Interview
Unless you’re a musician, the average person never heard about him. However, he’s a legend in his hometown of Milwaukee and has had national recognition as well. As I settled into my seat at the local Collectivo to introduce myself and begin this interview, we were interrupted by a local musician who came forward to ask if my interviewee was indeed John Calarco. John kindly responded in the affirmative when the young man said as he left, ‘There’s a legend on the drums right there!” John shrugged it off modestly but in reality, when one looks at all the accomplishments John has attained in his 50 + years of playing music, it’s hard not to be a bit impressed. World and National Tours… played on hundreds of CDs of both local and national artists..released a solo record with another on the way. So, we sat down for an interview that proved to be more fascinating than I had originally anticipated.
YOUR RESUME IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT WHETHER ON JUST THE LOCAL OR NATIONAL LEVEL. LOOKING AT SOME OF THE VENUES YOU’VE PLAYED AT OVER THE YEARS; THE PARAMOUNT AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, THE GREEK THEATER IN LOS ANGELES, THE ERIC CLAPTON CROSSROADS FESTIVAL AT THE COTTON BOWL IN TEXAS, ROYAL ALBERT HALL IN LONDON….THESE AREN’T JUST YOUR NORMAL RUN-OF-THE-MILL VENUES MOST MUSICIANS GET TO PLAY AT; ESPECIALLY MUSICIANS LIVING IN MILWAUKEE!
John’s response was still not one I expected;
JC: “Along for the ride I guess..”
YES, BUT ALONG FOR THE RIDE BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU BROUGHT TO THE TABLE. SOMETHING THAT YOU DELIVERED ON WHICH QUITE FRANKLY AFTER ASKING AROUND AND TALKING TO OTHERS ABOUT YOU, THOSE BANDS WERE NEVER QUITE THE SAME AFTER YOU LEFT.
JC: “Well, every band is going to sound different when you change members. The interaction is different, the dynamics will be different and most importantly… the personalities will be different which will lead to a completely different energy. None better or worse; just different. Sure, there will always be those people who will prefer what ‘was’ over what ‘is”. In the end, I know what I brought to the table as do the fans and the artists themselves; and I’m okay with that. This is a hard and merciless business where you’re the flavor of the month and then you’re off riding in the sunset. The key is to keep finding your inspiration.”
AND WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION THAT KEEPS YOU GOING?
JC: “Well, that changes from time to time as it should. For a long time I wanted to be the best drummer I could be to what I deemed as being ‘better”; so I worked my ass off on that. As I got older, I had kids and life took over, my emphasis lately has been writing songs with myself singing as well as instrumental stuff to express my drumming. “
WHICH DO YOU PREFER?
JC: “All of it! None is better than the other; it’s just what I enjoy more at the time. I love to sing songs I wrote and hope for them to connect with a wider audience, but I can get just as much joy playing drums on a great song, whether it’s a 2/4 pop groove or an instrumental in 19/16 time. As long as it’s written well!”
THIS LEADS ME TO THIS: YOU RELEASED YOUR FIRST SOLO
RECORD, “SHINE”, A FEW YEARS AGO. HOW DID THAT GO FOR YOU? YOUR VOICE WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE FOR ME. I NEVER KNEW YOU COULD SING SO WELL!
JC: “ Thank you. The process was priceless but the ability to promote and tour it was nonexistent. Right after it was released I started to have some serious marital problems which led to my divorce and subsequently left me with the kids full time. Then I had a serious accident which left me unable to perform for a little over two years; followed by Covid which shut everything down. So…momentum was killed and that is too bad because I thought it was a pretty good record.”
…THAT HAPPENED TO MANY ARTISTS. IT’S A SHAME. WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT DOING A SOLO RECORD?
JC: “ I mean, that process was a revelation for me in that I took my ego out completely and allowed my producer, Ryan Rossebo, to pick the songs we were to do. I sent him 30 songs and he picked what is on the record. I wanted to take my ego out of it as much as I could and it was good for me to do that, but I still feel I would’ve left a few of the songs off the record and replaced them with different ones. That’s why I’m excited about this new one coming out.”
LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT. SAME PRODUCER?
JC: “ Yes, Ryan is at the helm again. Very talented. Killer guitar player who gets what I’m trying to do. I’m also planning on bringing in some outside guns on this too. Randy McStine from Porcupine Tree’s last tour will play some guitar on some of my more progressive stuff as well as David Pastorious, nephew of the great Jaco, on bass on a few as well. I really enjoyed having Mark Hill down in Nashville play bass on a couple of my songs. What a tone!! Killer player!”
