Make Music Madison director Meri Rose Ekberg brings guest performer Tzêra to Max Ink Radio

Jimmy Make Music Madison returns to the Mad City on Friday, June 21st from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

and it's part of Make Music Day, a live music celebration that occurs in thousands of cities across the globe.

Madison began participating in 2013 and now boasts the largest event in the country.

Here to tell us about the successes of 2023 and a preview of 2024 is Make Music Madison,

director Mary Rose Eckberg and performing artist Sarah. Mary Rose Sarah, welcome to Maxi Gradio.

Thank you so much for having us. Coming here.

Keywords was the largest in the world. Tell us about that. That is incredible.

Largest outside of France in the world. Okay, outside of France.

So we're really lucky. You know, we we have a very dedicated group of hosts and musicians in

Madison. We're one of the oldest chapters in the US. So over time we've just really grown into

kind of a powerhouse in the Make Music scene across the world. We had the same number of events

as Berlin, Germany last year. They're 15 times our size. So that's pretty crazy.

And you know, we're just going to hope we're hoping we're going to keep growing that.

That's our goal. What is the goal for this year?

Are you kind of put out a goal last year and you busted that goal?

Yeah, last year we wanted to break 500 and we did. This year I want to break 700.

Oh my. What was last year? How did that? 640.

640. Yeah. Wow. The goal is 700.

Yeah, I think it's real. I think it's realistic,

given that this is a Friday this year last year. It was a Wednesday.

Yes. So Friday is super exciting.

People are going to be ready to listen to live music.

Do you have any stats like where we are right now?

With registration or alert?

Yeah, we're just a few shows away from breaking 300 and we still have three weeks left of

registration. You know, I bet you there's a lot of people out there right now who are like,

what are you guys talking about? So we're talking about make music, Madison.

So Mary Rose, tell us a little bit, you know, how does this festival work for fans?

How does it work for musicians? How does it work for venues? I mean,

tell us a little bit about the festival and give us an overview.

That's always a great question because we're a little bit unusual.

We most people in the here festival, they think there's a main stage somewhere

and everybody's going to be in the same place at the same time listening to the same music.

Right. We're very unique.

Last year we had 179 different venues all over the city of Madison.

Wow. And that's everything from parks to restaurants to cafes to people's front

porches, garages, balconies, street corners, just really anywhere and everywhere in the city.

And anyone can register to participate. So you can register as a host or you can register

to perform. We invite performers of all ages, all genres, all experience levels to participate.

So one host could have multiple performers, right? So you could have a venue, a stage.

Exactly. And have multiple people there. Now, one of the things I know that make Music

Madison does is they provide the permits for anyone in anywhere in Madison to perform live.

Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah. So part of what we provide is really the infrastructure

to make sure that this is done legally and safe. And we provide marketing support. So

anybody who requires a permit, whether you're using a public park or you need a street use

permit, because you want to close something, we help navigate that and we take all that work on.

We also provide a ton of marketing support both on social media, but also we provide posters,

vinyl banners, yard signs, all sorts of stuff to all of our host sites to help get the word out.

Tip jars? Yeah, tip jars. Branded tip jars, which are laying flat now because supporting

the musicians is super important on this day. There's only three requirements for something to be

make Music Day. And that is it. Make Music Madison has to be in the city of Madison.

It has to be free and it has to be open to the public. So, you know, so that prevents some people

from being able to charge a cover. So in exchange, we encourage people to tip performers if the venue

isn't paying them out of their own pocket. Yeah. Wow. There is a lot that you are kind of juggling

with all of this right now. You said three more weeks. Does that include anybody that wants to be

any kind of part of this? They still can sign up for the next three weeks. Yes. Until June

1st. Okay. That's when registration cuts off for hosts and for musicians. And that's important

because by then we know who we need to get permits for and, you know, make sure that musicians

know where they're going to be on Make Music Day. And the website is super intuitive. It's

almost like a dating website. You're matching musicians and venues together. It's super easy. Talk

about the website and how easy it is to navigate through. Yeah. So we have a what we call the match

making platform. It's designed just for make Music Alliance chapters across the country. And

you register as a musician or you register as a host. And then you can search for, you know,

if you're a host, you're searching for musicians. You can search by genre or you can search by

time of day that somebody's available. If you're a musician, you can search for venues based off

of like if you want to be in a certain neighborhood or if you have certain electrical or PA needs.

