Make Music Madison

Pam Barrett

Pam is a Madison-based songwriter best known for fronting the Motor Primitives, the Sigourney Weavers and, most recently, Madison favorites, BingBong. All three notable rock band are known for their creative, diverse sounds and fan-friendly live performances. Pam’s throaty vibrato brings emotional immediacy to her melodic – at times portentous, at times rocking – songs. Her admiration for the “storyteller” tradition comes out in her songwriting. Listeners have described the songs as visually brilliant with characters who come alive. A close listener will discern a broad range of subject matter; her songs often subtly reflect her sense of social responsibility without being preachy. Others are character sketches with a poignancy reminiscent of a Knopfler, a Petty or even an Orbison. The vivid lyrical images are beautifully complemented by a variety of rhythms and melodies, some drawn from sources well-outside the rock genre.