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Fireball Mail - May/June - Volume 25, Issue 3! ! 1

Fireball

MailMay/June - Volume 25, Issue 3

SWBMAI celebrates our 25th Anniversary with

a Bluegrass Boys Reunion

That’s right, folks, SWBMAI is celebrating 25 years of bringing bluegrass to our community. To celebrate, we are sponsoring a special, one-of-a-kind, Bluegrass Boys Reunion Concert at Madison’s very own Sugar Maple Festival at Lake Farm Park. The Bluegrass Boys Reunion will take place on Saturday night, August 2nd. The musicians will include Mark Hembree on bass (from the Nob Hill Boys), Bob Black on banjo, and Tom Ewing on guitar, with special guest Mike Compton on mandolin. It will absolutely be a show not to be missed, and we are so thrilled it is going to take place in Madison!

The 1940’s lineup of Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys has been termed the “original bluegrass band” with Bill on mandolin, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Lester Flatt on guitar, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts on bass. For more than half a century, several highly accomplished musicians played as Bluegrass Boys, and

for many of them it was the highlight of their careers. Make sure to come and

check out bluegrass in one of its purest forms around today at Sugar Maple.

SWBMAI Board of Directors:

President – Karen Sonnenblick,

608-224-1124,

[email protected]

Vice President – Ellis Bauman,

[email protected]

Secretary – Sharon Manion,

[email protected]

Treasurer – Jon Peik,

[email protected]

Membership – Catherine Rhyner,

608-835-8117

Webmaster – Brian Ray,

[email protected]

Attendant Board Member – Jim

Knobloch, [email protected]

Ongoing Volunteers

Bob Batyko

Rob Griffen

Mary Helmke

Nancy Nikora

Carmen Burnett

Bill Malone

Jim Robarts

Joe Davis

Margaret Kmiotek

Bruce Nichols

Email articles to [email protected]. If

you do not have Internet access, please

send submissions to:

SWBMAI Newsletter,

P.O. Box 7761,

Madison, WI 53707-7761.

Win a Sharon Manion Quilt or German Fiddle

Don’t forget to purchase your 25th Anniversary raffle tickets! We are giving away two fabulous prizes: a beautiful quilt crafted by SWBMAI’s own Sharon Manion (who earned $2,500 on a quilt that was auctioned off at IBMA Fanfest last year) and a German fiddle, case, and bow donated by Lane’s Lutherie in Madison.

Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. To purchase tickets, contact Catherine at [email protected] or 835-8117. The drawing will be held in the fall. Two winners will be drawn, and the first winner will get his/her choice of prize.


SWBMAI is a member of IBMA

(International Bluegrass Music

Association).

SWBMAI is a proud sponsor of

WORT 89.9FM

Every Tuesday

Pastures of Plenty,

9-noon with John Fabke

Every Wednesday

Back to the Country,

9-noon with Bill Malone

Every Friday

Mud Acres Bluegrass Special,

9-noon with Chris Powers

“Bluegrass has brought more

people together and made more

friends than any music in the world.

You meet people at festivals and

renew acquaintances year after

year.”

-Bill Monroe

From Madam Prez……

Greetings Fellow Bluegrassers,

As you can see, Fireball Mail has had a bit of a makeover. We are still in the experimental phase, so you will notice some changes in the layout in the next few issues as we are still working on piecing all of this together for you.

Thanks everyone for showing your support at the Jamboree! It was a wonderful day of music, friends, community, and conversation. Thank you for taking the time to fill out our feedback surveys. Your thoughts and comments are very important to us.

We are getting geared up for the summer season and we are very excited about it! We are sponsoring the Bluegrass Boys Reunion concert at Sugar Maple Festival as part of our 25th Anniversary celebration. We are sponsoring bluegrass at the Gandy Dancer Festival, which will be held in Mazomanie this year on July 20th. Get ready for trains and bluegrass, round two! We are also supporting and looking forward to Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival on June 6th and 7th. Several of our member bands will be performing there, including Jefferson County, Squirrel Hunters, Liberty Bluegrass Band, The High 48’s, The Krause Family, and Tangled Roots.

I hope that you are enjoying the warmer weather and getting geared up for the upcoming festival season, which will be as good as ever! Wishing you plenty of good times and great music,

Karen Sonnenblick

SWBMAI Member Featured on WLS

BarndanceIn our last Fireball Mail newsletter, we featured an article about the recent grant to SWBMAI and Hayloft Gang Productions to help with the production of a documentary on WLS Barndance. I received the following email from one or our members in response to the article and wanted to share it.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Dave.

