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 still Hollywood Mike Mottoyer, how you doing still Hollywood Mike, that's right No change that I'm I'm never gonna Outlive that one. I'm never I never am.

Okay. I'm always thinking of a new name You know, I don't know if you can though because it's official it's on my motorcycle jacket. Well, that's true But you know the reason why people started calling me that has nothing to do with music now from my day job I work in like the science field okay, and I went to a trade show one time and normally when people go to those trade shows they wear like New Balance sneakers and you know khaki pants and a golf shirt and I walked in one day wearing suit and sunglasses and somebody Said hey Hollywood's here.

Oh There you go. That's it stuck. It's been my nickname since I was about 25 years old Yeah, it's all going on like three years now and my motorcycle nickname was schlep schlep Yeah, it's because every time you want to go riding and I always check the weather and if it looked like it's gonna rain I'm like no.

No, I'm not going to ride in the rain. I'm not personally put my and he said man You're like schlep rock. I got the always got the cloud above my head, you know Schlep was named schlep.

All right, so I didn't want like die on the road and and then have a bunch of vultures circling overhead That's what's called a Segway, that's right Well, there's vultures here in the studio there are vultures here so Tell us who you are, how you doing? Hey, hi So I'm one of the vultures. My name is Tony Cruz, and I'm Dan McDowell And we also have with us here My name is a race. I am NOT officially a vulture I'm an honorary vulture today subbing in for the league guitars Chad But I do play a lot on in multiple bills in the area with the vultures I am another proud Chicago and musician and I am a huge vultures groupie and fan and know probably more about them than Anybody else so very true Forget what they're talking about She is the rustling in the bushes outside your window, that's right She's She's picking up the scraps that they're they left.

Oh, yeah Yeah, you can tell a lot about what you're listening to while you're dancing your underwear in front of the mirror. That's true So, how did this all come together who started this all well Dan and I and Chad We all kind of met we've known each other for a couple years, but we didn't officially really kind of like start doing anything until like 2021 we all met through like the local open mic scene and we just kept going to open mics We just kept jamming out together. And the next thing, you know, Dan Chad and myself.

We just started jamming Yeah. Yeah, I worked at Ballydoyle and Donald's Grove and Often had whiskey while I was working and so I'll just listen. Oh, yeah I know I know well And then you know just poach my favorite musicians that I would find in the open mic because I think that's how you do it Yeah, I was I actually played there while he was bartending my time and we did drink whiskey together But he didn't poach me because he only likes good music He said he used to work he used to work So Tony I know you are you're you play keyboards? Yes want to let everybody know what you're doing You're you're on the keyboards So I guess we don't have to let anybody know what you're doing now because I guess told everybody what you do Yeah, and Dan you are the lead singer.

That's right and rhythm guitar player. Yeah, I'm occasionally the lead guitarist So cool thing about us is the three of us. All right, so we got you know, Tony songs I'll switch the lead guitar sometimes on Chad songs and then I'll sing and play rhythm and chattel by the lead Right, but she's kind of a cool system So and that kind of allows me to do a little bit of everything which is very fun, right? And I might mess this up a few times before I get it right, but it's it's areas.

It's actually it's a Reyes Like Ray, you know a race so you got to think about it Ray the Rodius. Oh Ray is a schlep Yeah, it's a schlep. That's what it is Don't call me a schlep, excuse me But no, it's okay.

Everyone messes it up. So on my Instagram in my bio I have the pronunciation and then but I also understand why it's confusing because he comes before I Right. So most people think it's the opposite because that's the rule But you know, I I am I'm a punk rock queen and I am Rules are made to be broken and there's two hours in it as well, right? There is see see I'm observant Indeed you are but yes, just like a ray of sunshine or a ray Perfect.

I will never I will never forget that and you on occasion can be seen singing performing and playing with the vultures I know I've seen you on stage with them at Ballydoys. I'm pretty sure it was about that was when I saw it Absolutely. No, I actually met Dan at Ballydoys He was serving me whiskey, you know, it's a common thread, but I was the pretty girl that sang real pretty at the bar So I was getting those Jamison shots for nothing, you know Yeah, it's starting to come together.

