Hearing great music and meeting cool people

I took a couple weeks off work because I haven't had a proper vacation in a while. Originally we thought about a trip to Colorado but we ended up staying in town, going to the beach and Art Institute but mostly hanging around the house. That left days free for writing and some recording and nights free for performing and listening.

Since John Condron was on vacation there was no open mic at Tribes Alehouse in Mokena on 8/1, so I checked out a place John and Scott McNeil mentioned called the Ashbary coffee house in Willow Springs. Heard a bunch of great young, original acts who perform every week before an attentive, appreciative audience in a small theater that fits maybe 50 or 60 people. I listened all night and finally got up at the end when there were only a few people left. I played Hinsdale and Stand My Ground and got a great reception.

The next night I checked out a blues jam hosted by friends Tom Kallai and Michael Brown at Live 59, a music club in Plainfield. I had a great time hanging out, talking to players and meeting people like keyboardist Dan Fidanze, who it turns out is friends with cartoonist Charley Krebs and newsman Dave Masterson. Tom and The Captain took over the Thursday blues jam from Marty Mercer a couple months earlier, but it's tough to make it out on a Thursday after playing every Wednesday night. It's not the alcohol so much as the adrenaline from performing keeps me up very late, and I must get up early for the day job.

On 8/4 (our 22nd wedding anniversary!) I performed with Tim Placher at his 7th annual Shindig at the Shanty party at his place along the Kankakee River near Wilmington. Tim's the keyboardist/music teacher who invites me to do marathon tag-team shows with him at Thayer Brothers' 30 Buck tavern in Joliet. I also played last year's Shanty party.

This year Tim had a special treat in store. A very talented fiddler named Cristina Seaborn from St. Cloud, MN, performed with us. They met a few years back at a show in Iowa marking the 50th anniversary of the final performance of Buddy Holly, Richie Havens and the Big Bopper. Christina performs with numerous ensembles, including with Bobby Vee. I did a set of covers and originals and she stayed up and played. Not only is she an amazing artist but very nice to talk to as well! I remember she said good artists aren't afraid to play ballads, and we talked about how it's good to be cool about making mistakes.

On 8/7 I went up to the Abbey Pub on Chicago's Northwest Side, a couple miles west of Wrigley Field. Traffic getting there was horrible but I still got there early. Their open mic is on the smaller of their two stages, called The Green Room, and hosted by Scott “The Madman" Madden. He was very cool to talk to; turns out we both graduated from Lyons Township High School.

Well, I was first to get up. Scott said I could do three songs. I played originals King Of the Mountain, Hinsdale and Wrigley Field, then Scott said do another so I played Stand My Ground. I felt great! I was chill and funny and the room responded wonderfully. There was a character there named Crazy Eddie who had a cool-looking bass so I snapped his picture, though I don't think he actually got up and played.

While having a smoke before or after playing I chatted with a nice guy. Turns out he was Dan Andree, fiddler extraordinaire for The Henhouse Prowlers. The guys in that band play bluegrass every Tuesday under the name Sexfist on the Abbey Pub's big stage. Once in a while an artist from the Green Room side of the house gets to play a few songs to warm up the Sexfist crowd on the big stage, so that's something cool to think about.

The next day, 8/8, was Hannah's 20th birthday so Jo, Hannah and I went to the Art Institute of Chicago and had a wonderful time. That night I played Tribes Alehouse and saw John Condron, Scott McNeil and a few other regulars. I got up after John like usual and played five originals. It was crowded and I didn't feel like I connected with the room. Oh well. I was sitting there thinking how attentive the room was at the Ashbary in Willow Springs the week before so I figured what the heck and drove up there. This time the sound guys running the show recognized me and got me up after a short wait. I played Ballad of Slowiks and Goof Off and got a great reception. I felt really at ease. Most of the artists there are a lot younger, but they encourage original performances and are very appreciative!

Driving home from the Ashbary I started writing a song called New Normal. I had the first couple verses and pre-choruses done by the time I got home. I picked up the guitar and found the key and the chorus and finished it in no time. The next day I recorded an audio demo with piano, drums and backing vocals and the day after that I videotaped a version played on acoustic guitar. It felt good to write the first new song since wrapping up the Rough Road collection a month or so earlier.

