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Asylum Street Spankers on the cover of Maximum Ink February 2007

Asylum Street Spankers

by Brett Lemke
February 2007

An interview with Wammo of the Asylum Street Spankers

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Baghdad Scuba Review in Maximum Ink in July 2007

Baghdad Scuba Review

by Rachelle Blair
July 2007

Political revolution through music and a spelling error are just some of the inspiration behind Baghdad Scuba Review.

The six man group got its start when guitarist, vocalist and former member of One Fluid Ounce John Schneider moved to Madison from California and began performing at weekly open mic nights at Pizzaria Uno, 222 W. Gorham St. The band said Schneider developed “comfortableness” with inviting guests and soon guitarist Chad Thompson, drummer Justin Gerstner and bassist Erik Riedasch began sitting in at the shows. Slowly, Riedasch said jam sessions and unrehearsed shows ripened at Mr. Roberts, 2116 Atwood Ave.

“Having no direction or goal we performed under such names as ‘John Schneider and Friends’ or ‘The John Schneider Project’,” Riedasch said.

The members of Baghdad Scuba Review all came from well-known Madison bands. Riedasch and percussionist Rob Bloch came from the band Groovulous Glove, Thompson from Green Situation, Gerstner from The Northern Pines Band and keyboardist Jason Krueger from Runga Kutta. “Since then, we all started taking ourselves a little more seriously, originating with the birth name of BSR, but we’ve never let it go to our heads,” Riedasch said. “I think we all agree that isn’t the objective of this band.  We’ve always had this underlining respect and closeness with each other which is simply not describable.”

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Bellydance Superstars - Petite Jamilla

by John Noyd
March 2009

Petite Jamilla has been belly dancing her entire life, bridging the generation gap between traditional folkloric style and modern belly dance fusion. Studying for over ten years, Jamilla toured the Southeast U.S. at fifteen, a seasoned instructor by seventeen, with two instructional DVDs before she turned twenty. A member of the BELLYDANCE SUPERSTARS for the past three years, Petite Jamilla was kind enough to answer a few questions in anticipation of her troupe’s arrival at Madison’s Union Theater on March 26th.

MAXIMUM INK: What are the biggest misconceptions about belly dance?

PETITE JAMILLA: Due to Hollywoods’ early depictions of ‘belly dancers’ I think the biggest misconception is that belly dance is done for exploitive and seductive reasons, but it really has become a self-exploratory and self-improvement tool for dancers in the U.S.

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Madison's Blueheels

Blueheels

by Mike Huberty
December 2008

With an Americana sound that varies from alt-country to rock n’ roll to indie rock, Madison-based band Blueheels sound perfectly modern and vintage at the same time. The band has two recordings under their belt (2006’s Long Gone and Lessons in Sunday Driving released in April of 2008), a live album soon to come, and a third studio record in the works. They seem to be keeping themselves busy creatively, while also keeping a regular and extensive performing schedule.

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Blue Man Group on the cover of Maximum Ink in October 2003 - photo by Christopher McCollum

Blue Man Group

by Andrew Frey
October 2003

The official Blue Man Group website, Blueman.com, states, “Blue Man Group is a creative organization dedicated to creating exciting and innovative work in a wide variety of media.”

Sometimes musicians are creative. Other times they are original. Occasionally they smash thru the basic trapping of genre rules and create category defying experiences unlike any other. The critically acclaimed Blue Man Group is just such a performance experience.

Perhaps you first saw BMG on those unique Intel Pentium television commercials, or maybe you have seen them on one of their numerous “Tonight Show” appearances, (13 to date, see www.bluemanlibrary.com). Or maybe you were one of the lucky ones to see their crowd pleasing set on “Moby’s” AREA 2 tour in 2002. Perhaps you have visited one of their permanent locations and witnessed their great theatrical performance. Where ever you may know them from, their trademark cobalt grease paint faces, funky yet technical performances and PVC drums leave an indelible impression.

The founding three members of BMG, Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton started creating their own unique brand of multisensory experiences as early as 1988 on the streets of New York. Then, after a breakout run at LaMama (New York’s most prestigious experimental theatre) in 1990, they landed in the Astor Place Theatre in 1991 and have been there ever since. With this flagship venue in place, BMG kept expanding into more major market areas. To date BMG has permanent locations in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Las Vegas, with plans for a new Berlin troupe set to open in 2004. The organization has grown into a franchise comprised of over 500 employees including nearly 100 performers and musicians.

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Bob Log III loves his

Bob Log III

by Brett Lemke
March 2003

He’s the bastard stepson of a Tucson, Arizona trailer park and the juke joints of the Mississippi Delta. Bob Log III is Fat Possum Records’ veracious slide guitarist/one-man-band that will kick your adrenal gland into overdrive. He matches his de-tuned, f-hole guitars with the endless stomping of his rhythm section left and right foot respectively on bass drum and kick cymbal. Bob Log is a one-man-band of international acclaim who’s raw hill country guitar and drums are only magnified my his ominous appearance. The sepia-tinted visor on his gray motorcycle helmet obscures his identity, and a microphone cord runs to a mouthpiece on the bottom of a mid-70’s black rotary phone receiver. It protrudes from the front, functioning as his vox.

Maximum Ink caught up with Bob during a tour stop in Rochester, New York for an interview.

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Chicago's Cameron McGill

Cameron McGill And What Army

by Dan Vierck
November 2008

Cameron McGill is a pop-fectionist. What should be needless to say, is that this has nothing to do with aesthetic, marketing or sales. Be it McGill solo or with his Chicago-based band What Army, the music doesn’t just take center stage, it’s the only thing meaningful thing on the stage.

McGill’s music is the new smooth voice of the Midwest. People like Bright Eyes, Devandra Banhart, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, Jentri Colello and Madison’s whole alt-country scene plus so many more have started or taken on this quest of giving our green plains an audible, distinct, interesting and unique musical pulse. McGill’s place in this line up is on the radio.

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