The story is to why Dan is no longer at Ballydoys And I've never been to Ballydoys. I've got to get there. Okay, so it's gone now So what is it? So we are at we are let me tell you where we are He's never been to Ballydoys first of all.

Oh, no, he's never been to Nashville. What? Oh You call yourself a music fan we came up we came up with one on Monday, too No, I was just joking about that when a hangover park. Oh Hanover Park.

You've never been to Hanover. I've been handled Okay, but yeah, he's never he's never been to Nashville So I think we have to take this on the road and go to Nashville and see who we can. Yeah irritate Well, you know, there's somebody from Chicago down there.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. You got it. We've got one two Yeah, trying to recruit a three right here.

Okay, you know excellent. Excellent I think I saw one of the earliest formations of this band because they also used to hang out as many of the musicians that we've had on this podcast at the Studio and I think I may have seen one of the first performances Of you guys and you picked up a few of the other guys that have played with you That's around about that area and a couple other jams Why don't you tell us about some of the other people that you're playing with sure. So we picked up Zachary Sonny Edwards So it's great musician plays guitar Solo shows all the time, but he's a great drummer drums are his first instrument So he kind of been itching to play some drums So I didn't know he played the drums until like I knew him for like six months Yeah, and then he decides to go back and play the drums.

He's great. Yeah Really good. He'll catch you off guard.

So and then we got a Mike Palumbo. So yeah, our resident guy twice my age. Love him Yeah, I think he needs fixed.

He's fixing it records for everything. It's great. I love that guy Yeah, we've been through a couple guys just you know, things don't work out but these guys are pretty consistent So yes of all your group of guys I think I I don't know Mike extremely well But I've got more of a connection to him because he and I have a lot of common friends because we are closer in age And he's actually jammed with a couple of people.

I played with. Oh, yeah He's a hockey player too. So he's just knows every to everywhere we go.

He knows somebody that you know That's he's one of those guys right right a guy for everything. Yeah Having that guy in the crew So tell us about the philosophy tell us about the band Yeah, so so I I guess the philosophy of the vultures is I mean again, you know Like so what Dan was saying at the beginning Dan write songs. I write songs Chad write songs That's how we all kind of just came together We all brought our own like original songs and then we just kind of flesh them out And that's what we just kind of went with it.

So oh, yeah Yes, try to get everybody a little bit a little bit of shine It makes for a fun show because we play a little musical chairs Helps a lot shake it up a little bit keep it interesting some bands like to you know The person that writes the song likes to bring the song and then it kind of acts like the director or the conductor until everybody's on board with the idea How do you guys do that? Somebody show up with a melody and some lyrics and everybody else just kind of adds their polish to it Or how does that work for you? You know, we most of us had songs already written before we formed a band So I already had my songs pretty fleshed out. I used to be in a band called the all-nighters with Henry share, I think, you know from black bolts. Okay, that's spectral silhouette there.

They're ridiculously good rockabilly But yeah, we had a band called the all-nighters for a couple years So I played a lot of my songs and kind of flesh it out with them So when I brought them to the vultures, they were pretty formed So we didn't really change much which is kind of fun, too So we actually the first song we wrote together was our first single which is curtains Chad and I sat down with a case of white closet, you know 1 a.m. And And knocked out what would be our first single so but it's kind of interesting because the rest of them were kind of formed before We you know before we're even together. Well, I'm curious. What did you do for alcohol that night? That's right.

Yeah, I Drank 11 of them and Which I think most people could do very easily 11 11 white claws cuz like BAM I know and Chad had one and got just as drunk She's calling him out. No, I'm not He's a very very very good good man and a lovely guitar player so anyways but no the cool thing about curtains is that now I get quite the honor of being able to sing it with Dan and the Vultures and everybody because I do some background. Sometimes we trade verses.

I Absolutely love that song. So whenever I get to sing that one on stage with them, it's quite an honor I think that's I think you guys should perform that one then. Oh, yeah.

Oh, we definitely will. Yeah Oh for sure, right? Yeah, like now like right I Oh No, sir, well I find you Same things that I do Take your feet And if you go, I'll do the same. Got something after all.

All the physical reminders in a song. Well, I think that we've got something after all. You know I wouldn't change your trade, but oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

You've come so close to falling down. They should see us now. My feet are frozen touching ground.