On Friday 8/10 I watched The Michael Heaton Band play at Chicago Street Pub in Joliet. Michael's a great original artist based in Montgomery IL. He's been writing, performing and recording his own songs for a long time. A few weeks back he mentioned he'd be needing a bass player starting in late September, and I let him know I was interested. We exchanged numbers but hadn't talked until that night. He said he was having a couple guys up for auditions and would let me know. The guitarist and drummer were nice guys to talk to and I think I could learn a lot from such an experienced artist. Tim Placher was there and so was Jodi Wartenberg with a bunch of her family. She's a big fan of Michael's. John Condron was there hanging out, Kevin Krauss was working the door and there were other friends there.

Saturday 8/11 I was back at Chicago Street Pub to see Terrapin Flyer featuring former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten. Terrapin Flyer features guys from the bluegrass band Cornmeal, and I got to talking to Wavy Dave Burlingame, who plays banjo in Cornmeal and bass in Terrapin Flyer. Wavy said he's roommates with Dan Andree, the fiddler from Henhouse Prowlers/Sexfist that I met Tuesday at Abbey Pub, so it feels like a small world after all! Chris Corkery opened--he's a fantastic singer, songwriter and bluesy/country guitarist who I opened for at Chicago Street on May 4. Really nice guy, too, and I sat and listened as he asked Davy about playing gigs. I learned a lot just sitting there. Chris remembered me and was very complimentary about my writing and playing. Kevin Krauss was working, owners Triz and Kathy were there, saw Kevin Hegarty, Joel Arhweiler and other friends and it was a lot of fun hearing awesome music played by incredibly talented musicians.

My year as a solo artist

I've played a lot of music in the 10 and a half months since I last played a gig with the Big Eddy Springs Blues Band. I played bass in that band for 11 years, from 2000-2011, and it was a lot of fun. But 11 years is a long time in band years, and I think all the guys were ready for a change.

We played our last gig together on Sept. 16, 2011, in Madden Theatre at North Central College. It was a great show, sort of a "last waltz." I really enjoyed the fact that Ron was able to rejoin us on drums. Frank, who had replaced Ron a year or two earlier, was unable to make it. I've known Ron since high school and we have a special chemistry as a rhythm section, and when he had to take a leave from the band it definitely lost a lot of appeal to me. Rich, our keyboard friend since high school, came to the same conclusion at the same time. I wanted to perform and record more than the other guys Towards the end we disagreed a lot on material choices and other matters, but it ended well and we all remain friends.

After the "breakup" I wanted to do something right away, so the first thing I did was call up my good friend Chuck "Hound Dog" Wessell. I went to visit him and his wife Melissa in Louisville, Ky., on a beautiful warm weekend in late October. We recorded 14 songs (12 originals) in 3 hours at his house Friday night, with me playing my Martin acoustic and singing. Then I played Hound Dog's upright bass and sang backups and we were done! The next day we went to a bluegrass BBQ and had a lot of fun. When I got home I printed up some CDs and gave them to friends and other musicians. This was my "Louisville" CD, and it was the first time Chuck and I had worked together since 1996.

I started playing guitar a lot, two to five hours every day. Rich, Ron and I got together a couple times at Rich's house but then Ron had to take an extended leave. I looked for open mics to play as a solo act, and would go to the third Thursday at Chicago Street Pub in Joliet. It's a great community of musicians there: Too many to name but people like Joel, Tom and Becky, Matt Biske, Bill, Don, Sledge, Pat, Kevin, just a ton of great people.

Someone told me about an acoustic open mic on Wednesdays at Tribes Alehouse in Mokena, so on Black Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving 2011, I went and checked it out.

It was hosted by John Condron, a musician who I'd heard of with his band The Benefit, but hadn't met before. We hit it off right away. He's been very supportive and encouraging. I started going every week and could tell I was making progress. Not only as a guitarist, but as a performer, because there's really no other way to deal with the jitters than to just do it and get used to it and gain experience. I've met a lot of other great players there, too, like Scott, Max, John Greene, Karl, and many more.

All through the winter I played a lot of guitar. I met a guy, Eddie, who had a Boss loop pedal, and that seemed cool so I went and bought a nice one. At home that would help me practice leads a lot. I also watched a few learn-to-play-guitar videos on YouTube, my favorites were this guy Marty from NextLevelGuitar. I like his teaching style. I wrote and recorded a few songs, too.

One Saturday night in February Noah told me about a WGN radio contest to write a song about the Cubs. I've always been a fan of Steve Goodman and wanted to write a Cubs song for some time, so I knocked one out in an hour, literally, and emailed the demo to the radio station. Monday morning some acquaintances called and sent me notes on Facebook saying they heard Jonathan Brandmeier play it and talk about it that morning! He spent 8 minutes on it, and while the callers' responses weren't overwhelmingly favorable (and I didn't make the finals) it was a thrill to hear it played on WGN.

