Here's Paul Martin and Ray Oompa the roadie for the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. You're Oompa-pying again, huh? I am. It's Oompa-pah.

Are you calling me pah? Maybe. It's got a UL on the end, it's Paul. Oh, Oom-pah, Oom-pah-pah? Something like that.

It might be a different genre of music. Yes. So who are we talking to today? Well, it's not a total Oom-pah-pah with our guest today.

He's quite eclectic. Oh, is he? Yes. I mean, he plays a myriad of genres of music.

He appeals to a plethora of audiences. You like using those big words, don't you? I got a new calendar for Christmas. Gives me a new word every day.

Oh, I see. So I like to use them. Okay.

So, yeah, this week we're... Oom-pah-pah, one of those words? It was, as a matter of fact. It was. I think it was the third day or something like that of this month.

Yeah, it was Oom-pah-pah. Yeah. Gives you the definition and stuff.

All right. Cool. So today we sat down and talked with Mr. Frank Rossi, Frank the Entertainer.

Frank the Entertainer. That's right. He is... And that he is, he grew up playing accordion, also plays some keyboards now, though.

And he is an entertainer and plays all kinds of genres of music, not just the Oom-pah-pah stuff. No, no, no. I just like to say Oom-pah-pah.

Right. But he does some of that as well. He'll play the beer barrel polka and then he'll go into some Michael Jackson or some... Stairway to Heaven? Stairway to Heaven, some Led Zeppelin, some Elvis, whatever it is, whatever it takes, that's what he does.

Because he's the entertainer who likes to please the audience. That's right. And that's what it's all about, pleasing your audience.

That's correct. Just like we do here. We please our audience that listens to our podcast every week.

I hope we do. I'm sure we do. I haven't heard anything negative.

No. Just positive. That's good.

So speaking of positive, we should positively listen to what Frank had to say. Okay, let's do that. Hey, everybody.

Thanks for joining us today. Today we're speaking with accordion legend, Frank Rossi. How are you, Frank? Hey, Frank.

Hello. Hi, guys. Thanks.

Glad to be here. Thank you. Hey, good to have you.

Oh, yeah. Hope you had a nice holiday. I did.

It was just fantastic and, you know, music is what connects us all. That's right. Now, you've been playing for quite a few years, haven't you, Frank? I have.

So the story goes, when I was seven... How old were you when you started playing both of these? I started playing when I was about, I think, eight years old. Okay. I'd say about 12.

Yeah. I was seven. So my godmother, because my cousin, he was a great guitar player, and all I wanted to do was play guitar and drums.

My mother came back, she said, Frankie, we got this from Symphony School of Music in Chicago Heights. It says, you just won six free music lessons. I'm like, great.

I go, is it guitar or drums? She goes, well, it says accordion. I go, what's an accordion? Right? She goes, no, no, it's... Okay. So you have the piano in the right hand, the left hand is two rows of bass.

My mother was, she knows the music, two rows of bass and a row of chords. So you have a piano, guitar, and bass guitar. I go, oh, now it's getting hard.

She goes, if you can't do it, I go, no, I can do it. I was seven. She sold you on it, huh? She sold me.

And my dad was like, whatever, but you're still going to be in sports. I go, yeah, dad, don't worry. So it's funny because they give you a little red one, right? And it's a 12 bass.

And believe it or not, I took to it and it was so much fun. I'd run home from school at lunch and play. My poor neighbors... I'm hearing birds.

Yeah. That's not me. I don't know what that is.

That's interesting. Or a squirrel. It might be here, who knows? I would run home from school at lunch and practice and my neighbors later, I apologized to all of them.

And now they're like, thank God you got better because it was rough. Did you ever learn the guitar? No. No.

I've got a few. I've got a few. I've got a bass.

I've got, you know, I love all types of music. So you started on accordion, not keys. I thought maybe you started on keyboard.

Yeah. Isn't that funny? Yeah. No, I started on accordion.

And later, you know, I went to Springfield and they had this Illinois State Fair and I won a first place. The first two years I got fourth place. And this one little Polish girl beat me in the last year.

It was two people on the stage and either someone got sixth or first and I'm like, I got sixth. But no, I won. So then I started playing and I loved it.

Just loved it. Playing gigs all over the place as a young kid. And then eventually I studied some jazz piano and some of my buddies are like, you got to do rock.

I'm like, I love it, but I never play it. They said, you can do it. So that's how that worked.

