Lola’s Hi/Lo Lounge — Madison’s Vinyl Hideaway
By Rafi Mercer
New Listing
Venue Name: Lola’s Hi/Lo Lounge
Address: 617 North Sherman Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53704, United States.
Website: lolasmadison.com
Instagram: @lolasmadison
The name alone hints at the philosophy. Hi/Lo — high fidelity, low pretence. Lola’s Hi/Lo Lounge sits on a quiet stretch of North Sherman Avenue in Madison, and from the outside it looks more like a mid-century diner than a hi-fi destination. But step through the door and you find a room built on contrast: part cocktail bar, part record lounge, part neighbourhood tavern — all connected by sound.
The lighting is low, the air warm. Along one wall, a gallery of old album covers creates a patchwork of colour; on another, a turntable gleams beneath a spotlight. Booths line the space in dark wood, each with its own sense of privacy, and somewhere in the distance a trumpet murmurs through the speakers. You can smell charred dough from the kitchen, hear the soft clink of glass, and feel the room’s proportions before you even register the design. Everything about Lola’s is measured to hold sound.
Owners Matt and Tori Gerding, together with chef Evan Dannells, built the lounge as what they call a “Hi-Fi love letter to the low brow.” The idea was to merge craft and comfort — to make a place where you could eat a burger or sip a Negroni while listening to a full-length record played properly. The team took cues from Japan’s jazz kissa tradition — rooms where music is treated as ceremony — and translated that discipline into Wisconsin warmth.
The sound system is analog and lovingly maintained. Records play in their entirety; DJs and selectors are encouraged to let sides unfold. Vintage amplifiers feed speakers that are carefully positioned to fill the narrow space without overwhelming it. Acoustic panels line the walls, not for decoration but control. When a record starts, it’s immediately clear: every note lands evenly, every detail audible. Even when the bar fills, you can still hear the tail of a cymbal shimmer through conversation.
That respect for sound extends to the programming. Vinyl Listening Parties happen weekly — full-album playthroughs where guests sit, sip, and simply listen. The curation spans everything from Miles Davis to Massive Attack, from soul to ambient to deep disco. Other nights carry more energy: Global Groove sessions blend Afrobeat, Latin, and jazz; sometimes a local DJ takes the reins for a “True North” night of contemporary electronica. But even when the tempo rises, the ethos stays the same — music first, everything else in service of that.
At the bar, the attention to craft continues. Drinks range from classic cocktails — old fashioneds, Negronis, sidecars — to natural wines and local beers. There’s no posturing, no molecular theatre; just precision and quality. The food leans hearty but refined: pizzas from a brick oven, share plates, dumplings, and snacks built to sustain long hours and long conversations. It’s tavern food filtered through a hi-fi sensibility — satisfying, soulful, and quietly clever.
The design bridges eras. It has the mood of a 1960s cocktail lounge — amber light, patterned fabrics, chrome edges — but updated with an engineer’s precision. One room glows like an after-hours record store; another feels almost domestic, like a living room where every detail has been acoustically tested. It’s deliberately cinematic: you could imagine a film scene unfolding here, a needle drop cutting through the hush.
What makes Lola’s different from other “vinyl bars” is its generosity. Many listening spaces lean austere, demanding reverence; Lola’s invites participation. The regulars know their records but they’re not snobs. Couples slide into booths for date nights, students gather after work, audiophiles drift in from out of town just to hear what’s on the turntable. The bartenders talk about records as easily as they talk about rye whiskey. There’s a humility in the hospitality that keeps the high fidelity grounded in real life.
Madison isn’t a city known for excess. It values balance, connection, substance. Lola’s embodies that ethos — a bar that feels both intimate and open, refined yet familiar. On any given night, the sound might lean jazz, the crowd might lean chatty, the light might catch the edge of a vinyl sleeve just so — and suddenly the whole room clicks into time. You realise you’ve been listening for hours without checking your phone, and the record hasn’t skipped once.
Step outside onto North Sherman Avenue and the night air feels cold and still. Cars pass with their own rhythm, distant and dull. Inside, Lola’s hums on — the bass low, the laughter warm, the sound carrying cleanly through the walls. It’s not just another bar; it’s a frequency. A reminder that “high” and “low” aren’t opposites at all — they’re the same signal, perfectly tuned.
Rafi Mercer writes about the spaces where music matters. For more stories from Tracks & Tales, subscribe, or click here to read more.
