LMF - Cork n' Bottle String Band

This is probably the band I've seen perform live the most times. These guys are an inspiration to anybody who ever dreamed of playing in a band. They took their name from the liquor store on East Johnson in Madison, where several of them worked. They practiced in the basement storage area of the liquor store. They really weren't musicians. That didn't slow them down. They taught themselves, they took lessons, they worked hard, and they just kept plugging away.

Eventually, they became a downtown favorite. Playing their updated style of bluegrass, which they called "Big New" grass, they performed every Wednesday night at Ken's Bar on S. Butler from 1996 to 2002. Ken's was a tiny little dive bar, but it was packed to the rafters on Wednesday nights.


My buddy Trike and I would get over there by 4:30 to get a place to sit. If you got there after five, you would be standing shoulder to shoulder with a massive blended crowd of hippy chicks, after-work business folks, blue collar joes, UW students and wannabe hipsters. I would speculate that in 1997 alone, I probably saw them perform at least 40 times. I remember they once put out "Tour t-shirts" that said on the back:

1997 Summer World Tour

June 25 - Ken's Bar - Madison, WI
July 2 - Ken's Bar - Madison, WI
July 9 - Ken's Bar - Madison, WI
July 16 - Ken's Bar - Madison, WI

(and so on, you get the idea)

Ken's Bar is gone, but the Cork n' Bottle lives on. I believe their weekly show is now at the UW Memorial Union, in the Rathskellar or on the Terrace, depending upon the season. They are Madison legends and they also tour around a bit, performing at bluegrass festivals, etc. Recently, they put out a DVD about their history, how they got started, the run at Ken's Bar, etc. Trike sent me a copy and I just sat back in awe watching it. A slice of life on plastic. Amazing. If you ever experienced the Cork n' Bottle Wednesday at Ken's, be sure to check it out. Here's the trailer.

They are a funny bunch of dudes who write clever little songs, they sing, play a couple banjos, guitars, the double bass, the violin, and a mandolin. Most of all, it is just really good music in the bluegrass tradition, and every year they get a little more skilled and a little better. You could watch them develop, you'd see the 2nd banjo player work through a fairly technical solo that you hadn't seen him do before, and you could see the whole band watching him and pulling for him, and then openly celebrating that he made it through. You also got the sense that the crowd was really pulling for these little weekly improvements, and celebrated them wildly. I just remember thinking how lucky it would be to be a part of something like that.

Think about it. Playing music with friends. Learning as you go, but still playing packed shows on Wednesday nights. Wednesday nights! Even a dad can get away with that, right?

Here is a video that is claimed to have captured the performance of the song "Big New" on the last night at Ken's Bar before it was closed and torn down.