Sexy Ester is a musical group out of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, consisting of Lyndsay Evans (

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

), Adam Eder (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), Roscoe Evans (

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

), Paul Kennedy (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

), and Brad Schubert (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

) and winner of several Madison Area Music Awards.

Formation

The earliest roots of the band go back to 2002 when Lyndsay Evans, Adam Eder, Ken Hale, and Travis Smith formed a group known as Nefarious Star and the Wyrms. This band contained members of the defunct band Vampyres Sleep in the Shade (formerly Nimbus) along with powerhouse vocalist Lyndsay Evans. The early music was inspired by the

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

sounds of bands like

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

. In 2003 the group would move from the small town of Warren, Illinois leaving behind Smith.

Establishment in Madison 2003–2010

The band continued to change once in Madison forming the first version of Sexy Ester with Lyndsay Evans (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Adam Eder (

), Ken Hale (

), and Phil Fendley (

), however for the first month the band was known as Sexy Kaufman. Hale and Fendley soon departed leaving Evans and Eder performing as an acoustic duo. Later Hale briefly returned as rhythm guitarist with Adam Hart playing drums, but this formation would be short lived with Evans and Eder returning to an acoustic duo. In late 2006 with an album's worth of songs the band reached out to former Vampyres Sleep in the Shade drummer Dusty Hay. At this time they performed around the Madison area with harmonica player Mike Adams as a regular fixture in the group. In the Spring of 2008 Evans, Eder, and Hay headed to Megatone Studios to record their first full-length album ''Get Your Love On'' with Paul Schluter as producer/engineer and former member Ken Hale as executive producer. Adam Eder performed both the guitar and bass parts for the album. Shortly after the record was released the band brought in Brad Schubert to cover the duties on bass guitar. In January 2009 Roscoe Evans made his debut with the band and the band's sound immediately shifted towards a new wave or

dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-1984 ...

sound. The band headed back to the studio to lay down two more songs ''Tell Me You Do'' and ''Who Needs Loves Anyway?''. The songs would be released on a two-song single CD, and the band would spend 2009 performing a number of well received shows in the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

, and be nominated by the

Isthmus (newspaper) ''Isthmus'' is a free alternative newspaper based in Madison, Wisconsin (US). Founded by Vince O'Hern and Fred Milverstedt in 1976, the paper is published monthly on the first Thursday, with a circulation of 35,000. In 2020 the newspaper became ...

as one of Madison's best new bands. In 2010 the band returned to the studio to record four more songs, which added to the previous two would make up a 6-song EP. The band would also be nominated for a

MAMA Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent * Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places *Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlement ...

for best rock song. The EP, ''Hubba Bubba'', was released on Slothtrop Records in November 2010.

2011–present

On January 27, 2011, Sexy Ester made the official announcement, via a message on Facebook to the members of their group, that Dusty Hay (

) would be "hanging up his drumsticks" but would stay with the band until they could find a replacement. In May 2011 Sexy Ester announced that Paul Kennedy would take over on drums. Hay's final performance with Sexy Ester was at The 2011 Madison Area Music Awards. The band took home a total of four awards at the event including Alternative Album of the year for ''Hubba Bubba'', Alternative song of the year for ''Love Bubble'', Alternative performer of the year, and female vocalist of the year. In June the band released the single ''Glitter Baby'' in preparation for the release of their next record. In September the album ''Sequins Sins and Appetite'' was released along with the music video for ''Glitter Baby''. The band continued to play an aggressive slate of shows in support of the new record. This culminated in winning eight Madison Area Music Awards in 2012 including: Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, Alternative Song of the Year (''Glitter Baby''), Female Vocalist of the Year (Lyndsay Evans), Interpretive song of the year (Girl You Want), Specialty Instrument of the Year (Roscoe Evans), and Drummer of the Year (Paul Kennedy). On January 7, 2013, it was announced that Paul Kennedy was leaving the band and being replaced by

Sun Prairie, WI Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. A suburb of Madison, it is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 35,967 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It is the second-most populous city in Da ...

native Jenna Joanis. In March 2013 the band released the EP ''Monomania'' to a great fan reaction. In the summer of 2014 Paul Kennedy resumed his drum playing duties. On April 18, 2015, the band released its newest creation self-titled ''Sexy Ester'', and will tour the country in support.

Notes

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External links

Sexy Ester website
Musical groups from Wisconsin