times roll. Theaverage age of these Rock & Roll musicians is 52years young. The only member under 50 is drum-mer Derrick Hendrickson who is 21 years old.Scott Hare,Franz Jaggi,Duane Sies,Tony DiPofi,DaleFreidig,and Derrick Hendrickson are masters of theClassic and Blues Rock songs that they play. Basedout of Belleville,WI the band has been together for

one year. They are past members of Summer Haze,Remuda, Backwards Glance, and are still membersof the Rain Dogs and Fedora.

The music style that Electric Blue favors in-cludes the J. Giles Band, Joe Cocker, Grand FunkRailroad,Warren Zevon,Rolling Stones, and LynrydSkynyrd. Each member is a master and stylist oftheir perspective instruments. According to TonyDiPofi “we work very hard on our vocals. It is im-portant that we play the songs as close to the orig-inal as we can,because our fans want to hear it thatway. That does not mean that Electric Blue doesnot throw in their own curve or changeup to makethe song more interesting.” Five of the six mem-bers sing lead so they are able to cover a wide va-riety of music and vocal styles. The popularity ofthe music that Electric Blue plays goes over well inthe beer tents and clubs of SouthernWisconsin andNorthern Illinois.

Electric Blue plans to work up a few originalsongs in the next year. DiPofi and Freidig are ac-complished songwriters who have written manysongs that have been played in other bands theywere and are actively working with. DiPofi statesthat“there are no egos in this band. We are all greatfriends and respect each other’s talents and skills.”Hard work always equates into rewards and Elec-tric Blue’s hard work has paid off with a summerfull of some of the best beer tents to play in. OnJune 20th they are playing the Blanchardville Fire-man’s Dance, on July 10th the Monticello Home-coming Festivities, and onAugust 7th the BellevilleCommunity Picnic. These along with dates atStella’s in Stoughton and the Loading Dock inFreeport will keep these guys hopping.

The versatility of this band is incredible. Theyhave twin Lead guitars, Harmonica, Keyboards,Horn,and with their incredible vocal styling’s theyare a band that is hard to beat in top entertainmentvalue. Getting people up and dancing is the focusof each show. “We are not a sit on your butt and lis-ten band”said DiPofi. “Getting people up and mov-ing is what we live and play for! Growing our fanbase and expanding our playing territory are thetwo things we are working the most on”, saidDiPofi. “We are very focused and have a great workethic. Rehearsals go so fast I can’t believe that itstime to quit after three hours.”

Loving what you play and just not playing forthe money makes for a better show. These guyshave lived this music, and love playing it. Theirknowledge and experience from past bands has ac-cumulated into a fantastically entertaining night ofRock & Roll. Freidig's thundering bass and thefleetness of his fingers as he plays lays down a foun-dation you could build a house on. Dipofi’s smok-ing vocals and fluent harp lines fills each song with

the grittiness that Blues Rock was born from. Hare’sclear crisp vocals and guitar styling’s ads to this mix-ture to provide some Northern soul. Jaggi’s incred-ibly strong vocals, keyboard work, and horn fillsgives everyone a reason to put their hands together.Sies’s stratospheric guitar solos scream like they arebeing pulled from the Hell hounds that chasedRobert Johnson and countless others in the questfor guitar virtuosity. Lastly Hendrickson’s drummingis played with such passion and style one wouldthink that he was touched by the Rock Gods them-selves.

If you like that good old Rock & Roll of the 70’sand the Blues Rock of the late 60’s you will loveElectric Blue. They are well worth the price of ad-mission! In this day and age of youth it’s great tosee that experience still pays off when it comes togetting people up and moving. Rock & Roll has noage limit and the boys in Electric Blue can still showthe“youngsters”how to rock the house and get thedance floor thumpin! These guys are the Heart ofRock & Roll with a little soul thrown in.

Article and photos by:Andy Ziehli

Electric Blue =A good time for all


It is extremely rare in the Ameri-cana/Country music world to hear some-one called a virtuoso on one instrument letalone four or more, but Fats Kaplin is one.Fats, though not a household word unlessyou live at our house is a multi-instrumen-talist, entertainer, and gentleman. Histrademark thick long silver hair alwaysshines under the glare of the stage lights.The music that flows from his fiddle, gui-tar, banjo, steel guitar, mandolin, or tinwhistle is a huge part of the sound thatKane Welch Kaplin brings forth in theirshows.

I talked to Fats in April about his music,early gypsy life, and where he is headedtoday. The conversation was wonderfullypleasant, and filled with bouts of laughteras he readily told road stories.

AG: I see you survived the tornadoes overthe weekend?

Kaplin: Yea they were in Murfreesborowhich is a little south of where I live.

AG: What started you out in music?

Kaplin: I grew up in Manhattan. My be-ginnings started out in the Folk scene thatwas going on in New York/Greenwich Vil-lage in the early 60’s. My Uncle Tom wasa very influential person in my life andplayed banjo and flute. So I started playingbanjo when I was about 10 years old.Within about a year of my learning thebanjo I started watching Pete Seeger onPublic TV and his show Rainbow Quest. Hewould bring on different Folk artists everyweek. Well one week he brought on hisbrothers band The New Lost City Ram-blers. They were young men at the time,and they wore white shirts with sleevegarters and played old time string bandmusic. I just flipped out and thought it wasthe greatest music I had ever heard. Theywere so authentic, just like the records Ihad heard of that old style of music withfiddle, guitar, and banjo. I went and gotmyself a cheap fiddle and taught myselfto play. I went and found a couple of theirrecords at the New York City library andthen discovered all the great folk record-ings that were also there. These weremostly all 78’s. That’s how I taught myselfto play. I stayed away from Bluegrass be-cause it was too modern for me. I justspent the time and taught myself how to

Fats Kaplin -He Plays a Bunch ofDifferent Instruments


play. I wasn’t aware of the size of the FolkScene and all the festivals that were goingon then, because I was just a kid. I was justtrying to get back to my roots. My mother’sparents came from South Carolina, but didnot play or live this music. I never playedRock & Roll music growing up. I just playedString Band, Early Jazz, and Blues.

AG: You seem to have a klatch for beingable to pickup an instrument and play it. Isit as easy as it seems for you, or do you haveto work at it?

Kaplin: When you are a kid you don’t knowif it is hard, you just do it. I would find abook every once in awhile, but they were notgreat learning aids. I just listened and wasable to do it. I listened to records, which isthe way everybody did it forever before thecomputer came along. Later on in my lifewhen I was in my twenties and had beenplaying professionally for awhile I went to aViolin teacher. I brushed up on a lot of skillsI did not have because I was self taught.

AG: When did you pickup the steel guitar?

Kaplin: I picked up the steel much later inmy life. I started playing steel in my mid-twenties. A friend had a cheap studentmodel in his basement so I borrowed it andstarted goofing around on it. I started lis-tening to old Ray Price, Buck Owens, andcountry music and really got into it. Iwound up playing it a month or so and thentook it on stage. I’m sure it sounded just ter-rible, but they let me continue doing so. NowI play it in Pure Prairie League.

AG: Did you find it hard to coordinate yourhands and feet when you first started on thesteel?

Kaplin: No not really. Pedal Steel is a weirdinstrument. I equate it to driving a piece ofheavy machinery or a semi. You just don’tthink about it you just do it. I was just play-ing the steel when you called, which is oddbecause I generally don’t play it much here.I generally play the guitar or other instru-ments that you can walk around the housewith. I have also played the tin whistle, har-monica, and other strange instruments asneeded on records and live.

AG: My first exposure to you was with theDead Reckoners? I even modeled a song-writing group I had after you guys. Was ita fulfilling time for you?

Kaplin: Yes it was. Dead Reckoning was agroup of good friends that had a hoot play-ing together. What I am doing now withKane Welch Kaplin and working with mywife Kristi Rose is more fulfilling and fo-cused which makes for good music. I thinkthe best stuff is the material that I am doingnow. I am still writing and recording myown stuff, but that is fulfilling in a differentway.

AG: When you moved to Nashville you wereolder than most people who take the leap.Did you find it harder to get something

going and/or meeting people to play with?

Kaplin: I left New York City in the early 90’safter meeting Kevin Welch in the Swiss Alpsat a Country Music festival. I was playingwith the Tom Russell Band out of New Yorkwhich was my main band that I played with.Anyway Kevin, Mike Henderson, and Istarted talking. Mike had seen me playingwith Roy Bookbinder when he was going tocollege. I had been playing with Roy since Iwas 17 years old. Well a couple of monthswent by and Kevin came to New York andplayed a show. I went down and sat in withthe band. The Tom Russell Band had brokenup and I was ready to try something new.Kevin called me out of the blue and askedme to join a new band he was putting to-gether in Nashville. In the Fall I moved toNashville and went right into working be-cause of Kevin’s notoriety and connections.

I was very fortunate to be able to do so.Nashville was very embracing at the time. Ihave been very fortunate to have done wellwithin this great music community. I neverhad to really struggle here.

AG: So you have been a musician yourwhole life? Have you ever worked any otherjobs?

Kaplin: I have been a musician my wholelife. The only other job I have ever had wasas a Crap dealer in Las Vegas in the mid1970’s. I also dappled as a semi-pro pokerplayer. I did that for a couple years andthen gave it all up for music! (Laughs veryhardily)

AG: When you came to Nashville did you


COM

MUNITY PLAYERS PRESENTS

July 24, 25, 26 & 31 & August 1 & 2at the Richand Center High School Auditorium

Friday & Saturday Performances at 7:30 PM; Sunday Performance at 1:30 PMTickets $12.00 Adults; $6.00 Children under 12 years

Written by Dale WassermanMusic by Mitch LeighLyrics by Joe Darion


What makes you like a song or an artist,and your friends wonder how you could like thatjunk? What is it that grabs you and won’t let go?What is missing in an awful lot of music being re-leased today? I think that it can be broken down toa couple of things.

First it’s the thing that all songwriters strive tocome up with when they write a song, and that isthe hook. The hook is that thing that grabs you anddrags you into the song. Sometimes it’s the chorus.Again it can be the instrumental ditty at the end ofeach line that catches your ear and connects toyour heart. It’s the first few notes of the song thatmakes you turn your head or start tapping yourfoot. The hook is the money maker of the song.You could write the world’s best song musically orlyrically,but if it does not have a hook it won’t sell.