Karen,

I am always happy to receive my Fireball Mail. The March/April issue is

especially welcome, however, due to your article concerning the WLS National

Barn Dance. I grew up listening to WLS, “The Voice of the Prairie Farmer”

and, in fact, appeared on the show twice circa 1949/50 as a member of our

children’s square dance group. I recall being on stage with Minnie Pearl, String

Bean, Bob Acher, Lulu Bell and Scotty, Rex Allen and others. It will be grand to

relive the excitement of that experience through the documentary.

Thanks, Dave Westlake


2008 SWBMAI Jamboree‘Twas a mighty fine time at this year’s Jamboree. Even though it was the first beautiful day in what seemed like a century, folks stopped by to enjoy some fine local Bluegrass, pick some tunes (there may have been drinking too, but who’s counting) and chat with their fellow ‘Grassers. Few folks left empty handed as many fine raffle prizes were dished out. The new format of jamming and four bands was praised and will be continued in next year. Thanks to everyone for making this year’s Jamboree a success. See you next year!

Thanks to the following for their generous donations: Paul Kienitz, Jon Peik, Sharon Manion, Lane’s Lutherie, Jim & JoAnne Robarts, John Fabke, Mike Schmidt, The International Bluegrass Music Museum, Richelieu Banjos, MBOTMA, Bluegrass Unlimited, The Shoe Box, Intelligentsia Coffee, Spruce Tree Music, Four Lakes Traditional Music Collective, The High 48s, Supreme Pizza, Above the Town, Rounder Records. Good Stuff PR Co., Madison Music, Rick Francois, Round the Bend, Hand Picked Bluegrass, Brad Klabunde, and Jefferson County Bluegrass.


Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival

Don’t miss the 4th Annual Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival on June 6th and 7th! There are several great bands playing. This is an outdoor, old fashioned bluegrass

festival, sponsored by the Village of Brooklyn, with rough camping in our

beautiful 15 acre Legion Park. The Festival is located in Brooklyn, Wisconsin, a short 20-minute drive south of Madison’s beltline on Hwy 14 and 2 miles west on Hwy 92. Contact Nadine at 608-455-1457 or 608-235-0966 or go to http://www.bluegrassinbrooklyn.com/ for more details.

Southern Wisconsin Bluegrass Music Association, Inc.

Board Meeting Minutes (condensed)

January 9, 2008

Present: Ellis Bauman, Karen Sonnenblick, Jim Knobloch, Catherine Rhyner, Sharon Manion, Brian

Ray and Mary Helmke

Regrets: Jon Peik

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. The January 9 minutes and treasurer’s report were

approved as submitted.

Agenda item “Cork & Bottle Bluegrass Band fund-raiser proposal” was tabled for the February

meeting since Greg Dierks was not available for this meeting.

Brian sent out the monthly website overview. He presented an example of how he could produce the

Fireball Mail using the information directly from the website. Because soon Mary will be stepping

down as our editor and no volunteer has come forward to take her position, the board felt this was a

great way to continue to produce a newsletter. SWBMAI members will be encouraged to sign up to

for an electronic newsletter which we could produce monthly and the paper newsletter would still go

out every other months only to those who don’t give us an e-mail address. Brian suggested that we

discontinue the Greater Madison Convention Visitors Bureau membership and use that money to

purchase copyright use from ASCAP and BMI. This would allow our member bands to have their

music placed on the website. The board approved this request and Brian will bring more information

back to the board regarding cost. The board will also need to set up a policy on how to handle

requests to put music/videos on the web from non-member bands.

Mary gave an update on the Fireball Mail. She will produce the next issue using the current format.

Included in this newsletter will be communication on upcoming newsletter changes and to encourage

members to go with the electronic format so we can discontinue or drastically cut down on printing

and mailing cost. Mary will check with the printer and the first class mailers to see if the association

had some type of contract.

Catherine suggested that she send out a membership renewal notice. This notice would be sent out

each month for the next two months and Karen will write up what should go into this notice. Once a

membership expires the newsletter will be discontinued.

The board discussed offering our members some type of discount card. Ellis will call Spruce Tree

Music and Catherine will contact Ward Brodt and Madison Music to see if they would be interested

in providing some type of discount to our members.

