The Leinenkugel brothers and the BoDeans reflect on the inspiration of autumn in Wisconsin
What inspires the signature riffs of Waukesha root rocks band the BoDeans? Which influences built family traditions shared by five generations of Wisconsin’s Leinenkugel family?
It’s in the air, as they say. The atmosphere in Wisconsin is made up of friendly people, brilliant places and creative thinking.
These Wisconsin Originals draw energy from the people, places and the way of life fostered in the state. Among Wisconsin’s most breathtaking inspirations: fall as it spreads a brilliant blanket of reds, golds and amber across 72 counties.
Whether on the lake or in the backyard, the dramatic shift from summer to fall evokes a number of powerful images, depending on your particular point of view.
Just ask the Leinenkugel brothers, Dick, Jake and John as well as BoDeans co-founder Kurt Neumann.
Each shared what about autumn in Wisconsin they most love, and what keeps the state home.
A signature sound
Backyard piles of fragrant, crisp leaves. A cold snap in the air as day falls. Fall in Wisconsin conjures these images for Kurt Neumann, co-founder of the BoDeans and a real Wisconsin Original.
Kurt and his band remain true to their roots – as does the band’s roots rock music – drawing energy and inspiration from the people in their native Waukesha, as well as the beauty of the state’s landscape and lakes.
The BoDeans (
www.bodeans.com), which recently released its eighth album, formed in the western Milwaukee suburb nearly three decades ago when Neumann and Sammy Llanas formed a singing and songwriting partnership that produced a band offering a signature sound blending vocal harmonies and guitar riffs with genuine lyrics.
The band became popular on Milwaukee's East Side music scene before striking out for Hollywood and, in 1987, was voted the Best New American Band by readers of Rolling Stone magazine.
With their 1993 single, “Closer to Free,” the band gained more fame – and fans. The song was used as the theme for the FOX television teen drama “Party of Five,” as well as the opening song for the 1995 movie, “Heavyweights,” starring Ben Stiller.
But even as Neumann and the BoDeans tour with their latest album, “Still,” he remains a Wisconsinite at heart.
“Sometimes when I’m traveling, (people) ask me to say something just because they love my Wisconsin accent,” says Neumann, who finds originality not only in the state’s dialect, but what he calls residents’ “honest and forth right interpretation of everyday life.”
That blue collar way of looking at the world keeps the band loyal to the state and the fans here that keep the BoDeans “alive and kicking,” says Neumann.
Opportunity for interaction
Like a kid resisting a return to the classroom, Dick Leinenkugel once by his own admission favored summer over fall.
Oh, how times have changed.
“Now, I embrace fall,” says Dick, who with brothers Jake and John are fifth-generation brewers with the Leinenkugel Brewery, based in Chippewa Falls (
www.leinie.com). “The days can be delightfully warm with abundant sunshine at lower angles which cause the earth to filter the sunshine and provide it a certain softness.”
Dick and the Leinenkugel family also embrace many of the treasures Wisconsin falls have to offer any and all, from pristine lakes and top -form golf courses to local color, which blend Packer Green and Gold and football Badger Red and White with the abundant golden yellows and amber orange orchestrated by Mother Nature.
For the Leinenkugels, it all means family and togetherness during one of the best times of the year in Wisconsin.
Fall means transition to Jake Leinenkugel: cooling days and nights lead to the lakes and golf courses, where the beauty of the changing leaves take center stage. Weekends become dominated by football, with tailgating and sports banter.
“The scenery and the change of seasons is compelling and offers so much variety and new opportunities for interaction,” says Jake.
While John Leinenkugel finds Wisconsin’s natural beauty and the change of season’s great attributes, the people stand out as its greatest asset.
“Without question the friendliness and helpfulness of the people in the state of Wisconsin is a precious commodity,” says John.
Wisconsin’s north woods locations hold a particularly special spot in the hearts of the Leinenkugel family. In fact, they have become unofficial ambassadors for the state, offering tips on happenings around “Leinenkugel Country” on the company’s Web site,
http://www.leinie.com/whats_new.html.
Some of the more inspiring locations to the Leinenkugels: Lake Wissota in Chippewa Falls, Milwaukee’s lakefront along the western shores of Lake Michigan, Madison’s Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore on Lake Superior near Bayfield. Eagle River, Door County, Green Lake, Madison, Kohler and Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells, Hayward, Green Bay and Superior.
And, of course, Chippewa Falls.
“The people are basically salt of the earth,” according to Jake. “Open, honest, hard working and fun loving.”