During the winter and spring I also made two collections of older demos and had fun compiling them and making cover art for them. I made a few copies and gave them to family and friends. My goal is still to get into a studio and make professional recordings, but in the meantime demos don't cost much. I record them myself mostly, on a Tascam cassette 4-track that captures an authentic analog sound, and my only costs are the CDs, labels and inkjet printer cartridges.

As for performing, I picked up a gig as a solo act when I played a big shindig for the closing of George Kay's music. The mayor was there, and a bunch of well-known local artists and bands. I saw Skip Griparis, who is a Lewis theatre alum. He got up and sang Route 66 with a band. I got to play one song, so I did the Everly Brothers tune Cathy's Clown, since Cathy Kay took over running the store after her husband George died many years ago. It was videotaped, too, but haven't seen it yet.

In addition to playing acoustic originals in Mokena every Wednesday night occasionally I'd perform at Thirty Buck, a bar near my house, with keyboard player Tim Placher. Every couple months we'll do a tag-team show, where he'll play 45 minutes to an hour then I'll have a turn. Continuous music for five hours. I play mostly covers, bar music. Once I took my acoustic and couldn't get it to work. Luckily it's close to home so I ran home and got my electric. Turns out there's a 9-volt battery in the acoustic that needs to be replaced every so often!

Another funny thing that happened was once at Tribes I went to get up to do my three or four songs, and my guitar was gone! There was a similar case next to where it was, and it turned out a bar regular known as Jack Bauer grabbed mine by mistake. John and the owner Nile had a good laugh about that. The next day we met at the bar and switched back so it all worked out.

I continued playing guitar a lot through the spring. In May I performed at Chicago Street Pub, playing an hour of originals opening for Chris Corkery. A couple friends came out but it was a small crowd. That was when I realized it was better to perform without the loop pedal, so I put that aside for shows.

Also I started going to some blues jams with my electric guitar, a 1972 Gibson ES335 with a walnut finish. I bought it from Hound Dog in the 1980s. One place I went was the Uptown in Westmont. My old friend Snapper works there as a bartender on Sundays, and Mojo Mark Cihlar (another name from the 1980s Westmont days) hosts live music every Saturday. One week it'll be a band, but every other week is open mic. I went a couple times, and it went well. I played songs like My Babe, Give Me One Reason and 20 Flight Rock. It's a good jam because it starts early (8 p.m.) on a Saturday night, which is rare.

The second time I called up Big Eddy and had him meet me there, since he lives nearby. That was fun, we played Seventh Son and some other songs. I also went to Harlem Avenue Lounge and met Rich there. I got up as second guitarist to Pistol Pete, and while I had fun I realized I have a long way to go before I can hang with the real deal. I may not ever make it as a lead guitarist, but my rhythm playing, singing and songwriting have come a long way.

All through the winter and spring I was writing and recording and by the end of June I figured I had enough material to finish my first collection of new solo material in 16 years! I took some cover art, made copies for friends and have been getting a good response so far. I call it "Rough Road."

This summer's been really hot and I've lost the inclination to practice scales and work on my leads, though I'm still playing and singing a lot at home, originals mostly. In July it was fun getting together with Ron at Rich's Jam-O-Rama party. There weren't a lot of musicians there for this fifth annual affair, so I did a lot of "heavy lifting" again, meaning I got to play a lot! I like getting together with Rich and Ron--they're my oldest, best and dearest musical friends.

Lately I've discovered another opportunity to gain experience performing in front of people, both originals and covers, solo and with other artists. It's called William Alexander Wine Bar in Lockport and they have on open mic on Sundays. A friend I know through Rich, this incredible music teacher who plays electric cello named Tom Culver, was guest-hosting, so I went and checked it out. The first week I played acoustic covers. The next week I played acoustic originals. The third time I had the acoustic, did some originals then some other musicians joined in on some covers. Then I brought the electric and just jammed blues and rock covers with other guys. Again, while my leads need work, the rest is coming along nicely and I'm having a lot of fun.

So, that's what I've been up to in the 10 and a half months since I parted ways with the Big Eddy Springs Blues Band. I hope to keep writing, performing and recording, getting together with good friends and making new ones.

It's been awhile...

Hey, y'all. I haven't updated this for awhile but I've been having a lot of fun playing music, composing some new songs and writing a memoir about growing up the youngest of 12 kids during the 1970s. Read more here: http://tedslowik.wordpress.com. Cheers!