2008 Jamboree plans were discussed. Karen will contact High Noon Saloon to see if we can have

our Jamboree there as in past years. Our first choice for this event was April 5th with open jamming

from 12:30 to 2:30 and 4 bands performing from 3:00 to 7:00. The board put together a list of bands

for Karen to contact. Each band would be paid $200.00. The board will work on getting some raffle

items to be used during the Jamboree.

Mary suggested that our 25th Anniversary celebration be held at the Riley Tavern. Mary will contact

Riley Tavern to discuss this event with them and report back to the board.

David Grier had contacted the board through Carolyn Hegeler to request organizing/promotion of a

concert February 21 or 22. Unfortunately, the board did not have the time to organize such an event.

The board briefly discussed having another summer picnic at the Capital Brewery. Brian will contact

the brewery and bring information back to the board for further discussion.


Ellis reported that Steve Parry of Hayloft Gang Productions had contacted him and they expect to

hear soon concerning the results of their Wisconsin Humanities Council grant application. Ellis also

heard from Joanna Fabke regarding the Gandy Dancer second festival. They are looking at having

this in Mazomanie but no date has been set.

Ellis reported that he did not have any new information on our tax status change but will make a

point to call the lawyer for an update by our February meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at

6:00 p.m. at The Bar Next Door.


Informal Board Meeting Minutes

February 20, 2008

Present: Karen Sonnenblick, Ellis Bauman, Mary Helmke, Jim Knobloch, Johanna Fabke

The informal discussion began at 6:25pm. Johanna was present to update us with the Gandy Dancer

II event details. This year, the event will be held July 20th at the new park in Mazomanie, The

Promenade, which is a former railroad citing. Art Stephenson, Waterstreet Hotshots, North Country

Drifters, Cajun Strangers and Laurie Lewis will be performing from 11:30am-8pm. Carolyn is

looking for a venue for Laurie top play that same weekend, so if anyone has anyone ideas, please

contact her. We wouldn’t want that show to take away from Gandy Dancer, so it would have to be

somewhere out of town. We discussed the possibility of asking Laurie Lewis to hold a singing

workshop the Saturday before Gandy Dancer. Karen will look into this further.

Johanna asked SWBMAI to consider how we would like to be involved in the event beyond simply

serving as a fiscal agent. One possibility is for us to be a financial donor. We could help pay for a

band, or we could arrange for the children’s entertainment (Dave Landau or Ken Lonquist, perhaps).

We would also offer advertising on the website and some of our members would probably be

volunteers. When Johanna has a list of specific volunteer positions that she needs filled, she will

email it to us and we will post it on the website.

We discussed the possibility of setting up a Brew and View for the public viewing of the Cork n

Bottle DVD.

Possible venues include the Majestic, the Union, the Orpheum and the Barrymore. Karen will contact

the possible venues and Greg Diercks to discuss the matter.

The Jamboree will be held April 19th from 12:30-7pm at the High Noon. We are still waiting to hear

from 2 bands to confirm the gig. We brainstormed a few more bands in case these bands are unable to

play.

We also brainstormed a list of duties that will require volunteer work the day of the Jamboree

including set-up, staffing the member table, staffing the raffle table, staffing the t-shirts, selling raffle

tickets, and clean-up. We also discussed purchasing coffee mugs and bumper stickers. Everyone

seemed highly in favor of bumper stickers, so we will call a vote on that when we have a quorum.

Karen will ask Jon Peik to purchase a raffle license for the event.

The 25th Anniversary will be held at Riley’s Tavern on May 31st. There will be an outside cash bar, a

potluck, a shelter, electricity and a sound system set up by Riley’s Tavern. We are thinking the set up

will be an ongoing potluck with jamming and show played by the Nob Hill Boys. We are still waiting

to confirm the date with the Nob Hill Boys. We will have a large sheet cake with our new logo, a

plaque to present to Riley’s Tavern, and individually engraved key chains for the founding SWBMAI

members. We will have donation buckets set up, and Jim will contact Culvers for a potential frozen

custard donation. The lunar eclipse began at 7:43pm and the informal discussion adjourned at

8:15pm.


Board Meeting Minutes (condensed)

March 5, 2008

Present: ! Ellis Bauman, Karen Sonnenblick, Mary Helmke, Jim Knobloch, Sharon Manion,

and Catherine Rhyner (arrived late)

Regrets:! Jon Peik and Brian Ray


The meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. The minutes and treasurer’s reports from the January

9th and February 20th meetings were approved as submitted.

The first agenda item, Bobby Batyko - financial request, was tabled for the April meeting since he

was not available for this meeting.

