Boogie & the Yo-Yoz: Christmas With You!

Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this November 25th, 2024.

Have your host, James J. Mailoff here.

At 4.30 today, we're going to talk with our good friends from Family, Natural Foods.

Steven and Katrina Hintner will be here with us.

Right now, though, we have with us Sally Kissner, executive director of Save For The Arts.

Sally, thank you so much for being here.

Thanks for having me.

We appreciate you.

And being here, we appreciate being able to have in our next guest here as well,

because we have with us Kevin Baker from Boogie and the Yo-Yo's.

Kevin, thank you so much for being here.

You're welcome, man.

Thank you for having me.

I also have Paige Baker from Boogie and the Yo-Yo's.

You're with me.

No, no, no.

Paige, I apologize.

I didn't know you were with us as well.

We got two for one, Sally.

We got, oh.

I know.

We got three in the background.

Sally is such a good booker that she nailed two guests for this.

That's how good she is.

That was great.

So I have a handful of questions for Kevin.

What I'll kind of do if you both don't mind.

We'll split these between the two of you.

I'll ask and you just have your both answer.

Because they're pretty much very basic questions.

I'd like to know a little bit.

I talk a little about about cold fusion with you guys.

No, I'm joking.

We're talking about celebrating the season with Boogie and the Yo-Yo's

Christmas with you.

This fantastic show that is coming up Thursday, December 12th,

right here in Wisconsin Rapids at the Performing Arts Center.

We're so looking forward to you guys playing here again.

We're big fans obviously in this area,

and specifically in Rapids at Boogie and Yo-Yo's

have been for a long time.

Before we get into the show and what people can expect,

I always like to get, when we're getting to know people,

find out a little bit about their origin story.

So Kevin and Brittany, what was it?

Page.

Page, page, I'm sorry.

I wrote it down even.

Oh, that's okay.

I apologize, Paige.

I'm so sorry.

Kevin and...

Oh, don't go.

Kevin and Winita.

No, I'm joking.

Kevin and Paige, Kevin and Paige.

I'll go ahead and ask you guys right out the gate.

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

Your origin story, if you will.

I was born in 19...

How we joined up with the band, I assume, right?

Sure. Well, you know, I actually,

I would like to hear a little bit about your beginning days,

like how you got into music and everything.

Did you come from music families?

Some of that.

Yeah, for me, a little bit.

Not, it was actually mostly just one brother.

I have three brothers, and one of them was heavily in the music,

and he's about six years older than I am.

And so when I was, I don't know, nine or ten,

I started to really kind of be influenced by his passion for music.

So, and I always said, from day one, I said I wanted to be a drummer.

I mean, but every ten-year-old wants to be a drummer.

The passion definitely came from watching him perform with his band.

And so, I stuck with it ever since I joined band in 5th grade,

and played drums all the way through, went to college for music as well,

and then eventually hooked up with Boogie and the Yo-Yo's in 2002,

and I've been with them ever since.

So, that's kind of the short version of my story.

Very cool. Thank you for sharing that, Kevin.

Page, how about for you?

For me, my grandma was really big in music,

which made our whole family and my mom's side,

my mom's mom, really into music.

So, we were constantly singing and playing piano with each other every time we were together.

My grandmother was also in a band up until the day she passed away,

and it was just a really big inspiration for me.

So, I was the one in the family that kept the music going.

My sister plays piano, but she doesn't do, not in a band or anything,

but so, yeah, I just always loved singing,

and then I got hooked up with this awesome band called Boogie and the Yo-Yo's,

and then amazing ever since.

Hey, I got to marry the drummer.

It's a pretty good deal right there. That's pretty cool.

And as a full-ish romantic, I love hearing that.

That's awesome. That's a pretty guy.

Now, all I want to do is just talk to you guys about that.

But we'll move on, we'll move on.

But that is the next episode.

The next time you guys are on with us, we'll get into that one.

I appreciate you guys sharing these things.

