Crowbar Tech

Crowbar Tech describes in a humorous but serious and factual way what it was like teaching music along with various other miscellaneous undertakings in a maximum-security prison for twenty three years. This is a true story, written from the author's viewpoint, how life was perceived by him within the prison walls.

The following is an excerpt from an article written by Dave Zurawik titled "On the Wings of Song" and published in the Milwaukee Sentinel, Friday, May 24, 1974:

It's Monday morning, 8 a.m. The sky hangs like gray iron overhead. It forces down a chill drizzle, and you're walking through the gates of the maximum-security Waupun State Prison. A guard tells you to empty your pockets, walk through a metal detection ramp, and sign your name. You do, and he nods to another guard. A series of gates clang open, and you're led deeper into the prison. A warden meets you and leads you down a series of tunnels, stairways and into the gloom of a rainy courtyard. You look up at the turrets. You feel dwarfed by the walls. You can't see the guard to clearly, but the barrel of his shotgun is very evident, its the same color of the sky. No, you're not beginning a prison sentence. You're taking the walk prison music director David Bultman takes every morning. It reminds him of the panic, depression, and desperation that grips the person who is starting ajail term. It also reminds you of how important the mental escape that program offers is to the men who must remain behind the walls.