YOU’RE BRINGING IN SOME HEAVY ARTILLERY THERE!
JC: “Absolutely! Incredible players who I’m blessed to perform with. There are great players here in Milwaukee as well who don’t get the recognition on the national level they deserve. For example, a bass player I love playing is a guy by the name of John Wheeler. Another is Chris Kringle.We have that connection thang! The same with bassist Steve Andrioni who just relocated back to Milwaukee after being a session player in Los Angeles for years. Love playing with him. A great little funk band I’m a part of now involves Steve on bass, Matt Meixner on keys, who I’ve played with on and off for years, and guitarist Michael Cudahay on guitar in a band we call, Sugo. So fun!
YOU MENTIONED SOME SONGS ARE PROGRESSIVE ON YOUR NEW RECORD.
IN WHAT WAY? OLD SCHOOL PROG ROCK OR OUTSIDE THE BOX?
JC:” A little of both. I’m sure some people will hear the influences and that’s okay. We’re all inspired by someone or something. I love old progressive rock like Genesis or Yes, of course, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. I also love a simple pop tune as well as Herbie Hancock’s V.S.O.P Quintet! Muddy Waters and Albert Collins! I could go on and on! Music is music no matter the genre. “
LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE PEOPLE YOU’VE PLAYED WITH IN MILWAUKEE FIRST. IT’S PRETTY MUCH THE WHO’S WHO OF WISCONSIN LORE.
JC:” I think I pretty much played with everyone in this town at one point or another(Laughs). My first start was with two friends of mine who are now deceased; Steve Kleiber on bass and Mike Wippert on guitar when I was 14. Actually, my brother Frank(Guitarist for Liam Ford) was first of course. It’s because of him that I’m doing this today. He introduced me to all music that was/is hip and groundbreaking. Then, with Steve Kleiber, we played with my brother Frank in a fusion band doing some pretty amazing stuff when I look back on it. Frank is a great writer of instrumental music. Later on, Steve and I ended up joining Willy Porter many years later. My first real taste of gig life though, was with the power funk/rock band Big Bang Theory. They were the hottest thing in the city at the time with major label interest and all that stuff. I really learned, after coming from a jazz approach, how to hit the drums and play with high energy. Stamina was a must. The entire Milwaukee music scene at that time was on fire. The Violent Femmes had just been signed along with the BoDeans. We had a house gig at a place called the Boardwalk; four nights a week. Something you rarely see anymore but it sure allowed for honing in the chops! Exciting time. “
I REMEMBER BBT WELL. NO BAND IN MILWAUKEE HAD SUCH FEROCITY AND ENERGY IN THEIR PERFORMANCES. BILLY STAFFARONI WAS A GREAT FRONTMAN! (Billy Staffaroni is currently the lead singer for the Liam Ford Band)
JC:” I say it all the time. I’ve backed up many a front person over the years and Billy in his prime was the best. Even the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, was impressed with Billy when we opened for him at the Riverside Theater way back.”
THE OTHER THING I REMEMBER ABOUT THEM WAS YOUR DRUMMING! SUCH GREAT ENERGY AND POCKET!
JC:” Thank you. It was a learning process for sure. It was different for me during that time because I was into ska music a lot and had to learn to lay back a bit playing that funk stuff. I was really into Stewart Copeland at that time as well as the great Tony Williams. So, I fell into a way of playing pocket with a lot of energy I guess. It was a flashpoint moment for me also because before that I was a jazz snob; even though John Bonham was my hero and I played in Zep cover bands in high school, jazz and then prog with Bill Bruford caught my ear. It wasn’t until I heard and saw the Police that my world got turned around. I knew then that this was what I wanted to
do for the rest of my life. Many battle scars later here I am; for better or worse (Laughs).”
WHERE DID YOU GO AFTER BBT?
JC:” Before BBT I should mention I played at the Jazz Estate on Milwaukee’s East side sometimes with Gerald Cannon on bass and David Hazeltine on piano. I was 17 at the time. They were none too pleased when they found out I was playing in a funk band (BBT). The jazz world is unique, to say the least. After BBT I joined two bands(laughs), Tony Brown’s reggae band and a band out of Madison, WI called, The Common Faces. Great band. It was from there and playing duo shows with another great musician by the name of Tony Jarvis, that I then joined Willy Porter.”
