After a five-year absence from Cafe Carpe, they’re coming home to roost! For The Buzzards—a trio made up of Madison’s Mike and Patty McDougal and Fort Atkinson’s Perry Baird—it all began at Cafe Carpe in August 1995. As solo acts, Mike and Perry split sets on a couple of Carpe shows, but on one fateful night 20 years ago, Patty joined her husband and Perry for a short, final set, and an enduring musical collaboration took flight.

Mike brings his skills as a singer and instrumentalist developed over years performing on the Chicago folk-music scene. Six- and twelve-string guitars are his forte, though he also contributes cello and ukulele to Buzzards shows.

Patty takes turns on harmony and lead vocals and adds harmonica, accordion, and occasional percussion.

Perry, long a stalwart of the Madison Folk Music Society and Carpe open stages, concentrates on vocals and guitar. Expect three-part vocal harmonies and delicate—occasionally raucous—instrumental work on an eclectic variety of selections by contemporary artists such as Tom Waits, Bill Staines, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan, John Hartford, Steve Goodman, Patrick Alger, the Rolling Stones and others, plus some traditional songs from America and Great Britain sprinkled throughout. There’s even a Russell Crowe song in the repertoire (Buzzards play Crowe!).

Though in recent years the trio has hovered around Madison area venues, The Buzzards are excited to return to the nest where they hatched!