And one, certainly, part of the reason you are on the air with us

is to promote this wonderful event and do highlight it and talk about it.

But one of the other things that Sally and I like to do with this episode

is being able to inspire and hopefully encourage young creatives out there,

people that are listening, similar to you, Kevin.

You know, when you were a kid and hearing somebody,

like your brother or somebody like that,

that impacted you and influenced you,

you two are an influence for others out there.

And trying to, sharing these stories,

I think, gives a little bit more of relatability.

And you can, these young people out there,

these young creatives can envision themselves that much more

doing these things when they hear a little bit more of the people they look up to

and their stories.

I appreciate you guys sharing these things.

As far as the first instrument, Kevin,

it sounds like drums where you're born with a pair of drumsticks in your hand.

Yeah, it was drums from day one.

Obviously, still, that is my main instrument.

And then at about age, I don't know, maybe 12,

we got a piano because my mom wanted to learn,

take piano lessons, you know, later in life.

She was in her 40s, I believe, and she wanted to take piano lessons.

And so I just like started sitting down and, you know,

trying to figure things out on my own.

And then I learned to, you know, as a drummer,

we don't always learn to read pitches,

just learn to read rhythms.

But I just kind of figured out how to read notes on my own.

And then I figured out, I don't know,

it was like kind of figuring out how the piano works.

And then it got more advanced into how does,

you know, how does music work, you know,

not just how does the piano works,

but how do all of the notes and the harmony

and everything come together in a song.

And that was kind of like what put me on this path

to like, I really like the writing part of music.

So as I got into my later years of high school,

you know, 17, 18 years old,

it started to get to the point where I actually enjoyed writing music more than I did playing.

I mean, I like playing it,

but multiply that time 10 when it comes to actually writing the music.

And so that is the, like, my passion in life is,

is, well, one of my passions in life is it.

Nicely done.

Nicely done.

Nicely done.

Yeah.

Yeah, that one's the next one.

That's just well done, sir.

Paige, how about for you?

What was one of your earliest or your first instrument?

I've always just been my voice.

I can really play a triangle.

I don't know.

I just, my brain doesn't understand how music notes work.

I look at it and it's a foreign language to me.

I wish I understood it.

People just assume because I think that I know

looking at sheet music that I know what it is.

I have no clue.

Especially when we're having practice for the Christmas shows,

these guys, I'm just blown away as their music ability

and they're the way that they, I don't know how to explain it.

Well, I think these big words about music

and I have no clue what they're talking about.

But, you know, but you're not alone in that page.

A lot of the jazz artists that I grew up loving

and everything were very similar to that.

Couldn't read a sheet of music,

but you'd hire them to play any kind of concert

or anything like that.

Even Duke Ellington famously wasn't the best with those things.

We're talking about one of the greatest composers of all time.

I think that music, that's one of the cool things about music,

is that for every person, you know,

like Kevin that could read a sheet of music,

even if you've never seen it before, maybe,

there are artists like you, Paige,

or how I would be in music,

or when I was playing music or anything,

where I don't know that well than the notes.

But you can catch a tune, you can catch a vibe,

you can, there's an energy there.

So, again, as we look to influence people,

I think that that's, that we need all types in this.

So, again, we're speaking with Kevin and Paige Baker

from Boogie and the Yo-Yo's.

We're talking about their great Christmas special,

coming up here to town on December 12th.

Guys, why Christmas?

Why put so much of your energy and time of the band

into a Christmas show?

Who doesn't love Christmas?

There we go, that's a perfect answer.

Yeah, that's great, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, the idea was born actually

about almost 20 years ago in the mid,

yeah, the mid-OTS, I guess you could all.

But we didn't actually get the thing off the ground.

We talked about it for about five, six years,

and then it was finally in 2012.

I had just decided to just for fun.

We were playing some private,

you know, corporate Christmas party.

And I just decided to bring to the band

an arrangement of oh holy night.

And just just for fun, I just did it for myself,

whatever, you know, just, hey, let's try this, okay.

Well, we did it, and it went really well.