The Cork & Bottle request was discussed, the board felt we don’t have the time and resources to

organize this event but would help with advertising if they wish to pursue this.

Prior to the meeting, Brian had sent out his monthly statistics on the web site usage for the boards

review.

Mary provided a Fireball Mail update. The March/April issue went out this week, which is Mary’s

last issue as editor. The next month’s issue will be pulled from the website. There was some

discussion of the electronic newsletter and how our members will transition to this format. Karen

will put together a mailer regarding the change in our process and a membership renewal reminder;

she hopes to get this out by the beginning of next week with Catherine’s help. The electronic version

will be sent monthly and the paper every other month.

Membership renewals are starting to come in and next month Catherine will report back to the board

the status of the membership renewal drive. Ellis will contact Spruce Tree and Catherine will contact

Ward Brodt and Madison Music to see if they would be interested in providing some type of discount

to our members.

Karen provided an update on the April 19th Jamboree at the High Noon Salon. Sharon will collect all

raffle items for this event. Board members will continue to contact area businesses and member

bands for raffle donations and will email everyone with whom they contacted and what was donated.

Karen suggested that stickers with SWBMAI logo be purchased and distributed free; she will look

into the printing cost and will email the board for their approval with this information. The board

also discussed ordering some type of bag, mug, or key chain that we could sell at upcoming events.

Jim will contact Top Promotions and report back by email on what is available and prices.

Sharon has a twin size sampler quilt to donate as a raffle item. It was decided that this would be a

separate raffle item with tickets being sold during the Jamboree and continue through the 25th

Anniversary party with the winner selected on that date. Karen will investigate the cost of raffle

tickets and if a special license is required and will report this back to the board ASAP.

SWBMAI 25th anniversary celebration was next on the agenda. This event will be Saturday, May 31

from 1 – 6 at Riley Tavern. The event will consist of jamming, potluck, cake with custard (Jim will

contact Culvers for a donation of custard), and entertainment by The Nob Hill Boys. The sound

system will be provided by Riley’s. A plaque will be presented to Riley Tavern for supporting

bluegrass over the past 25 years. More planning will go into this event at our next meeting.

John Fabke had requested that we organize a Dede Wyland vocal workshop for the end of March or

first of April. At this time the board doesn’t have the resources/time to organize this but will help

with advertising.

Ellis had no new information on the tax exempt status change; he plans to make an appointment next

week to meet with the attorney and will report information back at the next meeting.

The last agenda item was the summer picnic. The general consensus was that since we’re having the

anniversary party the end of May, we will not have a summer picnic but will decide at a later meeting

to perhaps have a fall event.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at The Bar Next Door.

SWBMAI Mission Statement:

1. To promote bluegrass music and musicians

2. To bring together persons of all ages who enjoy singing, playing, and listening to

bluegrass music

3. To hold regular bluegrass jam sessions

4. To publicize information about bluegrass concerts and festivals

5. To promote family weekend camping with bluegrass music

6. To help younger persons obtain instruments and instruction in bluegrass music

7. To introduce bluegrass music to new listeners

SWBMAI Board Meetings are held tat 6pm the first Wednesday of every month at the Bar Next

Door in Madison.


New Member Band: New Bad

HabitsSWBMAI announces one of the country’s best old time and dance bands as a new member band. New Bad Habits plays traditional tunes from the great string bands of the 1920’s and 1930’s, as well as original music honoring the same tradition. Hailing from the states of Wisconsin and Missouri, the members of New Bad Habits come together in a confluence of musical styles that is pure heartland America.

Members of the New Bad Habits are recent Wisconsin immigrant and fiddle extraordinaire Lynn “Chirps” Smith, Soldier’s Grove tomato-growing and flood surviving resident Tim Foss also on fiddle, art collecting and beret-wearing Dave Landreth playing clawhammer banjo, gourd banjo-building Andy Gribble on the guitar, and always smiling and cute as a pea clogger and caller Dot Kent.

I saw NBH play a concert and a dance at the MBOTMA Winter Weekend and it was great fun. They are both a musician’s and a dancer’s favorite! I look forward to seeing them at Larryfest again this year, and wherever else they show up in the region this summer.

New Member Band: This is the

Squirrel HuntersSWBMAI welcomes our new bluegrass member band, (This is the) Squirrel Hunters. This Madison-based traditional Bluegrass co-op features Bob Batyko on guitar, Brian Ray on mandolin, Lorie Docken on bass, Paul Kienitz on fiddle, and Sean Ray on banjo. The boys (and Ms. Docken) describe themselves as taking “regular musical forays outside the protective walls of Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, and Flatt & Scruggs, but always with caution, and never without a long rifle.”