They should see us now. You took too long to wake me up. So in dreams I'll stay.

You took too long to wake me up. Well, it's better this way. Because I think that we've got something after all.

All the physical reminders in a song. Well, I think that we've got something after all. You know I wouldn't change your trade, but oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Very nice. Very good. Wow, powerful, soulful, sensitive.

Dare I say tender? Sultry. You know, a little bit? A little bit? No, I guess you can throw sultry in there. That was really good.

That was good. Thank you. So where'd that one come from? That's the infamous White Claw Night song.

You know, you write songs as well. Sometimes you write a song out of stream of consciousness, and then you kind of afterwards are like, oh, you know, that's what I was talking about. So it turns out it's about a relationship.

And I didn't even realize it at the time, but it's very much about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just like a move to different places situation.

And that's kind of how it splits. So it's like, you know, your feelings are your feelings. But you know, just move on.

So that's kind of what that actually ended up coming from, which is interesting. I think I realized it about six months later. Yeah, yeah, kind of too late.

Maybe we've got something after all. Damn. I think it worked out for the better.

But it's just, yeah, so that's kind of where that came from. And Chad's noodling on the guitar, and I'm messing with some chords and kind of just spit out the whole song, really. And when we went to record it, I wrote the bridge.

When we walked in, kind of, I was like, this would be cool if there was a bridge. So I just immediately wrote a bridge that she remembers the words better than me on. And that is why they keep me around.

That's right, that's right. I'm the old steel trap memory bank. That's exactly right.

That's good, that's good. And then we just kind of mess with it a little bit in the studio. And yeah, that ended up being the first single.

So I'm proud of it. Yeah, excellent. No, I like that.

That's great. So the guys that aren't here, what are they doing right now? Where are they? Chad, well, Chad is our other singer-songwriter in the band. He lives in Chicago.

OK. Yeah. So he said, yeah, I'm not driving out there.

You guys can do this one. Something like that. Yeah.

I know that my guy is an asshole. I'm not going to sit in the studio with him for 45 minutes and talk to him. He's like, forget it.

He's like, nah, I'm good. He's met you before. Yeah.

Mikey Palumbo, I don't know what he's doing. You never know what Mike's doing. Yeah.

And then Zack Sonny Edwards, our drummer, he's actually doing a showcase tonight. Oh, is he really? Yeah. Yeah, he does.

I think it's once a month at the Vulnerable Showcase. OK. Where is that? Black Dog Vinyl.

It is. OK, yeah, yeah. You know, that place is starting to get more and more popular.

I walked in the door for the first time like three years ago. And booked a couple of dates with them and ended up having to go out of town twice on them. And I'm just like embarrassed.

I don't want to go back in there anymore and blow them off for the third time. I wouldn't be embarrassed, too, I can see. Yeah, they're so nice.

They'll be back. They are. They are such nice people.

They really are. And I have been in there because I know a few of the people that kind of run the jam over there in a little bit. And I've been in there and some of my friends have played there.

Oh, yeah. It's a good spot. It's starting to pick up steam.

And, you know, I'm glad to see that because the first time, you know, first time I went in there, it was like me. And I got to just kind of hang out and drink beer with those guys and go through their records. Yeah, that's awesome.

It's a dangerous place for me. All right. Yeah.

Beer and records. Yeah, it's. So do you write anything? Tony, because I mean, you play the piano when you do some solo shows and stuff like that.

You got any thing in your repertoire? Yeah. So, OK. So when we joined the band, Dan, you know, like primarily had a ton of songs again because, you know, he was in a band before.

Chad, who's not here, was in a band originally called White Hen, and they would perform all in the city too as well. Myself, I just started writing original songs just like a couple of years ago. And I'm actually very lucky that one of those songs became our single.

Our latest single, actually. Yeah, it's called And The Light Turns On. Oh, OK.

All right. Is it pretty much a piano driven song since it's kind of your instrument? Yeah. Yeah, it is.

Yeah, it starts off on the piano. It's got like the little piano, you know, like intro melody. And it's actually really cool because like that stayed with the song for such a long time.

And then at one point as we were recording it, I'm like, Dan, I'm like, you should do that melody on the guitar. You like the riff? And we did. It's stuck.

