Tom Alesia

Tom Alesia

Quadriplegic Jimmy Anderson wins Assembly race

Five years ago, a drunken driver raced through a stop sign and slammed the Anderson’s family car. The crash killed his parents and brother and left Anderson paralyzed from the chest down. On Tuesday, he won election to Wisconsin’s state assembly.

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Tom Alesia

Stoughton High School celebrates students’ 75th reunion

At lunch, many grads recounted working in tobacco fields in Stoughton as teens. They each had vivid recollections of the Depression. Martin Johnson of Watertown, the 10th of 11 children born to his family, remembered a frequent meal and said, “I still hate vegetable soup.”

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Tom Alesia

Sheryl Crow: Beyond being a rock star

“(My career) really started with this miniscule foundation and built up to a loyal foundation. It’s not a career based on TV or big performances. I like that. It’s in the style of the old troubadour.”

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Tom Alesia

UW grad Allee Willis stars behind the scenes of music hits

Allee Willis wrote, among many hits, the theme to “Friends.” “So many people come up to me and do that hideous clap from the first line. The producers wanted a very Monkees-sounding song, which it is.” The show debuted three weeks after she wrote it. “I’m totally grateful. That show exploded. I went along for the ride.”

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Tom Alesia

Marty Stuart springs from vintage country music

At 13, the Mississippi native joined bluegrass legend Lester Flatt’s band. From 1979-85, he played in Johnny Cash’s group. There are few musicians who have performed with more legends. And Marty Stuart knows he’s experiencing history.

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Tom Alesia

Edie Brickell looks back at surprising heyday

“I was a wallflower growing up. When we went national, there was a l too much attention. I basically just hung out in my hotel room and tried to figure out happiness. I wasn’t getting it from that attention. I was 22 at the time. I was really insecure.”

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Tom Alesia

Lyle Lovett maintains longevity

On hearing his song “Nobody Knows Me” was played at a wedding: “It is a cheating song! But if somebody expresses an interest in one of my songs, I don’t try explaining to them why they shouldn’t be interested. We shouldn’t judge the emotional state of newlyweds.”

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Tom Alesia

Yoko One speaks about John Lennon

“There are so many young musicians who are sort of carrying his spirit and really speaking out against war. But you know how John was. If he was here, he would be doing it. He couldn’t stop doing it.”

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Tom Alesia

Wynonna faces fears, demons at bay

“I was 18 years old and supporting 50 workers with my career. That’s not normal. I never met my father. I did not know who he was until I was 30 and he died before I knew his name. There’s a lot of pain and loneliness about being famous and young and in a hotel room by yourself.”

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Tom Alesia

Steve Earle rushes to recoup lost time

“Most people who bought ‘Copperhead Road’ (his 1988 best-selling album) were disposed Lynyrd Skynyrd fans. There were people who understood why I wrote ‘Copperhead Road’ and ‘Johnny Come Lately.’ I was trying to lend a voice to people other than myself. That’s why I do what I do.”

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Tom Alesia

Kenny Chesney rising up the country ranks

“I played a couple of amphitheaters where I saw Aerosmith and Jimmy Buffett play,” Chesney said, still sounding like a star-struck fan. “I was one of the guys out there partying on the grass. I look out now and think, ‘There’s a lot of me out there.’ “

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Tom Alesia

At 77, Paul Newman remains on top

“I suppose the best actors are like children. And to the extent that you can sustain and maintain that childlike part of your personality is probably the best part of acting.”

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Tom Alesia

Tales of small-town life pay off big for Richard Russo

“There’s a huge difference between writing a good book and having good fortune. There are lots of good books published every year that don’t have one-tenth of the good fortune that I’ve had with (‘Empire Falls’).” Russo laughs. “I’ve written a few of them myself. So I know.”

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Tom Alesia

Review: John Mayer following path to stardom

A guitarist extraordinaire with an undeniable savory sound, John Mayer will become The Next Big Thing. At just age 24, Mayer – a triple threat of singer, songwriter and guitarist – has enjoyed rising popularity in recent months.

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Tom Alesia

Jeff Daniels: The actor’s work, in his own words

“Funny is funny. I’m a student of comedy. I really am. I love it. I will argue until the day I die that comedy is harder to do and more worthwhile when done properly – which means making the audience, not a critic, laugh – than drama. Do 200 people in a theater fall out of their seats laughing? That’s the verdict.”

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Tom Alesia

Review: Polished Shania Twain charms the crowd

For two hours, Shania Twain charmed the crowd, playing the part of everyone’s big sister rather than a video vixen. Despite wearing black leather pants and a tiny vest and sporting humongous hair, she never used the stage to tease anyone. This was a family show.

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Tom Alesia

At tryouts, Bucky wanna-bes get a whiff of greatness

While two judges watch, three bubbly aspirants, in Bucky costumes, follow a four-minute tape telling them to: Shower, dry off, watch TV, laugh, cry, be scared, greet a youngster, race to the Kohl Center and react to a last-second shot that goes … in!

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Tom Alesia

The son also rises: Wallflowers’ Jakob Dylan

About the hit “One Headlight,” Jakob Dylan explains: “I tend to write with a lot of metaphors and images, so people take them literally. The song’s meaning is all in the first verse. It’s about the death of ideas.”

