A Brief Biography of Gunnar Madsen

Gunnar Madsen is an award-winning composer, singer, writer and actor. As the founder and creator of the nu-wave a capella super group The Bobs, Madsen fractured and re-constructed the rules for popular music. His solo efforts have yielded three critically acclaimed albums in three genres in three years. Deftly weaving elements of storytelling and theatricality, Madsen's live performance continues his exploration of classical, pop and children's music grounded in simple, beautiful, passionate singing. "Eccentric," "a cappella," "wacky," "brilliantly inventive," "contemporary instrumental," "quirky," "off-beat," "kids' contemporary pop-rock"... Whether the music touches your soul or hits a nerve, Madsen is one of the most compelling contemporary songwriters, composers, and performers lighting up the stage today.

Spanning almost 20 years, Madsen's musical career has constantly pushed the boundaries. He steps out of stereotypes - even the ones he himself helped to create. After 10 years on the road with The Bobs singing 4 and 5 part harmonies without instruments, Madsen's first solo album, Spinning World, 13 Ways of Looking at a Waltz is a stunning collection of lovely waltzes - without singing! Released concurrently with Spinning World, Madsen's second solo effort, The Power of a Hat, ("David Byrne-meets-Rinde Eckert art-pop" SFBG) began charting on rock and college radio. With his latest release, the award-winning Old Mr. Mackle Hackle, Madsen once again sheds any preconceptions, and turns his creative and versatile musical vision to work for children.

Public Radio is where Madsen has found his home and some of his most ardent supporters. Without the format restrictions of commercial radio, it is not uncommon for programmers to play selections from all three albums within a one-hour show. This context, looking at Madsen's work as a whole, rather than focussing too closely on any one album, provides the most useful framework for understanding Madsen's prodigious output. "Music for Madsen now has few barriers, and genres and approaches are almost limitless for him" (Chris Walker, San Gabriel Valley Tribune).

As a composer and songwriter/librettest, Madsen has received commissions from Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Theater Center, the Minnesota Opera, Oberlin Dance Collective, ISO Dance Theater, National Public Radio and many others. He has written music for the feature films "Breaking the Rules" and "A Special Providence." He is a featured performer on the soundtrack of "At Play in the Fields of the Lord," in the National Geographic Special "Asteroids: Deadly Impact," and is featured as the emotionally charged voice of Sammy Davis, Jr. in the Emmy-award winning HBO film, "The Rat Pack." Madsen's work is also on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution (video clips from the mind-bending collaboration between The Bobs and ISO).

Madsen is the recipient of numerous music and theater awards, including a Grammy nomination (vocal arranging), Izzy nomination (outstanding achievement in Sound/Score), Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award (best original score) and the ASCAP special award for 7 consecutive years (encompassing both his collaborative work with the Bobs and his solo material.) His recent children's release, Old Mr. Mackle Hackle, has received a prestigious Parents' Choice Gold Award for 1999.

In 1997 Madsen launched G-Spot Records to release his own music. His 6 albums with The Bobs remain in print on Rhino and Rounder Records. Old Mr. Mackle Hackle is Madsen's ninth (9th) CD, and his combined album sales total more than 150,000. A Bay Area native, G-Spot Records and Gunnar Madsen currently reside in Berkeley, CA where he continues his many music, theater,film and writing projects.