The next thing that helps to sell songs is famil-iarity. Humans copy everything and anything thatworks for another human. If you don’t believe thisjust think back to fishing as a kid. As soon as some-one got a bite or better yet caught a fish you tossedyour line in the exact same place and or switchedto the exact same bait. It is proven everyday inmusic. Boy bands,cowboy hats, tight jeans,blondefemale singers, patriotism, you get the picture. Welike, no, love things that are familiar. That is whycover bands are so popular in this area. We want tohear what we already know because it is comfort-able and does not take any energy to enjoy it.Ninety-nine percent of all top 40 songs today allsound the same. They are recorded by the samemusicians, in the same studios, by the same engi-neers. When someone does make a change theothers like lemmings are eager to follow.

Which brings me to what is missing in mostmusic today, and that is passion and originality.Let’s talk about originality. Now after all these yearsit is hard to be truly original. There are only 12notes so it’s safe to say you are going to play some-thing somebody already has. The thing that you cando though is give it a different spin or frame to lookat it in. In today’s music world original meanssomething that you have created not copied or cov-ered from another artist, band, or writer. It’s yourversion of the truth!

We have it all wrong here inWisconsin. We re-ward people for copying others by paying themoutrages sums of money and hobbling people whowrite their own music by paying them very littleor not at all. Sure cover bands bring in dollars, andthat’s what club owners want. Original artists

bring in their friends and families and little or nomoney so they are stuck playing small venueswhere their songs never really see the light of day.An occupational hazard? If so why is it not this wayin industry or technology where innovation is re-warded? The arts in all of their forms are generallynot rewarded if they go off on their own and chal-lenge the status quo. It is familiarity that bringspeople to gallery openings, book signings, andmusic venues. If an artist or musician does createsomething completely new and innovative and hassome success then others jump on the bandwagon,and the true originality is lost in the crowd.

Passion is the other item that is missing in a lotof today’s music. Passion is what drives most artistsand musicians to create in the first place. Money iswhat takes over and drives the train after awhile.When I listen to music today and compare it to thesongs of the past I don’t hear in most cases the pas-sion that was present in those earlier times. Afriend of mine said that is because I listen with di-nosaur ears. I don’t agree with that. When I listento HankWilliams or Johnny Cash I feel the hurt orjoy in the song. I don’t get that same feeling in aKeith Urban or Kenny Chesney song. Don’t get mewrong they are both talented musicians and artists,but their songs really lack depth. Their songs are“manufactured” to make money, not songs writtento express the feelings of the writer. That’s the pas-sion that is missing. Gram Parsons was not a greatsinger by any definition but he could write and singhis songs with passion. He brought that passion tothe cover songs he sang too. They say that he couldmake people cry when he sang a George Jonessong at the Palomino Club. That’s passion!

So how do we get it back in today’s music?Write with your heart, not your pocket book inmind. If a song touches your heart and you deliverit with true passion chances are others will receiveit the same way. Be true to your audience whenwriting. Don’t try to sell them a load of crap. Pres-ent them an honest heartfelt song that they can re-ally become part of. Make them feel that they haveownership in it because they have lived it too.Mostly look at your songwriting and performing ca-reer as a long journey not a short trip. People whoare successful songwriters and performers wouldbe doing it for free in most cases. It is their life.They live to create and share their music anywaythey can. Passion drives them;it needs to drive youtoo. That does not mean you should not try tomake a living being an artist or musician, just keepthe passion burning in your soul so you don’t be-come a line worker in a music manufacturing fac-tory.

Written by: Andy Ziehli

The inner battle be-tween familiarity andoriginality

And a girl's fancyturns to...

Road Trip!!NOW WE KNOW WHERE SHE’SBEEN…KATHY MATTEA THAT ISI had interviewed Kathy Mattea a few issues back. I checked in

with her to see what she has been up to lately and here you go….

Kathy's highly successful "Moving Mountains" Tour rolls on into2009 in support of her latest release, "COAL". Many of the Springconcerts were combined with her multi-media educational program,"My Coal Journey", in cooperation with the Mid-Atlantic Arts Founda-tion, which sponsors the presentations on campuses and in theaters toreach and engage local communities.

And speaking of speaking.... Kathy has been invited to address sev-eral divergent groups in the coming months: her now annual "FindingYour Path" talk in Nashville with visiting students from Boston'sBerklee College of Music, the keynote address for the Pennsylvania ArtsPresenters conference, held this year in Pittsburgh, and the commence-ment address for students, faculty, and alumni of the Oregon Instituteof Technology in Klamath Falls, scene of some exciting research intogeothermal energy capture and use. (Not to mention that Dr. Matteawill finally get to wear her "PhD Outfit" when she gives the address!)

What a busy lady!

Check out her tour schedule @ www.mattea.com .

Love the mountains?Make plans to attend and support!"MOUNTAIN AID"Saturday, June 20, 2009.In beautiful Shakori Hills,NC!

Kathy host an eclectic lineup of music, including BenSollee,Donna the Buffalo and the Sim Redmond Band.We’re raising awareness and funds to keep thosemountaintops where they belong... on top!For more information, go to:www.mtnaid.com

By: Joyce ZiehliInfo supplied from Kathy Mattea

Scott Miller ♪♪♪♪ ½For Crying Out LoudF.A.Y. Recording

Style: Americana, Alt-Country,Rock & Roll

Hold the presses!!! This is the template that anyaspiring artist should follow when recording analbum. God I love this CD. This is one of the verybest CD’s I have ever heard! It is full of character,unbelievably well written songs, and punch. Did Isay how much I love this CD.?

Scott Miller has been around for a few years try-ing to break on through as an artist. Staff writer oftheAmericana Gazette Jim Smith has been toutingMillers musicianship for a long time to me and any-one who would listen. This is my first exposure toMiller and his music and it ROCKS!!! There is nota bad song on this CD. Miller weaves in and out ofAmericana, Blues, and good old Rock & Roll tomake this a joy to listen to.


Were you there? If not you should have been. OnApril 25thAaronWilliams and the Hoodoo

released their first full length album entitled,“IT AIN’T EASY”. The party was held atThe Crystal CornerBar in Madison,which in itself is filled with a lot of great musical history. But that’s another story!

Now besidesAaron being a staff writer of this magazine,he is a great friend. I asked Aaron to share some thoughtswith me about his big debut. Williams shared, “oddlyenough it was at the Crystal Corner Bar that I saw PopaChubby,one of my blues guitar idols, and I saw him on thatexact same stage I played. After seeing him I knew music iswhat I wanted to do. Popa had his amp cranked and he wasjust going balls to the wall. It was great.” Aaron continued,“It is so cool to have my first CD come out and to be ableto play our CD release party at the same place and on thesame stage as him!”

The crowd was body to body,with almost 200 people crammed into the place. The opening act wasa band called King Cruiser who is based out of Madison as well. A fine job they did, and with the crowdall warmed upAaronWilliams and the Hoodoo played all of their songs from the new CD and then threwin some choice covers as well.

If you know anything aboutAaron or you have seenAaronWilliams,you are well aware of his infamousFedora hat. It is kind of a trademark for him. Leave it up to the crowd,about 20 of his loyal fans wanderedthrough the crowd wearing Fedora hats. It was quite the site and what a tribute to Aaron! The crowdapparently wanted to start an AaronWilliams hat club. (Sorry Aaron, I left mine home in the closet thatnight.)

Aaron’s whole family was in attendance, including his father who has recently been experiencing somehealth problems. “Dad didn’t play, but he was boogieing all night long,”Aaron happily stated.

From my chat with Aaron, I wondered what more would he want, great fans and friends, great music,supportive family,great club atmosphere,did I mention great music; it was an overall wonderful night. Ohyea,Aaron asked me to remind you to please buy his new CD –“It Ain’t Easy”. For more information onAaron Williams and the Hoodoo or to purchase his CD please visit his website @ www.aaron-williamsandthehoodoo.com.

Listed below are some places where you can check him out:

June 11 2009 9:00P The Brink • Madison, WisconsinJun 12 2009 9:00P Intermissions • Wausau, WisconsinJun 13 2009 7:00P Newport Shores • Port Washington, WisconsinJun 19 2009 9:00P Nashotah Clubhouse • Nashotah, WisconsinJun 20 2009 4:00P Madison Blues Society Picnic- Warner Park • Madison, WisconsinJun 21 2009 4:00P The Iron Horse Saloon • Savannah, IllinoisJun 25 2009 9:00P The Brink • Madison, WisconsinJun 27 2009 9:00P Some Place Else Bar • Marshfield, Wisconsin

Jul 9 2009 9:00P The Brink • Madison, WisconsinJul 11 2009 3:00P Private Party • Madison, WisconsinJul 12 2009 1:00P TBA • Madison, WisconsinJul 16 2009 7:00P Milwaukee Ale House • Milwaukee, WisconsinJul 21 2009 12:00P Lunch Time Live- Capitol Square • Madison, WisconsinJul 23 2009 9:00P The Brink • Madison, WisconsinJul 24 2009 9:00P Malarkeys • Wausau, WisconsinJul 26 2009 4:00P The Iron Horse Saloon • Savannah, IllinoisJul 31 2009 8:00P Piggys Blues Lounge • LaCrosse, Wisconsin

Written by: Joyce ZiehliPhotos supplied.

cd release party

CRYSTAL CORNER BARaaron williams and the hoodoo

bleeds authentic Country Music. It’s funny becausethe Canadian Sadies have more authenticity in theirsound than most Country artists from the US. Theyexcel in capturing the meter, feel, tone, and soundof what Country Music used to be. It’s a pity thatyou won’t hear this being played on any local ornational Country Music FM radio stations.

Other outstanding cuts include A Fool Such as I,I Still Miss Someone, Take these Chains from myHeart, and Detroit City. This CD is all covers, butthat does not mean that they are played like theoriginal. These songs all ring true with new breathand style. They are close enough that you recog-nize them, but yet upgraded to make you appreci-ate Doe’s styling and the Sadies picking.

Go out and buy this CD (you’ll have to go on-lineto probably get it because no Wisconsin Outletswill carry anything this cool). I love this CD and itstays in my rotation all the time. This CD is somegreat back porch patio hanging out Saturday bar-beque music. John Doe and The Sadies hit a longball with this one. True honestAmericana/Countrywe should all be proud of.

