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Shining the spotlight
Wisconsin's small venues create stunning music atmosphere with local and alternative bands

by beth wick

In August 2005, CBGB, the epicenter of underground rock in New York City, lost its lease, forcing many people to question the future and health of underground live music. Just two months earlier, Luther’s Blues, a downtown Madison venue, heard its final song and saw its final concert as it unexpectedly shut its doors with concert dates still booked for months ahead. While some still push to reopen the venue, it has since stood dark, silent and closed without a performance for months. Although the closure of CBGB, a media darling, caught national attention, in Wisconsin, Luther’s Blues is the true loss.

Wisconsin is home to small unique venues that book talented underground international, national and local bands. But imperfect relationships between talented bands, smaller venues, promoters, radio stations and fans threaten the state’s healthy, vibrant and competitive music market.

The history of music in Wisconsin is diverse and spans many decades. Les Paul, a Waukesha native, invented the electric guitar, revolutionizing the way music was conceived, played and heard. Since then, Wisconsin has bred many successful bands, including the Violent Femmes, Garbage, the BoDeans and The Gufs. These bands garnered national attention, but it seems fewer bands have been discovered recently on Wisconsin soil.

Small music venues lie at the heart of a diverse, exciting, cutting-edge music scene. Musicians and fans need to keep smaller venues thriving because they cater to underground and local talent, which is highly vulnerable in today’s music industry. Additionally, smaller venues are diverse and avoid mainstream music that is already widely promoted on television and radio. Places like High Noon Saloon and The Annex in Madison, and The Rave and Mad Planet in Milwaukee play a dominant role in creating a stunning musical atmosphere. Their eclectic lineups encompass many different musical genres and cater to a variety of crowds.

Cathy Dethmers, owner of High Noon Saloon in downtown Madison, secures bands to play seven nights a week, but says Madison might not always be a major priority to national booking agents.

“We are considered to be a tertiary market because we are smaller than Chicago and Minneapolis,” Dethmers says. “If an agent or a band has a good working relationship with a club in Madison or they just really like the crowd here, then they’ll definitely make it a priority.”

Dethmers opens her venue to local, national and international bands and says about 90 percent of the bands that play there seek out the venue. She sees smaller venues as a vital part of Wisconsin’s music scene and a place where bands can gain a following.

 “[Small venues] are definitely good as a breeding ground for bands, particularly local bands, but even nationals that maybe don’t have a huge name yet and just are kind of getting going,” Dethmers says. “Playing in the smaller venues regularly and packing them creates a really good buzz, good reputation and just helps them build their scene.”

Similarly, Mad Planet, in Milwaukee’s River West neighborhood, shares the same philosophy in its booking process. Marc Solheim, who works for Mad Planet, successfully brings in a number of talented national and international bands to play at the venue.

“We work with a group of agents that represent a lot of the bigger bands,” Solheim says. “Sometimes we look for local flavor to augment the shows and round out the bill or have a completely local event.”

Solheim says bands like Arcade Fire and The Raveonettes often prefer a club-like environment while playing, which makes smaller venues in Wisconsin attractive.

“They like to play for smaller places. They can connect with the audience,” Solheim says. “A lot of the bands like the club. They really like the staff, so a lot of the bigger bands that would be playing at a larger place … will come and play Mad Planet because they like it here.”

While Wisconsin venues have increasingly tuned into the underground scene and competed with other cities for national shows, opinions vary regarding the health of the state’s music scene. These relationships must sustain the local scene by increasing local awareness of bands’ visits.

Brian Kramp hosts the radio shows “Alternative Nation” and “The Scene” for alternative radio station 102.1 WLUM-FM in Milwaukee. Kramp feels that Wisconsin, especially Milwaukee, needs to create a stronger network among radio stations, promoters and venues so the scene can stay afloat and flourish. He thinks these elements must be in synch to bridge the gap between musicians and fans.

Kramp says 102.1 works with The Rave to help bring alternative and indie bands to Milwaukee. He credits The Rave with booking talented alternative bands, which 102.1 supports. Radio links bands to fans, and by allotting airtime to bands that play at venues, listeners will be more aware of bands coming to the area, attend concerts and increase visits to smaller venues, which will greatly improve the overall music scene.

