Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66. It's the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast Hey everybody, it's Ray the roadie and this is Hollywood Mike. Hello, Hollywood Mike.

How are you this fine evening? I'm doing good We've got a new trinket. I know we got I was just gonna say we got a new trinket a very colorful trinket It is and it looks brand new and shiny I think we might be the first people to actually use this new mixer here So we'll have to figure out how it works. Yeah, our old mixer took a dump and The beautiful never effervescent.

Mr. Ron Romero Was kind enough to get us a new mixing board. Ron is now effervescent. He's effervescent We'll have to tell them yeah, I think I'm gonna nickname him club soda, right I'm just gonna stay away from that.

Yeah But thank you Ron for for the new mixing board. That's right. That's right.

Really appreciate it So this is gonna be kind of an interesting episode of the rock and roll Chicago podcast. I'm actually kind of excited to Because of the new board this no because of our guests. Oh, I'm sorry.

You're talking about the new board. No, no No, we have in the studio with us. Mr. Tom Leper Drummer extraordinaire and before we get into his bio and everything that he does we should probably tell everybody a little bit about what? About how he came to us.

Okay, so, you know here at the at the rock and roll museum There is an annual ceremony where people are inducted into the museum You know famous people like Jim Peterik would be one example I've heard of him REO Speedwagon heard of those guys, you know, buddy guy, you know things like that You know people that have actually gone on and sold records and you know won Grammy Awards and you know things of that nature But being that this is the Illinois rock and roll museum on Route 66 I think there was a there was a need to pay homage to Local local folks that may have made their living as musicians over the years may have influenced other people in their careers But maybe never made it to that point themselves where they actually got to hold on to a Grammy Award That would be most people that would be most that would be most. Yeah. Yeah, we have that conversation I think a lot that you know, maybe you know The musicians that you heard of before probably represent about 1% of the musicians that are actually in the world You know because there are a whole bunch of other people that make their living as professional musicians.

They're just not famous and It doesn't mean that they haven't influenced just as many people and other inspiring musicians You're right. And from what I understand what we are going to be working on here at the museum is a digital section on the website Right now for lack of a Lack of a better term or maybe nobody's really engraving anything in stone But it's going to be called local notables and it's an area where we get to talk about the local folks that may have Influenced other musicians coming up and had something to do with our local music scene And Tom here in the studio our guest tonight Might possibly be one of the founding fathers of that section on the website I think he might actually be the first person that Received the letter back from from Ron and I believe there's another young lady by the name of Heather that are in charge of putting That stuff together. Very cool.

Well, let's talk to Tom. So let's find out a little bit about Tom and see what brings him here Alrighty. Hello Tom Man, thanks for coming in tonight.

Thank you So, you know We're gonna turn this over to you because this is one of these things where like we have talked a little bit earlier about Somebody might be wondering. Okay Well, you know How come Tom gets to be on the show and how come Tom's one of the local notables and you know And I'm not right so we got to find out a little bit about you and see where you came from and a little bit about your musical roots And how you've contributed to everything. So why don't you go ahead and start? well, I was born in Chicago in 1944 and I used to hang out at the Chicago Lawndale Boys Club as a kid and They had a concert marching band they used to rehearse upstairs and I was about 10 years old and I Seen the band and I liked the music and I said, well, I'd like to be a drummer someday, you know So I bet you your parents loved that.

Oh Why the drums so, you know, so did the nun in my fourth grade class she said drummers are maniacs Mark none Anyway, I Inquired with the bandleader about taking drum lessons and he says sure come on down. So every Saturday morning for a book we went and sat in on a wooden chair and played on another wooden chair and went through the one and two Haskell hired drum book rudimental drum books, right and until I eventually Got good enough to where I was admitted into the prep band and in the concert band and marching band They were actually state championship Marching in concert band right at that time. Who is your drumming idol? Buddy Rich is probably Favorite, you know, I grew up a long time ago Even I even I know who buddy Rich is Neil Peart, you know, he's excellent drummer.