Review by: Andy Ziehli

cd review... continued from page 11


The old adage of“like attracts like”,holds true forthe members of the Ditty Bops. “Abby grew upwith a lot of music around her and the great out-doors,” says Amanda. “For me,my mom (Ruth Bar-rett a very talented fretted dulcimer player whowill open the Ditty Bops show in Madison at the

BarrymoreTheater on June 17) was alwaysplaying music and my dad was alwaysclowning around. He’s been a professionalclown my whole life and was always jug-gling, eating fire or practicing tight ropeor miming”.

With a home life so full of free spirits it’sno wonder the Ditty Bops feel free to ex-press themselves in any way they please.When I askedAbby if she enjoyed makingmusic in reality, as much as she perhapsdreamed of making music when she wasyounger,her reply flows along the lines ofunbound thinking. “I don’t have dreams orgoals. I just make stuff. Drawings, songs,food, or learn stuff like juggling. It’s hardto disappoint yourself when you don’t setyourself up for anything”. While thatmindset may on the outset sound misdi-rected, it clearly speaks of the moment to

moment exploration that allows these two amaz-ing women to create and then express themselvesso passionately.

It is precisely that background that makes lis-tening to any Ditty Bops recording a real treat. Itfeels authentic from beginning to end with hints ofdoing things their own way throughout. The firsttwo Ditty Bops releases “The Ditty Bops” and“Moon Over The Freeway” were released onWarner Brothers Records. They are now recordingas independent artists and with their environmen-tal passion and creative art vision leading them,TheDitty Bops were nominated for a 2009 GrammyAward for the pop-up packaging of the CD “Sum-mer Rain.” The award nomination is proof thattheir decision to become independent artists wasthe right move. Abby,being reflective and humblehad this to say of the nomination experience,“Weappreciate the nomination from the Grammy com-mittee but in light of what all is awarded in othercategories it really makes me wonder why I shouldpat myself on the back. There are amazing musi-cians out there in the world going unnoticed andunawarded,and they should feel good for bringingtruth to the world of music.”

It is my hope that the future is kind toAbby andAmanda. After receiving their responses to myquestions via E-mail, I just wanted to make stuff!The energy that is transmitted from the artistic cen-ter of these two women is infectious. It’s encour-aging to me that when our world is in a place ofmuch transition;there is music out there to supportthe ongoing need for thinking outside of the box.

You can see for yourself what all the fuss isabout. The Ditty Bops will be in Madison,Wiscon-sin, for a one night show at the historic BarrymoreTheater on June 17th. Doors open at 6:30, and theshow at 7:30. Tickets are available at all Barrymoreticket outlets and are on sale now.

Written by: Jim Smith


I Western Swing, Ragtime,Gypsy infusedJazz,Vaudeville, all ways to describe the refreshingsounds of The Ditty Bops. The Washington Postcalls them “tunefully disarming and unapologeti-cally out of sync with the times”. Billboard says“The Ditty Bops are a breath of fresh air”.Newsweek states “The Bops are adventurous, spir-ited hybridizers, layering plinky dulcimer,mandolinand guitar under jaunty harmonies”. Plinky, jauntyand a little strange are things that come to mindwhen one gets their first taste of The Ditty Bops.

Amanda Barrett (vocals and mandolin) andAbbyDeWald (vocals and guitar) found each other whenAbby was 20 years old andAmanda 19. After spend-ing time going out together they began what is TheDitty Bops, four years later. Like other duo musicalcombinations, Abby andAmanda each bring some-thing unique to the song crafting process. Thevocal style is very complimentary to the music thatsupports it. Both voice and music are a throwbackto a sound of the 40’s & 50’s. It’s not the musicthat you would have heard on the radio perhapsbut more in the clubs and music halls where therewas a bit more action going on. The piano rips fastmelodies and without even trying your mind’s eyeis filled with dancing on the bar, skirts hiked upand from underneath legs kicking a high step, andthe then fashionable cigarette smoke in the air. It isthe wonderful combination of music, theater andadventure that assures everyone will have a goodtime.

The lyrics create abstract visuals allowing themusic to take you away and then give you some-thing interesting to consider while on the journey.The best part is many of their fans are being intro-duced to a style of music that would have been en-joyed by their grandparents and are gaining anappreciation for where modern music evolved

Swing Baby, Swing!

from. While this maynot be a consciouschoice of the girls, it is

a wonderful byproduct of the music they produce.

The Ditty Bops reside on theWest coast and in ad-dition to making music are involved in many othercreative projects. “We like to do visual art and writestories and make videos and go on long walks andbike rides and eat yummy food,” says Amanda.“We’re interested in all of these things,and we con-tinue to do those things while maintaining our mu-sical career.” In addition to all the personalinteraction with nature and music, the girls havetheir sights set firmly looking forward. “We’ve juststarted the ‘Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWaldMusic &Art Collective’and we’ll be releasing lots ofnew music and books in the near future.” The DittyBops newest CD “Song’s For Steve” is the collec-tive’s first release. Recorded in their living room“Song’s For Steve” was a labor of love. “Betweenthe construction across the street and the neigh-bors and the crickets, it was a challenge to findquiet time to record,” offers Amanda. “We wentwith the crickets.”

Long bike rides indeed! In 2006 an unorthodoxmethod of promotion and awareness found theBops riding their bicycles from LosAngeles to NewYork in four months. An amazing feat in itself, thebike trek also included 40 amazing performancesalong the way. Wanting to bring attention to theneed for clean air and to support their love of bi-cycling, the Bops decided to put their passion intoaction. For their effortsThe Ditty Bops were namedone of Billboard Magazine’s Top Ten Green Bandsand also were recognized by the Los AngelesCounty Bicycle Coalition and were presented the“Roll Model” award. The reality of being “ex-hausted physically and mentally” did show up forthe duo by the end of the tour. “It’s amazing to mewe pulled it off,” says Abby.


The 1937 City Directory of Madison,WIlists two men with the name of John Linden.One isa minister and one is a bartender.The bartenderwas my grandfather. In my recollection he reallylooked the part. He always wore a white shirt anda tie.He sometimes wore sleeve garters.He smokedcigarettes and cigars. In all the time that I knewhim he never owned a car.He must have walked towork each day and when it came time for him to gohome someone must have given him a ride.

He worked in a bar at a hotel near the railroaddepots of the Milwaukee Road and Illinois Centralrailroads.The name of the hotel was the Washing-ton Hotel because it facedWestWashington Ave. It

How I love the sound of those words: LET’S GOTOTHE MOVIES. Ican not remember when I first heard those words, but once I did I knew im-mediately it was something that made me happy,and I could not wait until thenext time I heard thosewords.

My father was a farmer and for a time he was a “hired man”. My motherwas a housewife which meant if your husband was a“hired man”that you wereexpected to help out with the farming, meaning chores and all. For a shorttime my dad ran a feed mill that went from farm to farm grinding grain into an-imal food. At the time I often stayed with my grandmother on her farm. On Sat-urday nights we would usually go into Belleville for the free movies. That iswhere I got my first taste of movies. I know that I searched the sky all day longeach Saturday hoping against hope that some dark clouds or even worse thun-derheads were not appearing in the sky around the evening milking time.Grandma did not like storms and any sign of a possibility of one meant we didnot go to the movies. If I heard the distant sound of thunder on those Satur-days, my heart would drop, for I was in fear the thunder would soon be louderand grandma would hear it and tell us we were not going to the movies thatnight. The actual start of the movie talk began when the local paper came outonThursday announcing the name of that week’s movie. To me they seemedto often be war movies (this was right afterWWII) or cowboy films. Cowboymovies were not a favorite of mine,but,hey,any movie is better than no movie.Off we would go once the chores were done, folding stool in hand. I remem-ber she had these canvas stools with no back that we sat on in Library Park.They were not comfortable and had no back support. Some of us would sit ona blanket nearby those stools. The ground felt lumpy and uncomfortable, too,but I was at the movies. I know a Belleville man sold ice cream bars on the cor-ner near the public drinking fountain. We were usually given the nickel to gobuy ourselves one of those special treats.

THE LADYIN THEJUKE BOX

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES!

catered to local trade,railroad workers,and peoplewaiting for the next train. It was a place to cashyour checks on payday. As a kid I would get to visitmy grandpa at the bar with my dad. He wouldsometimes stop and visit if we were in the neigh-borhood.This was during the 1940’s.

After I had consumed my bottle of orange sodaand bag of salted peanuts I would always get anickel for the jukebox from the owner of the barwhose name was Max.

This jukebox was very different from the juke-boxes of today. There was always a fine selection ofmusic to choose from, all for a nickel a song.Thething I remember most about this jukebox is that itwas a talking jukebox.I would put the nickel in themachine and a lady’s voice would ask for my selec-tion. For quite some time I wondered how that ladygot in that machine. I must have had a strange lookon my face when the lady responded to my requestand talked to me because Max and my grandpawould always laugh.

Several years later,when I was an adult, I foundout just how this lady knew how to play the song Irequested. The jukebox was owned and operatedby a Mr. and Mrs. Ed Silvera.The voice I heard wasthat of Mrs. Silvera or one of her many female em-ployees. They had their office over a store on theother side of the city. They had somewhere be-tween 50 and 100 turntables in their studio, eachconnected by telephone lines to as many busi-

nesses in Madison, usually taverns and restaurants.

When you dropped the nickel in the jukeboxand you made your request, they would then putthe (78rpm) record on the turntable, and youwould hear it at the place of business.

I also learned that Mr. Silvera was known as theman with 10,000 records. His collection consistedmostly of big bands,and was all original recordings.Most of the bands he knew personally.In the 1950’sMr. Silvera left Madison and went back to Califor-nia.

In February of 1996 theWashington Hotel had afire and burned. By this time there were no morepassenger trains running and the clientele hadchanged a lot. It became a club of some sorts, andwas frequented by the U.W. students in the area.Quite different from the days when my grandpawas a bartender.

My grandpa died in 1948 and I do not rememberwhen his career ended at theWashington Hotel Bar,but the one true thing I will always remember arethe many visits I made with my dad to see mygrandpa at work and talking to the lady in the juke-box.

