The Legendary Velvet Whip: with Henry Steinfort

Gather 'round, young ones, and I'll tell you the story of a most unusual Milwaukee band. The Velvet Whip grew out of a desire to fuse classical music instrumentation and contemporary music and quickly became one of the hottest acts on the counterculture scene, playing at the Avant Garde Coffee House and other venues throughout the Midwest in the second half of the 1960s. Henry and I then had the bright idea of starting a rock band. Since I played violin, I could obviously play guitar and Henry could transfer from the cello to electric bass. Little did we know how inadequate those ideas were. We were clueless about the rock band scene and had no experience, just desire. It looked like fun and a great way to meet girls. Since we had no idea about how to get people who could play to join us, we looked for all the long haired guys in town to join our band. Long hair was a novelty and it seemed like all the "cool" guys were starting to grow their hair and beards. There were three candidates with long hair. Two could play guitars and the other was just an experience all unto himself. This was the start of an amazing, hilarious and totally original adventure into rock and roll and the forces that tried to stop us. Come along for the ride. You'll have a smile on your face.