We actually recorded it.

Everybody was super pumped about it.

It got some radio air plays.

So we're like, all right, that's it.

We're doing this Christmas show next year.

And so then, and I spent the entire 2013,

I spent the entire year writing

in, you know, 20, 20 song or 20 arrangements

of Christmas music for the show that we finally put on in 2013.

We just did one show at the Grand Theater and Asch Gash

and there was two original songs that I had written

and then the rest were like basically original arrangement

of traditional Christmas songs.

That's kind of what our show is based on is like,

we have a mix of some original songs,

some of our own versions of traditional songs.

And then there's a few that are actually like,

you know, cover songs like we'll do, you know,

Faith Hill's version of Where Are You Christmas

and with Bruce Springsteedon's version

of Santa Claus is coming to town.

You know, the ones that people hear on the radio.

Really, the focus of the show has always been,

let's have some creativity here.

Let's make this our own sound and our own vision for the show.

So when it comes to doing a Christmas show,

there are so many great Christmas traditional classics.

How do you edit that?

How do you go through and like,

okay, well, we can't always do this one

or this one is not going to work.

Is it a matter of what fits the band?

Or just a matter of what you guys feel comfortable with?

Yeah, that is still a hard thing every year

to choose which song because you can't do 50 songs.

You know, we don't have enough time.

So narrowing down the list of, you know,

there's obviously a ton of great Christmas songs,

like you said.

When we first started, it was,

I kind of went around the band and said,

what, you know, what is the song that you want to do?

What is the song that you want to do?

What is, you know, so each member kind of got to like,

put in some feedback as far as like,

which ones they want to be featured on and that kind of thing.

Like, I believe my beautiful wife here

chose Silent Night as her feature,

her first feature, I think.

Some songs just become staples that you have to do every year

because people just love them so much.

But then there's other ones that

we realize and go over that great.

So we'll maybe bring them back a couple years,

you know, in a couple years.

Yeah.

But, yeah, we definitely listen to the feedback.

We do always ask our audience to leave reviews

and that kind of thing because we don't know,

like, do this song work for you guys or not?

You know, who knows?

So like, so I actually, I do listen to the audience reviews

and, you know, so like Paige said,

certain songs, we're like, all right,

that one's axed.

But like this year, we're bringing back songs

that we haven't done in maybe eight years.

You know, we're just bringing them back

and kind of renewing them and that kind of thing.

And then also throwing in some brand new ones.

Every year, there's at least one brand new arrangement

or song put into the show

because I would like to keep it fresh

and not just do the same recycled show each year.

So I can only imagine what it means

to be able to put this show on around the country

and tour with it and everything.

But it's got to mean a little bit something special

being able to do this in Wisconsin,

especially in Central Wisconsin.

What does it mean to be able to play

for your in your home state?

Well, it's an honor.

I guess, like I said, this dream was kind of like

sitting there for about five, six years

and to finally have an outlet to,

you know, being in Boogey in the Yo-Yo's,

we are a cover band.

And so to finally have an outlet

where we could write our own music

and have people, yeah, obviously, listen to it, enjoy it

and then record it, have it, you know, be played on the radio.

That's really, I mean, that's always been my dream is,

like, having people enjoy something that I created

and not necessarily me playing other people's music.

Kevin plays people's emotions.

He's an extreme romantic.

So his, Anna Sofie, his Christmas music that he writes

is always about family and love.

And, you know, a feeling that you feel at Christmas is that,

like, whether people are passed on

and you think about them every holiday

or if they're, you know, right next to you.

And, you know, he has a beautiful song that he wrote.

It was for, it's written for our daughter,

but anybody who has a child can feel that emotion

of what it's like to go every year through Christmas

as your child gets older and older.

Other ones like Christmas with you, the last sentence is,

you know, please just give me one more Christmas with you.

And it's, you know, he wrote about his grandparents

and, you know, when they were passing away.

It's just that's really beautiful, beautiful thing

that Kevin has done.