Written by: Rosemary Ziehli

Some time in the winter before my sixth birthday,my dad answered an adin the paper for a “hired man and housewife” team. A farmer west of Colum-bus needed such a couple. The man was to run the farm and the woman to runthe house for him. The owner would live downstairs and his hired help wouldlive upstairs. My dad was to care for the crops and the farm animals, and mymother was to cook and clean and do the laundry and baking for the owner.Once we moved there we found out he had many rules that we were to followor else we should leave: No radio,no use of electric lights except to use whilegetting ready for bed and for the time you got up in the morning before youbegan your chores. Children were not to be heard. He rationed food the hiredhelp and family would have. His cash crop was peas. My dad had to work hardgetting the peas in at the right time so they would be ripe when the pea har-vesters were in the area. Once the harvesting began my dad was expected tobe awake and working for 24 hours at a time until the harvesting was done. Mymother was to have meals ready at any time of those hours when the har-vesters were able to eat. But our family soon discovered howmean the ownerwas, and it was very easy for him to throw in new rules whenever he wanted.One thing he did not control was the time after evening chores and the timemorning chores began. Thus we escaped his rules and regulations by going tonearby towns each night of the week to attend the outdoor movie each townhad. No matter how big or small each little hamlet had a night where they of-fered free movies. The local merchants sponsored them. Because we werehungry due to the rationing of our food,we would buy a loaf bread and a fewslices of cold meat and enjoy sandwiches while sitting in the car enjoying themovies. But those nights were so magical for me. The stars of the movieslooked big up on that screen,and I loved the lives those stars lived up on thosescreens for me each night I was in attendance.

We lived on that farm for about a year before moving to a farm near Brook-lyn. It was there that I discovered movies in a movie theater. We were closeto Evansville and New Glarus, and each town had a theater. The New GlarusTheater was a brand new building. Now going to the movies then was a bit dif-



As I went to go into the BarrymoreTheater Saturday May 9, 2009 to attend theMAMA’s Award show I was met by Art PaulSchlossler who was hell bent on playing me asong even though I did not want to hear one.He proceeded to play me the Peanut ButterSandwich Song. I did not like it. A friend ofmine who was also standing outside said itwas the 5th time he had heard it that night.Schlosser who some think is a Madison treas-ure did not impress me nor did his music, sothat‘s why I was shocked when he won twoMAMA’s. I could not believe that he was theBEST Madison could muster. I have heardwonderfully talented musicians play thatnever get the recognition that Schlosser gets.I thought no wonder Madison is not taken se-riously as a vibrate music community by theoutside world.

Now all you Daily Page junkies don’t starttearing me apart until you read the whole ar-ticle. I know you’ll say I’m out of touch, or Idon’t get the beauty of a Street Musician likeSchlossler, or better yet that I don’t live inMadison so my opinion does not really count!The point I am trying to get across is that ifyou want to be taken seriously and treatedlike a professional you have to act, dress, andwork like a professional. The behavior of acouple of the award winners Saturday night,their dress, and their vocalizations into the

First let me say that the MAMA’s are a fantasticorganization that gets real musical instruments into thehands of kids who would not have a chance in hell get-ting them any other way. Rick Tvedt who is the Execu-tive Director and who started the MAMA’s is one of themost giving people I have ever had the pleasure ofknowing. With Roy Elkins and a superb board of direc-tors the MAMA’s have begun to make a huge differencein the lives of kids throughout Dane County. Thisyear’s show was a huge success. It featured many dif-ferent acts that kept the large crowd entertained thewhole evening.

The evening was hosted by Jon Urban who alwaysdoes a great job. His wit and candor with the audienceis a treat to witness each year. Urban who hosts TheUrban Theater on MYTV Channel 14 is another greatboaster in local music. Tied with Tvedt and Elkins(Broadjam) this trio is a juggernaut of clout and stylethat is helping to make the local music scene and actsinto more professional entities. Madison is blessedwith many fine talented artists and musicians and theMAMA’s is a way to recognize them.

The show is professionally done. No amateur pro-duction here. From the sound and lights to the awards

mics was juvenile, totally unprofessional, anddisrespectful to the rest of the performers andattendees who treated this event like the pro-fessional show that it was meant to be. Guys,paint stained pants, dirty t-shirts, and incom-prehensible vocal mutterazations goes a longway in showing that you are not ready for the“big time” anytime soon.

Professionals walk the walk and talk thetalk. They show up ready to work, dressed ac-cordingly, and perform at 110%. They don’tsaunter on stage wearing the sloppiest clothsthey can find, act like they had never been infront of people before, and certainly don’tgive acceptance speeches uttering words thatsound like Pig Latin. Now there were fine ex-amples of true professionalism Saturdayevening too. Queenie and the Blue Cats ac-ceptance speech was wonderful, and Queenielooked elegant. Rising Gaels stage perform-ance was unbelievable. Clyde and his bandwere professional and looked great under thelights. Lucha Libre was dressed to the ninesand had excellent stage presence. Tracy JaneComer was stunning in her blue gown. Kati-jusa Cisar was also dressed very nicely andcarried herself well on the stage. The pointI’m trying to make here is that the MAMA’s isa special night that deems special behaviorand professionalism. It is not a bar job(though you should be professional at themtoo) where you are playing for your buds, butan evening where the Best of the Madison

Area Musicians are honored, and a chance forthe World to see just how good and how seri-ous you take your music.

Record companies, agents, etc look for a lotof different things when they sign an artist.The old days of being grubby, loud, and hav-ing an attitude are long gone. There is a new“sheriff” in town, and its called “recession”!Money does not f low freely anymore, andthese large and even small music organiza-tions do not have the money or time to wasteon a group or artist who does not take them-selves serious enough to dress and act pro-fessional. I’m not saying you need to rent atux, but come on guys a sport coat, vest, cleanshirt, nice untorn jeans could go a long wayin getting the right kind of attention you wantfrom the powers to be. Today image is almostmore important than your music if you wantto be noticed. You work hard on your musicto make it the best you can. Shouldn’t you dothe same on your stage presence and appear-ance? Madison prides itself on being uniqueand different. So be different than the rest bytaking the time and effort to have the “whole”package when playing your music; dress, man-ners, professionalism, talent, skill, and humil-ity. That‘s what makes a star.

So if you want to crucify me on the DailyPage go right ahead. If you don’t agree withme email me and let me know why. But ifyou really are honest with yourselves I thinkyou’ll find that I wrote the truth. It is impor-tant to be yourself and express yourself. It isalso important to be truthful with yourself. Ifyou are not getting where you think youshould be or want to be in your music careerthink about what I have written and maybegive it a try. You might be surprised.

Andy ZiehliSenior Editor

Living Proof of why Madison’s MusicScene is not taken seriously outside ofMadison

The MAMA’ S2009AwardShow



Live music continues on Sundays at the Fat CatCoffee Works in New Glarus. These concerts are heldevery Sunday from 11:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.June 7th through September 6, 2009. WhenMother Nature permits , the entertainment is held out onthe patio. In case of rain the show will be held insideat the Fat Cat. Listed below is the schedule of enter-tainment and the dates . See you there!

Date 11:00 - 12:00 12:00 -1:00June 7 Kaia Fowler Bob KingJune 14 Laura Chan Matt BelknapJune 21 DWI DWIJune 28 Amber, Doug & Mark Amber, Doug & MarkJuly 5 Marc & Tony Marc & TonyJuly 12 DWI DWIJuly 19 Rob Kosmeder Bob KingJuly 26 Jug Prairie Jug PrairieAugust 2 Mark Gruenenfelder Sies BrothersAugust 9 Aaron Williams Laura ChanAugust 16 Matt Belknap Marc BarnabyAugust 23 Jessi Lynn Jessi LynnAugust 30 Beth Kille Beth KilleSeptember 6 Jug Prairie Jug Prairie

NorthStar Studios, home of RFD-TV.

The 30-minute episodes, hosted and pro-duced by Stuart, were a part of RFD-TV’s newSunday night prime time lineup with HEEHAW, Postcards From Nebraska, and Music &Motors. Each show featured music by MartyStuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, as wellas his wife Country Queen Connie Smith andperformance segments from the best thatcountry music and American music has tooffer. Radio personality Eddie Stubbs servedas the show’s announcer and Stuart’s sidekickon every episode.

“I wanted to establish a show that gives avoice and stage to traditional country music,”explains Stuart. “This show is about authen-ticity…from the artists who visit us in the stu-dio every week to the people watching at

home in America who enjoy watch-ing weekly shows like The Porter

Wagoner Show, The WilburnBrothers and Flatt andScruggs. This show will berelated to that style ofprogramming and hope-fully entertain CountryFans in a similar way”

The four-timeGRAMMY winner

also re-l e a s e dhis sec-

“what’s marty stuart been up to?”WHY "THE MARTY STUART SHOW" OF COURSE

Itried to set up an interview with MartyStuart, but unfortunately his schedule wouldnot allow for that at this time. Hopefully inthe near future we can make a connection. Iwas able to speak with his publicist, Maria-Elena Orbea to find out what he has been upto and this is what she had to share:

NASHVILLE, TN – Country Music IconMarty Stuart premiered his new television se-ries The Marty Stuart Show this past Novem-ber starting with 26 episodes airing Sundaynights on RFD-TV. The Marty Stuart Showbegan production in September at Nashville’s

ond photography book Country Music:TheMasters. Chicago’s Source Books publishedthe 342 page collection that includes Stu-art’s personal photos of friends includingJohnny Cash,Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens,Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, RayCharles and more. The book’s forward iswritten by long-time pal and country musicfan Billy Bob Thornton.

For more information on what Marty is upto visit www.martystuart.net.

Article by: Joyce Ziehli

themselves this is a first class show. Local acts perform and also hand out the awards. It is atrue community event. The staff at the Barrymore does a fine job in keeping the lobby openand the refreshments f lowing. Steve and his staff deserve a round of applause for the work theydo. All the volunteers who put in a huge amount of time and effort also deserve a huge hand.

The highlights of the evening included a spellbinding performance by Rising Gael. Thesefolks are incredible and deserve more local and national attention. A rousing intro number byClyde Stubbelfield and his band with two great vocal performances by Bill Roberts and SarahHastings, and the surprise string concert by a largegroup of very very talented kids led by BonnieGreene as a gift to Marvin J. Rabin for wining the Life-time Achievement Award. This was a truly wonderfulpart of the show.