THERE’S A LOCAL LEGEND FOR YOU! I USED TO SEE YOU GUYS AT THE OLD CELEBRITY CLUB ON THE EAST SIDE.
JC:” Ah yes! What a great scene. I went to high school with Willy. He was a couple of grades ahead of me but we knew of each other’s musical abilities. I used to throw clay in his red afro during art class. He didn’t like that!”
YOU WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH WILLY? I DID NOT KNOW THAT!
JC:” Oh yes. Homestead High School. After high school, I never thought I’d ever play in a band with him but all of a sudden, here we are playing as a duo. Then, I recommended Steve Kleiber to play bass with us. He fit in like a perfect glove. We did that for a while then we added Biff Blufumgagne on the electric fiddle. The final piece was when I was working with the Common Faces, a great keyboardist by the name of Dave Adler played with us. Willy knew of him as well and we brought him on and the rest was history. I should mention that those weekly Celebrity Club gigs were on a Tuesday night. Always packed. Different time for sure.”
YES. 1994. THE NOW FAMOUS AND CLASSIC DOG-EARED DREAM RECORD. SUCH A GREAT RECORD! ANGRY WORDS PUT YOU GUYS ON THE NATIONAL MAP. YOU CO-WROTE THAT SONG IS THAT CORRECT?
JC” Yes….great album. It captured who we were not only as a band but as individuals with our own sound. Very hard to find that in a band. The chemistry was off the charts! Yes, I did co- write Angry Words with Willy along with a few others on that album. We did a reunion tour a few years back. Our bassist, Steve Kleiber, tragically died in a house fire so we had to get a replacement for the reunion tour.. Ethan Bender replaced Steve for the tour and did an excellent job. However, the old saying, ‘ you don’t know what you have until it’s gone’, couldn’t have been more fitting in this case with Steve and what he brought to that original band. The sound and feel. His presence was missed in that regard. For me, that reunion tour didn’t have the magic and although it was fun to do, it was a bit of a letdown for that reason.”
WHY WAS THAT? I SAW YOU GUYS AT THE PABST THEATER AND IT WAS GREAT!
JC:” Thank you….I don’t know. The magic of that band was about stretching and taking chances. We all have changed over the years in what we deem our musical necessities. I feel I’ve retained a lot of that youthful exuberance when onstage. I have refined it, of course, but I feel I still have the fire. I’m sure the other guys have it too but everyone changes or reinvents themselves their own way; of course, but it’s rarely the same. Willy, for example, just seemed to want a more controlled and dynamic approach this time around, which under most situations would be fine. Whereas before, we all had our own unique voices on our instruments that we fully expressed; sometimes youth would take us over the top, but we did have our own sound as a result of that combination. I’m fully aware that sometimes our memories of something might feel it was ‘this’ or ‘that’, but I have some old live recordings to prove that my perception of what that band was is pretty accurate to this day. That band was not your “typical” band, and the things that made us great we didn’t do on that reunion gig, or even attempt to do this time around, and the absence of Steve was the nail in the coffin for me.”
WHY DID THAT BAND BREAK UP? YOU GUYS WERE THE NEXT THING.
JC:”…next to Dave Mathews?? (Laughs) .We were contemporaries with Dave’s band and we were on the same ski resort tour together before they broke big. We played the same club either the day before or the day after they were there. One night in Steamboat Springs, CO during a set break I went to the bar to get a drink and the bartender said we sounded like the band they had there the night before. I asked who that was and he said The Dave Mathews Band. He then directed me to a table where Carter Beauford, the bass player, and the fiddle player were sitting watching us! I didn’t know who they were but they liked us!”
THAT’S INCREDIBLE!
JC:” Yeah, I like telling that one. Why did we break up? Oh, you know! The same old story. Young guys with egos and record labels without a clue. Need I say more? I ended up leaving the WPB and formed a Genesis tribute band where I fronted the band imitating Peter Gabriel’s voice but also playing the drums! Matt Meixner, who I mentioned before, did an amazing job learning the Tony Banks keyboard parts. After a couple of gigs, I got Todd Sucherman (drummer for Styx) to join us. We’re pretty good buds. It was a great experience playing double drums with Todd. When he couldn’t do it I got a couple of other friends to play drums with me at different times; Scotty Berendt and Tom Mortensen; also known as the Python. (chuckles). With Todd, we complimented each other perfectly by doing all those old songs; mainly the Gabriel era of Genesis. It was during that time that Daryl Stuermer, the actual guitarist in Genesis, who still lives in Milwaukee by the way, heard me and asked me to join his band. However, I moved to NYC and played with the Blue Man Group as well as filling in for other artists. Great experience but I was lured back home by Greg Koch to play in his band, then reconnected with Daryl and joined his band as well. Except for the Blue Man gig which had drums always there to use, moving drums around in NYC via cab gets old fairly quickly; especially in winter. “
DID YOU PLAY IN BLUE MAN GROUP?