Well, you probably grew up with rock and roll, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Rock and roll, funk, everything.

And I grew up in Chicago Heights. Right. A lot of music, a lot of my family's musicians and then, you know, all our friends migrated.

All the musicians, we all kind of hung out, although I wasn't a true rocker. They were like, hey, accordion is pretty cool. So what was your first band that you put together or joined or what? How old were you? That's a great story.

There was a couple. When I was, there's a guy, Mark, what the heck's his last name? He played really fine guitar and we got together and he said, he was older than me. He goes, Frank, we're doing all this.

We're doing some rock covers. And he goes, do you play keyboard? I go, no, I just play accordion. So we had fun.

So I kind of, that's where I expanded, you know. I expanded and I started playing some rock and he was playing some jazz and it was fun. Later on, I played with a guy who was a trumpet guy.

He was pretty good. But then this girl, Linda Thompson, her father was a very good vibes player and she was a drummer from Dalton, right across from Thornridge High School. And we started playing and she was really, really good.

So then from there, you know, other guys came into the mix and I never, I actually was going to play with this one band that I remember going and they were playing some Blood, Sweat and Tears. And the guy goes, well, where's your axe? I go, well, here it is. And he goes, well, all right, so we tried it.

They were like, you need to go practice in your 20s. And I was like 15 or 14. So, but it was cool, you know, and who didn't love all the local bands? I did.

I, you know, I love the band. What were they called? Eminor Rush. I might have heard of them.

Yeah. Yeah. I think they played my prom.

Yeah, I know a few of those guys. Yeah. And then Artie Baldacci with Hartsfield.

I'm sure, you know, everyone does. Artie actually grew up about five houses down. He was on the corner.

I was in the middle of the block. Well, you know what? In Roseland. Yeah.

Here's a good story. Do you know Neil Holmquist? Great drummer. Neil's wonderful.

So we're in the this is 1984 or so. Maybe before that, we were on 51st and Kesey in the accordion factory, Italo-American. Neil said, hey, Frankie, play something for this guy.

I go, nah. So I played it and I played it for the old man, Joe Romagnoli, who he made all the accordions. And he goes, Neil goes, what do you think? This guy's great.

And he goes, well, you're good looking anyway. And he goes, if you want to, you're going to love this. He goes, if you want to be good, you really, really be good.

You got to study with one guy. So he shows me this picture of like 100 accordion players and this guy directing it. Guess who it was? Artie Baldacci's father, Eddie Baldacci, who was just a genius.

His mom was a great pianist, too. She sure was. Florence and his sister, Sue, you know that she was a great piano player and at Homewood Philosopher High School, she was the choral director.

So the whole family. So I go to the family. Now, they lived in Chicago Heights.

They moved from Roseland and it was a block and a half from my folks. So I go to her for a lesson. I'd have a recorded.

And I remember him going, hey, Cagoots, what are you doing? I said, who's going to see this? Are you selling this? No, no. Then later he taught me some jazz because he went to DePaul University. And then later I got the chance to play some gigs with Artie.

So everything kind of, you know, meshed together. It came full circle, right? It did. Yeah, Roseland had another really good accordion player, too.

Maniac. Yeah, Dennis DeYoung. Oh, my God.

You want to hear a Dennis DeYoung story? Sure. This is a classic. So I'm playing for the Piemonte Sinel Mondo.

This Italian group and I was at a I think it was in South Holland and I'm playing accordion and this lady came up to me. She said, man, you're really good. And I said, well, thank you.

And I said, I'm just I just I have a lot of fun. And she goes, oh, my my son played accordion, but he got the keyboard. I go, well, I got a keyboard, too.

She goes, but he got the big he got the big speakers. I go, I have big speakers at home. I go.

She goes, yeah, but I like what you play. I go, I'm sure he could play this. And she goes, yeah.

I go, what's his name? And she goes, Dennis. I looked at her and I went, Dennis DeYoung. She goes, yeah, you know, and I went and on the way to this gig, I was listening to sticks.

And I go, oh, my God. And I go, really? And so that was pretty cool. That was a that was a pretty cool day for me.

And then I got to meet him later. And yeah, he was really great. So, you know, let me ask you this.

It's your Italian, obviously. And and a lot of the great, like you said, the Italians made accordions. But was was was a very popular in the Italian community? Because, I mean, we know it's popular in Polish and German communities.

And but what about what about the Italian community? Absolutely. And in fact, just from Roseland, Lino Frigo. He played on WGN.