All the winners can be found at themamas.org. Iencourage you to check them out and make a contri-bution to the MAMA’s either monetarily or by givingthem that old instrument you have stashed in thecloset or corner that you know you will never pickupand play again. Let a child get the joy from it like youdid when you first played. Music is the one thingthat “the Man” can never take from you. Let it be theone thing you pass on.

Article and photos by: Andy Ziehli

PARTY ON THEPATIO 2009

the mama’s... continued from page 22


If you're reading this, then you're a fan of in-dependent music. Most music that is made in theworld is "independent," but the funny thing is,mostof the music you hear on the radio or read about inthe big music publications isn't. It's made by artistswho are signed to record deals on major labels, la-bels owned by the biggest entertainment corpora-tions in the world.And the truth is, the music thatcomes out of those big corporations is,by and large,not as good as independent music.Not as heartfelt,not as soulful, not as passionate.

If you're on a major label, then you are an em-ployee of Viacom or Seagram's or SonyBMG.Youhave to create something that these companiesthink they can sell.They sell it by getting it on theradio and getting it onto soundtracks of moviesmade by studios they own.They get their releasesreviewed in Rolling Stone and other major outlets.They've got the cash to buy big ads in those maga-zines, and they've got the cash to sponsor big radiostation concerts and festivals.Their job is to makeback the company's investment in an artist.That'sit.

I first came toWisconsin not as a musician but as a football fan.

My brother and I wanted to see a game at Lambeau Field, and we couldn’tfind a hotel room in Green Bay, so we wound up staying in Sheboygan for thenight.There,we found a community of people who wanted nothing more thanto drink beer and talk about sports. Felt like home to me. Some of those peo-ple became my friends, and I wound up incorporating some of their storiesinto my songs. I’ve got one called “Sheboygan,” and one called “Elmer,TheDancer,”aboutArt’s Concertina Bar in Milwaukee.Then there’s“Couple of Lies,”which is about a guy I met in Wisconsin who would like to be transportedback to his high school days,when people clapped for him out on the basket-ball court.

Some of my friends and listeners thought it odd that someone who wasraised in South Carolina and who lives inTennessee would be writing a stringof tunes about Badger State happenings. But I try to follow the Tom T. Hallmodel by going where things are interesting and writing about those things,then singing the resulting songs to anyone who’ll listen.In my case,that meantwriting a folk song about a polka bar, which I hope is also a song about theways that things can change around people who don’t particularly want thatchange.

An independent musician makes music that hewants to make.There's no pressure from EMI's ac-counting office to be huge.There's only the pres-sure to stay true to the creative muse. And then thehard part begins:getting the music out there in theworld to be heard.

And that's where you come in. You, who arereading these words in an independent publication,devoted to independent music.You are the mostimportant person to someone like me, someonewho writes his own songs,records them in a studioup the street, releases them on my own label, andgoes out on the road to play them for whoever willshow up to listen.

I love it that you care enough about music toread articles about obscure musicians from EastNashville, and that you just might go searching forthe music.... on iTunes, or CDBaby, or Amazon, oreven a record store (though independents aren'tdoing too well there these days). If I'm lucky,you'llhear something you like, and you'll want more.You'll come see a live show.You'll burn a CD for afriend,saying,"here's something you've never heardbefore and I think you're going to like it."You'll goto a website you've never been to before and listen

INDEPENDENT,but dependent on YOU!

THEVOICE OF PETER COOPERDIRECT FROM EAST NASHVILLE

to some new demos posted by the new artistyou've discovered. You've got a passion for thisstuff, and that's why you're reading these wordsnow.

I've got that passion too, and that's why I rec-ognize it in you. I also recognize it in Joyce andAndy Ziehli. How lucky it is for musicians like methat these two passionate music fans have createdThe Americana Gazette! How luckyYOU are, DearReader, that Joyce and Andy took it upon them-selves to create this publication,so as to shine somelight on music they love. It's an incredibly difficultundertaking, producing a newspaper. So let's nottake it for granted. Let's support the Ziehli's in thisendeavor, and let's support the music that they'repassionate about.Trust them. It's good stuff.

--- Eric Brace(Eric is a former music writer for The Washing-ton Post. He currently lives in East Nashville,where he runs Red Beet Records with his wifeMary Ann Werner. He also leads the band LastTrain Home and is one half of a duo with PeterCooper)

Anyway, I thinkWisconsin is fertile ground.The eastern part of the state hasthe beautiful lakefront,and the Packers,and a bustling and diverse big city.Andin southernWisconsin, I’ve found a lot of kind people along with some greatvenues. In the past year,TheAmericana Gazette has helped to build a discern-ing and eager audience for the kind of music I’m interested in playing andsinging,and that development has been most helpful. It’s a great thing to haveaWisconsin publication that is devoted to uncovering the stories behind someof the most fascinating people I’ve ever come across.TomT.Hall,Emmylou Har-ris, Nanci Griffith andTodd Snider appear in these pages, and the Gazette un-derstands and underscores the connection between people like that andBadger Staters like Steve Liethen,Randy Green and Paul Gruenenfelder.

On the short list of wants for any touring musician, you’ll find a nice hotelroom, a good place to play and an educated and enthusiastic audience.GreenCounty has had the first two of those things for a long time (not to mention afantastic brewery and the world’s largest urinal!), andThe Gazette has helpedto develop a community of music-lovers that seals the deal. In some of mysongs, I try to bringWisconsin to my listeners.What I really wish I could do isbring those listeners toWisconsin.I think they’d enjoy driving into New Glarus,ordering up a Spotted Cow and thumbing throughTheAmericana Gazette.

Written by: Peter Cooper


A few years ago I saw a Paul Simon inter-view on television. He was talking about song-writing and said something so profound itcompletely changed my approach to lyric writing.It’s really simple,but a little hard to explain. It goessomething like this: a song lyric should developlike an inverted pyramid. “Huh,” you say. That’sright, an inverted pyramid.

Picture your regular old run-of-the-mill pyramid(The Great Pyramid will do). Its base representsyour lyric idea. As your lyric develops it starts toform the sides of your pyramid. As the sides riseyour lyric idea should be expanding, but the sidesof a pyramid don’t expand they contract until theyintersect. Thus creating the top of the pyramid. Ifthe sides of your pyramid represent your lyric de-velopment they have just met.Your idea has just ter-minated. Stopped cold. Nowhere left to go. Thisused to happen to me a lot. But not any more.Nowinvert your pyramid. Put the point at the bottom.Your lyric idea is now the point. As your lyric ideadevelops it again forms the sides of your pyramid,except this time the sides don’t contract, they ex-pand.

This whole pyramid thing is just a way of visu-alizing what a lyric idea should do. A lyric shouldexpand. Your idea should get bigger, not smaller.When I feel my lyric choking I check which waymy pyramid is pointing. Nine times out of ten it’sgoing the wrong way.

Here’s a real life example.Recently a song-writersaid to me,“I had this great idea for a song, but Icould only come up with like, a verse and a half,and now I’m stuck. It just won’t go anywhere.” Isaid,“Sing it for me.” He took my guitar and playedit. It was really good .. . for a verse and a half. I said,“It’s great,but I understand your problem.” So I laidthe pyramid thing on him. He said,“OK,but I don’t

ferent. You went when your schedule let you. Youdid not worry when the movie began or ended.You got to the theater, bought your ticket, and satdown and watched the movie from that point on.When it ended, immediately a news reel and car-toon and coming attractions were shown,and thenthe movie began again. You stayed in your seat andyou only left when the movie once again reachedthe point you had come in on before. I guess wewere smarter then because no one worried aboutnot understating the movie while coming in on themiddle or whatever. Today at those big movie com-plexes they would not let you come in until thestart of the next schedule beginning. At 16 a driv-ing license meant I could now drive myself to themovies, and so I began going by back roads toEvansville or New Glarus each week for a movie Iwanted to see because I had seen the coming at-traction the week before. Sometimes I was luckyenough to go a couple times in a week.

Even now these many years later going to themovies is so special and exciting for me. This pastyear I made it a point to have seen all the best pic-ture nominations, but now movie going has beeneven easier. With the arrival ofVHS players,I rented

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films or got them free through the library system.Now it is DVDs, and I joined Netflix and get twomovies at a time. That means some weeks I see fouror more movies at week at my home. We even havea large screen and surround sound. And so I still es-cape into the world of movies. I still love to hearLET’S GOTOTHE MOVES whether it is a trip to aMadison complex or into the den or downstairs tothe big screen. I have some favorite movies of alltime that I own, and there a few movies that Iwatch once a year at least. There are two moviesthat I found so entertaining that I returned the sec-ond day to see each again. They were FIELD OFDREAMS and SOME LIKE IT HOT. In those twocases I told myself LET’S GOTOTHE MOVIES, andI did just that.

There are certain times I go to the movies sim-ply because a favorite actor is appearing in that one,but I usually have seen reviews or clips of the newmovies, and they help me determine if I will go tosee them. Some movies I now avoid at theaters andsimply wait for the DVD and watch it at home. Any-one else reading this a movie buff? If so LET’S GOTOTHE MOVIES.

Written by: Bob Hoffman

the movies... continued from page 25

get it.” I said,“What’s your song about?” He said,“Paying taxes.” I said,“OK,you reached deep withinyourself and came up with a really good verse anda half about paying taxes.”(Never mind that I oncewrote a song about Hawaiian shirts!) He said,“That’s all I could come up with.” I said,“Checkyour pyramid. It choked off your lyric in one and ahalf verses. Your idea contracted when it shouldhave been expanding.Your song isn’t about payingtaxes.”

“It’s not?”he said.“No,” I said. “It’s about paying.Keep the one verse about taxes, it’s really good.Now who else have you had to pay? One verseabout money is OK,but what other costs have youpaid and for what? This is about your life. Have youpaid in precious time,pain, tears, fear, anger,worry,screwed up love? Shot yourself in the foot? Brokenmarriage, lost child. . . really big stuff. Money is thecheapest thing you have. If you only got a verseand a half out of paying taxes then taxes isn’t youridea. Paying the price is your idea. Again checkyour pyramid. Which way is it pointing?” I saw hislight bulb go on. He got the pyramid.

