Big fun

Here at the house I just hosted a roundtable discussion of Madison vocalists. Isthmus assigned me to do this for a forthcoming music insert, and putting the project together was lots of fun. Joining me tonight were: Jan Wheaton, jazz singer extraordinaire; Mr. Parker, emcee of dumate, a new hip hop group that features members of the reggae group Natty Nation; Kyle Peterson, singer of Shotdown, a hard rock band that's perhaps my very favorite group in Madison; and Katy Rykken, singer of the Dorothy Heralds, a sort of prog-techno-rock group. A photographer also was here.

As I thought might be the case, the conversation was a little muted at first. But my editor had encouraged me to supply refreshments, and once the wine and beer began to flow, my colleagues opened up. The discussion was enjoyable: we talked about venues, recording, promoting, politics, and what have you.

I had a great time doing this! Look for the article in the fall.

The refreshments also included grapes, chips and salsa, smoked Gouda and Newman-O's.