And now, yeah, it's part of the song now. Wow. That's good.

That's good. I mean, the first time I met you and you came in, I think it was at the studio. And I can't remember if you brought a piano along with you or whatever it is.

You did. We're going to get one there, by the way. But because we're getting more and more piano players to show up.

But, you know, young folks and I say young folks such as yourself, because I think I'm old enough. I mean, he for sure is old enough to be all your your fathers. Oh, thanks.

Yeah. And I'm old enough. I think I'm old enough to be your father's as well.

But just I'll just go back to my nap now. Yeah. Get off my lawn.

No, but, you know, it's refreshing because, you know, a bunch of young people nowadays, they want to pick up the guitar. They want to sing, you know, or whatever. But, you know, there's a few instruments that tend to kind of be dying breeds when it comes to wanting to learn that one is the piano.

And you don't see a lot of young cats playing trumpet, playing saxophone or doing that kind of thing anymore. So it's good to see that kind of stuff happening. I also play the trumpet if you're looking.

Oh, do you really? Well, I didn't know that. I didn't know that. Yeah.

I'm a pianist. That's where I started. I do know that.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's that's news to me.

And that's heartbreaking. I think the piano is like the best way for kids to kind of learn and have, you know, treble clef, bass clef, like a good range of sound and a good it develops a great ear. It helps music theory come so easily.

So that's that's very sad. But no, I'm a pianist as well. So I highly encourage, you know, piano lessons.

And I see like in the Illinois Rock and Roll, you know, museum here that all you have the studios with all the stuff that you're going to do lessons in. So, right. Hit me up if you need some piano lesson.

Well, you know, I think you met the the president and CEO of the museum a little bit earlier. They have a chance to meet Ron. Yes, they did.

Yeah, that's that's the guy to talk to. That's awesome, because I know they're going to be doing that. They're going to be doing that eventually.

No, that's awesome. But I think Tony can really relate to this as, you know, a songwriter who's a piano. I think that being a pianist and a songwriter, it lends itself to a lot of different melodies and a lot of different arrangements of what you can do with a song, you know.

And so I think having that, obviously, in the vultures is a huge asset that they have to have both a keys player and a, you know, two really competent guitarists as well, you know, because then now they're this full idea. There's this full project that can go so many different directions in the alt rock world, you know. So I think it's fantastic.

Right. You know, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that, you know, a guitar is a lot more mobile. You know, it's getting it's getting better with keyboards nowadays.

But but still, I mean, that's a pretty large piece of equipment to be hauling around with you. Yes, it is. It is.

Oh, yeah. We know all about that. I oh, yeah.

I'm kind of a snob, though. I carry that 88 key weighted key Yamaha with me. That's what I mean.

In the back of my car at all times, because you just never know when you're going to have to play. Yeah, you know. So but that thing, it's a when I first moved to Nashville, I had a Mini Cooper.

And so the edge of the piano actually had to go between the driver and the passenger seat because it wasn't long enough to fit in there. And I would just have it in my car with me. It would slam my arm.

I'd be trying to like shift or something. But hey, it was worth it. You always have to be ready for that.

You know, open mic that whatever that opening show and stuff like that. And Tony's pretty good at that as well. He's always got that on him.

Speaking of shows, that's actually what makes it really cool when we have a show with Arias, because she's a piano player. I'm a piano player. So we're like, hey, there's a guaranteed piano at this show.

So, wow. Yeah. So we share it.

Yeah. Truth be told, the only formal music lessons I ever took were organ lessons. Oh, not piano, not piano lessons, organ lessons.

You made it harder on yourself. Yeah. You got the feet involved.

Yeah, that was exactly it. And it was all because I saw my I'm not kidding you. His name was Ricky Ricardo.

Ricky Ricardo. His name was Ricky Ricardo. He's in third grade and we're at a school assembly.

I went to little Catholic school. And here's my friend, Ricky Ricardo, up in front of the entire school playing this organ. Right.

And I'll never forget he played the Marines him. You know, he played the Marines him. Right.

I went home that night and I said, my dad, Ricky can do it. I want to do it. I want an organ.

I swear. A week later, there was an organ in our living room. And it was it was one of those.

