Kevin Willmott II plans to open his Gamma Ray Bar in the old Frequency space

A fixture of Madison’s music community, Willmott aims to fill a need for more independent, Black-owned venues.

Kevin Willmott II’s life is coming full circle. About 20 years ago the bandleader, bar manager, and champion storyteller was 14 and on a visit to Madison from his hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. That’s when he performed at the old Slipper Club at 121 W. Main St. (which became The Frequency and then BarleyPop Live). The teenager never would have guessed that he would eventually sign the lease for the space to create a nightclub of his own. Willmott signed that lease just last month.

Willmott’s new entertainment venture, the Gamma Ray Bar (its motto: “This Space is the Place”) is on schedule to open June 1. What does he want the 118-capacity space to be? What does he want people to say about the place once he gets it going? He went over it all when Tone Madison took a tour through the empty hall late last week. 

“I want them to say that this is a safe space. For them to say this is an inclusive space,” Willmott says. And he sees the new club as a launching pad for local acts who have far fewer venue options in Madison than they once did: “This is a space where you can hit a wrong note, where you can hit the wrong string, but where you can get your fan base and make those baby steps.” While the emphasis will be local, Willmott also plans to book acts from Milwaukee and Chicago on selected weekend nights.

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Gamma Ray has also booked an opening-night show stacked with local acts, as Willmott first announced in an interview with City Cast Madison, which broke the news of the venue’s opening. The June 1 show will kick off at 4 p.m. with three hours of karaoke, followed by Dearly Brearly, (7:20 p.m.) Raquel Aleman (7:30 p.m.), Willmott’s old band Cowboy Winter (8 p.m.), Jimmy Sugarcane (8:30 p.m.), Cribshitter (9:30 p.m.), Hot Probs (midnight), and Droids Attack (12:15 a.m.). DJ Real Jaguar will be spinning between sets and after Droids Attack.

Willmott is quick to note the significance of and need for a Black-owned nightclub in Madison. Once Gamma Ray opens it will join saxophonist Hanah Jon Taylor’s Willy Street jazz club, Café Coda, as the only two Madison clubs that are independently owned and run by Black owners. Community is a word that, like a long chewed stick of gum, can lose its flavor. But out of Willmott’s mouth it snaps fresh. 

“It has to be about really supporting and lifting up the parts of the community that haven’t been seen or been visible,” he says. Wall murals painted by local artist Lauden Nute—who also designed Gamma Ray’s logo—will pay tribute to artists like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Nina Simone, as well as Muhammad Ali. “Bringing in that Black imagery and the imagery of leaders we all know—I want you to know that it’s a Black space and this is a Black bar and that I’m a Black owner of a Black bar. On the Square,” Willmott says. “There should be more Black folks with liquor licenses. That’s not a thing.” 

Other adornments in the space will include a large section of the original Frequency bartop. The long plank, shellacked with stickers, will serve as a table top in the middle room in a makeshift booth area.

Gamma Ray will host after-work karaoke in the front of the house nearly every weeknight. Live monitors will stream the action and allow patrons to see the performers no matter where they are in the hall. There will be local art displays and spoken word events. The club will host a rotation of DJs. There will be bingo nights which Willmott will host as he’s popularly done at the High Noon and at The Sylvee, where he’s the former bar manager. In fact (and ironically), Willmott says his extensive service management experience in the last decade at the Majestic, the High Noon Saloon, and The Sylvee—all owned by FPC Live, which in 2018 became a subsidiary of corporate music giant Live Nation—paved the way for him to start an independent space that will inevitably be their competitor, at least on some level. 

One gets the sense that Willmott will be supported in these efforts by the people who surrounded him at all those stops along the way. For example, former Majestic owner Matt Gerding (now co-owner of the popular North Side nightspot Lola’s Hi/Lo Lounge) popped in to see how things were going during our tour of the space last week. Staffing-wise, you can anticipate familiar faces from around Madison to greet you from behind Gamma Ray’s bar. And this will be a family affair. Willmott says his wife Addie Greenwood will be working alongside him, especially in the bookkeeping department. 

Willmott says part of the reason he’s able to make the leap to bar ownership is that the basic bones of the West Main space are in good working order. Though he reports he’s in the venture so far with about $15,000 of his own investment, he adds, “I never would have jumped into this if it was going to be a big-money endeavor.” A silent partner is helping with additional financing. And then there’s a large dose of DIY. “My father made movies, independent films my whole life and he made movies with his friends, for his community, with the people that he trusted and knew,” Willmott says. “So I feel like I really am bred for this type of thing.”

Gamma Ray Bar will announce a soft merch launch on its website on April 12. (Gamma Ray has an Instagram and Facebook page as well.) That’s when items like sweatshirts and pint glasses with the bar’s retro, space-age logo will go up for sale. There are plans for private soft openings on site prior to the targeted opening date of June 1 where people can also pick up merchandise. 

There’s no questioning Willmott’s dedication to this venture. Listening to him talk about the Gamma Ray is like putting your fingers into an electrical socket. His positivity, his energy, has no borders. If there’s anyone in Madison who can fill the independent, small-club void left behind by venues like The Frequency, he has the acumen, attitude, and experience to be the guy.