By Ryan Spoehr
SLN Staff
Members of local band Mourning Dayze will rock their way to the Irvin L. Young Library to ceremonially launch its new book detailing its place in rock ‘n roll history.
The book, which is entitled, “Mourning Dayze: A Wisconsin Garage Band Rockin’ Since 1965,” has been out since last year. The launch will be this Wednesday Dec. 6 at the library.
“People have really responded well,” said Rise Pfeifer-Hebebrandt, who joined the band in the 1970s. We only printed 100 the first time, but they love it. They want more. She added that is what led to a second printing leading up to the launch.
Rise is also the sister of original Mourning Dayze member Rick Pfeifer, who penned much of the book.
The book showcases stories from band members, including
“We’re still playing, and it’s been over 50 years. That’s a long time,” Rick said.
Right now, the band does rhythm and blues, pop, dance, reggae, salsa and rockabilly. However, the band dates back to age of psychedelic rock in the 1960s.
Even with the traveling, the roots to Walworth County still drew the band members back.
“The good thing was we had Alpine Valley in our hip pocket, so we could always come back to Alpine. We weren’t on the road year in and year out,” Rick said. “Things were changing then. It was hard to afford being on the road. We were getting older. A lot of the younger kids who were auditioning to play with us wanted to party more than work like we did, so that became different.”
The band still plays a lot in Whitewater and in the Lake Koshkonong area, both in Edgerton and Fort Atkinson.
The inspiration for the book came one night for Rick as his curiosity peaked after the digital age had started to take off.
“I wondered what would happened if I typed in ‘Mourning Dayze,’” Rick said. “Something popped up. It was a record company out of Florida that has an interest in re-releasing grunge rock, psychedelic rock (and) garage rock, had picked up a 45 that we recorded in Chicago. They included it in an album called, “Illinois Psychadelic States,” and there was our song on there. I had no idea that this company had picked up our song.”
The book launch will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The library is at 431 W. Center Street.
For more on Mourning Dayze, take a look at the Nov. 30 edition of the Whitewater Register.