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Tom Alesia

Full of flavor? Chewed bubble gum piece part of art museum exhibit

“A lot of people think contemporary art is smarter than you – I think people come in and feel intimidated. That’s the beauty of this piece. It’s a piece of bubble gum, for goodness sake. It’s just a juvenile material to make a pretty sophisticated piece. There’s the tension between the sophomoric and transcendent.”

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Tom Alesia

Bob Newhart: A Standup Guy

“When I was in accounting, I’d call a friend up on the phone and do these comedy routines. Eventually, I decided I would give comedy a try for a year or two. Warner Bros. liked my tapes. They said, ‘We’ll record you at your nightclub gig.’ I said, ‘Well, we have a problem there because I’ve never played a nightclub.'”

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Tom Alesia

Dave Matthews: So much to say

“When we first sent out tapes and got no response, we really became very cynical of the industry,” says Matthews. “Through negotiations, we wanted to be safe from too much exploitation – while at the same exploiting the record company.”

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Tom Alesia

Beach Boys’ Mike Love just keeps rockin’ on

“When we started out, there were no rock groups per se. There were rock stars like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and the Everly Brothers. No groups played rock. We didn’t look at the Four Lads and think, ‘We want to be like them.'”

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Tom Alesia

Nancy Kerrigan rebounds from ice skating’s ugliest year

“We’re athletes and even though we’re portrayed as ‘ice princesses,’ we’re very competitive. If we go through years of training and we get a little disappointed, we should be allowed to show this emotion instead of sitting there with a smile.”

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Tom Alesia

Butch Vig: Post Nirvana, pre Garbage

Vig: “(Kurt Cobain) would pick up the guitar and play something. I’d ask, `What’s that?’ It would be this gorgeous new thing he was writing. He said, `It’s just some pop (expletive),’ and he’d put the guitar down. Nirvana came from such a punk background. He felt he had to scream, but he liked to sing quietly.”

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Tom Alesia

Uncle Tupelo’s Jeff Tweedy keeps the twang

“I can see how it seems like a total about-face,” says Jeff Tweedy, 26. “But we feel like we’ve been doing the same thing all along. Even before we recorded ‘No Depression,’ we had tried out pedal steel players for the band and we had been doing acoustic shows.”

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Tom Alesia

Violent Femmes still raging on through the years

“It’s good that people are listening to so-called alternative music,” the Violent Femmes’ Brian Ritchie said. “But it also means there’s more competition. When we came out, it was ourselves, R.E.M. and a few other bands.”

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Tom Alesia

Chris Farley mania: TV comedian returns to Madison

“It’s weird, but I love it,” said Farley, after he greeted well-wishers. “A lot of guys from (‘SNL’) will say, ‘Man, was I harassed by those people.’ I think, ‘Why are you in this business?’ It comes with the territory.”

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Tom Alesia

Tony Bennett: Still singing with style

“I haven’t compromised through the years. I stayed with very good music and never did a piece of junk just to make a buck,” Bennett says. “If you’re stimulated, you feel genuine about the fact you gave it an honest shot and that you didn’t sell out. You didn’t take a dive just to make money.”

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Tom Alesia

Joan Rivers never runs dry

Joan Rivers, her tiny and freakishly obedient dog Spike, and Illinois’ preppie first lady stood silently in the dimly lit room where Lincoln’s tomb sits. History never blended such an unusual trio to mourn Abe.

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Tom Alesia

Review: Warrant acts the part of headliner

A musical hodge-podge, the concert was more spectacle than respectable. Warrant’s two albums (“Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich” and “Cherry Pie”), both big sellers, have ruled the party rock market. Rarely is a group so boneheaded and proud of it.

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Tom Alesia

John Waters: The weird world of the cult and pop culture filmmaker

“‘Hairspray’ would be the perfect movie to show on airline flights,” Waters says. “There’s music and dancing, no sex or violence. They said they couldn’t show it because Divine, who played a loving mother, is in it. I know if John Candy had played the role, they would have shown it.”

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Tom Alesia

K.T. Oslin: Country music of her making

“When I was a teenager, I loathed country music. It was all sung by old men, who in reality were probably in their 30s but they seemed old, singing about drinking whiskey and cheating on their wives. It didn’t compute. Country music is very adult. Most of all, I think you need to be grown up to really understand what they’re singing about.”

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Tom Alesia

Koko Taylor: Blues queen set to play ‘happy music’

“I’d sing gospel on Sunday in church and blues on Monday to Saturday,” Koko Taylor says. At age 18, she moved to Chicago and hung out with blues performers in various clubs. “I kept sitting in with local bands and doing a tune here and there – for no money. That went on until (blues legend) Willie Dixon heard me sing.”

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Tom Alesia

Starship’s Mickey Thomas hopes from another flight up the charts

“Maybe (Grace Slick) was trying to protect her ’60s image by saying, `I was led astray by the others.’ Well, Grace was the one who brought `Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’ to the band’s attention,” Starship’s Mickey Thomas said. “She obviously felt the need to blame others for any creative shortcomings that occurred.”

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Tom Alesia

Davy Jones talks Monkees business

“Bubble gum (music) was happening then. Listen to the soundtrack of ‘Good Morning, Vietnam,’ there are a few bubble gum songs on there. They were even enjoyed by the troops. Bubble gum? It doesn’t bother me. That’s what we were, thank you very much.”

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