Recording a new acoustic demo in bluegrass country

On Oct. 21 I took a day off work and drove down to Louisville to see friends Chuck and Melissa Wessel. We met in the 1980s when they lived in Lemont. Chuck and I did some playing and recording together back in the day, but we hadn’t worked together in 15 years. He recorded demos of a couple of my originals in 1996, when they lived in Edwardsville.

I’ve always loved Chuck’s recordings. He uses quality mics and equipment and has a lot of experience, so he knows where to position mics to get the best sound. Yet he’s constantly trying new things to see if it can sound better. Plus he’s a lot of fun and easy to get along with—so is Melissa!

Back in 1988 Chuck played on and recorded an original, “Coming Back for More,” and it still sounds great. A lot of people over the years have said they liked that, and I think it’s as much the recording as the song. That’s a classic example of my attitude toward some of my originals. Sometimes when I’ve got a good recording of a song I think, “OK, that’s it,” and I’ll shelve it. Not play it live again for years. I was like that with “Runaway,” one of my earliest songs. I thought the live recording by Nobody Knows was the definitive version. I recently rediscovered that song and have been playing a new version on the acoustic.

So I drove the five hours to Louisville on a Friday afternoon by myself, listening to some old recordings on the way. I get there early evening, crack a beer and pretty quickly we start recording. Everything was one take. I think I stopped once or twice when I made a really bad mistake. I played guitar and sang. Within an hour or so we had recorded eight songs! Melissa got home from work and we kept going. We did a total of 14 songs, and he even had me go back and add a bass track. I got to play his sweet-sounding upright. I sang a little harmony while recording the bass, where it felt right, and the mics picked it up fine.

Here’s the track list:

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Runaway

New Way Home

I’m Low

Sparks Fly

Worst Day in America

Walk With Me

One Way Out

Mr. Deal

Someone Else

You’ll Be Free

Excited

Sand Castles

The Cave

I told Hound Dog my main goal was to make a four-song demo, so that’s why I included a couple cover versions. I think my arrangement of the songs by Procol Harum and Mumford & Sons are pretty representative of what I do live solo on the acoustic. The recording came out great—I’m really happy with it. I picked the four songs for the demo and learned to print labels for the CD.

The next day, Saturday, Chuck took me to a fish fry where there was bluegrass music. We drove about 20 minutes into the hills. It was a great day—sunny and about 70. We were the first ones there and pretty soon a bunch of players started showing up. Phil was the host. Chuck said they usually get together on Monday nights in Phil’s garage. They used to get together at a bar nearby but the bar was a dive and eventually closed so now they gather at Phil’s.

Everyone was real nice. There had to be six to 8 guitarists, three or four mandolin players and a couple banjo players. Chuck brought his upright bass, and another guy brought his. A couple guys—a guitarist and a mandolin player—just started and as soon as I heard them tuning up and playing I wandered over to get a better listen. So I had a great seat close to the action. I had my guitar but for the first couple hours I just sat and drank and listened as the circle grew.

The way they play bluegrass is really great. They sit in a circle and take turns choosing the next song. Sometimes there’s singing but a lot of times it’s just playing, and trading solos among the instruments: guitar, mandolin, banjo. People just listening like me sit outside the circle but close enough to hear. Guys wander in and out of the circle when they want a break. It’s real fraternal, laid back and fun.

I eventually worked up the courage to get my guitar out of its case. Chuck had given me a few tips about playing bluegrass, so I was ready. It’s all downstrokes, no strumming. It’s usually in the key of G, it changes to D a lot and sometimes A. I wasn’t ready to take a solo so I didn’t have to worry about that. I joined the circle next to this banjo player who was really good, Mark, and he muttered some encouragement my way. After a couple songs playing along the food was ready and everyone was getting up so I thought, “Here’s my chance!” I started playing a bluegrass version of the old Charlie Rich song, “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water,” and I get a couple notes in and Chuck joined in with his bass and Jerry on mandolin. So I can say I played in a bluegrass circle!

Chuck and I were talking about how it’s so different from the way rock or blues is played. When you go to play an open mic at a rock or blues venue, you wait your turn, you get up, do your couple of songs then get off. Sometimes there’s crossover but if you don’t know the other players you’re on your own pretty much.

With bluegrass it’s more like, “All for one and one for all.” I’ve seen that in folk somewhat too, where a group gets in a circle and plays and sings together acoustically on their instruments. I visited the Two-Way Street Coffeehouse in Downers Grove recently and it was like that, only I was the youngest person there and the material was either too esoteric or unfamiliar. The people were all nice but it just wasn’t as much fun as the Louisville experience. With folk it’s about singing the words; with bluegrass it’s about playing the music.