Mm-hmm and the guy's thing with It'll come to you sometime in the middle of the show Yeah, so, you know taking a look at your bio You mentioned a couple of names that believe it or not I've heard of before and I don't I don't know exactly why I've heard of them and I probably should know But at what point in time did you start working with a I believe it was a dr. Faber's Dr. Faber's. Yeah.

Yeah, what point in time was that? He was my high school band leader at st Male high school. Okay, and he was also a music director at DePaul University, right, right and I think that's Probably why I've I've heard of him probably more because he was a director at one point in time at DePaul Yes, do you know what year that was that when he was at DePaul or that what time period? well, I went from high school from 58 to 61 Okay 58 to 62 I was a class of 62. Okay, and was he kind of doing double duty at both places? Yes, the same time he was back and forth.

Yeah. Wow, no kidding So you guys had actually the director of a university band as your director in high school as well. Well, that's pretty good That's pretty good.

How did that whole? Situation kind of influence you a little bit. Oh, it's great. Same thing there, you know, well with the high school band They also had a Big band dancing a dance band type thing, you know where we play for a school functions and stuff like that, right? Right, right, and that was awesome, too Now is that about the same time that maybe you started working with like your own bands in high school? He's playing around Before in high school was I had two or three bands that I played with And pretty much happened after high school after high school I went in the military right, right yeah, but as far as rock and roll bands, I did have a three-piece group with accordion a guitar player and a drummer I was a drummer and the accordion player bought himself a farfisa I don't know was a farfisa or not, but electric piano one of the first electric pianos, you know Oh, yeah, right as accordion didn't go over too good at the sock ops with the kids Electric piano and guitar You know that that reminds me did you by chance anybody catch that mockumentary about Weird Al Yankovic Did you see that what's his name the actor that played Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe plays Weird Al and you know weird Al is like 6-6, you know, he's not he's not a small guy, but Daniel Radcliffe is like 5-6 so they got him to play Weird Al and There's a whole section in the thing about how you know, he grew up playing accordion yeah, and they did this whole bit about how he go to high school parties and There'd be a lot of drinking and drug use which he never did but all of his friends would always say I'll get your accordion And that's something that would never happen It was one of the funnest parts of the movie But you said that I'm just totally thinking I'm just watching some guy up there, you know ripping and shredding on an accordion but Yeah, you know, you know Frank Rossi, oh, yeah.

Yeah, he makes a living playing accordion Eddie Carrozza. Yeah Oh, yeah, somebody has to yeah. Yeah, we did a couple of podcasts with them.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah, they're a lot of fun When I was when I first started playing I was about 10 years old Eddie Carrozza and Frankie Yankovic we're playing at a grand opening for a second federal savings on 26th in Pulaski.

Mm-hmm. And my father knew them Well, not my father my friend's father who was also a drummer So he got the opportunity for both of us to sit in right on the sidewalk there in front of the very cool Well here we are talking about Weird Al and you actually Saw his father Wow, that's pretty it's pretty neat. Yeah, I don't think that's his father.

I thought it I thought it was I looked it up right Google did somebody did yeah, I could be wrong. That's happened once before. Yeah No comment I'm good so so I was reading in your bio as well sometime around high school when you got when you were playing like sock hops and things Like that and you mentioned that you got to work with guys like Dick Biondi and Bob Surratt How how'd that come up come about were they like hosting these things or what? Yes.

Yes Yeah, I was get to meet with them and hang hang out with them and everything Yes at the local high school and the gym, you know, right and well Bob Surratt was at the school where I went to school Blessed Agnes, okay It was actually a grade school at the time, you know when I went was playing there with Bob Surratt, right? and then one time we were it was in the middle of winter and Somebody some band canceled out and they were having a snowmobile convention and race in Michigan somewhere up in the north part of Michigan and Dick Biondi was hosting it and they Our agent called us and said you guys want to go to Michigan? We did and we did that job there with Dick Biondi, huh? Right? So he was just like a he was just a host. He was the master ceremony, right something in the way Wow, okay. All right.

Did did Bob Surratt play in the band at all with you or no? No, he didn't know were you friends? What was he like when you guys were a nice real congenial guy just like he is, you know when he was on the news This just kind of predates you but like in the 60s they said these things called sock hops Yeah, I know what a sock up is. Yeah DJs would be there and yeah, you know Yeah, my great-grandparents told me about it. Okay Put on your socks and go dance in the hallway.

