Rock and Roll Chicago, Rock and Roll Chicago, my hometown. Well, I was born in the city, grown to rock the city of Chicago. Chicago rock and rollers are the best here all around.

This is Paul Martin. And Ray the Roadie. For the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast.

What's up, Ray? I think you kind of liked my banjo playing the other day. Oh yeah, it was great. Except I haven't had a chance to get the new strings, so it still doesn't sound too good.

But I think you kind of liked the banjo playing, because you kind of took a turn to a different genre of music today. Well, yeah, I did, but I don't think he plays any banjo. By the way, you can get the GHS strings for that banjo, you know.

That's what I'm going to get, and it's going to sound great, I can't wait. By next week, I'll have the new ones. Yeah, I don't know if it's, like you said, I don't know if it's the strings or not.

But good luck with that. Yeah, maybe I'll pick up some new picks, that always helps. Yeah, finger picks, eh? Yeah, they're finger picks, yeah, they fit real nice.

So, but we've made a little turn today, you're right. And we're going a little country on you. And we're talking with Nate Venturelli, Northwest Indiana's own Nate Venturelli, singer, songwriter and country artist.

Yeah, and he is coming along quite rapidly. He's getting some great press nationally. He's got a song called Union Man that has been getting some national acclaim.

Yeah, definitely. And I mean, I like the song for what it is. And of course, being a former Union firefighter, I'm 100 percent behind that song.

Well, that's right. That's great. And well, let's see what Nate had to say.

We talked to Nate and let's see what's up with Nate. Let's hear the story. Everybody, welcome to the show.

Today we're speaking with Northwest Indiana's own country singer, songwriter, Nate Venturelli. How you doing, Nate? Hey, Nate. Good.

How are you guys? We're doing well. Thank you. Doing great.

COVID free. Yeah, that's always good, man. So I know you've got some success with your latest single, your latest hit, Union Man.

And we'll get to that. But I want to find out how things got started for you, first of all. Let's start there.

How did you first get to playing guitar and get in the whole music scene? So I started playing guitar. I was about maybe 24. I picked it up later on.

And I learned from YouTube videos, really. And I just did it after work. And then I started in music.

You learned off of YouTube? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

So you never took a lesson then? No. No, never. Never on guitar.

And then as far as like singing, I always sang, really. Just like in the car or in the shower or wherever. And really not in front of anybody.

Until about a little over two years ago. And I played an open mic. And after that, I played like a few songs with Nicole Jamerose.

And I played a police event. And then I kind of got comfortable doing it. But yeah, for the longest time, I didn't want to start music because I was too scared of what people thought.

And then my buddy, Brandon, encouraged me to get out there and do something with it. Because he enjoyed the music and believed in me. And he got me started.

And I was booked. After those few gigs, I was booked pretty much every week up until COVID started. So is your family musically inclined? You got any musicians or singers, songwriters in your family? No.

Not like big time. But I had a great aunt. And she was a professional singer.

But that was a long time ago. In the 50s, I would say. And then my sister sings, too.

My sister, Jenna. She sang in high school in the choir. And she tried out for American Idol, I think, once.

But yeah, other than that, it was just no one's really... And my cousin, he plays guitar and sings sometimes. But nothing really... Not like all of us are this musical family. Right, right.

So country has been your genre of choice? Mine? Yeah. I listened to country from when I can remember. I was listening to it with my mother in the car.

Alan Jackson or George Strait, Arthur Brooks, Reba McIntyre. Mostly 90s country. But a few times she played Merle Haggard or something that was on the radio.

Hank Williams Jr. But really, it was 90s country I grew up on. And I always listened to it. And I actually stopped listening to it probably freshman year in high school.

And kind of started listening to classic rock and punk rock. I was going to say, you had to have some rock and roll in your background somewhere, right? A little bit, yeah. And I like Southern rock bands.

I like bands. I like classic rock. I'm not really much of a modern rock fan.

But my favorite band, one of my favorite bands is Skinner. And Creedence Clearwater. Miley Hatch, that's another one.

