A productive and exhausting 26-hour weekend in the studio

By Ted Slowik

The return to the recording studio to work on originals after a 27-year hiatus went great. Spent 14 hours Saturday recording acoustic guitar and lead vocal tracks for six songs, and 12 hours Sunday adding accompaniment to four of them.

This took place at Third City Sound, located above Chicago Street Pub in downtown Joliet, Illinois. Proprietor Bill Aldridge exercised extraordinary engineering feats and skill at recording everything, especially the acoustic guitar and vocal tracks. Producer John Condron displayed surgical production abilities, arrangement direction and accompaniment choices and performances. And musician friends Pat Otto and Aly Flood lent their amazing talents to the project. 

Here's a little video snippet of John arranging and rehearsing the "Red Rover" harmony with Aly. Everyone involved was great to work with, very professional and immensely talented.

We accomplished much, though we still have a bit of finishing up to do. We'll finish in a few weeks and the plan is to make this six-song collection available this fall. The six songs are "Red Rover," "Ballad of Slowiks," "Record Store," "Hinsdale," "Springfield" and "Dear Editor."

I purposely chose six songs that are fairly easy to play and sing, and that have been well-received by audiences in the two years since I began performing as an acoustic guitar-playing singer/songwriter. The six are all stories, and none has long, wide open space where solos would be needed though there are a couple of interludes. Pat, for example, fills a couple beautifully with mandolin on "Red Rover." Aly sings harmony on that one, and Pat also plays mandolin on "Slowiks." John played drums and keyboards on "Red Rover," drums on Hinsdale and together we recorded foot stomps and hand claps for "Record Store." John also played banjo on "Record Store."

Saturday was grueling for an old salt like me. It's warm up in that studio, despite this being an unusually cool August. I sure did sweat a lot playing and singing all those songs. Actually, my voice was so tired, we knocked off at midnight Saturday and had a pint downstairs in the pub, then I sang the last two songs, "Hinsdale" and "Springfield," when I was refreshed on Sunday morning.

Scheduling-wise everything went smoothly, with Pat and Aly stopping by at different times to record their parts. John efficiently made use of the time and had some percussion tracks for "Slowiks" done in the time it took me to go on a run for IPA beer, cigarettes and Chicken-N-Spice. I love John's choices and ideas, and my job on Sunday was basically to stay out of the way and make sure everybody else had what they needed to be happy.

It was late Sunday night when we wrapped but Bill was kind enough to burn a rough mix. No sneak peaks, as the tracks aren't finished yet and when they are the plan is to release them together as a collection available for sale, for say $5 for the six tunes. Such a deal! I have to get a website up and running and sign a deal with a record label or start my own, but these are trivial matters. The songs are great and for the first time since 1986, so are the recordings of them!

Flashback to 1986, and a return trip to the recording studio

By Ted Slowik

I've made a few references in recent posts about looking forward to recording some originals soon at Third City Sound in Joliet. It'll be my first time recording some of my songs professionally since 1986. That was 27 years ago.

I've no idea why it's taken so long to return to real recording. Life happens, I guess. I was content making home demos of my songs all these years. Now I'd like something better.

Back in 1986, during my college years, I was in a band called Nobody Knows. That band had sort of evolved out of the first band I was in, Suspended Animation. There were lots of people in Suspended Animation at times: Dave McGranahan, Bill Small, Maggie Callahan, and sound man Ray Hood. But the core was guitarist Paul Vassek, keyboardist Rich Westrick, drummer Ron Kostka and me on bass.

Paul started out in Nobody Knows with me and Ron as the rhythm section and Dave Kent on guitar. Then Paul introduced us to brothers Bill and John Moll and the whole happening Westmont scene. Once were busted by the cops jamming after hours in Miro Ledajaks' deli on Ogden Avenue. Eventually John took over drumming duties from Ron and Paul dropped out. For a time a keyboardist named Tom Hardesty played with us, but Nobody Know was mostly Bill, Dave, John and me.

Suspended had done some recording once, in the early '80s, in a studio in Naperville called Old Plank Studios. A guy who engineered us did a nice job. His name was Phil Bonnet. In 1986, I was taking a video production class at Lewis University and needed to make a music video. I tracked down Phil, who was then at a place called Solid Sound in Hoffman Estates. (Phil passed away in 1999).

Bill, Dave, Tom, John, Ron and I all worked on the recording for the song we were doing for the video, "Blue Eyed Girl." It was one of my first originals. I wrote it about a girl I liked in high school who ended up dating Ray. Suspended played it, and I'll always be grateful to Rich for encouraging me to finish writing the song when I had only written the first verse and chorus and played it for him.