He was a staff guy. Bortoli, it's really spelled Bortoli, but everyone calls him Bortoli. He was George and Frank.

Yeah, all these Italians. In fact, when we went back where my mom and dad grew up in Pittsburgh, I went to the old neighborhood. It was like a little Roseland where they grew up in.

And everybody played accordion. I mean, it was like, yeah, what do you got? That's nothing, you know. Now, here's something interesting.

My my mother's side, they're Yugoslavian. So I have Croatian and Serbian and Slovenian blood also. So in Hammond, that's where a lot of my mom's relatives were.

And in Gary and Cleveland and Pittsburgh, why are these cousins who could play thirds faster than I could play single? And I'm like, oh, my God. And it was funny because they never thought of me as anything but Italian. But I really had that Baltic influence in me.

That's why me and Eddie Kuros are so good buddies. Right. Right.

Well, because because we talked to him and and I mentioned that about the about the different ethnicities of the accordion. But it's very interesting that that it was so popular in the Italian community as well. It really was.

And you know, who was the most popular accordion player was Dick Contino. Oh, that's right. And you remember, I mean, he was huge.

He come out there. He was like the Elvis, right? And he had his shirt down and he's a big, strong guy. I'm like, that's who I want to be.

So later, I didn't. I was like, there's only one of him. So I decided instead of being with the open collar, open shirt, I wear tuxes.

So everyone's do everyone does what they do. Right. You got to have your own image.

Exactly. Exactly. And I have a lot of fun.

Now, you obviously picked up keyboards, like you said, from because I've seen I don't know that I've ever seen you play live, but I've seen many of your your shows that you've put on Facebook and and some of your streaming shows and what have you. And and but you picked up keys from that, right? I did. I you know, you saw me play it, Vito and Nixon, Tim Lee Park, a long time ago.

Oh, yes, that's right. Remember that? Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

Now that you mentioned it, I'm getting old. I get, you know, the 70s was a terrible time anyway. So I don't know.

Who knew? Who knew? I have some memory. I remember sometimes I don't. It's it's it's it's interesting how an accordion player can be a full time musician.

I'm lucky. I just I'm very lucky. Now you play a variety of music, though.

Right. You play a lot of more modern music or up to date music, I guess, whatever you want to call it. More pop music, too, don't you? Sure.

Absolutely. You know what I learned a long time ago that the customer is always right. When you stroll in restaurants, you have to know everything.

You don't have to you don't have music in front of you. You know, when I walk the accordion. So I've been known to play all the single ladies on the accordion, you know, their way to have an accord.

I mean, you know, anything you guys would play, I would attempt. And it actually sounded pretty cool. And I find I find that later, later, the accordion now is cool.

But growing up, it was rough, guys. You know that. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it was. And I remember, believe it or not, my mom is really cool. Seventh grade, they had a talent show and they said, we want you to play.

So I played this like Russian, you know, real love. And everyone's clapping. My mother put me in a puffy shirt.

I'll never forget that. I'm like, look, I'm looking back. I'm like, would you think my, you know, I don't think so.

Like an episode from Seinfeld. Exactly. I saw that.

I looked at my wife. I go, oh, that was me. She goes, no, I go, yeah, honey, that was me.

So back then it was rough. But nowadays you could sit back and laugh at it. Exactly.

Oh, yeah. And I have a lot of a lot of my buddy, the wind gypsies. I sat in the studio with those guys and just having fun because people like us, we just enjoy music.

And I love rock. I love rock. So, you know, and then even Zydeco, we did.

Oh, yeah. Zydeco music, according to popular Zydeco music. Oh, my God.

We did. There's a band called Silver Strings and they do all country. And we did K-Baby, K-Paso and, you know, by the Texas Tornadoes.

And yeah, it was cool. That was cool. I have a lot of different guys that I work with and some guys sit in with me and we'll go from being a country, a couple of songs.

Then we'll get a guy with doing some rock. All of a sudden we're doing straight ahead jazz. I like what I do.

And now you mentioned the studio. Have you done some recording? I have. In fact, Neil Holmquist has a studio called Dungeon Recording in St. John, Indiana.

And we did I did a CD just a little while ago at the beginning of the pandemic with Michael Vittori. Do you know Michael? He's with Midlife Crisis. Yes.

We interviewed them. And Mike was there when we interviewed them. Oh, they're great.

Those guys are they're my real dear friends. Mike and I do a lot of stuff together. His vocals are so amazing.