And if people are not crying, have our Christmas.

Yeah, that's a good doubt.

Not to be done like either crying through happiness

or, you know, to joy that you have family

that you love that much that you miss.

Or, yeah, I'm crying at the interview.

Right, right.

Where's my clinics?

I got some right over here for you, Sally.

Yeah, I mean, there's, there's, I know for me,

personally, at these Christmas shows,

at all three of them this year,

I'm probably going to be crying at some point during that,

just because I, I, I'm not a very emotional person

and whether it's happy tears or, you know,

it's, it's just a really beautiful, beautiful thing

that Kevin has put together

and brought us as a band.

Yeah, we, we, I do want to touch on the,

the show itself a little bit.

Give people a little bit of what they can expect.

One thing we definitely want to highlight is

the assumption high schools choir is going to be joining you guys.

That is a really cool thing, Sally.

I think that's really fun that that's going to be a part of this.

Yes.

You guys excited about that?

Very much so.

We love that.

And I love getting to talk to the students or the choir.

I love just talking with them and, you know,

getting them excited, more excited about music

and like, don't stop.

Don't ever stop singing.

Don't ever stop playing music.

Just because it's, you know, without music

or what does it, when words fail, music speaks.

And so it's, you know,

the choir, sorry, go ahead.

No, you go ahead.

Go ahead, but we're going to say the choir aspect is out.

It's been there since day one.

That was, that was the original, the vision back in 2013

is that we were always going to have a children's choir.

And it's just, it's kind of grown like we started out

by having them sing maybe two songs with us.

And then as the years went on, I think now we have them

singing like six or seven songs with us.

So, um, so yeah, having the choir is just

adds another, another layer of, uh,

awesomeness, I guess, like, yeah, and, and, and, and emotion, you know,

like the, you know, children's choir.

I mean, it's a, it's a beautiful thing.

Plus their parents get to see them and they get to see them perform

with us on, and, uh, yeah, it's a huge thing for, for, and the local

choirs when we take the show out on the road.

So that's such a cool part of this.

And, and the originality of it too.

I dare, I really feel comfortable saying this.

I don't know if you're going to find a better energy

or more creative Christmas show than this one.

You really are hard pressed to.

It's such an original and it's so much fun.

And I, I cannot encourage people enough to get their tickets.

Sign up for this one.

We're looking so forward to it.

And as I let you guys go and I can't thank you enough for the time today.

As a journalist, it is my job to ask the hard questions sometimes.

And every once in a while, I've got to do that.

So I apologize, but I do have to wrap up on a tough question.

What is your favorite Christmas song?

Uh, dude, do you have a favorite?

Do you get to play your favorite?

You don't depict just one, but I do got to ask.

I got to ask.

That is a tough question.

It's tough.

I asked the tough questions.

I love, uh, I love so many of them.

Um, my personal favorite would have to be, um,

Merry Christmas, baby girl, which was written about our daughter.

It's this, it's such a beautiful, beautiful song.

Um, can I list off 27 more?

Yeah, that one's definitely my favorite.

And especially, um, our daughter finally started being able to come to our shows now.

And so last year was really, really cool.

With the first Christmas show she got to come to.

And she yelled out to the whole crowd at the PAC, which is, you know, a couple thousand people.

Hello, everybody.

And that was a really great moment.

So she'll be there again this year.

And so I'm excited for that.

My cheeks are hurting.

I mean, smiling so much for this interview.

That's fantastic, Paige.

For, for me, I would have to say that my favorite Christmas song of all time would be, um, just the,

uh, the one that really

pucks at everyone's heartstrings.

Grandma got run over by a rink.

Um, so asking me, so I, and again, like my whole thing has always been

the creative side of things to, like,

asking me, which is my favorite Christmas song is, like, asking which, which kid's your favorite?

But, you know, um, I, so in this year's show, we have, we have four original songs that I wrote.

And, like, Paige alluded to, um, so one of them has to do with, like, uh,

the emotion of, uh, uh, a loved one at Christmas going through the years with your, your,

your partner and your, your significant other.