It was one of those 1970, you know, 374 Wurlitzers that Ray Charles would occasionally spin around and play double keyboard and the whole bit and the pedals and everything. I do. I still have it in the in my basement.

And, you know, it needs the electronics need cleaning in the whole bit. And I keep telling I offer it to a lot of people. So I'll offer it to you if you ever.

It's not heavy. I mean, I can pick it up off the ground. I can.

It's just, you know, you can't carry it upstairs by yourself or anything. If anybody ever wants to come and pick that thing up and gig with it because it's got a direct out and everything on it and everything just goes there and just have this real organ. I mean, there is no sound like it.

There really isn't ever to have a real Wurlitzer with a warbling speaker in the whole bit. I mean, you can't duplicate that sound. That's serious.

And I guess I'm not I'm not good enough to play it anymore live. So I don't I don't do it live. But, you know, so what else do you have planned for us? What else do you have prepared? Oh, man, we had a couple of cool things this summer coming up.

We just played at Reggie's this week. It was a good time. They did a cool like a couple of bands come in and you flip a coin to see who plays first.

Oh, yeah. That's really interesting show. Oh, that was pretty cool.

Yeah. Zach Fedor and something opened up for us and then flipped a coin and won first. It's pretty cool.

I don't mind the 830 slot. Right. You know, and we've got like specifically we've got the homegrown festival.

I think you're familiar with that. Are they doing that in Lyle again this year? They're doing that at base camp. Actually, this Friday, there's a battle of the bands and also won't be out quite then.

But this Friday, we're the judges for a battle of the bands, which is pretty cool. Oh, that's actually her. And I came up for that from Nashville.

So, oh, no kidding. Yeah. So on Friday, same place, base camp in Lyle.

There'd be like four bands and then we're the judges, which is pretty cool. So the two of you have recently been spending time in Nashville. That's correct.

Yeah, we both live there. So I just moved. I didn't know that.

When did you when you moved there? Maybe two months ago when they fired him from Bali. Don't. Yeah, exactly.

Nobody. Nobody within 50 miles would hire him around here. It was like, you're kidding me.

That's when I pounced. That's when I recruited him. I was like, hey, you need somewhere to go.

So so do you travel back and forth to do the vultures thing? Yeah. Yeah. So it's working.

The boys all still live up here. And then like a lot of times, like we're saying, her and I are on the same bill. The vultures in a race.

OK, we'll plan it out when a weekend every month or this month. It was a week. I come out and play and see everybody.

And it's kind of great. Yeah, it's like a built in thing. Going really well.

Yeah. So far. Yeah.

I got scared for a second when I was like, OK, he's moving. I'm like lead singer. Gone.

You're driving back and forth. You're flying. You're driving back and forth.

OK, I got a pretty sick Ford Transit Connect. Yeah, so it's actually fit the Mini Cooper in the back of the. I actually made so many jokes about that at first when I first got it, because I was devastated.

I was like, I drive a two seat like Mini Cooper. How am I supposed to drive this eight passenger van? It's quite a switch. And they were like, oh, just take it with you.

And I was like, oh, it's a genius idea. Actually, I'm totally down. But no, it's it's been really good being able to have more and more musicians that have come to Nashville.

I kind of went in the friend group. At least I was sort of the first one to move to Nashville. There are some people like Kenny Haas, who went before me and stuff like that.

But in the friend group, I was kind of the first one to go down. And then my guitarist and bassist from here eventually moved very shortly after. And now we've got Dan.

And so I think it's now become this really cool pipeline where you got to get the people at home, the people that you really care about and you want to take everyone with you, you know, and there's a lot of hope. And so coming back here, then it's awesome as, you know, young bands where our careers are very fragile and we need to build that platform. So having these multiple locations to be able to gig in and to create these pipelines between is absolutely crucial to become building the platform, the fan base, stuff like that.

So trying to get the vultures down in June for some shows, too. And it's been it seems to be working out. They played a couple of my single release parties over the summer in Nashville.

And I it's been such an honor to come back and be part of this community to the community that kind of founded us. Right now, have you been playing mostly in like that downtown area around Broadway in Nashville? Are you like on the outskirts of town in the whole bit? Because there's some there's some great clubs out there. Oh, my gosh.