Miley Hatch. Who's the other one? Marshall Tucker. Blackfoot.

Blackfoot, yeah. All the Southern rock I really get into. And then after high school, I kind of got back into it.

Because I started driving at the end of high school. And I had a CD that my mom gave me. I think it might have been a Brad Piazzi CD.

And I listened to that. And that got me started to sing more country music. And I really got into it after that.

Well, you've got a great country voice. I mean, your voice fits the music. Yeah, most definitely.

But now you said you played with Nicole Jamrose. Was that just a one-off thing, a one-night jam? Or what was it? You know, this was at Goodfellas in Cedar Lake. I went to her show because I just wanted to see live music.

And she seemed like she was really good, a really good singer. And I went to go see her play with her band. And she got me to play.

My buddy Jeff Rizal is a realtor in Northwest Indiana. Yeah, I know Jeff. Yeah, he's a family friend.

Yeah, I know him from his days at Northwoods when he was at Northwoods. Yeah. And he's a great guy, man.

And he talked to Nicole and said, hey, man, can Nate do a couple songs for you? And she said, yeah, I agree. And I used her Gibson and played Simple Man by Skinner in a Luke Holmes song. And then Jeff booked me at a police event.

And that was a couple days after that. And in the police event, Nicole's band played. And I played, I think it was two or three songs with their band for opening up for us.

So the first time you played, you just played it by yourself, played those songs by yourself or with the band? Simple Man, I think the keyboard player was doing that one. But I played Hurricane by Luke Holmes by myself with a Gibson she had. And I played with her band a couple days after that.

I've played that Gibson. It's a nice guitar. Yeah, have you? Yeah.

Yes, I have. Yes. I know Nicole and her band quite well.

Oh, that's awesome. Well, I ran sound at the Blue Chip Casino for many years. And I used to play there once a month.

Awesome, man. That'd be a great venue to play also. Yeah, unfortunately, with the COVID days now, they haven't played anything since the middle of May.

Yeah, well, I think it's kind of dying down now. I looked at the cases, and it's about 5% positivity in Lake County. So I think out of 1,500 tests, there was 100 positive or something.

So it's really gone down a lot, quite a bit. Yeah, it's getting much better everywhere. Yeah.

Yeah, well, I know this is a little bit off the subject, but I know the place out here by me, the testing site has cut its hours way back due to lack of interest. I said, well, nobody's getting tested, so the numbers are going down. Yeah, of course.

Oh, of course, yeah. And then when everybody was getting tested, the cases went up, and everybody freaked out. And it's like, well, they were always positive, all these people, but they just were never tested for it.

Right. I just hope it's a thing of the past in the next couple months, and I'm just tired of wearing a damn mask, man. I can't.

It sucks. Yeah, yeah. So now you've been in the studio working, right? Yeah.

You've been working on some new songs, I understand, too? Yeah, I have two new songs. She Was Right was one of them, and then I have another song I just wrote. I just finished it like two weeks ago.

I spent about a month writing it, and it's called Don't Make Him Like Her Anymore. And those two should be out end of spring, early summer. The four-song EP will be out.

Now you've released Union Man, which has gotten some positive reviews and some great reviews. So tell us a little bit about Union Man and the story behind it. My grandfather was the union president at Acme Steel in Riverdale, United Steelworkers.

I know the place well. Yes, I know it. Yeah, yeah.

But it used to be Acme, and it's actually a different local, I think, now. But he was the union president and a member, I think, for a little over 30 years before he passed away. And he died at 54 of a heart attack.

And I was really young when he died, and from what I hear, he was one of the best men that ever worked in that plant. And I hear it from outsiders, people that worked for him and with him. And I've heard stories from my mom over the years, and I kind of want to pay tribute to him because I'm kind of following in his footsteps in the same.

I'm a United Steelworkers also, and I just wanted to write a song about him and how it is growing up into a union and having a union family. And I wanted to do it also because really there's no songs about it, and I think it's a topic to be talked about more. It's a great way to memorialize him, Phil.