“Both parties are hoping that 102.1’s current format is going to survive long enough to make a difference for the local groups we support,” Kramp says. He says the station’s current, alternative format affords him the flexibility to give visiting bands airtime.

In the fall, The Bravery, a nationally known band, played at The Rave. Kramp estimates fewer than 1,000 people attended the concert. A lack of promotional airtime and a seemingly non-existent fan base in Milwaukee created a humiliating turnout––reason enough for some bands to opt out of Wisconsin gigs.

“There is not a lot of airplay for a band like The Bravery,” Kramp says. “I think Milwaukee is a very niche-type market. In general, Milwaukee is not known to break bands or to promote bands that aren’t mainstream.”

Radio stations and venues need to play off one another to cultivate an underground music scene to ensure that talented musicians will frequent smaller venues and play to a supporting group of fans. Radio format is also critical to the local music scene because it links bands to fans.

Madison and Milwaukee have student radio stations that promote alternative bands, but the majority of commercial radio fails to give airtime to the bands slated on the bill to play at smaller venues. The relationship between The Rave and 102.1 is the first of many steps toward ensuring the health of the music scene in Wisconsin, and many feel that commercial stations need to follow their lead.

High Noon Saloon works with low-frequency radio stations such as WSUM and WORT to promote shows.

“We work more with community radio and the student radio station than we do with commercial,” Dethmers says. “It’s harder to work with [commercial radio] because they have set play lists. Unless the bands you have are on them, they are not very willing to throw it into the rotation to give it the exposure it would need to draw for the show.”

To combat the problem of exposure, many people turn to the Internet to find underground bands. This process requires enthusiasm for music and know-how for finding bands online, but the Internet is increasingly becoming a medium by which bands establish a fan base.

Wisconsinites need to open up to alternative artists, new bands and local bands, according to Kramp. He says people in Milwaukee fail to support the underground and local scene because they would rather latch onto music they already recognize. They are willing to shell out more money to see national shows, and forgo smaller local shows. “They want something that is familiar to them here, and they’ll pay $160 for U2,” Kramp says. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that people aren’t willing to go out and see a show. I think they kind of wait around for their opportunity to go to a show.”

Although his radio station promotes local music, Kramp believes the average radio listener in Milwaukee does not fully embrace local, up-and-comers at smaller venues. The lack of support for local musicians is the biggest problem plaguing Wisconsin's music industry.

 “Without that media support these bands are never going to go anywhere,” Kramp says. “The sad thing about the scene is that we don’t have the fan base to continue making this happen on a national scale.”

Ultimately, it is the lack of local support for local bands that highlights why the scene needs improvement. Both Mad Planet and High Noon Saloon book local bands with national acts or even put together exclusively local shows, giving bands a potential base of fans.

“I think as far as the local scene, it’s probably easier for local bands here than in bigger cities because there’s not as much competition amongst themselves to get gigs,” Dethmers says. “I think it is a little bit easier for a local band here to start to build a following through regular shows.”

Nic Adamany, who plays in the Madison-based band The Mighty Short Bus, thinks smaller venues are places where local bands gain a following and are discovered, especially in Madison, Oshkosh and Eau Claire. The smaller venues in these cities readily tap into local music because their young crowd is open to hearing new things. He says Eau Claire club The Stones Throw helped his band develop a strong local following.

“They see things in the long term and they are willing to work with us,” Adamany says. “Eventually, it will be us driving 400 people into the club there. It’s not costing the club anything because they are putting us on with a show that is going to do well. There needs to be more places like that.”

He credits some of the smaller venues like the High Noon Saloon, because they have an approachable, friendly staff and book talented bands night after night, making bands and patrons want to come back to that particular venue because of its strong reputation.

“It really comes down to ownership and management and their philosophy on how to run their club,” says Adamany, who would ultimately like to see better relationships between bands, radio and venues to create a thriving musical atmosphere in Wisconsin.

For now, CBGB is still fighting for a lease and Luther’s Blues remains closed, but a strong push exists to keep venues alive to foster strong presence of alternative and local music in Wisconsin. Smaller venues will not perish because they give alternative and local bands a place to perform, and they play a central role in laying down the foundation for a strong music scene to exist.

“I’m going to do my best to try to help out,” Kramp says. “There is nothing more that I would love to see than one of the bands we’ve played with break out big.”

©curb magazine - winter 2005
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