So it and then when you find somebody, you can send them a message chat within the system.

And then when you both confirm the match, it comes to us as these administrators to confirm that

everything looks good. And then we approve it. And it shows automatically on our map on our

website. I love this. So when you see I'm probably just swipe left. Yeah. I wish it was a swipe

system would be awesome. But yes, it's really easy to use. You try to make it as straightforward as

possible for people to get out there. And especially musicians, because we know that, you know,

they're not necessarily getting paid on this day. And we want to make it easy. And we want to get

them out in as many in front of as many audiences as possible. So we let them sign up for as many

shows as they want to do as they can fit in within the day. Over the years, you've been doing this.

How many bands have come to you and say, I've got my start at Make Music Madison. I got my first

show at on the first day of summer at somebody's sidewalk or park. Does that happen? I hear it all the

time. Yeah, I hear a lot that people say, Oh, this is the one day a year that, you know, my band

that we only ever perform in our basement. But with this one day a year, we get out on the street.

And now next year, we're hoping to actually open up for, you know, in another band or I'll hear,

I definitely hear from a lot of performers, especially like singer songwriters who this is the day

that they they very first got in front of an audience. And then that really has launched their

career and they've gotten them in front of other venues. Oh, and Kudos to all of them for being brave

to do a two, you know, if it is their first time, you brought along someone with you tonight.

And I think she has some experience with Make Music Madison. She does. So where I'm really

honored to bring today our musician and residents for this year, Sarah. And Sarah is originally

from Puerto Rico. And she's been performing with Make Music Madison for the last few years.

And last year, I brought her on a couple of media spots. And she also spoke to the common council

for us last year and actually performed to common council for us to share a little bit about,

you know, Make Music Madison. And we're really honored to have her in the role of musician and

residents this year. She's supporting musicians to make sure that they're getting into the system,

that they're finding hosts. And she's also going to be performing on Make Music Day. So I brought

her along to speak a little bit about her experience and also her, you know, her artist, artistry

has a musician. Oh, that's so great. Thank you, Mary Rose. Sarah, where are you performing on Make Music

Madison Day? So I will be performing at the Lisa Link Peace Park around three to four. I believe

just down the road here on States. Yeah. And Madison, at the Rotary Plaza next to the Children's

Museum. Oh, nice. So you've got a couple of Madison shows then. And I was, once we realized that

you were going to be here, I wanted to check out your music. And it's terrific. How long have you

been a musician? How long have you been playing? You know, when people ask me that, I don't know what to

say because I've always been singing. I learned to play the guitar kind of recently, maybe like

60 years ago. Well, anyway, I'll probably be getting more shows that day, though.

Yes. What, what, what, so six years ago when you picked up the guitar, what, what was the deciding

factor? Hey, I'm going to pick up the guitar and play it. Is it just singing? So it's actually kind

of dark by that time. There was a terrible hurricane. And I didn't have anything else left to do.

Like I didn't have my phone or nothing. So I decided, my mom gave me my grandpa's guitar and she

was like, do something with it. And my dad already had taught me some chords by the time. And I just

started playing. Well, we're so glad you did. Yeah. Yeah. Were you in Puerto Rico when the hurricane

hit? Yeah. Oh, that had been scary. And the island still hasn't really recovered as much as it

should as it. I agree. Yeah. What are some of the big things that you see that you need back home?

That what? As far as help, as far as infrastructure needs or whatever to make Puerto Rico better.

What is it that you think that the island needs or that that would make things better for y'all?

