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.