In the 25 years since Lou and Peter Berryman first teamed up to play old jug-band songs in Appleton, reports staff writer Tom Laskin, they've divorced, landed a weekly gig at the Club de Wash and found a national audience by way of guest appearances on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. "Like everything else we've done, it was gradual," says Lou of the folk duo's rise from playing chili bake-offs in wind-swept parking lots to filling churches and community centers on cross-country tours. And over time, she says, the two have become "much closer to our audiences. You become friends with these people." The Berrymans still perform together; after playing recent shows in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, they are set to appear at the Goodman Community Center's annual New Year's Eve fund-raiser.
Berrymans forever
From the Isthmus archives, Nov. 30, 1990