From Liberace and Hildegarde to Al Jarreau and Clyde Stubblefield to Butch Vig and the Violent Femmes, Wisconsin has produced an impressive array of Famous Wisconsin Musicians. Author Susan Masino has interviewed many of them and researched Internet sites and other books to profile 32 of them. The book also references hundreds more musicians with some connection to Wisconsin. Les Paul, legendary guitarist and inventor of the electric guitar, has written the foreword about his early years in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
“The new book “Famous Wisconsin Musicians” is consistently upbeat and historically informative. Madison music journalist and disc jockey Susan Masino impressively researches and documents the career stories of 32 state musicians, singers and groups, and provides more than 100 thumbnail sketches of other notable Badger music-makers. Masino gets the good story down better in her piece on legendary guitarist and instrument innovator Les Paul. She establishes a homespun tone with the tale of this gifted musical tinkerer who created one of the most popular electric guitars in history and devised the first electric amplified guitar.
With a full index, the book is an interesting read and valuable reference for anyone who cares about the local and national impact of our native musicians.” -Kevin Lynch for The Capital Times