THE BAND, CONSISTING OF EQUAL PARTS OF SASS AND MAGOO, IS ONE OF THE AREA’S HARDEST WORKING ACTS. Sassy Magoo Band has a brand new album!

Musicians record their songs for many reasons: to increase fame, to leave a piece of themselves behind for posterity, or simply because they feel obligated to give their art a platform from which to be heard. For the band Sassy Magoo, however, it is their loyal fan base that pushed them to finally lay down an album so they could have a copy of the music that they’ve grown to love.

Their debut, self-titled, album, showcases seven original songs and one cover as a bonus track. Because each of the band members grew up playing music, each one brings diverse music styles to the table. The result is an album that contains a variety of genres, including blues, country, pop, and punk, just to name a few.  

The band, comprised of Sarah Maurer (Sassy), Scott Milz, Mike (Slant) Hucek, and Peter Phippen, said that one of the hardest parts of putting the album together was just finding the time for everyone to get together, write songs, and record them. This difficulty contrasts well with how quickly everything came together once they finally got in the studio.

The initial idea for the band started in 1999 as a three-piece. Then sassy Sarah herself entered the scene and the band Sassy Magoo came about.

Sarah was working as a cocktail waitress at a bowling alley with live music that was a big hangout for local musicians, on both weeknights and weekends. It was here that sass was added into the mix, after the guys had met Sarah and decided to perform a trial run.

Previous to this Sarah had recorded some music with Peter Phippen, so she had already proven her singing capability. To prepare for the show, the guys gave her one day to memorize an entire tape of covers. Although they felt the first performance could definitely be improved upon, the trio was impressed with how well she had done.

    The next step after all of the band members were officially in place was to come up with a band name. One night they were sitting around and talking at the bowling alley when Sarah brought up her nickname from childhood. Her dad called her Sassamagoo. The band liked the name so much that they decided to go with it, changing it ever so slightly into Sassy Magoo.

Because of their loyal fan base, the band quickly became a weekend favorite in the Eau Claire area. After about two years together, the band started branching out for regular shows in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Chicago, as well as all over Wisconsin, and now plays as many as a dozen shows every month. Their success allows its members to financially support themselves strictly from playing music (an extremely rare thing in the Chippewa Valley), and it’s something none of them take for granted.

For Sarah, who has a 4-year-old son, the freedom that comes from the band makes all the difference. “I’m so lucky that I get to stay home with my kid during the week and be the rock star on the weekend,” she said.  

Although their album is available to purchase at their shows, Volume One events, and the VolumeOne.org Webshop, Sassy Magoo hopes to have an official release party in September or October of this year. 

What are their goals for the future? Put simply: to keep doing what they’re doing as long as they can. Considering the fact that they had a packed show last week at an outside venue when it was raining, this doesn’t seem to be something they need to worry about any time soon.

If you’ve gotten this far and are still wondering at why this band is so popular, Mike Hucek said it best.

“If you can’t dance at a Sassy Magoo show, you can’t dance anywhere."