And he really he was the one who was instrumental for me to really play some more modern music. And how long has he been playing with you? He's probably been playing at least five years. OK.

At least I've had other drummers, Tim Skirupa, and he's he toured all over. He was in Vegas and he was with Ernie Anucci. Does that name sound familiar? Ernie was a guitar organist, a guitar organ.

Do you ever hear one of those? Oh, yes. Yes. I'm sure you guys do.

So you said you did some recording. Have you got any CDs out available? I do. We just had a I did a lot of my latest one.

In fact, Eddie Carosa has one. It's just Mike and myself. It's available.

I have a website. Is it the original music or? You know what? No, you know, I know I was going to have a son who writes original music. He's in L.A. and we're doing a couple of projects right now.

But it was mostly it was the CD. You feel like you're at a gig because I had people clapping and I did some polkas and then we did some love songs and some rock. And, you know, we got I think we got extra money for playing.

What was it? Mustang Sally. Yeah, that's a popular. Oh, wait a minute.

We won't do it. Yeah, it's a popular one. So I know I know it's it's probably been a little bit tough during this pandemic.

But how are you surviving? How you survive COVID thing? And are you playing much or anything? Yeah. You know what? It's been tough, no doubt. But I see during the day I play for senior communities.

Right. And yeah, I'm fortunate. And a lot of them.

In fact, I just did it yesterday. I'll record a show at my studio at home and I'll upload it to YouTube and I'll sell it. To a community, you know, I'll have the birthdays and I'll give shout outs just like I'm there.

OK, that's cool. It's been it's been working out really well. And then I've been playing up until this last month outside and strolling around buildings.

And sometimes I'll have my whole set up if it's when it was real hot, you know, out of the tent. And when it was real cold, I had bundled up. But I've been finding a way.

It's been it's been tough, but I've been doing it long enough like you have that. It's people are calling me. I'm like, OK, let's do it.

Right. You have to cancel a lot of shows. Yes.

Yes. That was rough because, you know, restaurants, we know and, you know, so it's been really it's been it's been tough. But I think the thing is, we all want to get past this and we all want to be safe.

So we just have to do what's best. And some places I'll play and they have the door open. So, you know, they said you can do that, which which is great.

What do we always say? If you pay, we play so right. What is the matter of the matter? I just keep on moving on. You know, and I have this thing called Fridays with Frank that Paul mentioned, you're saying you do some streaming stuff, though, too, right? Yeah, I do.

I do. And it's you know what? It's pretty and I'll have a guest of someone come in. We did it for all those Fridays in a row.

And this Friday, we're going to do it as a matter of fact. Something and I'll say, OK, this time we're going to have Dave Molinari, this this guy who plays 60s rock. He'll join me or John Barbush.

He's a leader of a big band, the MSO. So it'll change it, you know, and but I'll get more players or. Yeah.

John Barbush is a trombonist. Right. And I have trumpet players, Fred Cantu and a few other ones.

And John Trimble and really, really good guys who will come in and we'll just have a ball and we'll take requests. And as they come in, the show just changes. I say you have to be versatile.

That's the truth. That's the truth. Sometimes we get caught up.

Some of my buddies call and we do a little more rock. But then I got to bring it back. I got to do some ethnic, you know.

They may want to hear some accordion stuff like, hey, what about the accordion? So, you know, that's that's my balancing act. You know, so. Well, that's good because you can please a lot of people that way.

It's true. It's true. I, you know, being a musician is is is great.

And seeing people happy is just. You know, it's it's it's what we do. And we're we're the luckiest people on this face of the earth, and we know it.

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. 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 how long have you been playing professionally? When I was 12, I remember playing.

Could you imagine getting married and hiring a 12 year old to play your music? A 12 year old. What? Yeah. And I remember it was at the Wayside Chapel in Payless.

Right. Remember? Sure. And I remember I had some pretty good teachers.

And one guy said, beginnings and endings. Don't worry about the don't worry about the metal. I went there in a white tux.

I was a young kid and I knew like, you know, 12 songs. And I was so happy when someone said, can you play for our first song close to you? Remember the Carpenters? And I'm like, oh, baby, you knew that one, right? I did. I knew that when I rocked the barrel, maybe, you know, yeah.

Yeah, that's awesome. But you make it work. You make it work.

You make it work. Yeah, it's that's the name of the game. It's the name of the game.

So you can basically since you've been 12, you've been doing this professionally. Yeah. Yes.