I realize that was a lot to read for such a simpleidea, but I’m 58 years old now. I know 58 is thenew 38, but my hips and left knee hurt. Like TajMahal sang, “Got the misery and the backache,Babe, and my feet hurt me when I walk.” Amen. Iwish I had learned about the pyramid years ago.Then maybe 38 would be the new 15 and I couldhave done even more foolish things in my life, be-come rich, and maybe “my feet wouldn’t hurt mewhen I walk.”

Keep writing! Never stop writing songs!

Rick Harris is a singer/songwriter based in Min-eral Point and Milwaukee. (See interview,April/May‘09 issue of the Gazette.) He has 3 CDs,with a 4th due out this fall.

The Pyramid


It was an unseasonably warm March day when I went to visitlocal potter and business owner Dan Sullivan of Belleville,WI. Ipulled into his driveway and was in complete awe. Stucco FrankLloydWright style house looking out over a pond and marsh, andpottery strategically scattered over the estate.Down another drive-way was his workshop/studio,but I was headed to his office.Morepottery was to be found on my way to his office all sharing an an-cient feel to them. Here and there I found cement work that ordi-nated the path to his office.The cement work had a modern look toit, it shared that ancient feel.When I finally made it to his officewhich over looked the pond I had tons of questions about his art.Where to start I pondered, so I decided to start where most do, thebeginning.

AG- So when did the whole pottery thing start for you?

Dan S- High School.We’re talking the 60’s. It was largely due to myhigh school art teacher EdithAnderson,what a sweetie.We could doanything we wanted to do.If we wanted to work with clay that wascool. When the other kids were doingArt History and color wheels,I was in the back throwing pots, having a heck of a time and what-ever I made was cool with her. After that I really didn’t do too muchuntil I settled down in the late 70’s. I made a bunch of functionalstuff. I actually made my Winter living off of it. I still get peoplecoming back to me that say,“I had this mug and bowl,and it was justso wonderful and my husband dropped it. Can you make me an-other one?” I don’t even know if I can make anything small any-more.

AG-Why is that?

Dan S-Well you’ve seen the stuff I make now. It’s all this bigger stuff.Most people can’t make anything big.

AG- I wasn’t able to take pottery in high school. It always looked sofun, but hard.

Dan S- It is, but it’s a skill that once you get it you have it for life. Alot of potters my age just don’t have the hands anymore. I’m stillfine.The only thing is in a line from a song,“With every year thatpasses, I’m in need of thicker glasses”

AG-What influences you to create your art?

Dan S- Do you know ofAl Stewart? Time Passages?Year of the Cat?They’re old seventy songs. Al Stewart’s method for songwriting wasto try to find ancient melodies. Not many were written down.Hedid find lots of them, and they would inspire his music.That’s likemy interest in Native American culture. It isn’t just Native Ameri-can culture, it’s an ancient culture.I am also highly influenced by myfavorite TV series ever,“The Ascent of Man” by Jacob Bronowski.That type of program gives you an insight to ancient thought pat-terns of early man.

AG-What is art to you?

Dan S-What is art? It’s something that pleases you. I can’t think ofany other way to describe art, whether it be music, visual art, any-thing, its something that pleases you. If something revolts you andthe artist says“It makes you think because it revolts you”, I don’t gofor that.To me it’s something that is pleasing to the senses. It alsolowers your blood pressure. It’s something that has pleased us forthousands, if not millions of years. That’s how I look at art.

We then left the office and began to walk around in the warmweather.As we passed his patio you saw a mix of Native Americanand ancient Greek art. A few body sculptures sat proudly about thepatio.You could see even more artwork through the glass doors ofthe house.This residence was made of art! You couldn’t look any-where without seeing some form of it. It was heaven.Dan and hisbasset hound,Bog that had recently joined us, showed me into thehouse and pointed out a case of arrow heads that had been foundon his land.They probably came from a campsite that was located

A Conversation

withDan Sullivan


in his backyard hun-dreds of yearsago. Dan al-ways seems toget luckywhen lookingfor arrow-heads any-where hegoes. Westarted tomake our waydown to the

workshop/studio where he does his art.

AG- Do you sell your pottery?

Dan S-You know the last fifteen years or so that I’vebeen making the big ones I have a few really goodcustomers. I keep them for a while.When I’m donewith the pieces or they talk me into it we negotiatea price.

We walked into the shop where just a coupleemployees were working on some of Dan’s massproduced work. For about twelve years now Danhas been producing Tail Steps, which are stepsmade of fiber concrete and foam. Foam centers sur-

rounded inc o n c r e t ewhich is avery strongstep, but lightenough foranyone tomove. Thiswill be thefirst year forhis new prod-uct - a con-c r e t efountain. Ihave nodoubts thathis sales onthose will begood. But

now that spring is coming,his pottery will have tobe put on hold because during the summer there isonly time for work and sailing. Dan never gets farfrom some sort of pottery or concrete work. Nomatter how far he sails or travels across the coun-try he’s always taking down notes and ideas for hisnext piece of art. Always seeing art wherever hegoes. I guess if a person lives in art, all they see isart.

Publisher’s note: Dan Sullivan is also the ownerof Sullivan Landscaping out of Belleville. Checkhim out for any of your landscaping needs. Hehas done work for us as well as honored us witha couple of his pieces of pottery for our anniver-sary and birthdays.

Written by: Rob KosmederPhotos supplied.

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After 14 years with the Mel FordWestside AndyBand,Voegeli left this January to head his own bandThe Jimmy’s. This is a full horn induced rockingSoul and Blues band. The time Voegeli spent play-ing with the masters has taught him well on choos-ing the right musicians and how to entertain acrowd. His first CD “F”is for Blueswas a huge suc-cess in Wisconsin. It featured great musicians in-cluding Clyde Stubblefield,Mel Ford,TomMcCarty,Mary Gaines, Nashville songwriter Jon Nicholsonand former Georgia Satellites drummer Mauro Mag-ellan. Voegeli can be heard at the Ludlow in Mon-roe on mostWednesday nights in some form of hisband,or just sitting in with his friends. His websiteat jimmyvoegli.com has all his gigs listed and a gag-gle of information for all you Blues Cats.

Though not playing the music of his Swiss fore-fathers, Voegeli is blazing new ground for a newgeneration of musicians in Green County. Replac-ing the Alpine horns with Saxophone and the ac-cordions with Hammond Organ,Voegeli is settingthe bar high for future generations of musicians toreach. Future generations of both farmers and mu-sicians will look back upon what Voegeli has ac-complished and speak with pride of his trailblazingand vision.

Jimmy Voegeli knows that old saying “he keptplaying until the cows came home” literality!CheckVoegeli and the Jimmy’s out when they playa club near you. You won’t be sorry!

Written by: Andy Ziehli

3 for 1... continued from page 10


Musician,singer,songwriter,educator andPriestess,Ruth Barrett is full of creative energy. Thesouthern California native was born into a very mu-sical family.The family home was filled with musicof the folk music revival of the late 50’s early 60’sera and often, as a family, would attend a Hooten-anny, gatherings of folk singers where the audienceis invited to join in. Ruth says that while the kidswere not allowed to stay up as late as the adults,they were paying attention and absorbing themusic non-the-less. Ruth’s father enjoyed playingguitar and often took lessons from the great PeteSeger.

As a child tucked away comfy in the beds“sleep-ing” during those hootenanny years, Ruth foundherself very attracted to the supernatural balladsshe would hear being sung by the adults. As thesongs came and went it was the tone and lyricalcontent of the supernatural ballads that deeply res-onated with young Ruth and put her on the paththat would be her life’s work.

As she grew Ruth became intrigued by folk-lore,the natural next step in her curiosity of the natural

Dulsa - The SweetSounds of Ruth Barrett

way of the world. Within folk-lore Barrett began todiscover others who had the same questions, andmuch to her delight, experiences that would echothe tales being passed around in the folk-lore fash-ion. “The deeper exploration of folk-lore naturallywill lead you to the door of Paganism,”explains Bar-rett. Paganism is a honoring of the earth and thenatural connection that all things have to one an-other with ritual and celebration at its center.

The rural California area where Ruth spent herearly years was a haven for the folk music commu-nity. The dulcimer found its way into Barrett’s lifein the early 70’s during her last year in high school.In explaining the instrument to me Ruth pointedout that the dulcimer is an instrument that folkswill often make there own rules with.“There is nota right or wrong way to play” offers Barrett. Ruthfound her self“messing around”on the fretted styleof dulcimer,also known as the lap or mountain dul-cimer, and is largely self taught. A few lessons froma friend and sometime performing partner werethe extent of Ruth’s formal training.

Barrett plays the 4 string fretted dulcimer,using3 of the 4 strings. The term “fretted” is to distin-guish this type of dulcimer from the“hammer”dul-cimer. The fretted version of this instrument willhave 3 or 4 strings (again others have augmented itto include resonating strings creating a sort of hy-brid instrument) and a fretted neck not unlike theneck of a guitar. The instrument would typically beplaced in one’s lap with one hand fretting thestrings,either with your fingers or a dowel,and theother strumming or picking to create the sound.Finger picking is the style most often played by Bar-rett. A turkey quill is often used as a“pick”to strumover the strings as well. The hammer dulcimer isnot similar to the fretted version in any way. Thistype of dulcimer is played by striking the stringswith small wooden mallets.

“I was interested in British Isles and renaissancemusic and took Loot songs and played them on thedulcimer,”offers Ruth. “The dulcimer is a modal in-strument (similar to the white keys on a piano) soit needs to be retuned to achieve different sounds.I play the music I like to play. I like that the dul-cimer does not have a fascistic approach, its morelike well,what can you do with it?”

Barrett met a fellow dulcimer player, CyntiaSmith, in 1980 and together they formed their ownrecord label. Working together for 20 years the duorecorded 5 projects together. Working as inde-pendent artists meant they could do whatever theywanted with their music. “It would take a long timeto pay off the recordings, and we were not great atself promotion but we were doing it for the love ofit. We enjoyed a nice following in the 80’s espe-cially.”

Barrett created DancingTree Records when shemoved toWisconsin and has three projects on thatlabel. She does her recording in LosAngeles choos-ing to work with the same engineer and producer,Scott Fraser. “We have a good working relationship.It’s a very relaxing and no pressure atmosphere.”