I recall there was some uncertainty about who would play drums on the track, so both John and Ron were there. John ended up playing, though Ron's featured on backing vocals. Recording in hand, we made the music video with help from a Lewis classmate, George Seaton. I filmed his video, and he filmed mine. A girl from Lewis named Barb played the blue eyed girl in the video.

Well, that's pretty much the story of the last time I was in a recording studio to record original work. If you get a chance, check out the video we made. It's an authentic snapshot of what rock music was like in the mid-1980s.

A wonderful week of live local music and talented company

Pat Otto and Tristan Charles

By Ted Slowik

Had a fantastic couple of days making and sharing music with friends and very talented company this week. The amount and variety of musical talent in Will County never ceases to amaze!

Wednesday night I hosted open mic at Tribes Alehouse Mokena, a first hosting there. Many thanks to Tribes owner Niall Freyne for letting open mic continue even though regular host John Condron was unavailable. John told me he started hosting open mic there in September 2011. I started going in November 2011 and have been there most weeks since.

It's always a great time and wonderful showcase for local live music, especially originals, and this week was no exception. Everything went smoothly and there were some new faces in addition to many regular standouts. 

Nick Domberg and Brian Barry

Everyone who played sounded great. Newcomers like Raj, Matt, Zach and Dan were very impressive, as were Pat Otto, Tristan Charles, Scott McNeil, Jim Connolly of The Dingo Babies, Nick Domberg and Brian Barry of The Neighbors, and one or two others. Ryan Olsson's sister Cailee and Brian's wife Kristin were great company, and the entire staff at Tribes are incredibly courteous and fun people to work with. It was fun opening the night with a set of a few tunes, performing the role of host and emcee for the evening, and setting up, running and putting away the sound equipment. All went well.

The Neighbors played a show Friday night at Chicago Street Pub Friday night, and at Tribes Wednesday Brian and I were talking and next thing you know I'm opening for them. They're a fantastic band with a great sound, musically and vocally.

Despite the short notice my brother Mike was able to come down and catch the show. He took some pictures and shot a video of the Slowiks song. I had a wonderful time despite breaking two strings, during the first and last songs. I opened with a cover of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" and closed with a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Coyote," but it was all originals in between. I played "Hinsdale," "Springfield," "I'm Low," "Red Rover," "'Murica," "Dear Editor," "Acts of God" and "Record Store." It was a good set, over all too soon but set a good tone for the evening.

Andrew, Steve and Rich

Nick and Brian, along with Andrew and Steve Becker and Rich have a great thing going with The Neighbors. They play a wonderful mix of covers and originals, and some guests, including Alex Hoffer and a female vocalist, joined them for some songs. I managed to capture Instagram videos of snippets of a couple of their tunes, including one featuring Steve on bass and Nick on harmonica, and another featuring Andrew's vocal talents and the band's awesome harmonies. If you ever get a chance to see them perform live, you should check them out--you won't be disappointed.


Other than that, I was saddened to learn this week about the passing of my friend and former boss at The Naperville Sun, Jim Lynch. He was a good newspaper guy who died too young, at 59, of cancer. I recorded a version of "Dear Editor" in his honor. If you watch/listen to that, be sure to also check out this two-minute cover of The Who's "Happy Jack," just so you're not left feeling bummed out.

Next weekend is a big one indeed, one that I've been planning for since back in April. For the first time since 1986 I'll be recording some of my music professionally in a studio. It's been far too long and I'm very excited. I'm hoping to record about six songs at Bill Aldridge's Third City Sound in Joliet, with production help from John Condron and some accompaniment by some very talented individuals. Until next time, cheers!

Support of musician friends makes all the difference

By Ted Slowik

This week's theme is gratitude and support. I'm grateful to many musical friends for their encouragement and for the opportunity to support others.

On July 24, keyboardist Rich Westrick and drummer Ron Kostka joined me for a jam at Bridget and Mark's house party. The music was good, the company great and the weather was beautiful. We had a fantastic time performing. We did a set of covers together, then Rich and I played a set of originals, and I did a third hour of solo acoustic songs. Many thanks to Ron and Rich, Bridget and Mark and friends for a wonderful reception and the kind words of encouragement.

On Wednesday at the weekly acoustic open mic at Tribes Alehouse in Mokena, John Condron showed me the ropes. I'm guest-hosting for him on July 31 and very grateful to John and Niall for the opportunity. Their open mic has become an outstanding showcase for talented musicians, singers and especially songwriters. There's a solid cast of regulars, a steady stream of newcomers and patrons who support live local original music.

