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A Tone Madison audio extra: A Rocky Rococo eulogy from 2016

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One of the classics of Tone Madison‘s short existence so far would have to be Ben Munson’s February 2016 piece about the man who portrayed Rocky Rococo, the suspiciously Leon Redbone-esque mascot for a Wisconsin chain of pizzerias. Munson, who used to work at a Rocky Rococo location in La Crosse, set out to interview […]

A Tone Madison audio extra: The great Szechuan sauce fiasco

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We wanted to share a fun new feature that we’re experimenting with on the Tone Madison podcast feed. For the next few weeks we’ll be adding in some audio versions of recently published articles. It’s something we’ve dabbled with in the past—but we’re looking to make this a regular part of the site now, instead of an […]

Parsing city arts funding in Madison

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The conversation about how Madison’s city government supports music and culture always seems a bit quieter than it should be. It’s about helping musicians and artists get paid, but it’s not. It involves public money and private organizations. It’s about the excitement of art and the clunkiness of institutions. It theoretically impacts everyone, but not […]

The quiet boom in Madison-recorded stand-up albums

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Madison, and in particular the Comedy Club On State, has quietly become something of a destination for standup comedians looking to record their latest album. This month saw both the release of John Roy’s album Everything’s Burning on A Special Thing Records, and the recording of Josh Johnson’s upcoming album for Comedy Central, so we […]

Pedal pubs are capital-B Bad

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So now that it’s officially spring, we’re waiting for the weather to turn, and maybe thinking about all the nice outdoor things we enjoy in Madison in the spring and summer. Sidewalk cafes, bike rides, free outdoor concerts. But in Madison and many other cities, there is a dark side to the outdoors becoming hospitable […]