“Oh yes. Great time. Especially not having to move any drums!”
WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! YES, I CAN IMAGINE MOVING DRUMS BY CAB WOULD GET OLD. BUT YOU CAME BACK HOME AND PLAYED WITH THESE LOCAL LEGENDS.
JC:” Yes it was! Forever cherished playing with my friends… Took me all over the world. With Willy, we did a global tour in support of Tori Amos which led to performing in those classic venues you had mentioned. Then with Greg Koch, we did multiple tours of Europe and all of North America where I had the pleasure of playing with the great Roscoe Beck on bass(Leonard Cohen, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson)”
WHAT WAS IT LIKE PLAYING WITH GREG FIRST, THEN DARYL?
JC:” Well, Greg, as you know, is a great guitar player—one of the best around. Also, during his clinic tours, I got a front-row seat to the Greg Koch stand-up comedy routine. I used to laugh my ass off! Funny guy! Together we were a fireball of energy. With Greg, I had the great fortune of touring for Fender back when they did those things. This led to playing all over the world as well as at the NAMM show and places like that. With that came the excitement of being able to play with some of my heroes; like Andy Summers(The Police) among others, because when you have the power of the name, Fender, behind you, everybody comes.”
WHO ELSE DID YOU GET TO PLAY WITH AS A RESULT OF THAT?
JC:” You’re asking me to namedrop?? “(Laughs)
NO, JUST TO GET AN IDEA OF THE LEVEL OF EXPOSURE YOU RECEIVED.
JC:” I’m just kidding. Let’s see. There were so many. Nils Lofgren. Jimmy Vaughn, GE Smith, not to mention all the people I got to rub shoulders with and actually get to talk with a bit about things other than just music. John Paul Jones, John Mayer, Johnny Lang. I can’t remember everyone but the greatest experience I’ll never forget was meeting Jeff Beck and his then- girlfriend in Frankfurt, Germany when Fender was honoring him. They put us in a small dressing room together; myself, Jeff, Greg Koch, and Jeff’s then-girlfriend. I can’t remember her name. Shame on me!! Anyway, Jeff and I hit it off. We talked about our favorite Curb Your
Enthusiasm episodes where we were both howling and laughing so hard. Greg sat quietly on the couch and didn’t say much. I think he was just trying to take in this surreal event. I didn’t care and Jeff and I got on as if we knew each other forever. That’s the type of person he was. Such a great guy not to mention my favorite guitarist of all time; he and Allan Holdsworth. Not taking anything away from the two guys I was playing with at the time; both Greg and Daryl Stuermer.”
THAT’S SOME INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCES YOU’VE JUST SHARED FOR SOMEONE WHO WAS JUST ‘ALONG FOR THE RIDE”! TELL US ABOUT DARYL STUERMER AND YOUR TIME WITH HIM.
JC:” Well, both those experiences(Greg and Daryl)were bittersweet for me in how they ended. Not to air my dirty laundry to everyone but to be completely honest, it was during my tenure with them that I was hit with some hard life experiences that I just didn’t know how to handle that affected my relationship with all involved. It involved my marriage and the scary part of having my first child. Again, had I just trusted those around me and talked about it with them it would’ve led to a much different result. But I didn’t. The crazy part was, I didn’t for fear of possibly having to be replaced while working things out and losing my gigs, the two best gigs in town that any drummer could have; or so I thought, but I ended up self-sabotaging the whole thing anyway and lost both!! Crazy how life works!”
YOU WERE LET GO?
JC:” Oh yes!! Through no fault but my own! The stress I was under which I won’t get into here along with having a child, along with the demands of going on the road were too much. Without going further into reasons about why I didn’t reach out for help I’d rather leave it there.”
WELL, I’LL JUST SAY IT TAKES A REAL MAN TO ADMIT THEIR FAULTS, AND MY GOSH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WAS A HARROWING EXPERIENCE!