Tribes regulars Greg Woods and Bill Ryan are in a band called Time and the New Romans, and they write and play some catchy rock tunes. Thursday night they had a EP release party for their latest recording. I drove into the city to hear them for the first time live, which was a great experience. The recording is great, too. I especially like the second tune on the disc, a song called "Begin."

I met their bassist John and drummer, and Greg's dad Bob, who remembers a lot of my brothers and sisters from hanging out at Timber Trails pool during the 1960s. Had a great time recalling many happy childhood memories of spending summer days with other kids at the pool.

Earlier Thursday I had a photo shoot with friend Brian Powers, who does great portraiture work. Brian is one of the photographers let go from the Chicago Sun-Times, and I'm grateful he was able to take pictures to accompany the upcoming recording I'm doing at Third City Sound with Bill Aldridge. Brian got some great shots and it's going to be a lot of fun having professional images to go along with a professional recording.

Heading home from the Time and New Romans show in the city I stopped by one of my favorite places for a nightcap, Harlem Avenue Lounge in Berwyn. Proprietor Ken Zimmerman runs a great, authentic Chicago blues club featuring some of the best blues you'll ever hear in an intimate setting. Since it was Thursday, it was open mic night, and Pistol Pete was putting on the usual great performance with a talented group of players.

I was chatting outside the club with Sam Cockrell, who is not only an incredibly talented bassist but a very gifted singer, songwriter, recording and performing artist. Y'all should support Sam by buying his tunes from his ReverbNation page--you won't be disappointed. Many of his songs have a horn section backing him up, and the production is top-notch.

Somehow the talk turned to baseball, and since I had my acoustic with me from the photo shoot I grabbed it and played a verse of a song I wrote about the Cubs called "Wrigley Field." Sam thought it was great, and I played bits of other songs, like "Hinsdale," "Slowiks" and "Springfield." Sam's reaction to those songs made me feel great.

Driving home, I realized in the 22 months since I stopped playing bass with the Big Eddy Springs Blues Band and started performing my own songs on acoustic guitar, I've made a lot of progress as a writer, singer, musician and performer. I've done the work by putting in many hours of practice, but if it weren't for the support and encouragement of others I don't think I'd write or make music.

Life is a state of mind. and the best state is the one where you feel like people get what you're doing, like it and tell you so. I'm grateful to everyone who has ever shown support and encouragement.

Having too much fun during an amazing week of music

By Ted Slowik

What a week! July 13 I performed at good friend Tim Placher's 8th annual Shindig at the Shanty. Tim and a couple friends have a place outside Wilmington on a bluff overlooking the Kankakee River, and he throws some great parties with live music in that beautiful setting.

I played a set of mostly originals, though I opened with a cover of the Charlie Daniels Band's "Uneasy Rider." Rich Westrick drove down from the city to sit in on keyboards. He was a great help on songs like "Red Rover," "Hinsdale" and "Springfield." We're going to jam together again July 20 at my friend Bridget's house party. This will be my first time performing mostly originals in a house party setting so I'm really looking forward to it.

Tim played a set at the Shindig, then the Michael Heaton Band performed. They were so good, I don't know how Tim's going to top the musical entertainment next year. Tim has a great number of friends from throughout Joliet and Plainfield but especially his classmates from his St. Ray's days, and they're a great group to play for.

Monday night I sat in on a great Songwriter Circle at Chicago Street Pub with Alex Hoffer and Charlie Champene. There was a group in front of the Will County Courthouse in downtown Joliet protesting the verdict in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case. I played the original "Stand My Ground" and some other tunes.

Chicago Street is sponsoring Hopstring Fest Aug. 24 at Silver Cross Field in Joliet with a great lineup that includes Miles Nielsen and The Rusted Hearts, The Steepwater Band, John Condron and the Old Gang Orchestra, The Righteous Hillbillies, Ed Anderson, Chicago Farmer, Magic Box, and more. It's going to be great time, especially if you like craft beer and live music. 

Tuesday after work I met with photographer Brian Powers at Quigley's  in Naperville. We talked about pictures to accompany the recording I'm doing in August at Third City Sound. Brian is easy to get along with, has great ideas and does great work.

Wednesday night I was at Tribes Alehouse Mokena for weekly acoustic open mic. Kev Wright from Righteous Hillbillies was there with a couple of his students--John Narcissi and Chase Walsh--a couple of really talented young singers, performers and songwriters. Kev's son is a student at North Central College in Naperville (where I work) and just earned a grant to spend a few weeks studying in Iceland. Sometimes it's the tiniest of worlds.