And so what I did is high school. And then I went to college. I'm like, come on, Dad.

He's like, no, you have to have a backup. My dad was always a very smart man. He worked at Ford Motor Company.

And I and he goes, don't have a strong back and a weak mind. I'm like that. He goes, you have a strong mind.

You need to use it. I said, Dad, I love playing music. He goes, music's always going to be there, but get a job.

So I did. I went to school and I went to go to college. I went to Eastern Illinois University.

Oh, OK. Charleston. Sure.

Yeah. It was it was a good school. I took one music class.

I took one. I took finance. And, you know, because I remember being in this class.

Well, that's part of that's part of music business, too, is being a finance guy. You're right. No, no, no, no, no, no business.

It is a bit. You're right. I remember being in class and there was a girl from Arlington Heights, you know, right away.

She's out of my category. You know that she's out of my league. And I remember she's taking a piano and I was and I was acting like a dumbbell, like I didn't know anything.

And after class, it was no everyone left. And I had a free hour and I was playing some blues or boogie. And I heard that someone walking in and it was a teacher.

And he was like, you know, you didn't fool me for a second. He goes, you're here for that girl in the front row, aren't you? And he goes, pal. He goes, you have you don't have a chance.

I go, but I play the accordion. He goes, you know what? You're in trouble. That money so you can read music, right? I can.

You still read music or do you play mostly by ear? You know what? I do both. I do both. I read a lot.

But, you know, music's from the heart. All right. One of my rocker guys have taught me how to really use your ears better because, you know, we're playing a song and they just start playing.

I go, well, how do you know? Well, can't you hear the chord changes? I'm like, I never tried. He goes, you got to try. It's nothing.

There's a guy, a buddy of mine. He actually passed away. Jimmy Henry, great guitarist, phenomenal.

We used to work at the studio called Profiles in Orland, part of DJ's Music. I don't know if you remember. Oh, sure.

Jimmy would just go up there and just just play. He goes, Frankie, he goes, try it. So I tried it and I'm like, I'm getting it.

He was just do it every day. And then and then Artie Baldacci's father, Eddie, I would call him on the phone. He'd go, hello.

And I'd play a C on the piano. And he goes, what do you want? I go, you see, what else do you need? Yeah, he goes, you can learn to have relative pitch. You know, like here comes the bride.

It's a perfect fourth. Right. I learned a lot of music.

You know, a big time in my life is my son went to the theater conservatory in Chicago at Roosevelt. Right. And all these brainiac kids, because it's real hard to get in there.

They had this advanced theory class. My son goes, my pops will know this stuff. So they called me on a Skype back in the day.

And I knew it. And I was and I was showing these kids who were a couple of kids are on Broadway now, you know, I'm like, wow. Yeah, I think a lot of us grew up.

I know I did. I grew up reading music and learning how to read, playing, you know, Camptown Races on guitar. And right.

And but but now you put you put music in front of me and I go, oh, wait. How about I come back tomorrow? I have it. I know it.

I don't know. But it's a log. You know, you know, another thing when I get music now, it's lead sheets.

I don't even read the bass because. Right. I know what to do.

You get the high end. You get the treble clef and you're good on the bass, right? That's right. I'm lucky because when I hear a song, I migrate to the bass.

I hear the bass. So when I play my keyboard, my left hand, I split it and I play bass. I take a lot of pride in that.

Of course, I don't play like a regular pianist because I'm not, you know, I'm an accordion player who I play with all these bass players. And I remember Johnny Falstrom. He's an interview.

We interviewed Jen. Oh, man. He's not.

He's the greatest. That guy, that guy. Yeah, we played last year.

We played a gig together, a jazz gig. You know what some of the charts he was reading? I'm like, right. He goes, no, I want him to be good for you, Frankie.

So, yeah, the author of EADG4. That's right. Yeah.

He's a he's quite a musician. What a man, oh man. I remember him back in the Bernie Glenn days.

And yeah, he's he's something else. So isn't it great how my buddy Mike Vittori always says music connects people. He's right.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, we all know it, you know, and as you really are into it, you can appreciate other styles of music. Hey, when I met my wife, she came up to me and again, way out of my league, trust me, at a gig.

No, actually, it was she I know, right. She was in college a couple of years younger than me. And we went there to visit some.

And I and I saw her. I'm like, who is she? They go, yeah, Frank, some music. She was, what do you play? And I looked right in her eyes.