I'm not that young. I know what a sock on this Yeah, okay, all right and then at what point in time I'm just kind of going through the timeline looking at this Just kind of putting together your your timeline Like in chronological order at one point time you started playing with a couple people that ended up in Chicago Who was the first person? There was somebody that you played with I think after you got out of the service and they went on to I think he was a trumpet player in Chicago What was his name Oh With Chicago he's with the band Chicago Lee Lackney. Yes.

That's what he was in the high school band with me Oh, no kidding. And yeah, all right, you went to school with that Doug DePaul University Wow Do that Davis, you know for a scholarship and then played with Chicago? What the heck were they putting in the water at your high school? I mean, it just seems like musicians that are coming out coming out there in the whole lot of good musicians out of st Yeah, no kidding. So you guys were in the high school band together.

It wasn't like a rock band or anything at your no Yeah, well, we also played in that Big band a jazz band that I was telling you about. All right, okay was that like a The way that wasn't the boys club and that was just like an actual working gigging band that you guys know It was a high school band. It was okay.

Yeah. Okay. All right, and then when did you go into the service? 1962 62 all right, and did you play in the band or play in the what branch to service first of all? First armored division army.

Okay. All right. Did you and did you play in that band? Yes, I played in It was actually a mounted jeep and where we rode in Jeeps a mounted jeep.

It wasn't like that in the beginning Actually, the first time our division was being reactivated under John F Kennedy because of the Cuban Missile Crisis and things that were happening then right and The mounted jeep and came about a year after I was in where we actually rode in the Jeeps. Oh Okay. Okay, it was pretty cool.

I'm trying to imagine that that's to be Mounting a drum set everything in the back of a Jeep and yeah, he had a good name for a band The mounted jeep amounted jeep and first time our division mounted jeep and a good name for a band Yeah, I think that'd be like a like a bluegrass jug band or something. Yeah Yeah, I can totally get that yeah, yeah, yeah, we've got some pictures here that he brought in he said he's got a picture of that Somewhere in there. Okay, and unfortunately our listeners cannot see it.

Please describe it in detail Mike. Yeah Well for the uniform though, it's a mounted jeep band It looks like a bunch of Jeeps driving in formation with Musicians in there. All right There's nothing else I can say about it that it's that simple, but it looks really cool Well, we'll leave it up to our fans to Google that yeah to just to imagine that for sure That wasn't a full-time in the band.

Oh like I wanted to expected it to be because it was a Division band it wasn't a fort like Ford would be right right as a division band So we were in the field after time, you know, okay Yeah, right overs and everything, you know, right, right, right. No, absolutely understand that. Okay.

Okay. So at what point in time did you? Did you own your first drum kit? About two years after I got done playing there at the Chicago Boys Club my parents felt I was worthy of a drum kit a whole kit Yeah, and they bought it me a set of slinger Linda slinger Linda. Okay.

All right black diamond pearl base drum mounted Tom Tom Floor Tom Tom four-piece and a snare drum, right? Right, right was the I'm picturing, you know drums from that era I'm picturing that this just had to have been like a huge bass drum because that's what I'm used to seeing It was a 24, I think 24, okay. All right, and and I'm not a drummer but where were the slinger lens manufactured at the time Couldn't tell you no, I think they're made here in America. Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure they were Yeah, but I was at Ludwig was the famous Chicago Yeah, right, but but slinger lens were made from something made someplace else.

Yeah, I think yeah Yeah, I've seen a actually a friend that has a really old slinger and said it's got to be from the 40s He's taken fantastic. I mean amazing care of it, but I swear that that bass drum looks like it's as big around as this table It's like yeah, you're not gonna be looking that thing around. Yeah, so he's got this one That looks kind of like a five gallon driveway bucket.

No Makes it a lot easier. Okay, excellent. Yeah, so tell us about a little bit after the arm I just found something this into the newsroom.