JC:” It was, and the crazy thing is even though I was over the moon with having a child I was now faced with the possibility of having to not only raise this child alone but giving up my career in music to do so. I mean, in an instant I would’ve. My children come first! When you’re young, though, and faced with these decisions it can be quite scary. Looking back I could just kick myself because first of all, the money I was so afraid of losing wasn’t that great to begin with! Yes, really! I was probably trying to hang on to those gigs more for the prestige than economics. Those guys were and are the best of the best to play with. So, as a sideman, I wanted to hang onto those gigs at all costs. I was naive. Greg was always an adventure to play with onstage. Sometimes it got a little more athletic than musical for my taste; kind of like Ali versus Frasier, but I blame myself for that. The drummer controls the dynamics. It was easy to lose control while playing with Greg because of the excitement generated onstage. He was so much fun to play with onstage! Also, I was probably out to prove something back then in the musical world. Probably got a little carried away at times (laughs). Also, working with Daryl, in particular, was such a great learning experience! So melodic and his sense of time is scary! He is so on the money that it’s frightening. Quick story, when I auditioned for him I’ll never forget this: He used some sequences and we played to a click; at least I had to in order to keep everything together where he wanted things. I remember when I had the click track set to 93bpm and I must’ve bumped it or something before we counted off. It was less the eight bars in when he stopped us and asked if that was the right tempo! I looked down and it was at 94 bpm!!! That’s when I got nervous! (Laughs) What a great musician and human being. I wish him nothing but the best. All of these guys actually. I love them all.”
OBVIOUSLY, IT DIDN’T STOP YOU. I’M LOOKING AT THE LIST OF PEOPLE YOU’VE RECORDED OR TOURED WITH. KATE PIERSON, FREEDY JOHNSTON, JOY ASKEW, AND THE BROTHERS JOHNSON JUST TO NAME A FEW. WERE THESE LIVE GIGS OR RECORDINGS?
JC:” From the list you just read all were recordings except for the Brothers Johnson. That was just a strange short tour.”
WHO ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE YOU’RE PLAYING WITH TODAY?
JC: Well, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a dear friend of mine who recently passed away. Keith Pulvermacher was a gifted songwriter and yet another great guitar player. I have to say that I’ve been blessed to have played with some great guitarists and he took a back seat to no one. Also, a very gifted songwriter/lyricist. I played on two of his records, 45 Story and Midwestern. Check him out. Another incredible band out of L.A. that I had the pleasure of working with; whenever they weren’t broken up (laughs), is an unbelievable band called, King Washington. You must check them out.
THANK YOU! I DEFINITELY WILL!
JC: Please do. You won’t regret it.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT YOUR DRUMMING FOR A SECOND?
JC: “Of course! What about it?”
WELL, HOW ABOUT SOME ADVICE OR LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNED OVER THE YEARS THAT MIGHT HELP OUT A YOUNGSTER OR AN OLD GUY LIKE ME? THE DIFFERENCE, FOR EXAMPLE, BETWEEN LIVE DRUMMING AND STUDIO/ SESSION DRUMMING?
JC: “Oh my, that’s a can of worms! Anyway, two completely different worlds if you ask me. Both are demanding in their own ways. First, with the studio: I was lucky to get studio experience at a young age during the time when sequences and click tracks were just becoming the standard. If a drummer didn’t play well to a click back then he/she was replaced. I really had to work on that when I began studio work around the age of 16 or 17. I was also heavily into playing straight-ahead jazz and those two worlds don’t really fare well together. Not that playing jazz means you rush and drag all over the place, but in my opinion, you most certainly don’t want to play ‘on the grid’ so to speak, when playing jazz. However, when playing for a film score, commercial jingles, when they existed, or pop tunes and sight-reading the stuff, it called upon being able to access a different skill. Believe me, it wasn’t peaches and cream for me in the beginning either! Like all things, the more I did it the better I became at it and the phone rang more and more. I was lucky to get so many chances. My Uncle Art, who is a well-known musician who’s lived in New York City since 1966, was big on the jingle scene there. When I was 16 years old I stayed with him and my Aunt Joan during the summer and went on sessions with my uncle. I just stayed in the control room and was able to watch the likes of Michael Brecker, John Fatis, Mark Eagan, Benny Arnoff, Kenwood Denard, and all these heavy heavy session cats come in and do their thing in one or two takes. That summer I learned more about the biz and how and what I needed to improve on than anything else up to that point. I also got to meet then 14-year-old Zachary Danzinger who was already a drumming prodigy then. His father and my uncle were friends. So, such an unbelievable time for me.”