I think I'm not sure of the translation, but I think it's on an audition. Like the U.S.

government needs to check out all of the bills, like all of the bills that all of the things that

happen with the governor at the time, because there was a lot of federal help sent. But we actually

didn't receive it. And that's more on the local side of the government once that's one of the

things. So what you're saying is is track the money, follow the money, and see how it was actually spent

where it was maybe supposed to be spent in different ways. Yeah. Wow. Well, we are so glad you are

here with us. Yeah. There are some. So we can take some good positive things from that things

happening. And in that case for me, personally, was learning that you taught it how to play guitar.

That is a great end of your story, learning the guitar. And when did you come to Madison?

Around. And what was behind that? Around two years and a half ago. Just family situation. I came

here. At first, I wasn't going to stay. But then I liked it. And I just did that. That happens to

everybody that comes to Madison. Yes. It does. Yeah. I also like found a place, a safe place to perform,

which I honestly haven't performed back home until I moved here. Oh my gosh. What was it like

performing for the first time back home? You mentioned earlier that some bands have said that

that make music Madison was like the starting show. And it was the first time. That was your

music Madison. Yeah. I performed for the first time in here. Oh my gosh. Wow. So in actual

example, Jimmy, I know it's amazing. So you went back. So did you go back home at some point and

then perform in front of people back home? No, but I've performed it like for family gatherings or

I've actually performed in the violin because I play other instruments back when I was younger.

But I haven't come back home and performed exactly what I'm doing here. What do you think

about booking a world tour with vaccine? Well, we'll book you a rocker rocker. Rocker is the

booker. He'll book all the places and we'll wrap it up. I'll just hang out with you. Yeah,

okay. Okay. Okay. Second rowdy. Well, when we get Jimmy to come back down in the clouds,

we can listen to some live music because you are going to perform some songs for us tonight.

I will. The first song that you're going to perform tonight. Why don't you tell us a little bit about

it? The first one is going to be addicted to you. I wrote it about a year ago. It's in English.

Look, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Like, I don't know. It's kind of personal,

it sounds great. Okay. Well, why don't you go ahead and get your guitar on and get ready and

keep those headphones on. Right. And we'll get with you in just one second. Go ahead. Okay,

thank you. All right, Jimmy. We're going to hear some live music from Sarah and she is going to be

playing Make Music Madison. And also at the Marquette Waterfront Festival on June 8th,

she'll be the first performer. We'll talk about that in a second. And if you have a question or

if you got a comment about Make Music Madison, you can give us a call right now. 844-967-2789-844-96 party.

It's an impromptu live in the layer with one song on a vaccine radio.

Who is not it for?

I'm an addict. I cannot set what you're coming from. I'm an addict for love.

How can I find a way to get it out of my mind? I know I've made mistakes, but I'm not the only one

who's blind. I'll spare most of my days observant. Time just passing by. Living inside of my

brain prints and then life just dollar's cost. I cannot find a way if it continues to

live. Who is not it for?

Oh, I'm an addict. I cannot set what you're coming from. I'm an addict for love.

I'm an addict for love.

But in a new度 feel my void pretending but doing so next blood don't let me say

because I want to be on an control. Oh, should I just send it all?

I'd rather restart the clock than end it all. How can I find a way if it continues to live?

Who is not it for? Oh, I'm an addict. I cannot set what you're coming from. I'm an addict for love.

Oh, I'm an addict for love.

But I but I but I but I but I but I know.

Oh

Very nice

Why in the vaccine mad radio studio is here in Maxing Critio

Let's do can we do another song or do you got well? We got some questions Jimmy. Oh

He's still wants to go on this world tour

Yeah

New York

Oh my gosh, we mentioned a second ago you have an upcoming show June 8th at the market waterfront festival in Madison

Tell us about your excitement to be the opening act for festival season. I mean you're going to be the first one

Opening up the Madison festival season

Um, I mean

I'm excited about it. I don't know

Last year like each each year that passes

Um, I get more and more um like people talking to me about performing at festivals

Sometimes it's kind of overwhelming because I have not put out my music yet

So I feel like I need to justify what I'm doing. Well, you don't have to justify anything

When they hear you play and sing you're good. I'm super excited about it

I mean, it's kind of sometimes I don't even believe it. I open my email and I'm like another festival really

Oh

So let me let me ask you this something you started playing guitar six years ago you're obviously very young still

But you've got some confidence to you

I could tell in your vocal styling as you were singing just now

Great tone and pitched to your to your voice, but you also got confidence. Where's that confidence come from?