Absolutely. I mean, that's the you know, in my opinion, Broadway is like the touristy spot. Right.

You're completely correct. It's the fringe of this fringes of the city where people. Yeah, that's the places to go.

Nashville is not just country. Nashville is everything. It is a mecca of the music industry.

So Broadway is, you know, for bachelorette parties that want to listen to Tennessee Whiskey 92 times and cry and get really wasted. You know, that's and you know, and that's great. And those me.

I can't listen to that song one more time. I can't do it. Oh, believe you me, Mike Hollywood.

Me, too. But anyways. But no, I think like the part one of the clubs that I really have kind of come up in now was Alley Taps.

It's in Printers Alley, just a block north of Broadway, kind of runs perpendicular to Broadway. And it's one of the few bars that does really encourage original music. And they love it.

They are totally cool with it. And you put on your show there and you still kind of get that touristy feel because people it's so close to Broadway. People walk up there, you know, probably because they're lost.

But whatever, I'll take it. And then they kind of stumble upon an original musician like myself or like the Vultures. They played, you know, on my set there as well.

And it was a really awesome place. And then you go a little bit south into Franklin. You get the best bar in the world, which is Kimbrough's.

Everyone's jamming in the back room there. Kimbrough's. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

We're going to hopefully play there with J.J. Smith in June with the Vultures. So, no, there's a lot of really, really great places. I play a lot at the basement venues, a lot in the East Nashville, the young hipster section of town, you know? Yeah, I don't know.

And the benchmark was I can't remember if that's on Broadway or if it's over there in Printers Row. Benchmark. Benchmark.

It's called the benchmark. It I am not familiar with a bar called the benchmark. But then again, all those bars are constantly changing over all the celebrity, you know, country musicians are buying them and flipping them and all that stuff.

But it could be in Printers Alley. There's a lot and there's also a lot of rooftop things, too. So it could it could be something like that.

But benchmark, I think, is a whiskey. It is. But but it's also the name of a bar.

Yeah, that's why it's also the name of it makes sense. Because I was I was there pre covid and I just walked in there because it's all benchmark. They got to have bourbon there.

And I mean, I if you want to find me, just look for a bourbon bar. And so I decided to just go into benchmark. And there was a guitar sitting on a stand.

And I said, anybody playing tonight? And the bartender goes, go ahead if you want to. That's how it is. Sure.

Literally. No, that's that's that's how it is. When I first got to Nashville, I would no shame just even walk up to the Broadway stages and be like, hey, you want me to play for five minutes? I promise I'm not terrible.

Want to take a lap with the tip bucket? Want to like rest your voice from this four hour set? They're like, all right, sure. Why not? Whatever. Whatever.

Yeah. And then I didn't suck. And then I made friends.

That's it. Well, it's located on Second Avenue North. Yes.

Unfortunately, it is permanently closed. Oh, see, that's because I played there. Yes, that's right.

Right here. Right here. I just Googled and it says when Mike McToyer played here the next day, they permanently closed.

Yep. They're like, no, we go on. We're done.

We're out of here. Yeah. Boy, Mike.

Yeah. Benchmark, Mike. Right, right.

No, sorry. No, no, no. OK, so like so like speaking of some places, we got some cool shows coming up at the end of May.

And Aureus is a part of them, too. So on Friday, May 26, us, the Vultures, Aureus and the Kings Rising, we're playing at the Fox River's Edge Theater in Yorkville. So we're going to be there.

And then the next night, the 27th of May, we'll be there again with Aureus and Isabella Snow at Golden Dagger in Chicago. OK, excellent. Excellent.

And what are the dates? Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27th. OK, I was making sure that's far enough out so that when this airs, it's a promo for you. That's right.

And the whole month of June, you're going to be in Nashville. Not the whole month. No.

But I think like a good weekend. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

We're almost a week. Yeah. Absolutely.

Send me send me some links to to some of those shows because I got a lot of friends in Nashville. I'll tell them to go check you guys out and and see it for sure. Awesome.

You had a big show in June, too. Oh, yes. So now I'm throwing at the basement.

I'm throwing a kickoff to Pride with some other musicians in the area, too. And so that's going to work. I'll get crazy because that's that's all.

OK, so my whole brand, I'm a pop princess diva. OK. Yes.

