story and multimedia by Chance Solem-Pfeifer
Mike Semrad has come a long way since his childhood singing act and Michael Jackson impression almost landed him on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 30 years ago.
And the musical partnership between between him and his wife, Kerry, has traveled a great distance as well, since their days of dueting as theater students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Together, the Semrads front The Bottle Tops, a two-year-old bluegrass and rock band based in Lincoln. Before moving back to Lincoln from Chicago — where Mike played in rock and punk bands and Kerry sang with her husband at tribute shows — the Semrads committed to the formation of a band that would showcase their onstage chemistry, but also provide an important kind of catharsis for the busy mother and father. The Bottle Tops played the first official Lincoln show opening for Chuck Ragan at Duffy’s Tavern in Dec. 2011. Their lineup has since grown to feature Mark Wolberg on bass, Mike McCracken on steel guitar and Mike’s brother, Drew Semrad, on lead guitar and fiddle.
The wife and husband call Ragan “probably (their) number one idol” in music, but in their stage presence and harmonies they also pay homage to the likes of Johnny Cash and June Carter. That attention to history is an important part of the Semrads’ musical identities. Mike comes from a proud and storied history of Nebraska musicians that includes his father Mike “Pinky” Semrad Sr., who founded the Nebraska Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and his uncle Dick Allison, who toured with Grand Ole Opry.
This sit-down interview with the Semrads is the first installment of a new Hear Nebraska series called “Sessions,” meant to explore the depth of the stories, passions and personalities that make Nebraska music as eclectic and vibrant as it is.
The Bottle Tops will play tonight at Duffy’s Tavern at a Hear Nebraska presentation of JKutchma & The Five Fifths. They will also be featured this Thursday at 6 p.m. live on HNFM 89.3 KZUM. And they’ll play once again on Friday at noon at the downtown Wells Fargo branch for the third concert of this summer’s Hear Lincoln shows. The Bottle Tops are currently in the progress of recording their debut album.
Chance Solem-Pfeifer is a Hear Nebraska intern. He likes a good story and the Semrads are full of them. Reach him at chancesp@hearnebraska.org.