SO WHAT FROM THOSE EXPERIENCES SPECIFICALLY DID YOU LEARN THAT
HELPED YOU IMMEDIATELY?
JC: “From that? Number one…know how to sight read, which, unfortunately, I don’t ever really see those kinds of charts much anymore so I’m sure I’m a bit rusty these days. All I see now are numbers or Nashville-style charts. Number 2, not only learn how to play to a click but play to one, as an old NY drummer once told me, the real way. Many drummers nowadays, with the advent of all this technology, have learned from a young age to play along with loops or with their Roland pad, etc… but I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, so many incredible young drummers out there who have herculean chops and play in time, but I can tell when most are playing to a click. It’s so on the grid that it can sometimes sound machine-like or mechanical. Sometimes, yes, there is a necessity to lock on the grid and all drummers should learn how to do that! Just as important, however, is to learn how to play slightly behind or ahead of the click consistently as well as learn how to, let’s say, play the kick drum right on the grid, but lay behind with the snare or vice versa. Daryl gave me a compliment in passing once that I’ve never forgotten. He once said he loved how I played to a click because it didn’t sound like I was playing to a click. However, when we’d look at the track in Pro Tools or whatever, my beats were on it.
Number 3 is, and I can’t stress the importance of this enough so put this all in caps when you release this; ALWAYS COME PREPARED! So many times I hear stories, still, that a great player shows up to a gig, rehearsal, or a session unprepared; whether it’s not learning the music, not having the proper gear at the ready, or coming in with a bad attitude. That one should actually be number four! I know for a fact I got the gig over a drummer who I know was a better player than me say, from a chops or technical standpoint, but he or she wasn’t as prepared as I was so I got the gig! Or, their attitude sucked! To the person hiring you, it shows them that you’re respectful of not only the material but also of their time and the other players’ time when you show up prepared. To me, there’s nothing worse. I’d rather have a more dedicated and marginal player than a great player who’s high-maintenance. No, thank you!”
SO HOW ABOUT LIVE DRUMMING?
JC: ” Again, different animal. I was lucky enough to play in many different live situations. When I first started with BBT, sometimes the drums weren’t all mic’d up so if I wanted somebody in the back of the room in a packed house to hear my floor tom with no microphone on it, I had to smack it hard! So, I learned how to get my chops across in loud environments. It took me many years, and blistered hands, to be able to do that and not choke the tone of the drum; like I did so often in my youth. It also took awhile to develop my technique for those environments in which I no longer had to worry about gripping the stick too hard and get blisters. I see so many drummers, even today with better mics on every drum of their kit, sound great laying into a groove but as soon as they go for a drum fill the bottom falls out, or their drums get choked by hitting them hard without the right technique to retain the tone! Thank God I don’t have to worry about that as much today with the fairly good sound systems I get to play with.
SO NOW, HERE YOU ARE!
JC:” Yes indeed! Better than ever! If there’s any advice I could give younger musicians in a similar spot as I was in…never doubt yourself or stop believing in yourself. I ended up doing great things after losing what I thought were the premier gigs to have and I now have upped my value and increased the amount of income as well. It forced me to look within and make me what I believe to be a better person now for it. Also, on the domestic front, the good news is things are great and my boys are growing up fast!”
WHEN CAN WE EXPECT YOUR NEW ALBUM?
JC:” 2025. Looking forward to it. It’s definitely different! Some of the best stuff I’ve written I believe. I’ve taken notice of what I believe is a fact about modern music today; mainly in the pop world, is that the structures have been simplified. Almost too much for my taste. What happened to the bridge in songwriting? It’s gone in today’s popular music! The bridge to me is the ultimate release point in a song! It’s my connection to it all. So, expect to hear some bridges in my music (laughs). The joy for me is the process of creating something and bringing it to fruition from my mind, and heart, and out through the speakers. I don’t have any expectations other than making the best album I can and that which represents me. I don’t care if I sell one album or one million; well, I’ll take a million in my dreams(laughs). But seriously, if we were in this for money we’d have perished on the vine of obscurity a long time ago. Also, I’m back to performing drums live with various artists both in town and down in Nashville.“
THANK YOU, JOHN, FOR SUCH A CANDID INTERVIEW AND A TREASURE CHEST OF INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CAREER.
JC:” Thank you so much for seeking me out and caring enough to do this! I’m flattered!”
THE HONOR IS MINE! TAKE CARE!
JC:” God Bless”
Tom Sorensen. © 2024 All Rights Reserved
You can follow John on his website, www.johnnycee.com
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