Like Queen shit work. Sorry. Sorry.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

No, you point that out. No, this is this is a podcast. OK.

All right. Yeah, we can we can all say shit. We can all we can say shit.

I know. It's like, oh, well, because I was just on a podcast last week in Nashville and he was specifically I could tell not swearing. And I was like, I didn't even know how to contain myself, you know, but no.

So we're I I do wild stuff. I love to do this like dramatic costume change. Lots of glitter.

You got to put on a show. I've seen it. I know it's it's it's it's it is electrifying.

That's the when I first saw one of your clips. That's exactly what I thought. You were wearing some kind of outfit that looked like you were on fire.

Oh, yes. And from one of my the Battle of the Bands last year, when I had like the red fringe and everything like that. Yeah, it was like a Hunger Games thing or something.

Oh, my gosh. I'm such a fan. We just watched the Hunger Games not that long ago.

Oh, God. So good. Anyways.

But no. So it's awesome also because I am a huge advocate of the LGBT community. So being in and getting to be their ally and having like a lot of the, you know, drag queens and local, you know, queer performers and stuff like that is such an honor to kick off that whole weekend and at a great venue like the basement, such an awesome venue.

There is I'm I am hoping for a lot of things that I can't say on air that we can really make this this one. There's some definitely some rumors on people that we might get on that bill that I am really, really stoked for. So that one.

Yeah. I'll send you the link to that so you can have your friends come out for a really fun and sparkly evening. Sparkly evening.

Yes, absolutely. So you got another song for us? Yeah. Yeah.

We're here. We want people to hear the music, right? That's it. That was good.

That was awesome. Very good. This is spectacular, everybody.

I call that three note. Yes. Yes.

So we're going to we're going to set these up again for you. Get your keyboard. I'll play.

I'll play another one of mine. Blackout, I think I definitely played at the studio when you were hosting that one night, I believe I borrowed your guitar. And I was walking in your eyes And some DJ's were there to say Look at the torture Look at me and you talk about the torture So keep me touching out of my eyes And some DJ's were there to see And I was never sure I'm black, I'm blind And waiting on the sidelines Look at the torture Look at me and you talk about the torture So keep me touching out of my eyes And some DJ's were there to see And I was never sure I'm black, I'm blind And waiting on the sidelines Tony, we love you.

Well, there's groupies here. Yeah, there is. Well, you know, they brought their own.

That's that's a pretty smart thing. You have to get an entourage. You know, if you're going to be a rock star, you have to play the part.

You know, yeah. Yeah, that's right. You know, I think that's the name of the next album.

Entourage of one. Hmm. Nice.

Or or the next song, Entourage of one. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think, you know, the first time I heard you guys as a band, I thought you had something going on.

And and in listening to you guys most recently and especially today, you know, I hope it happens for you, because how can it not? I think you guys are coming. I think you guys are coming along at the right time. The style of music, the style of things that you're writing.

I don't know if it's by design. I don't know if it's just what comes out of you when you write. But right now, that music is hot.

I mean, that's that's the thing right now. It's and I don't know how to say this without without it sounding almost like an insult, because because the hot thing right now is let's take three chords. Let's take four chords and make them as funky as we can make them.

Yeah. Right. And throw some words or words over the top of it.

You know, it's kind of like the Tom Petty philosophy for writing a song. Sure. If it's got more than three or four chords, it's too complicated.

You don't want to deal with it. Yeah, I got a whole slew of songs that have 40 chords in them, and I don't enjoy playing them. So you got to think too much.

Like, I like it. Believe me, when you get older and you have to remember words and chords, you're like, no, screw that. That put this back over there on a notebook.

Yeah, I mean, where you put your guitar. Right. Oh, I'm already there.

Yeah, no, I like I like simple. I think I really like simple for for writing. And that's kind of always been, you know, since I was you know, I I wrote like an album when I was like 18.

That's very confusing and complicated for no reason. And then after that, I was like, you know what, man? You know, four chords is fine. I think.

Yeah, I think I think everybody goes through. Yeah. I so I was hosting the jam on Sunday, which I do every Sunday.

Yeah. So you guys are always welcome on Sunday if you're in town or whatever. Please come out.