Thank you. Just a kid when his daddy died He had to take care of his mother Welding rods in his right hand And a Marlboro red in the other Became a brother of the working class He didn't have time for school Yes, a kid don't grow up so fast But he knew what he had to do His father was a union man He built a life with his bare hands He saw the good in everyone He didn't give it a shirt off his back Eight days a week at Agnesty He walked back breaking downs in the coal plant There ain't a thing that he couldn't fix He never said the words, I can't His father was a union man So it's been picked up by several of the unions around the country, correct? Yeah, actually it's been awesome. The feedback's been great.

So how did they get hold of it? Did you send it to them? I sent it to the International United Steelworkers. I sent them the video and I said, hey, tell me what you guys think about it. And I sent it to the International Boilermakers and a couple other unions And the groups on Facebook, union pages and stuff like that Steel groups, steelworker groups And I got a lot of feedback from the groups And it took a few days for the internationals to get back to me But the Boilermakers actually shared it without me asking them to put it on their page They said, we love your song, look at our page And I looked and they shared the video And United Steelworkers, they did a story on their website, the international website And they shared it on their Facebook about two weeks after that Or maybe a week after that And then I started getting shares from a couple of locals in Canada from United Steelworkers And then I got a share from an ironworker local in Nashville, Tennessee There's a couple other ones I had to look at But yeah, it just snowballed from there And I'm grateful for everything, man I couldn't ask for anything else That's a pretty awesome story Yeah, Gary's been real great, Gary Flanagan He's really helped a lot Yeah, I've known Gary for many years as well But Gary's with G4 Music And how did you meet up with Gary and get linked up with him? So I played, I got asked this yesterday It's hard to remember, you know But I think I played a show for him I opened for him somewhere I can't remember the first show But what I do remember is one of the earlier shows I played At Dyerfest, I played a song for one of his other artists, Jerrica And I played a song by Luke Holmes And I opened for her a few times And before then, Gary friended me on Facebook And I friended Jerrica And we talked about me opening for her And she finally asked him And that's when I met Gary So it's been great since then He's really helped And the band's been great So it's just the team is more than I can ask for Speaking of the band, how did you get everybody together? They were actually Jerrica's band already And they wanted to do it They wanted to keep playing So Gary's like, hey, you want to play in my band? I said, no problem So we rehearsed for the first time I think, I don't remember I think maybe six months ago or so Or maybe a little over that And we've really gotten the band a little tighter now And we're looking forward to playing some shows this summer You got some rockers in that band I know John Horvath Who played with the Hounds for many years And Chuck Ramirez, who's played with just about everybody He played with Nicole, I know, for a long time And Chris Grove, too, as well You know, Chris isn't in the band anymore I'm sorry, Rick Tidd is the new lead guitarist Right Are you talking about the keyboard player? Yeah, Chris Grove Yeah, yeah, he doesn't play the live stuff with us He's on the studio tracks, and so is Nelson And they're awesome, man They made the track sound phenomenal Nelson's a great steel player And of course, he owns Broadway Music, everybody knows Nelson's from Broadway This podcast is brought to you by Broadway Music Hell of an advertisement Hey, Ray, Ray, what are you doing? I'm getting my bluegrass on, I'm playing my banjo Except there seems to be something wrong with the strings Well, you know, Ray, GHS makes strings for all types of instruments Electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and even banjo Then I'm getting new GHS strings, and my banjo will sound better Uh, I don't think it's the strings, Ray GHS are easy to play with rich, full-balanced tone Available in many different gauges Great for all musical styles, so if you play Play with the best, play GHS strings So now, you talked about releasing the album Releasing an album, but I've noticed you've released Which is kind of the way the music business has gone And that is release a song at a time Instead of releasing a whole album When you, when I, I just started music Like I said, a little over two years ago And it's, I work full-time, I'm a welder for NIPSCO And it's hard to find time to write a whole album You know, in that time period And to be, I could maybe write an album But it won't be, the songs how I want them I take my time on them, and I try to make them I want to put intricate details in it And get all the instrumentation down And I want them to be perfect, at least in my eyes And I don't really want anything less than that You know, I release these couple songs And then we're gonna release a four-song EP And then usually the third step is an album And put those four songs with another four or five songs We come out with at the end of the year, you know, so I'm sure some of the guys in the band contribute a little bit Hey, how about if we do this at this point or whatever, right? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah They've really been supportive and teaching me a lot with that Gary too, you know, he's a hell of a promoter And I couldn't, like I said, I couldn't ask for a better team And just the knowledge they have from playing music over the years Has been, it's been great So tell us a little bit about, you've got another song out right now Called Chase My Beer Yeah Tell us a little bit about the story behind that Well, it's about getting, trying to drown out somebody And it's over, you know, it's past relationships And you try to get over someone by going to the bar and having a beer, you know And chats and trying to get, you know, it's supposed to be a fun song Something to be played at the bar and have a good time And forget about someone that did you wrong, you know It's been five months since she left me Said I was a drunk and that we were never meant to be Spent most of my days on a broken bar stool I let the one get away and now I'm standing here like a fool So I chase my beer with some whiskey Drown out the pain Cause she ain't here with me And I understand that was the first song you wrote? That was the second song I wrote The first one I wrote was She Was Right and that'll be on the EP I just never really played it in the studio Cause I, I just, I felt like the other two were stronger songs So I didn't really release it I see, is that done recording now or no? Yeah, it's actually in the studio now And she was right in the studio And we're getting all the instruments for it now And then I'll go back and do a final vocal And then I have, don't make him like her anymore I got to go to Gary's today to actually lay down a vocal for that To get all the instruments down, so Chasing down a beer and talking about, you know Shotting a beer at the bar and stuff That's kind of like, that's a good union What do you want to call it? Analogy there? Cause a shot in a beer is a boilermaker Yeah, yeah I don't really know any union workers that don't drink So I guess it's perfect So was it Gary's idea to release the songs one by one? Yeah, I think, yes, I think it was Now, how about, are you married? No, just got a girlfriend, her name is Megan And is she inspired in any of your writing? The one I just wrote, yeah It's just hard to find, you know, the girls my age nowadays It's hard to find a decent one, you know That's not posted on social media It's just different, you know It was different back then and the morals were different And just the generation of the women are a lot different And you don't find anybody that's gonna, you know, cook Cook for you anymore or clean And I'm not saying they should do it all But she wants to do things for me And it's been great having her in my life And she's just old school And I appreciate that, you know That's very cool, very nice, very nice So do you have anything, any gigs that you've got booked For the upcoming year? Yeah, I have a couple of acoustic ones The one on the 28th set, a bar and lull Called Bear Skis, and I have one on the 27th That one is, where was that, Illinois At Rich's Tap in, I think, Beecher Moments, I'm sorry And then I have Buddy and Pills on April 3rd And I have, what was the other one April 26th, I have Bugaboos And then I have, I'm opening for a national act May 15th for Mitchell Tenpenny He's a signed artist down in Nashville So that should be fun That's a show with Jimmy Sar Are these gigs just yourself or with the band? I have, the Buddy and Pills is a full band The one with Mitchell, I think it's going to be a full band I don't know 100% yet But we're leaning towards that And what's another one You know, there's a couple of fests we're playing At the end of the year I think Popcorn Fest was one of them And then, I think that's in Valpo I never played it, I never been there We're just trying to book bands right now It's just hard to find anyone opened up right now So, yeah, that's all At least you got something There's a few more, but I'd have to look at the schedules Well, it's more than many other bands have Yeah, yeah There's others that have nothing Yeah, I know, it's been terrible, man Terrible What kind of cappy music do you play I mean, obviously it's