Nancy Rost
Madison, Wisconsin, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
If you missed the February Album Writing Month showcase at the High Noon Saloon Sunday night, you missed a truly unique Madisonian music moment. Keyboardist Nancy Rost enlisted punk rocker Tim Budziszewski (of B.O.R.D. and Introversion) to help her out on a song she wrote about Marco Pogo. Anyone who has been to multiple shows in Madison has most likely witnessed Marco Pogo in action, bouncing at the front of the stage, not caring if anyone else is choosing to do the standing still. There is more passion for the music in his bounces than in both hips of any scenester.
The song was written incorporating three challenges of FAWM: must include a key change, must use only 30 words and must be about a superhero. Marco was the superhero of choice. As Rost and Tim pounded away at the song, one thing was missing: Marco Pogo. Then something magical happened - Art Paul Schlosser took it upon himself to fill the role. Imagine our State Street icon, known for songs like "I Love My Mother," "Pink Pants" and "Another Star Trek Sequel Blues," pogoing to a song about Marco Pogo. It was a moment that could never be planned in advance. All the planets aligned just right. - dane101.com
If you missed the February Album Writing Month showcase at the High Noon Saloon Sunday night, you missed a truly unique Madisonian music moment. Keyboardist Nancy Rost enlisted punk rocker Tim Budziszewski (of B.O.R.D. and Introversion) to help her out on a song she wrote about Marco Pogo. Anyone who has been to multiple shows in Madison has most likely witnessed Marco Pogo in action, bouncing at the front of the stage, not caring if anyone else is choosing to do the standing still. There is more passion for the music in his bounces than in both hips of any scenester.
The song was written incorporating three challenges of FAWM: must include a key change, must use only 30 words and must be about a superhero. Marco was the superhero of choice. As Rost and Tim pounded away at the song, one thing was missing: Marco Pogo. Then something magical happened - Art Paul Schlosser took it upon himself to fill the role. Imagine our State Street icon, known for songs like "I Love My Mother," "Pink Pants" and "Another Star Trek Sequel Blues," pogoing to a song about Marco Pogo. It was a moment that could never be planned in advance. All the planets aligned just right. - dane101.com
Rost, for example, will sometimes improvise songs by playing Mad Libs with the audience, asking for a noun, verb, adjectives and a premise. After eliciting responses, she'll sing a melody about a "magnanimous plum tree," for instance, while hammering out blues riffs on her keyboard. The laughter in the crowd is contagious, as everyone's thoughts are mixed in a tart, though refreshing, concoction of high witticisms and ardent applause. - The Capital Times
Rost, for example, will sometimes improvise songs by playing Mad Libs with the audience, asking for a noun, verb, adjectives and a premise. After eliciting responses, she'll sing a melody about a "magnanimous plum tree," for instance, while hammering out blues riffs on her keyboard. The laughter in the crowd is contagious, as everyone's thoughts are mixed in a tart, though refreshing, concoction of high witticisms and ardent applause. - The Capital Times
Challenging musicians to write 14 songs in 28 days, the Madison edition of this year's February Album Writing Month yielded a pleasant 9-track compilation (and presumably much more worth hearing). Participants, including FAWM founder Burr Settles, will reconvene here to play their own and each others songs informally on guitar and piano. Plenty of the songs, especially Settles' "Answers Come" and Nancy Rost's "Golden Gate", create enough elegant drama to stand alone, but the real draw here is the chance to look at the processes of songwriting and collaboration. - The Onion A.V. Club
Challenging musicians to write 14 songs in 28 days, the Madison edition of this year's February Album Writing Month yielded a pleasant 9-track compilation (and presumably much more worth hearing). Participants, including FAWM founder Burr Settles, will reconvene here to play their own and each others songs informally on guitar and piano. Plenty of the songs, especially Settles' "Answers Come" and Nancy Rost's "Golden Gate", create enough elegant drama to stand alone, but the real draw here is the chance to look at the processes of songwriting and collaboration. - The Onion A.V. Club
Discography
MSG, Made at Home, 2005
Andina and Rich, Because We Can, 2005
February Album Writing Month, 14 Songs in 28 Days, Volume 3, 2008
Auto-Pseudo-Mondo, 2008
February Album Writing Month, 14 Songs in 28 Days, Volume 4, 2009
Likely Stories, 2009
Speedwritten, Helen Robertson, 2009
Ship of State, Mike Skliar, 2009
Binary for Babies, Errol Elumir & Friends, 2009
The Discovery, LJ Montgomery, 2009
The Hard Way, Eric Agner, 2010
Four Februarys, Phil Norman, 2011
Fifty Miles Away, Michael Gutierrez-May, 2011
Divide The Storm, Das Binky, 2012
Mantichorean, Stephen Wordsmith, 2013
Artificial Flowers, Jim Barnard, 2013
Airplay on WORT-FM, Madison, WI.; KMSU-FM, Mankato, MN; Vocalo 89.5-FM Chicago; KAIC Internet Radio; Pastures of Plenty, Her Infinite Variety, Minnesota Morning, Live and Local, The Eight O'Clock Buzz, In Our Backyard, [If today was your last] Friday Afternoon, Night Shift, Vocal Evening: Revving Up, Really Unusual Radio, Night Flight 4 Thursday.
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Bio
Nancy Rost has been called "the love child of Tom Lehrer and Tom Waits" (KnowYourMusic.com). Her distinctive songs combine a jazz-influenced piano style with lyrics that are quirky, witty and heartfelt, often all at once.
This former toy-piano-playing street musician has garnered songwriting awards in multiple genres, including pop/rock, folk, jazz and comedy.
Nancy Rost is known internationally for her prolific songwriting and versatility as a collaborator. She is constantly bringing fresh new songs and influences to her repertoire.
She currently performs solo, with the acoustic trio Two Johns & A Nancy, and with the Madison Area Ukulele Initiative.
Her performances often include elements of improvisation: "The laughter in the crowd is contagious, as everyone's thoughts are mixed in a tart, though refreshing, concoction of high witticisms and ardent applause." - The Capital Times
Band Members
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