(This is the) Squirrel Hunters will be appearing at the Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival this June. We look forward to seeing them and welcome them aboard!

Two SWBMAI Member Bands Nominated for MAMA’sThe MAMA’s (Madison Area Music Awards) have just announced this year’s nominations, and two SWBMAI member bands have been nominated for awards. Round the Bend was nominated for Country/Bluegrass Album of the Year for their recently released self-titled CD. Sparetime Bluegrass Band was nominated for Best Song of the Year for their version of the song “The Fox.” Sparetime was also nominated for Best Artist of the Year. Good luck to both groups! We know you

have both worked hard, and we are very proud of you!


Happy St. Patti’s Day

As it happens, SWBMAI Member Patti Graham’s birthday was celebrated the same day folks celebrate something called St. Patrick’s Day. Patti was kind enough to share the celebration of her 60th birthday with folks dowsed in green at the Dry Bean Saloon Jam on St. Patti’s Day.

New Old Time Jam in MadisonA new old time jam in Madison began in March. The past few jams have been held at the Harmony Bar and were followed by dancing to the Cajun Strangers immediately following the jam, which was a lot of fun (as long as someone can teach you how to two-step!). Starting April 28th, the jam will be every other Sunday at the Alchemy Cafe (formerly Wonder’s Pub) at 1980 Atwood Avenue in Madison. The jam begins at 5pm and lasts until 7, or until the fiddlers’ fingers are too tired to play, or they kick us out. Cloggers and dancers always welcome! For more information, contact Lori Nitzel at 608-442-7270.

Join Us at Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival!Want to hear the best bluegrass musicians in the world playing in a relaxed outdoor wooded setting? Would you like to hear and jam with some professional musicians jamming around the campfire and telling stories from the good old days? Want to check out instruments for sale by vendors, dealers, and private parties? Why not join other SWBMAI members and friends on a journey to Bill Monroe’s 42nd annual Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom, IN, June 14 - 21, 2008!

Join us for either the full 8 days (Sat. thru Sat.), or just come for a couple of days. We have (3) RV campsites reserved together, with water and electricity, located under a big shade tree. We have room for some added tents in this area, and there are plenty of campsites for rough camping in other areas. Of course there are motels and hotels about 7 minutes away for non-campers.

Call or email Bruce Nichols at [email protected] for more information. 608-273-4807.


SWBMAI Bluegrass Membership Form

Name:_______________________________________________________________________________

Company/Band: _______________________________________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________________________________________

City: _____________________________ State: _________________ Zip: ________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________________________________________

Email: _______________________________________________________________________________

______ Yes, I would like to save a tree and get my newsletter electronically!

Bluegrass Instrument(s) Played: ___________________________________________________________

Membership Type: _____ Individual ($20) _____Senior ($12) _____ Family ($28) _____Band ($60)

Make checks payable to SWBMAI.

Mail to: SWBMAI Membership, P.O. Box 7761, Madison, WI 53707-7761

Or join online at www.swbmai.org. Now you can join online! Thanks!

Bluegrass Recipe – Don’t Pick on an Empty BellyBill Monroe’s Jerusalem Ridge Fried Potatoes

This was his favorite food. Bill didn’t use a frying pan with the lid that fits on it. Instead, use a flat lid and an iron skillet. “My mother did it like this,” Bill said. Peel the potatoes and then slice them about 1/8-inch thin, so that the pan is about " full of taters. Put about # cup of lard and about a # cup of water in the pan. Put the lid on and let it cook over medium heat till tender. Stir from the bottom every little bit. When the potatoes get brown, take the lid off and finish frying; salt to taste and add pepper. Makes about 4 to 6 servings. Bill Monroe, From close friend Hazel Smith

The Bluegrass Music Cookbook. 1997. Penny Parsons, Ken Beck and Jim Clark. p. 158.

Save the Date! Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum harmony-singing

workshop Laurie Lewis (along with several other great bands) will be performing at the Gandy Dancer festival in Mazomanie on July 20th. We are thrilled that Laurie and Tom have offered to teach a harmony-singing workshop on the following evening, July 21st, in Madison. We will have more information closer to the date.


PO Box 7761Madison, WI 53707

All bluegrass, all the time…..

B Ray

Home Street

Home City, Home State

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