But, you know, I met somebody for the first time. And I said to this person, I'm going to hide the identity of this person. And I said, you know, I said, so what are you going to do? And this person says, well, you know, I feel that people don't really recognize the artist inside of them.

And sometimes what it needs is they need to look out into the crowd and see that the artist is being reflected in the eyes. And I was like, OK, yeah, yeah, yeah. What I meant was what song or what I say? We're going to play, you know, I mean, I can tell you right now, nobody here is going to know how to play whatever that was going to end up being.

You know, this is a jam, you know, not a gig or a rehearsal. Pick four people in three chords and let's go. So Mustang, Mustang, Sally, it is.

Yeah. I'm still looking for my. No, that's on the same list as Tennessee whiskey.

Yes, it is. Sweet Caroline. Wagon wheel.

Yeah, yeah. I'm still looking for my guitar. You left it on the lawn.

Get it off your lawn. Oh, man. Well, this has been a lot of fun.

It has been a lot of fun. Thank you guys for coming out. Thank you.

Thank you for coming up all the way from Nashville, where I've been. Yeah, we'll see you guys have a you guys have a website or anything like that. Are you just working through different social medias or what's that? Yeah.

So everything. If you type in the vultures music, I'll come up on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and our stuff. I'm like Spotify, Apple Music.

It's the vultures with an exclamation point with an exclamation point. OK, yeah. That's what changes us from like the other ten bands that have, you know, you know, the vultures.

We come up first now. So I don't know if we actually needed the exclamation point, but at first it seemed like we did. Yeah.

So now now we come up at if anyone searches for it, it just comes up. And a race. How about you? Yes.

How can people get ahold of you? Oh, yes. Well, my number is no, I think seven five three oh nine. You're welcome, world.

No, I am also primarily I'm a young and so I do do all the social medias. I am a race that is A.R.R. E.I.S. rising like the sun, like a star. Or if you are a white female under the age of 30, like the horoscope.

And anyways, but I am a race rising. And that is Instagram, Facebook and TikTok is usually, I think, what I do the most of. But yeah, if you if you Google that and just a race on Spotify, I just released an album called Vices.

It's a dark pop nine song saga. And that's very exciting. All right.

So and if you're lucky and you go out to see a show, you might get a twofer. You might say a race along with the vultures. Oh, I would.

I would. There's no place I would rather be. Actually, these boys are absolutely fabulous.

Not only are they fine, fine musicians, but they are just great friends and excellent people. And that's important in the music industry, too. Wow.

She likes you guys better than the beach. Yeah. Take that.

No, thank you. Maybe maybe my guitar. Maybe I left my guitar on the beach.

There you go. Yeah, I'm going to go and let's go find out. Let's go look.

Thanks for coming out, guys. I got to run out to the beach. Yeah.

We'll see you guys later. Thanks for being here. Thank you.

Thanks, guys. All right. Well, that was the vultures.

You know, they are one of my favorite local original bands. They sound great. They they are fantastic.

I'm so glad I met everybody in that band. They're just an amazingly talented group of of young folks that are really practicing and really honing their craft extremely well. I'm so glad they came in here and I'm so glad they brought a race with them as well.

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. She she seems to really know her stuff, man.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And it's kind of strange almost everywhere.

You see the vultures or at least one or two of the members because they all do their own thing. You know, they're they're they're drummer. Their drummer also sings and plays guitar.

And Tony performs, you know, solo gigs with his keyboard, which is, again, something you don't see very often. It's people, you know, they bring their guitars around for solo acts in the whole bit. And Arias does the same thing.

And you always see the two of them together. They're they're fantastic. They really are.

Yeah, it was great to have them. I really enjoyed that. And you don't think one of them took my guitar, do you? You know, they could have.

No. Well, yeah, I'm just going to keep looking till I find it. Yeah, yeah.

I think, you know, did they come in with jackets? I didn't notice. I didn't notice. And I'm just going to keep looking.

It's somewhere around here. It's brown. It's brown.

It's brown. You have a brown guitar, three, three brown guitars, three, three brown guitars on guitars. Wow.

And one of them is missing. OK, I'm going to keep looking. So I got to get I got to get to looking.

So thanks for listening. As always, every week, we'll see you next Tuesday for another exciting episode of the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. 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.