You found Wisconsin's local music authority. This is magsync radio. We are local music.
Hey, everybody. This is rocker from the next sync radio. We're trying to get a hold of
Kevin Wilmot. He is the owner of the gamma ray bar. He's up there a bartending. He was supposed to
come in tonight and he said, you know, rocker, my wife is going to watch the bar and she ended up
getting the flu. So I got to be here as bartender and I'll answer the phone. So we'll try to get him
on the phone. Oh, it sounds like we may have him. Jane is currently on the phone. Do we have him?
Kevin, are you there? Hey, how's it going, rocker? Oh, my gosh. You know, way back when there was
the slipper club, then there was the frequency and a brief spint as the barley pop. And now after
more than a year, the gamma ray bar owned by local musician Kevin Wilmot has returned live music
to Main Street in Madison. And here tonight on the phone with us is Kevin Wilmot, Kevin owner of
the gamma ray bar. Welcome to Maxing Radio. Thank you. Thanks for to be here. How's it going tonight?
Oh, man. Good to hear from you. We just heard the strangest frequency by Sunspot, which that was
actually about the basement there that's haunted. Oh, yeah. And my high school band directors in
that band too. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. Sunspot. Well, Kevin, tell us a little bit about yourself and
how you came to be the owner of the gamma ray bar live music venue. Yeah, you know, my name is Kevin
Wilmot. I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and I moved to Madison when I was 22 to kind of get started
working in bars. And my best friend's mom owned his aunt toward every, you know, owned
a genus in downtown Madison. Oh, yeah. Okay. So, you know, I visited here a lot growing up as well
since I was like 13 and even got to hang out and perform on the flipper club stage and I was 14.
So, you know, I kind of grew up on West Main, you know, and once I moved here and kind of got my
foot on the ground, I really dove into the music scene, you know, with my rock and roll band cowboy
winter that, you know, I was on here so many times with you know, we played the frequency,
New Year's Eve did a few album releases here back in the day too. So, you know, I started
working at the high noon, 14 years ago or so right after I grew up here pretty much as well. And
I just don't love with Madison music and, you know, the venues here and it's an honor and a privilege
to offer independent music back to the community. Now, Kevin, you sing for the Otis Redding tribute band,
don't mess with Cupid and at the bar, you have a karaoke system out front. Tell us about that
feature here club. I mean, I think you're often found there singing, right? I, you know, you can
finally sing in pretty much every day of the week. You know, it's, I definitely made my own piano
man type bar. No, it's a lot of fun. You know, we do, you know, right now we have, you know,
three great rock bands for our friend, you know, the birthday party. And then, you know, after
the show at about 10 o'clock or so, we started with karaoke in the front and then we
knew karaoke until bar time. So, and that, you know, of course, free of the public and, you know,
we get a lot of birthday parties and wedding groups. And, you know, it's cool too, because like,
you know, it'll like, sometimes it'll, it'll be like a metal karaoke night. Everyone there is,
you know, it, you know, but sometimes it turns into a, you know, it's, it's really, I think karaoke
is one of the best things for community and for, you know, just offering, you know, an honest
way to engage with people that you normally wouldn't engage with, you know, it's, it's sometimes
embarrassing seeing yourself think that, but it's so, you know, we all love these songs, you know.
That's right. Well, you know, so it's, you know, the karaoke in the game already, we call it
the home of the karaoke after party. Yeah, well, I know that, you know, I've played at the
game right before, before, and, and on my way out, I've seen some of the people who are watching
my band now singing karaoke. And it's kind of funny where the, the tables get turned, you know,
all of a sudden I'm the fan watching these people sing. That's pretty fun. It's, you know, I think
that's kind of why a lot of times you're in the audience, right? Is that you want me to inspire
and sing your own? And, and the truth of it is, you know, it was karaoke that made me feel
comfortable using a mic more, you know, until, like, maybe I could, you know, what, I can't
carry it here, you know, and it's, you know, karaoke is about having fun, you know, and it's,
it's really cool, because we do it at the bar level, right in the front room there. And so,
I feel less intimidating for people, you know, it's, you know, that person that says they're not,
not a singer, they've never done karaoke. They often find themselves singing. It's pretty cool.
Kevin, last year, the day after Christmas, I had a sudden cardiac arrest with my band Iron
Plow right at the Gamma Ray Bar and you and people in the crowd worked to give me CPR until the
Madison Fire Department show up and with a portable AED to give a life saving shock to kickstart
my heart. And, but now you are acquiring an AED for the Gamma Ray. Just weeks ago, local
community activist and rapper Rob D's also had a cardiac arrest at the Gamma Ray Bar.
Tell us about your experience with CPR and saving lives and music venues and getting your AED,
AED machine. Yeah, you know, I think, you know, a big reason why I open, you know, a space for
the community is because I do take a lot of pride in and being able to help people out on the
ground level. One, there's an emergency like that, you know, when you have worked in music venues,
you know, for more than a few years, you really can see how they tally up and how many moments like
this happen and a music room like that or just in any kind of community space, you know, and so,
you know, and so it's, you know, it's definitely not something that you are ever hoping for,
but it's definitely a part of your job, you know, and, you know, when you had your emergency,
it was definitely, you know, you can get in the moment, you realize it's life and death and
and you jump into action, you know, and there's something that I have been doing since I was a
boy scout as a kid and I've been CPI trained since I was probably 12, you know, to some degree,
and, you know, and it's just, it's, I'm not something everyone would want to do, but it's,
I do, I do take a lot of pride in that, you know, we've, we've helped save two lives, you know,
that are really important to Madison at the Gamma right page.
