The High Noon Saloon's Cathy Dethmers: Her venue defines the local scene.
Cathy Dethmers - After O'Cayz Corral burned on Jan. 1, 2001, Dethmers spent more than three years planning a replacement. When she opened the High Noon Saloon in 2004, the venue instantly defined the Madison club scene. The large, well-appointed room became a haven for indie-rock touring bands, and Dethmers kept her commitment to booking local shows, too.
The Founders of the Forward Music Festival - Bessie Cherry, Wyndham Manning, Kyle Pfister, Jesse Russell and Jamie Hanson all played a role in creating this large, ambitious music festival in 2008. It may not be South by Southwest yet, but it's put Madison on the music-fest map.
Rick Tvedt - He started the Madison Area Music Awards in 2004. He published the local music magazine Rick's Cafe from 2003 to 2007. Now Rick Tvedt is the man behind Local Sounds, an online e-zine of Madison music.
Tag Evers - His promotion company True Endeavors grew to become the dominant player in the small clubs market. If you visited the High Noon, the Barrymore Theatre or Cafe Montmartre to see an indie-rock touring band, chances are you'd see Tag watching the show through black-rimmed glasses at the back of the room.
Bro DJ - Brody Rose started a website dedicated to Madison hip-hop before he moved to Washington, D.C., in 2006. Madisonhiphop.com became the rallying point for the local hip-hop scene and sparked one of thegenre's most productive periods.
Matt Gerding and Scott Leslie - The historic Majestic Theatre tried mightily to succeed as a music venue this decade. Its incarnation as a dance club that frequently featured hip-hop became a flashpoint when violence flared outside the club after midnight more than once. In 2007, Gerding and Leslie bought the Majestic, renovated the historic space and successfully transformed it into a touring-band concert space.
Matt Fanale and Apollo Marquez - The local electronic music scene wouldn't be what it was this decade without these guys. Fanale started Reverence, an electronic-music festival that became part of the Forward Music Fest in 2009. Marquez is the owner of the Inferno, the predominant venue for beats per minute in Madison.
Darwin Sampson - This musician-turned-club-owner booked shows for the Annex and the Anchor Inn earlier this decade. Then opportunity came knocking when the King Street space occupied by the Slipper Club closed. Darwin's dream of his own venue became the Frequency.
Jake Shut and Chris Langkamp - Langkamp founded Crustacean Records in the late '90s. This decade, Shut helped extend the reach of the local record label to regional and national bands.
Tom Klein - Klein founded the Journey Music, the former musical coffeehouse on Regent Street that became a production company in 2006. Klein focused on bringing national bands to Madison that specifically appealed to an all-ages audience. His niche changed the course of Madison's all-ages music scene and brought music alive at the Loft.