Okay That's one we can put on the button we could Just coming in it's a bulletin and we're gonna have you home it we've got we've got our reporter out on the street Here's the latest on the slinger land drum company Says the company's manufacturing plant was later moved to Chicago proper to to not from Chicago proper to Niles a suburb in Cook County Illinois, what's there? What was that? Du-du-du-du-du-du Interesting. Oh, I'm not sure when was the when did they move? Dude, I don't know. You know, I wasn't tape.

This isn't this is a bulletin. We're not supposed to take questions We're supposed to give you we're supposed to give you Information and then that was it We have to come up with another reason to come up with a bulletin because I want to hear him do that Well, they started they started in 1913 They started in 1913 originally called the slinger land banjo company. Oh Yes, just the drum with a stick on it.

Yeah, so that's pretty much. Yeah You're listening to the rock and roll Chicago podcast I'm Christy from crime cave podcast I've had a huge interest in true crime since my days of watching marathons of snapped back in the mid 90s I needed an outlet to talk about the cases that have haunted me for a very long time With each episode under 20 minutes. I shine a light on some of the most bizarre cases in the last 50 years Join me in the crime cave Hi, I'm Rick Anthony I'd like to thank my radio brothers Ray the roadie and Hollywood Mike for allowing me to tell you about my podcast The someone you should know podcast We spotlight musicians authors and interesting people and we like to say we're making a difference one artist at a time The podcast is heard twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays And you could check it out on your favorite streaming platforms and on the web at someone you should know podcast calm That's the someone you should know podcast with me Rick Anthony making a difference one artist at a time.

No, no back to your Show. Yeah, right, right, right So so take us after take us after the army Did you come back to Chicago right away or what you have to do when I came right back to Chicago to my parents home Okay, and I wanted to be a full-time musician. Yeah.

Yeah, and how about how old were you at that time? It's 20. Okay. All right, and My first job was with the genie carol orchestra Doing one-nighters, we started in Tuscaloosa Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama went up the East Coast through the Georgia the Carolinas Virginia's across the Midwest, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas all the way to I Think it was my not North Dakota Wow while we split up.

I've been to my not know Wow Man, how many years did you do that? It lasted about it? Not even a year. Oh really? Okay, pretty Strenuous sleep. Yeah, you saw you saw a lot of the country in a very short amount of time doing that kind of thing Yeah, right.

And what was what was I guess? What was your kind of style of music at that time? Was it rock and roll was a jazz? What were you playing mostly jazz when I get out of the service because those were the musicians that I hung around with right that World-renowned Julius Hemphill was alto saxophone player. Oh, I was you know what I was gonna ask you about that. You've played with him Oh, yeah.

Oh, wow concert in Corpus Christi At the Municipal Auditorium there on the Gulf of Mexico We were top billing we weren't top billing, but we were front page of the Corpus Christi newspaper. Okay One night show Yeah, just kind of opening form. Yeah.

Okay, that's interesting What did you get a chance to just hang out with him and oh Yeah, we played several times. We used to go to Austin Every Friday night and play in bars there where they had open jam sessions, right? Right from Friday night till Sunday morning. Nice.

Nice, you know Not a lot of musicians mostly jazz musicians. Sure. Sure.

Sure. Okay Was there ever a point in time or or when was it that you kind of made a move over to maybe rock and roll or? Something like that. That was after it.

Well, I played rock and roll in the service too. I had a rock and roll band. Okay, and Then after I got out, it was strictly all rock and roll.

Oh, okay How to give up the jazz scene wasn't lucrative enough to be making money, you know making a living, you know, right, right But what what what year was it? When did you get out of the service? 62 62. Okay. All right.

All right And I've got another note on here After you played with Julius Hemphill you had the opportunity to play with a or at least open up for What was Peter Cetera's band at the time? Peter Cetera played with the Exceptions, that's it exceptions at the Aragon ballroom. And oh, wow That's where you played with we were both playing there. Okay on the main stage All right.

I was with the group called the Dante's. Okay. Yeah, except yeah, we saw that picture.