It's the first time I ever said that, because I would always say, oh, I'm a keyboardist. I look and I go, I play the accordion. And she went, wow, cool.

Do you play any dead or do you play any Zeppelin? And I go, sure. You see, my wife is a rocker. So that's it was pretty cool, you know.

And then she was like, wow, man, you could play some cool stuff. I'm like, oh, my God, this is a dream. Like like George Seinfeld.

When George met the girl, I'm I'm out of work. I have no money. I live with my mother.

Oh, hi, George. Yeah, right. Exactly.

Exactly. So now you get into some you play some Sinatra and some other stuff, don't you? I do play a variety. Now you said you mentioned jazz.

Yeah. I didn't know that you really did any jazz. I do.

And you know what? I work with some a couple of jazz guys, one sax guy, Dennis Parani. When Dennis was on a stage, he could play everybody's instrument better than them. Everybody.

Wow. He went to Vandercook and he was a band director. But he taught me a lot.

He would he would write out my voicings and my changes. And I'm like, wow. I mean, he like opened up a whole new door.

You know, it's like I didn't know this existed. Yeah. And there's all levels of jazz, as you know.

You know, I don't play bebop like, but I can I can fumble around and do OK. But I know I know you're not you're not the traditionalist and just playing polkas and what have you. Correct.

I know you play a lot of a. Yeah. And you know what? Paul, you're right. But see, but someone goes, hey, Frank, can you play? She's too fat for me, Polka.

Sure. I yeah, I can. That's what makes the world go around in my in my little world.

That's what I met Eddie Carrozza. We were like we're like brothers, man, because he plays more polkas. Obviously, he's the polka king.

But we we get it because, in fact, he calls me FTE. Frank, the entertainer. Yeah, there you go.

And I tell him, ETG, Eddie, the great. I've seen some. I've seen a few YouTube videos of you two together playing gigs.

Yeah, yeah. We you know what? And it's all about it's all about having fun. I remember when I was studying some of this real difficult stuff.

I wanted people to know I can do this classical on my accordion. People don't care. They want to be entertained or they want to hear something good that brings them back, you know, to a better time or a simpler time.

Right. Or bring them up, you know, raise them up. Raise them up.

Forget about their troubles for a few minutes or an hour. We're so lucky. I see.

And when I work, especially in senior homes, I work all different levels. I work. Some of them are over 55 and I'm like, oh, boy.

I'm ready for this. But you can see people. Oh, I'm on different floors.

First, second, third floor. Yeah. Oh, my God.

So some people, you can see they're down, right? They're down. It's like you want to bring them up. I remember some lady looked at me once and she goes, you're not Ray.

I go, no, I'm Frankie. She goes, ah, we don't want you. Yeah, I go, I'll do a good job.

I talk too much. I'm telling the truth. And I go, I went inside and I saw the director and I said, man, I go, hey, a rough crowd.

She looks at me and she goes, hey, look, this is when I was packing and then bringing my equipment in. She goes, oh, there's a lady, Sophie. She hates everybody.

Don't talk to her. I go, is that her? She goes, yes. I go, we've met.

We've already met. I go, you know what I'm going to do before I end this gig? So he's going to be my friend. She goes, you know what? You're good, pal, but you ain't that good.

It'll never happen. So I went up to her. I played a song for the lady next door and the lady on the other side.

And I went up to her and I said, I have a song just for you. I said, what's your name? And she wouldn't even answer me. I played baby face, baby face.

You've got the. Yes. And her arms were crossed and soon enough.

She didn't want it, but they were uncrossing. And and I and I gave her shout outs and I paid attention, which nobody ever did. Right.

And every time I played there once a month, she'd bring me candy. Now, I didn't eat this candy. You don't know where it came from.

Yeah. But or from when or from when this director looked at me and she goes, I'm a believer. I go, well, you know, it's not me.

It's the accordion. She goes, whatever it is. She goes, I've been telling everybody.

She goes, this lady hates everybody. I'm like, well, well, that could be a problem, though. I mean, right.

When they're saying, oh, she hates everybody. Well, then people, they don't want nothing to do with her. Just let me avoid her.

That's right. That's why you're Frankie Entertainer. Well, you're right, I guess.

I don't know. You know what? You know what? I'm just a regular guy. Someone said, what do you want to be known as? Just a regular guy taking care of his family.

That's all. Having some fun. Having some fun.

We all know when you get up, it's a choice. You get a red light. Are you going to like, you know, get upset? Are you going to turn on some music and relax? Exactly.