Well, and I heard that there's an AED coming to the Gamma right, tell us about that.
AED, it's, yeah, we should have an AED set up. I think by the end of, if not this week,
you know, by next Friday, I think it seems, by by Christmas. Wow, by Christmas. Well, that's
a perfect, that'll be the best Christmas gift, I think. That's kind of, you know, I felt like,
you know, we could, you know, to have a little, you know, party maybe on December 26, or we could
highlight, you know, the AED on the wall. That sounds like a great idea, because, you know, Kevin,
I have a huge concert announcement right now for the Gamma Ray Bar coming up on Friday.
You gotta play, you gotta play it for something. Friday, December 26, the day after Christmas,
exactly one year to the day, from having my sudden cardiac arrest on stage, I'll be getting
back on stage at the Gamma Ray Bar with my band iron plow. We're going right back to it,
and to raise awareness for sudden cardiac arrest, CPR, and AED availability. And guess who else is
going to be playing with us, Kevin? Last crack. We're going to bring last crack to the Gamma Ray Bar
with iron plow, and we're going to raise awareness. It's, you know, going to be a little fundraiser,
and for me and Rob, to get us back on our feet, of course, for me, the whole deductible battle starts
once again. It's going to be yearly thing. It seems in my life. But hey, we're doing what we can,
and we're bringing awareness back to it. That's going to be December 26, iron plow, and last crack,
and that is just going to be a blast. It's so important to know how to jump into action,
and save a life when it's needed. You know, you don't really think it's going to happen until
it's happening right in front of you. That's right. I think the more that we talk about it,
and can create more awareness, I think it's the better that can be just going to be.
Well, you're going to be the first one since I've been talking in live music venues to get an AEDB
in there, that you didn't have one previously. So that's really cool. I commend you on that,
and congratulations. Kevin, what's coming up for live shows at the Gamma Ray for the rest of
December and next year? We have the day of tilts have eyes coming up. This next weekend, I know,
and what else do we got? We have Jane Hopson playing a holiday show, and we have a really
cool New Year's Eve party that I'm really stoked on. Oh, who's playing? It's going to be the scratch
house, and it's going to be a password, and it's going to be the central. Have you all heard of
the central? The central, we've played some of the new music. It's a man. One of my favorite,
you know, like I can't believe it's just two people on the stage. Yeah. And then it's Lunar Mock,
which I think it's like one of the best, you know, Andy Pop, you know, garage rock, you know,
like the O.C. kind of like really cool, spacey, fun punk rock. And then, and then it's
dog's blood to in the night. Oh yeah, dog's blood. That's what we do in a toast of champagne and midnight
when we'll also be starting karaoke midnight as well. So it's going to be, and then we'll do karaoke
and tell, you know, we the karaoke train has, has, has runs. It's going to be, uh, it's going to be a
lot of fun. It's really just kind of the celebration of some of our favorite bands and, and Madison,
and that we've had played the Gamma Ray. And it's going to be a great, a great year way they kick
off the 2026 as well. Yeah, I wonder what the last karaoke song of 2025 is going to be.
Yeah, you know, I wonder, you know, maybe don't, don't stop believing, you know, uh,
Prince, you know, Prince, uh, you know, in the spirit of C.P.I. it's definitely going to be something
in four or four of them. To start my heart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't, don't, don't go breaking my heart.
No, it's, uh, no, we just really have fun here at the Gamma Ray. We, we've seen songs that are
just, uh, I, I say, you know, at a certain time of the night, we only can sing songs that we,
all are going to sing along with, you know, it's, that's awesome. You know, it's, that's what karaoke's
about. It's some of the, some of the times that we've had where, you know, it's a college group,
or, uh, you know, a company party that they've been hanging out all week. That's the last time
they're going to see each other, you know, it's, yeah, a great way to round out a good, a good
night, a good time of the year. So it's, so, you know, the holiday time is so fun. And I can't wait
to celebrate with you on, uh, December 26th. That's right. Now, how do we keep up, how do we keep up
with the Gamma Ray, uh, mine and, uh, father shows? Yeah, you know, uh, Instagram is a really,
great way to follow on our stories with like up to date, uh, really, uh, post Facebook, weekly,
post it on Instagram and Facebook that where we talk about our weekly calendar and also when
karaoke starts every day of the week. And, uh, also our website GammaRay.bar. You can find, uh,
all of our music and updated calendar. And we're adding shows on there pretty much every day we can,
you know, it's a mom and pop operation. It's me and, me and my wife at it, you know. Yeah. That is so
wicked. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, though. You know, and the community supports us and, and we can't
wait to see what we can grow in, in 2026 with the, the help of matching Gradio and, and beyond. You
know, y'all do great work for the community. Thank you. That's the best for all the work that you do
for all the independent bands trying to get their, their name out there. Well, thank you, Kevin.
Thanks so much for coming on the show with us tonight. We really appreciate it. You, and, uh,
last crack and iron plow will see you at the GammaRay.bar on December 26th.
I can't wait, uh, can't wait for a rocker and, uh, and y'all have a great rest of your night and, uh,
see, uh, see you in a couple of weeks. Thank you, man. Uh, right now, let's listen to some iron plow.
This is me and my band. This is We Fly Divine. You're listening to Maxing Gradio. We are local music.
You
Rain comes here and it's coming just for me
Wind blows fear, I can't see you's dreams
I'm a dog, just call me in the dead of night
One day, I'm on it, it'll be alright
My mind goes back to where we were young and I feel so proud
You found Wisconsin's local music authority
This is MagSync Radio
We are Local Music