Okay. Yeah, and I Say I was this the only guy that ever said this to me I was before if I got to the job early enough, I'd always sit down and warm up, you know, right? And he says well, I never seen a German war off before a gig before Yeah, I never seen a warm-up they're usually out getting the pizza or whatever We're sharing the big stage and there was a band in the lounge out in the lobby called Chambers brothers. Okay.

Okay. They're from England. They were really good.

They had a group a band called time They're good, right right any of the any of the guys in some of these other bands you've named of they've gone on to be in bigger bands or do other things or Do you keep in touch with a bunch of them or I keep in touch with the guys from a band called rooster, which was biggest Best rock-and-roll band I played with that was in the 70s Now didn't that band start off as another name though? Didn't you change it to Chicago choir? Okay, because they're because of their harmonies They didn't be a lot of harmonies. Nice nice three dog night Association stuff like that four part harmonies, right? Right, right now. Is that the band? I think you said you also played with Rufus and Chaka Khan.

Was it was that the band? You're talking about the band. I was playing when I was with Rufus and yeah, I was rooster. Yes.

Okay. Okay. Yeah Yeah, we weren't playing with them.

We're tearing down and they were setting up or we're you know, we worked through the same agency, right? Okay, gotcha. You know, we're moving our shit out. Yeah, they're moving or something.

What was that? I hit the spring here We'll make that one of our buttons. Yeah Yeah That was good, that was good. Did you get a chance to to talk to and meet Gary Loaizo when When you guys were kind of crossing paths with Rufus and Chaka Khan.

No, you didn't. Okay. Yeah, he was a Gary Loaizo I I actually did I I had the opportunity to work with him Just a few years before he passed away.

Yeah, he I had a friend who was Who's a retired? Chicago teacher Howard or as you could say he was in like the Illinois Teachers Union not necessarily Chicago. I believe it taught out in st Charles and He's a piano player and he was putting together his own album to to sell online and all the proceeds We're gonna go to this organization for teachers that he was involved in I think literally all they were doing was Raising money for teachers because you know nowadays teachers have to buy their own pencils teachers have their own notebooks They've got to buy all their own, you know stuff that you need in classes And he said when you come down and you know do some vocal tracks for me on a few songs and I'm like sure not A problem where you know, where are we gonna go? And he goes Oh a friend of mine over in Orland Park and I walk in and it's Gary Loaizo Well, and I mean he's got this wall full of gold and platinum records and from sticks and REO Speedway Yeah, all these things are on the wall. And and here I am Working on vocal tracks with the legendary Gary Loaizo for a CD.

That's just going to raise money to buy pencils That's Still important. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely Yeah And every like once a year I get the the picture pops up on my social media Timeline is lean like my memory and stuff and absolutely.

I absolutely love that picture. So So that's my little connection there that we we probably had a little you know brush with fame together. So I Can't read my own writing.

Oh No, that definitely sounds like a problem. Oh Yeah, so tell us a little bit. How'd you? Tell us a little bit about your your brush with fame in the form of of Brownsville station We're on the road again, right, right and That's an interesting story we lost our guitar player and He didn't die Wondering about that On us we were playing at a club called the Golden Falcon Okay in Ann Arbor, Michigan big college town.

Yeah, right. Yeah, and he walked off on this He didn't get along with the band leader, you know, like I said, we're that particular band We were both hired sidemen and him and the chick were you know the stars, right, right, right? So After he walked off there was a music store Elm Alley's music store in Ann Arbor that this kid used to hang around and every time we went in there he was there. Hmm and The band leader talked to him and he says well, I don't know.

I just got out of high school I don't know if my dad will let me you know, I don't he was 18 Yeah, and and and what was his name again? Who was like Mike Cubby Coda? Yeah, right, right. Okay yeah, and he asked his father and his father let him go with us and And Traveled with us rest of Michigan, Wisconsin Minnesota, right Rochester, Minneapolis How long was that was it was it a few years or just a few months or no, it's probably almost I want to say eight nine months maybe because my son was born in Ann Arbor and I want to say he was eight or nine months old when the band split up That was when he asked me to go back to Ann Arbor with him and put together the Brownsville station Wow, and I told him I says, well, I got a wife and a baby and no money coming in, you know Right, right gotta go back to Chicago. So which is what I did and a couple years later.