That's you guys know you. You live it. So have you got anything scheduled coming up anywhere? I do.

You know what? People can just go on my website. Can I give it out? Or sure. It's it's a tough one.

Frank Rossi, music that net. OK. Yeah.

So and you're on Facebook, too. I am on Facebook. I remember I didn't want to get on that.

I'm like, you know, I'm I'm private. But my wife's like, you should try it. Well, it's been it's been pretty good.

It's been a marketing tool. And I think I think I'm a charter member. Yeah.

There you go. It's a ball. And I remember in the beginning, my wife's like, we could talk to my friend Carol.

Carol and Mike in Florida. This is great. I go, honey, you can pick up the phone and call him, too.

You know, we got this thing is called you can see their face. I go, no way. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, look at what we're doing here today. Yeah.

Isn't this amazing? Yes. Now your kids playing music. How many kids do you have, first of all? Yeah.

Thank you. I have my daughter, Nina. She's twenty five.

She's a real good singer. In fact, she sang a lot on my Fridays with Frank. And she's she's a real sweetheart.

Beautiful voice. Real smart. And my son, Vince.

Vince is living almost 10 years. He's 30 now, this guy in Los Angeles. He's a he's a character.

He's he's done a lot of work. He's got a lot of originals. His song Holiday that he did.

He was with a band called Winslet. It's really it's a good Christmas song. But he did.

He's done a lot of stuff. He did a mash up. He's very, very talented.

And all his friends are these movie star kids. So we go visit. And my wife's like, real excited.

Look, this is this one. Like, I don't even know these people. What instrument does your son play? His main is main is singing.

He plays a little piano, but he writes. He's a really good writer and a good singer. He was he was interviewed in L.A. on a radio show.

And this lady has people on. And it's all classic rock. Our stuff, right? When some current and it's and it's a questions, you know, and he was on the show and he knew every answer.

And she was like, Vince, how do you know this? And this kid credited me and my wife. He goes, Well, I grew up with rock. He goes, Are you kidding me? He goes, My walls were Led Zeppelin.

And he's like, really? He goes, Yeah. And he goes, My dad taught me Sinatra. And jazz.

And he goes, I even know polkas. The lady was like, How old are you? The time was like twenty seven. She's like, What a job.

So I think that's the great thing about our ages is we've grown up from from Elvis to the Beatles, to Led Zeppelin, to you're right to Beyonce and and and Justin Bieber. And and we've seen we've we've run the whole gamut, really. We have.

And it's amazing. And and like I said, even Sinatra and whatever. I mean, I love listening to Sinatra.

You know, I've got a program programmed on my my serious radio. You know, I didn't know whenever I have people over for dinner, that's what's playing the background music. Seriously, Sinatra.

Right. It's true. I personally love Sinatra, but Dean Martin.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I totally agree with that.

I mean, I love I like Frank, but Dean's really got the voice. He's got it. And he's just you want to be him, you know? And I, yeah, I used to run the sound at the Blue Chip Casino.

So I've worked with Jim Belanda. Oh, yeah, he's great. And and Tony Ocean.

I don't know if you know Tony Ocean. Oh, wonderful. Mo Carrere.

Mo Carrere. Right, right. But good guys.

Yes. I'm lucky because again, this Facebook, I get to meet these North Side guys. Let's face it.

You know, we're just South Side guy. You know, I don't know. It goes back to that girl from Arlington Heights.

You know, you said you could talk to her now. I can't. I can't.

Can you believe that? You said you were from Chicago Heights. She said, where? Yeah, I know. She went.

I remember going to college. Where are you from? The Heights. Oh, Arlington Heights.

No, the real Heights. The real Heights. The real Heights.

OK. Isn't that funny? Oh, my God. Yeah.

You're South of I-80. How come you don't talk funny? I know, right? It's true. Dems and dos.

And, you know, my ma taught English and she was like, no, this won't happen. This won't happen. And get rid of those chains.

I'm like, OK, ma. I remember at a turning point when I was about 17, betting on everything, you know, had a big book, how I'm going to beat Vegas. I'm going to beat it because, you know, I'm good at numbers.

Come on. There's the. And I remember my dad looked at me and he goes, Frankie, go sit down.

My dad was a man of few words. He loved sports, loved sports, loved everything. He goes, Frankie, he goes, you're hanging around some tough guys.