country But I mean, like in the vein of what artist? Oh, who do I You know, I kind of base it off of You know, Brooks and Donner Or Luke Combs I don't know if you know any of these artists Oh, sure You know, Chris Stapleton's a huge songwriter I like to look up to him I kind of want to bring You know, kind of a 90s slash Americana sound back And just a deeper, you know, three chords and the truth kind of thing And it's just lost in country now It's a lot of hip-hop country And it's just not what it was, you know And I think that Luke Combs tries to bring it back Riley Green does And I think it should be brought how it used to be Because that's what country music is And if it's not played, you know And 20 years from now, nobody's even going to know what it is anymore Yeah, I agree with you As a matter of fact, I had a question here written down for you To ask you about hip-hop And when country and hip-hop actually collided Yeah, it's You know, people say Garth Brooks And that's when it flip-flopped over But I think I would say late 90s, early 2000s When it really flipped over to kind of a more upbeat country And more studio beats and less instruments played on the tracks You know, hip-hop beats And they kind of sang country to hip-hop beats And people liked it And it's just been, I guess, working for the last 20 years I guess it does work I mean, a lot of it is very popular, so Yeah, yeah And it's popular But I'm just not a huge fan of the real Like Florida Georgia Lion, Luke Bryan I just can't get into it that much So it doesn't really have meaning to the songs Now you've played some pretty big shows And opened for some other national artists Yeah Where and who have you played for? I played for Jason Michael Carroll I opened for him twice, actually Great guy, man He was, you know He's got some great songs I don't think he's on a label anymore But he was a great guy I opened for You probably wouldn't know These are new artists from Nashville Adam Doliak and Austin Burt I think they're on a Sony deal I opened for them, too And then I'm opening for Mitchell Tenpenny in May So I'm hoping to get more of these You know, when the bigger guys come up here To Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio We're going to try to see if we can work something out In opening, you know So I hope to open for more national acts It's a lot of fun, you know Great way for you to get exposure, too Hell yeah Yeah, it's a huge deal When are you opening for Mitchell Tenpenny? Where? Oh, Fair Oaks down south Oh, okay I didn't realize they were having shows down there now Yeah, they're having one You know, I don't think they are now But by May, I think They have to go ahead So I think by then, we should be fine Hopefully No, definitely When was the last live show that you did? Have you done any recently? The last live show I did was Bugaboos in Cedar Lake with Frank Revoli My good buddy from my childhood So that was fun Was that very long ago? Or did you... Oh yeah, it was Let's see Maybe three or four Three weeks ago Four weeks ago, something like that And it was actually the first I think there was a first First show I played after I released Union Man So there was a lot of people there And it was awesome And there was It got to a point, maybe It was packed when we got there at 7 To set up, it was a full bar And then people just kept coming in And at one point, there was like Probably 10 people outside that couldn't get in Or people left because it was crowded And you know, it sucks You know, that they couldn't stay for the show But it's a great feeling to have a packed bar Oh sure Were you worried about COVID though? Or anything like that? No, I don't care Bugaboos, I've been to Bugaboos It's not the biggest place No, no That's, you know And it was packed bar And then they had the other side The restaurant side That's where everybody was overflowing to And they couldn't really see the show Because of the wall And some of them left Yeah, they took out I think they took out some tables So it was a little more open in the middle But it was The whole bar Everybody was shoulder to shoulder You know Even people on the patio outside Smoking and doing whatever, you know So Even if it's a bar that fits 20 As long as it's packed, I don't care I play the same So I like a dive bar right now Yes Yes Sometimes they're the most fun Yeah It's more personable A honky-tonk Yeah, a honky-tonk That's right I heard that There's a guy out of New York For a New York Times writer He's doing a feature on you He's also a guest host Yeah, he Bruce Feiler He's He's doing a You know, he He read the story on United Steelworkers' international page And he contacted Off Contacted Gary off of my music page And said, hey, I'm a New York Times writer Seven-time bestseller for New York Times And Gary's like, no way So he looked him up and he was real And And he wanted