My mom definitely

She's also a singer and all I know about singing I learned it from her also the confidence part

Definitely um

Yeah

You know, we we were talking with someone else um on the show Betsy age. She's out of Kenosha. We're seeing with her band

And she said she's actually an introvert. She's kind of shy

So do you feel you become sort of a different person when you perform?

Mm

Not really no, no, no, what's what we see is what we get yes

Okay, definitely definitely I've talked to a lot of artists

Let's say they have to like find some magic when they get on stage to turn it on yeah, yeah

But you are just a natural

I wouldn't say that I have to pretend, but the person that I am on that stage is who I am

How I just talk to people, you know

Well your song was gorgeous. Thank you

Well now you have another song for us and I'm using that

Now we're gonna ask you tell us about this song before you play it

Okay, this this one is in Spanish. So I'm gonna explain a little harder for me don't understand

It was like oh maybe four years ago. I was heartbreak and

I was I was on a taxi when I decided to like write this first versus

I got to say that

Someone that I'm not featuring me, but help me write the song his name is Angel Wimbo Lopez

I need to mention him because he was the producer that helped me write the song. It has never been put out

But yeah, it's a heartbreak. I was in a taxi. I was sad and you're gonna hear the

The rest of it

The raw emotion is coming from the back of my taxi car. Yeah, all right, all right

844-966-789-844-964 part you can call or text us in the civic media app

We got a special live performance tonight from Sarah and we'll talk with Marie Rosezack a little more about make music

Madison here on Maxing radio

You

Hello

Sara

No

I

Assumir

Can

You love

No

I

Very nice

Sarah

Why

We'll call the mini layer here on maxing radio. Thank you so much for performing tonight and coming in and

Sharing your story with us is a great uplifting story and I I hope you nothing but the success. Oh my god

Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you for having and Gary for that world tour is gonna be brutal. Oh, that's next step. Yes

What is next for you? I'm just gonna jump in here really quick and ask for me. Yes, release all the music that I have in my notebook

I really need to do that is if I don't do that you don't see any other way to keep taking steps. Yes, so you're recording

Elbowm or an EP

Probably an EP. Yes, that's great. Well, once it's done, send us the tracks

I'm even better. Let's have her back on. Yeah, yeah for a full layer. Yeah

Yeah

Make music Madison is happening here in Madison and around the world around the globe

June 21st is a Friday this year super excited about that

Mary Rose Eckberg from make music Madison if bands wanted to get signed up

Deadline coming up also venues if they want to get signed up

Give us the details one more time on that register to host or perform by June 1st at make music Madison dot org

How are you feeling right now? This is kind of the crunch time this and it's time you seek to pride. We're working hard

We have a lot of really exciting things going on including a stage hosted by some of the people in this very

Oh, oh, boy, are we gonna talk about that? I guess we're talking about it. I love it

Let's talk about it. One minute to talk about it. Well, we're gonna have a stage at the top of stage street at the forum

It's a public space. It's right between the veterans museum and Ian's pizza and we're gonna have a full on PA system

We're gonna have bands we

We're gonna have video being taken. It's gonna be just an extravaganza right here on stage

Because that's what we do civic media maxing radio

Make music Madison and music makes a difference and dink County arts. We're all coming together community space making

It's all gonna happen on June 21st music music music. I hope the weather's nice. I really do because it's gonna be a great day

I just want to mention that for anyone interested. I have a lot of upcoming shows. You can find me at Sarah official.com

TZ ERA official.com

Sarah official.com we will share that on our social media as well. You've got it. Nice. All right

Make music Madison once again June 21st

If you want to participate, please buy all means go to make music Madison dot or create your band profile

Artists profile if you're a venue you want to host some bands. It doesn't matter as long as we're in the city of Madison

You could do it right there. I'm Erie Rose. Ekber. Thank you so much. It's great to see you again

Thank you guys. Always a pleasure. Thanks for having me back