He comes out with smoking in the boys Then you spent the next couple hours just banging your head against the wall Yeah Yeah, yeah, but but yes, it was a one-hit wonder but then along comes Motley Crue 1980 1985 and Motley Crue comes out with the theater of pain album. Yeah and smoking in the boys room blows up and Probably made him a lot of money Wow, no kidding. Well, that's that's that's that's interesting now Did you guys hired him as a guitar player correct, but in Brownsville station he was there the keyboard player wasn't he? No, he was a guitar player.

Okay. All right hard to okay. Okay.

All right. All right. Maybe that's what I'm thinking of Okay.

Yeah. Yeah, that's that's a that's a good story. Wow.

See so you influenced Motley Crue Directly if it comes down to it, that's right. That's right. That's right.

All right And you know, I guess the last thing that kind of Stuck out as I was kind of looking at me and finding out you were playing back in Chicago and Like over in the Rush Street area and the whole bit and then buddy miles page a nice compliment. Yes. Yeah Yeah, he's playing it.

I think we were playing in Russia Rush over rush over was on the ground floor of the hotel, Maryland. Mm-hmm He was another club across the street owned by the same people right go rush up, okay okay, and it was had a lot of stairs we played there also, but it had a Very steep set of stairs, which we had a hand hold that Hammond b3, Oregon, you know, oh gosh. Yeah Yeah, but anyway, we'd take a break and there he's sitting there at the table and then look I said, oh shit That's buddy miles, right? Right.

Yeah, he says hey, how you doing? This is good. Are you this is really doing here? You know because they're playing across the street. I don't know if they got off earlier, you know They had some time in between breaks, right? He says I come to see the hottest drummer on Rush Street Wow Wow The hottest drummer on Rush Street.

That's what he said. Very cool Well, you had to have earned that nickname some some kind of way. Yeah, I mean I Played a lot of drums.

Did you ask him? Did you ask him how that how you know who we heard that from and I played up there a lot though with you know, different bands. Not just rooster, right spiral staircase Utah which was the same band, you know, right, right, right. I wonder if that area you're talking about on Rush Street over there as you're describing and I'm wondering if it's that area where Oh geez, I think I think Tavern on the Tavern, I think Tavern on Rush is there now because there's this is an area where there's like a lot of outside Staircases and multi levels of different clubs.

I think there's like the Gibsons is over there and Hugo's frog bars over there And I haven't seen stuff like that 30 years 40 years. Yeah, did you ever did you ever spend some time? Like on the south side like off of Halstead and stuff over by the what was it? like The the area where the old Maxwell Street market was and stuff and over there Maxwell Maxwell and Halstead stuff You ever play over in that area? I don't recall playing exactly in that area, but I Used to go to what they call Jewtown on Sunday mornings on Halstead Maxwell, right? Right, right I stuff, you know, yeah We used to play in places in the Eminem Club the merchandise mart and the high-rises in the loop, you know, which wasn't that far from Halstead Street there, right, right and we used to get our Costumes Smokey Joe's on Roosevelt and Halstead Smokey Joe's at Roosevelt and Halstead Wow, they sold all the flamboyant looking bling clothes, right? Right, right all bottoms and everything. I'm trying I'm trying to think where that what I went to I went to UIC Okay, well, you know back back in those days.

They would have called it circle campus, right? Yeah, yeah, but and I was a kinesiology major So I spent most of my time in the in the PE building which is right there at that intersection You know at at Roosevelt and Halstead and I'm trying to think where that might possibly be because the only other place I can think Of is SIDS, which is actually on Well, that's on Roosevelt just East of Halstead it was on Halstead It's just maybe two stores south of Roosevelt right on the northwest Corner, right, right I brought that up because my grandfather mom my grandpa my grandparents loved to go dancing and my my grandfather was a Carpenter worked for the city Chicago was a carpenter on his life and he'd get home every day at around 3 30 or 4 o'clock and by 7 o'clock him and My grandmother out in that area just dancing and they it would be Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday night. It didn't matter It didn't matter if he had to get up at 4 o'clock the next day or whatever They were out dancing and he used to tell me stories all the time about going down to that old Maxwell area He'd walk into one bar and Howlin Wolf is playing and he'd walk out of that bar and go across the street and Muddy Waters Is playing and he'd go to the next bar and there's Chuck Berry in town just finished recording a record And there's Chuck Berry playing in the next bar And I just can't imagine what that would have been like To be in that area to just see all those guys because just go bar hopping and see all these legends You know just just musicians cutting their teeth, you know, it's just it's pretty amazing. So You know, I'd say, you know guys like you are a world of knowledge.