When I asked Ruth about her recording projectswondering if she had ideas before entering the stu-dio or would she book studio time because she feltthe time was right, her answer was yes! One ofthe tracks on her new CD Garden Of Mysterieswas created in the studio in large part to a dronebeing played on a didgeridoo by friend and fellowmusician, Steve Wehmeyer, one of the foundingmembers of the Celtic band Gaelic Storm. “I knewI wanted to open this track a cappella, and Stevesuggested it would sound great with the didgeri-doo behind it. We created that track on the spot inthe studio, ideas came and we went with it”.

The new CD Garden Of Mysteries featuresmany songs that Barrett did not write. “I wanted todo songs that have been with me for a long time,which I really loved. This was a project that Ineeded to do for myself. I like doing a recordingproject. There are themes I usually try to bring out,in this case it is related to encounters with mystery.This was the theme I found running through theseselections. When I do concerts I tend to do sea-sonal music.” (not in the way of“seasonal” that youmight be thinking) Ruth explains that her per-formances tend to dove-tale with Pagan seasonalevents such as the first harvest celebrations and thespring and fall equinox events.

“Earth cycles are different than production cy-cles,” offers Barrett. “I believe we are here to inter-act with nature, being in the present time andrecognizing what is happening to the earth in themoment. Perhaps we are meant to slow down inthe winter. Perhaps we are supposed to rest, sleepand dream in the winter and then bring all of thatrichness out in the longer days to share what wehave learned and experience and explore that newinformation.” Ruth observes that we as humansoften need to medicate ourselves to continue onthe path of production and because of that perhapsdishonor our natural cycles.

The conversation then led to the other passionthat along with music allows Barrett to explore andexpress her creative desires.

Not only is Ruth a musician but she is also an au-thor and ritualist. Her latest book Women’s Rites,Women’s Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creations(Llewllyn, 2007) Barrett has composed a series ofinstructions designed to celebrate with ritual themysteries of womanhood. Ruth is an ordained Di-anic High Priestess and since 1980 has taughtmagic and ritual arts at women’s festivals and con-ferences in the U.S. and abroad.

“I can be shy about my spirituality,”says Ruth asour conversation continued. Barrett is a pioneer inthe field of celebrational ritual. Having inherited ZBudapest’s Los Angeles Ministry 1980, she was atthe fore front of creating this powerful and em-powering experience for women. “Rite of passageritual is not a new idea, more than likely is one ofthe oldest ideas humans experience. There is a lotof history between then and now and we need to



cd reviews... continued from page 19

Favorite cuts from this CD are Cheap ain’tCheap, Sin in Indiana, Heart in Harm’s Way,Claire Marie, and Tom T. Hall’s I Can’t Dance.Each song on this CD has its own voice. No cloninggoing on here. Backed by his ace band the Com-monwealth Miller shines on every cut. Recordedin various studios in Nashville this is a fine exampleof what the future holds for Americana Music.

Buy this CD! Again Buy this CD! You won’t bedisappointed. Check out Miller’s web site atWWW.the scottmiller.com and his myspace page atmyspace.com/the scottmiller.

Review by:Andy Ziehli

Rick Harris ♪♪♪♪Jukebox Refugee

Style: Blues/Country/Rock

If I could describe Rick Harris’s JukeboxRefugee in one word, it would be “cool”. His deepbaritone voice is the root of his coolness, a calmrumble that will soothe the soul. In the openingtrack“Tuxedo Blues”,Rick Harris draws the listenerin with an acoustic melody and a steady pulse, justa taste of what is yet to come in the followingtracks. Instruments are limited on some songs, butare very effective.You can tell that Rick Harris is avery smart musician that crafts his music to be ef-ficient, but not chaotic. Certain melodies do notstand out more than they should and are quite sub-tle, but also quite complex. I thought this albumwas simply great in the fact that it was a side ofBlues/Country/Americana that is great to hear;music that is minimal yet contains a musician thatcan keep his cool while pouring his heart out.Theother instruments on the album are terrific as well,complementing each other and meshing into agreat sound.Rick Harris’s vocal range is limited buthis deep rumbles will send a shiver up your spineand stay with you throughout the 10-song album.In short, Jukebox Refugee is a must-listen for anyfan of the Country/Blues genre. It contains all theright ingredients of music that make for one excel-lent album.

Reviewed by:DannyTachon

David Serby ♪♪♪♪Honky-tonk and Vine

Style: Honky-tonk Country

Right from the first track of David Serby’s latestalbum, one can’t help but to tap their foot to thedriving beat of this great country album. Being ayoung fellow,I have never been a big listener of thecountry genre, but these tracks surely caught myattention.David Serby’s vocal style is very smooth;much mellower than other country singers oftoday. I suppose you could say it is reminiscent ofa 50’s country picker singing his heart out in ahonky-tonk bar in downtown Nashville.The firstfew tracks are driving and have a strong beat, butcan be somewhat chaotic with the electric guitar’srelentless picking; in short, it’s a bit much in someplaces.There is a wide array of instruments used onthis album ranging from fiddle to accordion, eachusually getting their time to shine during a 16-barsolo. His lyrics are simple yet meaningful, writtenwith purpose that’ll give the listener a reason topay attention and hear musical stories unfold.Thesongs are very honest and express many emotions,revealing that David Serby is an effective song-writer. Overall,David Serby’sHonky-tonk andVineis a great feel-good country album that will leaveyou with a smile and a tapping foot.

Reviewed by:DannyTachon

Ruth BarrettGarden Of MysteriesDancing Tree Records

Style: Folk,Americana, Irish Celtic,NewAge

“Garden of Mysteries” is an interesting record-ing. A combination of mystical images,passionateCeltic inspired music and songs of accountability,Ruth Barrett serves up a selection of songs that mayor may not resonate with you. An unbroken threadof love of the earth, respect of her creatures and apeek into the window of possible mysteries ofspirit bind this CD together.

At times Ruth’s vocals are upfront and very muchthe center of attention. The style of singing is heart-felt and full of passion. You won’t hear auto-tuneperfection,but rather a voice that swoops and findsnotes adding flow to the delivery. The lyric is oftenstory telling in fashion but there are momentswhen the delivery has a forced feeling about it.

Barrett is a gifted fretted dulcimer player. It’s un-fortunate that on this CD there is not more of herjust playing. Perhaps upon exploring her otherrecordings there may be something that featuresher gifted strumming.

This may not be a CD for men however. While menwon’t be offended by this offering, it’s clear thatRuth is all about female energy. Barrett not only isa gifted musician she also is an ordained DianicHigh Priestess, ritualist and author of Woman’sRites, Woman’s Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Cre-ation (Llewellyn 2007). Barrett also teaches magicand ritual arts at women’s festivals and conferencesin the U.S. and abroad. This perhaps will limit heraudience to women who are free thinkers and areaware of their intuitive sides. I don’t mean to in-tend that others are excluded but more than likelyunless you have an interest in this sort of thing,thisCD won’t be for you.

For those that do,Barrett’s music will be a heartfeltguide for you as you explore your own spiritualconnection with nature and things not easily de-fined.

Reviewed by: Jim Smith

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respond to the cultural container in which we live,making religion (spiritual practice) relevant to thetimes we are living in.”

Barrett explains that she instructs and facilitatesritual around the experience of the earth being aliving thing. There are earth phases such as thespring and fall equinox, spring planting, the grow-ing season and the celebration of the harvest. Thewinter brings introspection and contemplation andprovides wisdom as we move forward. There arealso lunar phases which happen on a monthly anda yearly cycle. “Then there are our personal ritesof passage marking physical,emotional,psycholog-ical moments that we decide are significant,not be-cause the culture says oh this is mother’s day etc.,its more a moment I want to commemorate so Ican derive the meaning that I want to derive out ofthe event.”

Barrett has worked with thousands of womenover the years. “I am not a therapist,”says Ruth whoknows well the myriad of issues that work theirway to the surface during her training experiences.“In the first moments of the very first class of eachnew training I ask each person if they have supportoutside of the training to work with the issues andemotions that may show up during our time to-gether. There are things that I am trained to handlebut making it clear that I am not a trained therapistallows me to keep myself focused and joyful as I in-struct.” Ruth says that the issues or desires that thefolks bring into the training with them are the juicethat allows her to do what she does best. After ask-ing each person to express something they wish toritualize, she then uses her skill to assist that per-son in creating a ritual that meets that need, thusempowering the individual to celebrate and createfor themselves, ritual that is meaningful to theirlives.

When I asked Ruth which experience in her lifewas more important, the music or her spiritualpath, she smiled and just said that they were inter-twined. One will give birth to the content of theother and vice versa. Both are essential for creativeand authentic living. Now that Barrett has been inthe area for a year,she is excited to start expandingher connection to the local musical community. “Imoved here to interact with creative people,I needa musical community.”

Barrett will bring her dulcimer playing skills tothe stage on Wednesday June 17th at the Barry-more Theater, opening for the Ditty Bops, one ofwhom just happens to be her daughter Amanda.It’s very clear that the creative gene has beenpassed down to the next generation. “I am thrilledto be opening for the Ditty Bops. I am excitedabout what the girls are doing along with theirmusic such at being activists for the environment.”

To learn more about Ruth or to contact her re-garding musical opportunities, check [email protected] orwww.dancingtreemusic.com.

Tickets are on sale now at all usual Barrymoreticket outlets for the evening of music featuringRuth Barrett and the Ditty Bops.

Written by: Jim Smith

AG: What did you miss the most aboutWisconsinduring this last year?

BK: Without a doubt, the people. After a year inTexas,I feel like I could really survive and be happyanywhere, but it will be great to see all my friends& family again.

AG: How was Buddy’s year in the south?

BK: That dog is the most flexible creature I’ve evermet. He didn’t even mind the hurricane here (ac-tually, I think he loved it that there was mud every-where & more sticks on the ground). He’s justhappy to be with the pack – as long as you feed &water him,he’s content.

AG: What is the first thing you are going to eatupon your return here?

BK: Probably something fresh from my parent’sgarden up in Door County! But I hear you make amean apple pie, Joyce…..

AG: Beth forgot to mention that she was also therecipient of the NSAI Song Showdown Award!(Wonder how that slipped her mind?)