One that's written for our daughter, like she said, and watching your child grow up through the years.

One is about the, basically, the joy, um, you see in children at Christmas time.

And, and the fourth one's just about getting out of the Wisconsin weather and going down to Jamaica.

But, so that one's not so much emotional, but, uh, it's still not out of all of them.

Um, I, I would, I probably would say that, uh,

Mary Christmas baby girl would be mine too, but, uh, lately, I've been, like, one of my favorites

that I wrote, I think would have to be, it's Christmas day, which is the one that's about seeing

the joy in, in the kids eyes and everything, just, just because, from a musical standpoint,

obviously, from an emotional standpoint, more, the Mary Christmas day girl.

But, uh, the, the energy that the, uh, it's called, it's Christmas day and the energy that we have

on that song is just so, uh, it's so powerful and so just to have a different answer from page,

I'll take the, it's Christmas day. It's a great answers. Uh, and this has been a great conversation

you guys. Uh, you can hear those songs and hear much more. Uh, when Boogey and Yo-Yo's come to town,

we're going to talk with Sally a little bit about the details here, but both of you, thank you so

much for the time and, uh, we're looking forward to you guys coming to town here. We'll make sure you

got a good pack crowd over at the pack. Awesome. We're, we're looking forward to it. Thank you. Thank you so

much. Thank you for the time, both of you. God, that was a lot of fun, Sally. Thank you so much for

bringing them on the air with us. Well, my pleasure. And bringing them to town here, uh, like you do,

you do such a great job with the scheduling and everything. I want to get to the details of the show

certainly and, uh, take care of our sponsors as well. Yep. Uh, Thursday, December 12th, 730 pm, Boogey

and the Yo-Yo's Christmas with you. Tickets are $49 for adults, $10 for students. You can get them

at saverthearts.com 24-7 or give us a call 715-424-2787 or stop by and see us 1048

street south and rapids from 10 to 230. This week it's only Monday and Tuesday, um, but next week

we'll be back on our normal hours Monday through Thursday. Be sure to get your tickets for that,

Sally. How can they get tickets? Um, just go online. That's probably the easiest way. Yeah. Yeah.

Just with the holiday week here and everything I wasn't too sure. But yes, going online is

probably the worst way. You can go to saverthearts.com. I encourage you to do that and bookmark that

page as well because you're going to need it all season long. There's a lot of great shows coming

up all season long, Sally and I will be talking more and more about. Yep. And, and I do want to

think our sponsors as well. I do. Um, so our season sponsor is WSAW Channel 7. Thanks to them.

Bruns and Suns Auto, Rich A Funeral Home, Point and Clover Publication, Wisconsin Rapids City

Times, Radio Station WGLX, Mid-State Technical College and Team Cheryl Companies.

So as you can see, that many sponsors are excited to bring this show to town. So come on out and

support them. It's going to be a great one. Keep in mind, uh, Boogie Nyoyos have a lot of great

holiday shows they're doing. I see they're in Spencer in December, uh, early December as well.

And later on in the month, uh, you can check them out in the Fox cities, but you can only get them

on December 12th right here in Rapids. You've got to wait five minutes away from your house or whatever

it's right here in town. You can't beat that. Uh, make sure to make plans. Get your tickets to see

Boogie Nyoyos Christmas with you 730 Thursday, December 12th over at the Performing Art Center.

A big thank you to them, all these sponsors, Eric and yourself, Sally, for this is going to be a

lot of fun. It will be. Find out more, uh, about Boogie Nyoyos and check out their schedule like

yo-yos, uh, that's y-o-y-o-z.com, y-o-y-o-z.com. Be sure to check that out. And of course,

Save of the Arts. Uh, be sure to bookmark that page at Save of the Arts.com. Thanks again for the

time, Sally. Appreciate you. Thank you. We'll have more Midday Magazine coming up right here at 97-5 FM,

1320 AM, WFHR, locally grown radio.