to do an interview And I And I Met him on Zoom And it was him Bruce And we talked for Man, it was close to Maybe almost two hours And he was just trying to get the story out For his new book And An article in the newspaper And He's actually going to interview my mother, too So that'll be That'll be great for her also So that hasn't come out yet No, it hasn't He's He's waiting until I think he's doing a new project Or something And he said he would let me know when it was out And I could, you know Of course Print it out or That's one newspaper I Probably never get into again So Maybe I'll fly up here to get it or something, man So I hope That's awesome I want to give a shout out to Brandon Your buddy, Brandon Who actually Got you moving on the whole process Yeah Brandon Bestman And And I want to thank Brandon for doing so Because you're doing a great job, you know Thank you Appreciate you Now Is Brandon a musician or no? No, he's But he's a hell of a promoter So It worked out well And he believed in all the music And You know, he still comes to shows But he's just got a lot going on with his job And He moved to Michigan And he's going to He's going to be moving back here soon So And he's always been a huge supporter of me So It's good to have a friend like that Yeah Someone that believes in him Certainly Now your music can be found on Spotify And Where else? Spotify Apple Pandora Amazon YouTube Music Tidal And App Store All the major Music Streaming platforms And And You can find it on my Facebook Facebook page And then you can find it on my website NateVenturelli.com So And Facebook is just Nate Venturelli Right? Yeah Yep Very good I appreciate you spending some time with us today No problem, man Anytime Thank you very much Sounds like you're going to be going a long way Thank you I appreciate you Yeah, good luck with that Good luck with everything And Continue your success Awesome, man Thank you Hope to see you soon Definitely Most definitely Thanks Bye-bye Yep, no problem So that was Nate Venturelli Singer, songwriter, and country artist from Northwest Indiana Yeah, I got a good feeling about him I think he's going to be up and coming Quite quickly Well, he's up and coming Quite quickly Yeah, he's moving along I mean, he's got some great music And he's getting some great reviews And You know I wouldn't doubt seeing him down in Nashville Recording Yeah, well It's two great songs I know that we've listened to Now, Union Man And Chase My Beer Are pretty cool tunes Yeah, they are They are I mean, it's It's amazing that he Took up guitar playing At such a late age You know Most Most people start a little bit earlier Yeah, and I know I know for a fact That a lot of people Have trouble playing Once they are at a later age True, true It's, you know Especially something like the guitar Where you've got to really toughen up Them fingers And But he learned Via YouTube And I guess that's the way Of the world now, right? I see And there's still hope For both of us Yeah Maybe Maybe Maybe I'll look up I'll bet you There's some banjo stuff On YouTube Oh, sure There's tons of banjo stuff Yeah Maybe I'll check that out Maybe, maybe You know what? Maybe I'll just make A YouTube video See what kind of hits I get Alright, yeah I think that might be good As soon as I get Them new strings What kind of hits? You might get punched In the face, I don't know Eh, well If you don't like the bluegrass Don't listen to it Okay Well, I like I definitely like Nate's stuff And he's doing a great job Out there Promoting And Along with His His promotion Company Promoting company His management G4 Music group With Gary Flanagan And We wish him The best of luck And best And continued success With what he's doing Most definitely Make sure y'all Check him out Check out his Website His Facebook page And when he gets out Around here Definitely Go and see him Otherwise If you got nothing to do You should go check out The Illinois Rock and Roll Museum On Route 66 In beautiful downtown Joliet, Illinois Should be opening Hopefully this summer But until then Check out their website RoadToRock.org And sign up for a Charter membership That's right folks A charter membership You get all kinds Of cool benefits Yes indeed Very cool I'm a charter member I am So am I I think You are I believe Yes I am Yeah we both are I don't know It's been so long You know I've been cooped up In the house too long I think Yeah Yeah well All right Well thanks for listening Everybody We'll We'll see you next week And Have a great day See you next Tuesday Same Rock Station Same Rock time Same No it doesn't Fit in with the Batman thing See you next week Everybody Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast Does not own the rights To any of the music That's played On this podcast The music is used To promote the band Or musicians That are interviewed Rock and roll Chicago Chicago