Beth is a performing songwriter as well as asongwriter that tries to pitch material to otherartists. The song that won this contest is one of her"pitch" songs -It's a song she wrote the lyrics,music& melody for, but had a producer in Nashville hirestudio musicians & a professional male singer torecord it. Beth said,“As much as I'd love to takecredit for the winning performance,I really have togive a shout out to Kim Copeland (one of my topMySpace friends) who assembled a great team ofmusicians along with the incredible vocalist RonWallace.”

The award was announced at the end of theNSAI's Spring Training on Saturday in a room ofaround 250 songwriters from all over the U.S. andCanada. Beth had submitted a song for the contest,but didn't think she even had a chance. Before theyannounced the winner, they played the top 10songs for the contest, in random order, and the 5thsong was hers. After they played all 10 songs, theyannounced the top 3. Beth was totally surprised.Beth you deserved it!)

Well there you have it. You are currently updatedon the last year’s itinerary of Beth Kille. Beth,Tonyand Buddy should be returning North sometime inJuly. I’m hoping they will make it back in time forour big One Year Americana Gazette Party on July17th. I know Peter and Eric would love to see heragain as well.

Beth, thank you for the interview and a big sliceof Apple Pie will be waiting for you. (To tell thetruthAndy makes a better pie than me – so I’ll turnthe apron over to him……..)

You can check out Beth’s blog on her Texas Tourwith Jessie Lynn @http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseac-tion=blog.view&friendId=372035090&blogId=483024491

Story compiled by Beth Kille and Joyce ZiehliPhoto Taken by: Andi Crimmins-Renfree and sup-plied by Beth Kille

bett kille... continued from page 14 dulsa... continued from page 28

Verona, Cross Plains, Mazomanie and towns in be-tween, will be opening their studios for the thirdannual Spring Art Tour, presented by the MountHorebAreaArts Association.All are within a fifteenmile radius of Mount Horeb. The range in art iswide,including painting, jewelry,origami,sculpture,ceramics,glass,photography and more.Visitors willbe able to watch the artists at work in their studiosand shop their wares. Western Dane County (seewebsite for maps)FMI: 608-437-5914 or [email protected];www.springarttour.com

June 17,7-8:30 pm Lands’End Summer Concert Se-ries. Bring your lawn chair or blanket. Food avail-able. Free event. Harris Park, 600 Bennett Road,Dodgeville,WI.

June 27 & 28 Spring Green Arts & Crafts Fair inDowntown Spring Green,WI

July 12,APT 30thAnniversary Party. Music stage fea-turing the General Store Band and APT musicians,food, beer, celebrity squares, and a silent and liveauction.More information to come. American Play-ersTheatre, Spring Green,WI.

July 25, Dodgeville Blues fest 10th annual. Bandsand more information to come.A FREE, fun, familyevent.No carry-ins.Downtown DodgevilleFMI: 608 935-9200 orwww.dodgevillebluesfest.com.

August 1, 2-9pm Mazo FunDayz 3rd annual MazoFunDayz downtown festival will feature: food, fam-ily fun, music, art activities, and kid’s games. It’s agreat opportunity for downtown businesses to beopen and take advantage of a great day and lots ofcustomers.A car and bike show will be the venuefor the afternoon.Mazomanie,WIFMI:www.mazomaniechamber.com/cham-berevents.html

Green County Museums Open for the Season -check below for various dates and timesClick on Attractions > Museums for locations,themes and exhibits.• Albany Historical Museum (open Memorial Day

thru Labor Day:Sat 9am - 3pm,Sunday 9 - noon)• Brodhead Depot Museum (open Memorial Day

to Sept:Wed/Sat/Sun and holidays 1 - 4 pm)• Browntown Community Museum (open

Memorial Day thru Labor Day: Sun 1 - 4 pm)• Chalet of the Golden Fleece (open by appt only)• Monticello Area Historical Society (open May to

Dec: Sat 10 am - 2 pm)• National Historic Cheese making Center (open

thru Oct: daily 9 am - 4 pm)• Swiss Historical Village (May through Oct: daily

10am - 4 pm)• ToyTrain Barn (open year round daily

10 am - 5 pm)

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find it a cultural shock after living in NewYork?

Kaplin: Oh yea! When I moved to Nashville17 years ago the city was completely differ-ent. When we first moved to Nashville thedowntown Broadway area was just a coupleof funky bars. People were not going downthere. Then a couple of bands BR-549 beingone of them started playing at Roberts West-ern Wear. We started to go down to seethem play. We would tell everyone how goodthey were and try to get people to go downto see them and no one would go downtown.Then eventually things changed and it be-came the “hip” thing to do. They cleaned upthe storefronts and now you have LowerBroadway today.

Mainly Andy it was the food thing. (Welaugh). I remember going into a supermar-ket and looking for pasta and seeing just thepackaged stuff and thinking Oh my Godwhat am I going to do? Slowly we began fig-uring out where things were and it got a lotbetter. When we were first here we would goback to New York and I would buy shoppingbags full of food stuff to take back with us.

Things have changed in other areas too.The new Public Library is a fantastic addi-tion to the city. It would fit in any metropol-itan area in the U.S. We are big supportersof the library. The city has changed radi-cally in the last 10 years.

AG: What we notice the most is that nobodyis in a hurry in Nashville?

Kaplin: Yea that’s true. It used to drive meinsane that in a grocery line people wouldstop and talk to each other with no conceptof time. I’m a native New Yorker and thatjust does not happen there. The up side isthat there is something very nice aboutthat. Taking the time to visit. It still is in-teresting to live here.

AG: What’s your take on the new musicmodels and the state of the industry?

Kaplin: That’s interesting that you wouldask me that. We had gotten together forEaster with some friends at Jason Riggen-berg’s farm and were talking about thatvery thing. I think that is a competition ofthings. The Music business is changing sorapidly, there is a recession and has been inthe music business for quite a while. It isalso though a great time for independentgrass roots music. You now have the where-fore to throw out your music to the masseswhich you did not have as an independentartist before. It’s a really good time now, butit takes a huge amount of effort and work todo so. It’s going to take a long time for therethinking process to kick in large organiza-tions. Independent small organizations andpeople can now move forward. Thinkingoutside of the box is very important. Thatin itself means not doing things the way wehave always done them in the past. Sittingaround thinking and talking about the way

it was is a waste of time, because it willnever be that way again.

Music will always be. People will alwayswant to see shows, buy music on-line, andlisten, the whole world of Americana Musicwhat it all means just takes a lot of think-ing in new ways. Utilizing technology toyour advantage is very important. Blog-ging is something that we are getting intonow. It’s a new world out there.

AG: Let’s talk about you and Kristi Rose.

Kaplin: We write and record mostly. Anumber of years ago we played quite oftenin Nashville and toured Europe with a bandand a duo. Just the past few years we playin Nashville a little but really just write andrecord. This year we are playing some fes-tivals and clubs, and are releasing a newalbum.

AG: Does Kristi Rose play too?

Kaplin. No, she is just a vocalist. When weplay as a duo she is the show and I am justthe accompanist.

AG: Let’s talk about the show at the Base-ment that I saw you at. The guitar youused sounded incredible. That show blewme away! That was one of the best shows Ihave ever seen in my life. The guitar is anold Kay?

Kaplin: Yes it is. It is an instrument that Ihave used for many years now with KaneWelch Kaplin and in recording sessions butdon’t use with other acts. It is a parlor sizecheap guitar, probably the cheapest modelthat they made. I got it from a guy thatworked for Joe Glaser. The guys that workthere would find the cheapest worst play-ing guitars in their spare time and have acontest to see who could make them into aplaying and sounding good instrument.This was one of those guitars. I think I paida couple hundred bucks for it. It has afunky weird sound acoustically. I first usedit on our CD Lost John Dean. I then startedtrying different tunings and wound up tun-ing it to an open C which is a whole stepdown from an open D. Kieran tunes andplays his banjo only in C so it fits perfectly.The strings are very slack which gives it astrange sound. So I put in an old BillLawrence pickup which made it sound evenbetter.

AG: Do you play electric guitar?

Kaplin: Yes I do. In the early days beforethe Kay guitar I played Danelectro with lip-stick tube pickups or a Strat. I also playelectric with Kristi Rose along with a Mar-tin acoustic.

AG: Do you collect instruments or just forusage?

Kaplin: I don’t collect instruments. I playwhat I buy. I try to use everything I buy ei-ther live or in recording.

T.Hall... continued from page 17 AG: Where do find most of your instru-ments that you buy, in pawn shops, garagesales, or newspaper ads?

Kaplin: The Kay I got in a shop. Most in-struments just kind of make their way tome. A lot of them were just sent to me.

AG: What are you plans for this year?

Kaplin: The main focus this year is KristiRose. She has been writing with some folksout in LA so we have been spending time outthere. Kane Welch Kaplin have some spo-radic dates this year. We are playing a cou-ple festivals. I’ll be playing with PurePrairie League at some shows this summer.I have been playing with them for ten years.Mostly writing and recording new materialin the time that is left.

AG: Where do you record and write at?

Kaplin: We have a place in Southern Illinoisthat has been in Kristi’s family for yearsthat we visit often and that’s where we domost of our writing and recording demos.

AG: What do you do in your spare time?

Kaplin: My spare time. I have a couple ofhobbies. I really enjoy cooking especiallyChinese and Italian recipies. I love to playchess. I rarely play in tournaments any-more. I always travel with books on chessand chess boards. I play a little on-line. Atone point I was really getting into fly fish-ing, but it took too much time. Mostly I justpick on an instrument.

AG: If you could play any concert hall any-where where would you play?

Kaplin: Kristi Rose says play in Istanbul orin the shadows of the Pyramids. I thinkplaying in a concert hall in Rome or Malian.

AG: Is there anything you would like peopleto know about yourself?

Kaplin: As far as being a multi-instrumen-talist I would rather be known as a musicianwho plays many instruments. I neverlearned all of these instruments as a gim-mick or for any other reason but to learn toplay them because I enjoyed their sound.Some people do that on purpose so that theycan get more work, I never had that train ofthought. I like the idea of being thought ofas a musician. Just someone who createsmusic that people enjoy.

Written by: Andy ZiehliPhotos supplied by Fats and Kristi Rose.

americana gazette june/july 2009 issue

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