Dad, I go, I can handle it. He goes, these guys are going to end up one of two places. And we both we all know.

I go, what is that? Daddy goes, they're either going to be end up in the cemetery or in a penitentiary. So if you were with these guys, you better do something different with your life, pal. Oh, so that I I went to work at Ford because I'm like, I'm not going to college.

No way. Well, that put me right in the college mode. I'm like, whoa.

And then and then I always had music to fall back on. I remember this one guy, Ray Bartas. He was a dentist in Olympia Fields.

He goes, Frankie, with music, you always have a friend. Treat music with respect. You'll always you'll never be lonely.

And he goes, and all your friends, you're going to have so many people with like mindedness. Everything he said was right. Well, once again, we can find you and Frank Rossi.net, right? Frank Rossi music.

Frank Rossi music.net. I'm sorry. Yeah. And on Facebook.

Yeah, it's just under Frank Rossi. Right. And and we'll catch some of your Fridays with Frank.

You streaming shows that you do with you and Mike. You and Mike do those, right? Yeah. Michael Vittori.

I tell you, this guy, you learn from everybody, you know, how he can go from singing. Hey there, lonely girl. Michael Jackson.

And he's up there. And then he could sing the blues down and dirty. He's amazing.

Plus, he's the nicest guy I ever met. Yeah, he's a good guy. Good guy.

Good guy. And the rest of the guys should mention Bruce Meyer bass player. Here I am on stage with Mike as a retired firefighter who bicycles miles.

I mean, he's probably biking today. 50 miles a day. Bruce Meyer was a pro golfer and he runs 10 to more miles a day.

And both of these guys, they go, hey, what do you want to eat? I'm like, I'm thinking cheeseburger, you know, whatever. Pete's got to have a salad with a with a little fish on top. And this guy's like, no, nothing.

I'm like, so I got in better shape being with these guys. I'm like, I better do something. How many miles you running? I'm running my mouth.

That's all. That's about it. Well, that's nice.

It is. That burns calories. When you play the accordion, it burns.

You know, sure. Yeah. And they're not the lightest things.

No, they're not. They're not. Yeah, I got rid of a few really heavy ones.

But you know what? But thanks for joining us today, Frank. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.

It's a lot of fun. Well, thank you both very, very much. This was an honor.

And I'll see you both soon. Yep. Yes, you will.

We'll see you out and about. I'm thinking hopefully this summer. Sounds great.

Somewhat back to normal. They will. They will.

We're going to hope. Yep. And hopefully we'll join you on Friday.

Sounds great. I'll I'll see you then. And I appreciate it.

Have a wonderful day, guys. You too. Thanks for joining us.

My pleasure. And there you have it. There we have there we have it.

That's right. There I have it. The backstory.

The backstory behind the story. There was what we'd like to bring you here at the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast of Mr. Frank Rossi, the entertainer, the entertainer. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da.

Oh, sorry. Oh, you're playing the entertainer song. I am.

I thought I was thinking of it was actually saying that I thought it was just in my head. No. Yeah, you're doing that out loud.

Oh, sorry. That's OK. That's OK.

But that was a lot of fun. Fun. That was a lot of fun talking to Frank.

What is fun? I think you're trying to say frank and fun. Maybe. I mean, it's a lot of fun talking to funk.

Well, sometimes when I eat, I get some fun on my shirt, you know, comes up, whatever I'm eating. But but that was a lot of fun. Yes, it was.

Yes, it was. Yes, it was. Talking to Frank and getting some of the the more the story behind the story.

Like you said. That's right. And, you know, even though it's like, you know, a little different type of music than, you know, true rock and roll and stuff.

I mean, look at all the people that he knows that we know. And it's just it's just all intermeshes. Yes, it does.

Yes, it does. It's it's a small world in the in the music community, especially especially the South Side music community, I think, is because that's where we grew up. But but we love we love the north side as well and the west side.

Well, well, the east side, you'd be in the lake. Well, kind of. Yeah.

Although there is an east side. There is. But but that's what we bring you here at the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is musicians and bands from from Chicagoland area.

And we bring you their their their stories and trying to get some insight into into their world. That's right, Dan. When you have some time, check out the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66.

Check out their website. They're moving along really quickly over there, trying to get the place opened up. And actually, that's where our studio normally is.

And we're hoping to get back to that very soon. So check them out on their website. OK, we'll do that.

Thanks for listening, everybody. We'll we'll talk to you soon. We'll see you next.

OK, bye bye. 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.