It's World Dairy Expo Week in Madison. That wouldn't be music news if it weren't for Jimmy Voegeli.
Voegeli is a local blues keyboard player and longtime member of the Crashers and the Westside Andy/Mel Ford band. He's also a full-time dairy farmer in Green County. His father helped start the World Dairy Expo in 1967.
I wrote a piece about Voegeli for Isthmus back in 2007, when he released his first solo album. Since then Voegeli has started his own project, the Jimmys, which he describes as "a powerhouse nine-piece band influenced by raw Chicago blues and New Orleans funk." Core members are "the same people I've been playing with in the Crashers for years," he says.
Voegeli relates the endeavor to skills he's learned on the farm. "I like buying old farm equipment that's already had a life of its own and bringing it back."
After exhibiting at the World Dairy Expo on Friday, Oct. 2, Voegeli will head to the Bean to perform with the Jimmys. He expects dairy men and women from near and far to attend, and that's no bull.
