Former Madison musicians are making musical waves around the country and around the world.
Ivan Klipstein started playing around these parts back in the mid-1990s. He had a thing for toy instruments, candles and drawing. When I saw him at the old Café Assisi on State Street years ago, he struck me as the ultimate musical free spirit.
He apparently still is. Klipstein's YouTube videos find him performing charming acoustic pop songs in a public bathroom and a car stranded in snow.
His latest musical project is the Auroratones, which seems to be composed of Ivan and whatever set of musicians spontaneously join him at any one time. Klipstein is in New Orleans these days, when he's not in Vermont or someplace else. He's busy illustrating as much as he is songwriting. You can see his drawings at inkyrhythm.blogspot.com.
Bradley Fish was also making music in Madison in the 1990s. He's spent the last six years in Israel, and his forthcoming album, Time to Rise, was recorded in Jerusalem. Fish earned a taste of Internet stardom after getting 1.1 million hits on his irreverent "Jewish Girl Blues." The amusing music video includes plenty of beautiful women, sexually provocative situations and flustered rabbis. Fish will be back in Madison to perform at the Come Back In on Friday, July 29, at 9:30 p.m.
Few former Madison bands are making a bigger national mark than Locksley, the NYC rock outfit that got a promotional boost from MTV Buzzworthy earlier this month. Their new self-titled album is out July 26, and their music is currently backing commercials for Ford and Chevrolet (we wonder - which car do they like better?). Locksley performs at the Union Terrace on Thursday, July 28, at 9:30 p.m.