You are a library of music and experiences You know from eras that people don't pay attention to now Everything's electronic nowadays and nobody nobody wants to take the time to learn how to play the drums when you can just hit a button and Go do yeah, you know, it's it's what kind of advice would you give us, you know, some younger kids nowadays that are Thinking about learning to become a musician just in general or the drums specific give us some parting words of wisdom Let's say if you can if you have anything in your heart to play music It's a very good line to be into. Yeah, I mean even if it's just for yourself, you know It opens up your heart, right? It says things in your mind that you would never say, you know, it's feeling right. It's feeling Continue if you can, you know, right, right.

Did you pass that along to any of your children? And Still playing drums good in Arizona, you know in Arizona. Yeah. Wow.

Okay full-time, or is it just like it's not like it's hot Part time. Yeah. Yeah.

Good. Excellent. Excellent.

He works pretty regular. Yeah, that's good to hear. That's good to hear You still getting out and playing at all? No, not recently.

It's been about a year, you know, right? I Had those congas and those bongos. Like I say I sat in with Acoustical guitar players in different bands Silver Strings and Yeah Right, right, right Gosh, I've heard of Silver Strings. Oh, they've been around a long time.

Yeah, okay blue dress rock and roll Right everything band, you know, right, right, right good, right. Well, that's good. That's good I'll tell you what you've come out and seen me a few times.

Yeah, if you ever get out there again, drop me a line I'd love to come out and see you for sure Yeah, sounds good Well, thanks a lot for coming out tonight, thank you do appreciate it was great talking appreciate having you here nice meeting you guys Thank you. I feel like going to smoke in the boys room. I Don't even smoke Well cigars, I don't I I don't need to no no, but well cigars.

Yes Preferred not, you know, you'd get caught in the boys room smoking cigars, you know that that that would yeah Easily you could you could you can get a cigarette, but there's no way you'd smoke cigar. Yeah Yeah, never easily, you know, I have a feeling, you know Tom If we met him someplace and had a couple of bourbons with him He'd have a lot, you know a lot more stories to tell he's I'm sure he would he's been playing music for a long time And he's he's had a lot of those near misses near near brushes with the fame. Can you imagine that you know? Hey, why don't you come join Brownsville station? Now? I got a wife and kid on the way.

Mm-hmm And in two years later smoking in the boys room You just don't know you don't know Absolutely, that's pretty cool. Yeah, you don't and you you know, you have an effect on other people too, right? I mean you play with them Maybe you passed along some good advice to them or you just never know you were in their life at one time and you know They made it right exactly exactly. I'm glad I'm glad Tom came up to me It was it was uh, it was one afternoon Cadillac groove was playing the corn fest in Morris and he came up and introduced himself to me and I was like boy this guy sounds really interesting and he knew about the podcast and everything and he told me about this new local notables thing and Hey, I however we can promote that because I think that's I think that's fantastic There should be a few people that we should be able to nominate for sure Well, I'm telling you I bet you there's a lot of local notables.

Maybe we'll be able to find some of these people and Have them on the show. Absolutely, you know, I'll nominate you you nominate me. Okay.

Got it deal Okay, now we think people hear us all the time there. They've had enough of us now We have to do something to be notable. That's right All righty, all righty Well, here's another great podcast for all of you out there and rock and roll Chicago podcast land as always Thanks for listening and make sure you tune in every Tuesday for another exciting episode of the rock and roll Chicago podcast See you then The rock and roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin theme song courtesy of M&R rush The rock and roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music heard on the show The music is used to promote the guests that are featured