I heard all or parts of sets by Charlie, Scott McNeil, Patrick Spiroff, John Green and others. Patrick mentioned that when I included a link to his Bandcamp website in a previous post he noticed some readers visited his page. I appreciate it when you check out the links, because people like Alex and Michael and Patrick and John deserve to be heard by as many as possible, so tell your friends. We're all very supportive of one another in the Will County independent music community. 

Thursday night was the monthly jam at Chicago Street hosted by Kevin Krauss. Charlie and Patrick performed, I was helped out on "Uneasy Rider" and "Drama Queen" by Pat Otto and Chris Foray on mandolin and mandola, and to cap it off there was a very special jam performance by Kevin, Eric Jensen, Becky Smentak, Tom Maslowksi, Don Nudi, John and a sax player whose name I didn't get. 

Good thing weeks like this don't happen often, because I'm exhausted and broke!

Summer 2013 peaking with live performances, recordings

Tim Placher's new 2013 Shindig at the Shanty stage above the Kankakee River near Wilmington, IL.

By Ted Slowik

Folks, first I want to extend my sympathies to the Lac-Mégantic families with unaccounted for relatives. No one should be left wondering about loved ones vaporized in an inferno caused by a train derailment. Thoughts and prayers.

Next, I just want to say it's all about the song. I'm heading into a stretch where I'll be performing the next two weekends. This is unusual for me. While I've been taking time off from playing to heal my finger I haven't booked gigs. I'm very much looking forward to these upcoming performances, July 13 at the Shindig at the Shanty in Wilmington and July 20 at a house party in Cherry Hill.

Thanks to Tim Placher for the invite to play the Shindig for a third straight year. Much appreciated. It's one of only three summer festival gigs I've played. The others being Rich Westrick's Jam-O-Rama and Jerry Reno's Jerrypalooza over Labor Day weekend. Sadly, Jam-O-Rama is no more, though to fill the void I'm happy to announce keyboardist extraordinaire and good friend Rich Westrick is joining me for the July 13 and July 20 shows! Thanks to Bridget for the special invitation to perform at a house party--a first for me!

Look forward to memorable sets of originals as two longtime high school chums and bandmates reunite for special evenings. And, to sweeten the deal, fellow Suspended Animation member and legendary drummer Ron Kostka will join us for the July 20 private house party in Cherry Hill! These are shaping up to be very special performances.

These are the only summer 2013 performances I've scheduled as I've limited my appearances due to health and am focused on recording Aug. 10-11 in Joliet. This will be the first time in nearly 30 years I've been in a recording studio, so it's a momentous occasion. More on that later.

John Condron

For now, just want to say thanks to John Condron for hosting weekly acoustic open mics at Tribes Alehouse Mokena, and to Niall Freyne for allowing us to showcase songwriting. And to Bill Aldridge for establishing Third City Sound in Joliet. Really looking forward to recording some original songs a month from now. Much planning and preparing for that.

In a future post I'll tell you all about the last time I was in a recording studio, in 1986.

The secret to being a successful storyteller is...

Commons Beach, Tahoe City, CA.

By Ted Slowik

Howdy Blues Musings readers! I've been out West since I last wrote, staying cool in scorched Reno (high, 102F). We spent the Fourth of July in Lake Tahoe, which is on the beautiful side of the Sierra Nevada. I was having too much fun to blog but if you want to get caught up on the trip you can stitch together the story from my Twitter, Instagram and Vine feeds.

For you new readers, Blues Musings is a lot of things: journal, diary, historical record, soapbox, instruction manual and advice column. It tends to tie in to music most of the time and invariably involves something in which I've participated. Namely, life.

Topics may range from artists whom I've seen or heard perform, friends whose work I support, writers I've read, creative types I've read about, and a lot of other things. I tend to write more about people I've met than those whose work I've admired from afar, but the rules are pretty loose.

Rule No. 1: There are no rules.

If I don't feel like writing for a week, there will be no new posts. I'm not paid to do this. These writings are more for my benefit than for yours. Which brings us to today's topic: songwriting.

I once read someone's advice to aspiring songwriters. The person said if you want to become a better writer, you should write every day.

I could not disagree more.

I believe you should not write unless you have something to say.

Maybe instead of practicing your writing you should go practice some living.

I get the point about practicing. The same is true for music. Practice, practice, practice. Practice makes perfect. Doctors practice medicine. I hope the doctors who see me have plenty of practice!

I get how practice makes you a better musician or more skilled in the use of language. But practice doesn't make you a better storyteller. Telling stories makes you a better storyteller. As in orally relating events that have happened. Verbally communicating a tale to one or more other person. Telling it like it is.

It's that simple.

That's all I wanted to say today.