Here's Paul Martin and Ray the Roadie for the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. How you doing today, Ray? I'm doing good. How are you doing, Paul? I'm doing fabulous, thank you.

Fabulous, I must say, just simply fabulous. I'm doing fabulous, that's it. Wonderful.

So where are we going today? Today we're heading to Beverly Hills. Okay, all right. Really? Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. Not Beverly and the South Side of Chicago. No, not Beverly and the South Side of Chicago.

Out in Beverly Hills, that's where the Hillbillies went. Oh, the Beverly Hillbillies. The Beverly Hillbillies, yeah.

Are you talking to Jed? No, not talking to Jed. We're not talking to Granny or Jethro. We'd like to talk to Ellie Mae, but... Of course you would.

Yeah, Ellie Mae wouldn't be bad. But no, today we're talking to the Hillbilly Rockstars. Oh, okay.

All right, Hillbilly Rockstars. I like them. I saw them recently.

So did I. I was with you. That's right. That's right, you were.

And we saw them in Arlington Park. It's outdoors at the, I don't know what it was. It was a big parking lot.

It was what it was. A metro station parking lot. Yeah, yeah.

That's right. And they're a fun band. And I've had the opportunity to work with them a while back, a while ago.

And I know a couple of the guys in the band. And especially Herman, the Hermanator. The Hermanator.

Hermanator on the drums. But let's... So we talked with them and let's see what they have to say about the Hillbilly Rockstars. Sounds good.

Let's go. Not the Beverly Hillbillies. No, no, no.

Not the Beverly Hillbillies. The Hillbilly Rockstars. Okay, let's go.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show. We're talking today with Hillbilly Rockstars.

We've got Scott Lewis, guitarist and vocalist. Herman Winkler on the drums. Woo! Richard Jacks, bass player.

And we're talking with their sound engineer, front of house guy, Craig Laskowski. How are you guys doing today? Good. Thanks for having us.

What's happening? Happy home day. And we've also got Ray LaRoti too with us. Yeah, I'm always here.

I'm always sticking around somewhere. I thought about what you least expected. So tell us a little bit about Hillbilly Rockstars.

How did the band get started? How long have you been together? And what's the story behind the story there? Well, the band started in 2007 as a concept. Me and Richard Jacks, he's actually one of the founding members, were playing in a party rock band. And we were both big country fans, and we didn't even know it.

I actually came from a country music background, and so did Richard. So we played in a band for a couple of years together and had no idea that we both had to love country music. So we were doing this party rock thing, and I said, hey, man, I really have an itch to get back into country.

I'm probably going to get back into country music. I'm going to be putting something together. I just want to let the rest of the band know.

And Richard's like, wait, what? And I go, yeah. He goes, well, I like country. I'm like, yeah, but dude, you're a keyboard player.

I mean, you know, I don't know. And he's like, no, I play bass too. And I'm like, oh, OK, well, we should talk.

He's like, yeah, I'm very interested. So that's kind of how it all started. It was actually in the basement of my house during a practice session.

The rest of the band wasn't real keen on it, of course. But it was a side project that I wanted to start, and it was for the love of country music because I grew up with it. My dad was a truck driver and, you know, raised me on Johnny Cash and Willie and Waylon and all the good stuff.

So I always had a love for that kind of music. When I brought it to Richard's attention, he was all game for it. And I started reaching out to other musicians.

And I actually had both bands going at the same time. The party band was called Party Freak. And then I had Hillbilly Rockstars as a concept.

So I put it together, had a couple practices, and it just gelled really quick. We put it out there and had a lot of interest from bars and venues and booking agents. People were really interested in the concept.

And I did the whole hype thing where I just put the name out there and see what happened, and everybody was jumping on it. We had a great debut, actually, in St. Charles, Illinois. Alley 64 was our big debut, and we packed the place.

Now, what year was this? 2007. Yeah, so that was kind of the beginning of it. And obviously, musicians come and go.

Girls get married and pregnant and things like that. So we've had a few different gals that have joined the band and left the band for various reasons. Some went back to school.

Another girl wanted to do her own project. I would say that's probably been the biggest revolving door. But the band has always stayed true to what we play, which is country rock.

It's not just country. We like to do kind of the harder-edged stuff, but we also touch base on the classics. And then, this last couple of years, we started getting into original music.

So it's kind of in a nutshell. But in 2007, country wasn't that big. 2008, 2010 is when it started really getting popular again, and we just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Richard, do you agree with all that? I do agree with all that. I want to fact check a couple of things here. Absolutely.

He's got it totally right. I mean, the same thing in Chicago. I grew up in Texas, and my mom's from Georgia.

And like Scott said, I grew up on Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, all that great stuff. But up here, back then, there just wasn't really much of an opportunity to do it. So the way he's laying it out is this sort of, well, I want to do this because I really like it.

And I was like, oh, I really like it too. So yeah, that's really, I mean, just humble beginnings. We had no idea.

And now it's huge. For little money. Yeah.

Did you play with someone else before that, Richard? How long have you been playing? Oh, gosh. Now you said you were a keyboard player, correct? Yeah. Yeah, I really prefer the bass, but I'll take the work that I can find.

And a couple of years before that, I had subbed in for Scott in that band on keyboards. And then so he brought me on as a full-time guy. But I really, really, really prefer to play the bass.

So I just have kind of been in and out of different bands. But I mean, definitely nothing that has had the success that Hillbilly Rockstars has had. So that is just, it's bigger than anything else I've ever done.

So it's a lot of fun. I mean, it's great. I would do it if we weren't as successful as we are, just because the music's great.

The people are great. The people in the band, the people that support us, the fans that come out to see us, everybody's just wonderful. The fans are incredible.

Yeah. Agreed. Now, how's COVID been treating you guys? I see you've got some gigs booked.

I see this weekend you've got gigs booked. But I don't know, have you guys been playing much over the summer? Or did you cancel quite a few gigs? A lot of them got canceled, but then the phone started ringing off the hook in June. And it was venues that wanted to do outside stuff.

And once we were able to open up a little bit and play the outside venues, we were very blessed to have so many people rely on the Hillbilly Rockstars name to bring people out. So a lot of festivals got canceled and rescheduled for 2021. We typically do about 115, 130 shows a year, give or take.

But obviously this summer that didn't happen. But still, we were considered one of the busiest bands this summer. I'm very grateful for that.

We had a lot of shows, surprisingly, just venues that were doing more outdoor stuff. We did maybe two or three indoor ones, but they were very social distancing type events and things like that. But yeah, we were... Richard, I don't even know.

You probably know the count better than I do. Yeah. Well, the one that really stands out to me, I counted this like three times to make sure I keep pretty close track.

We did 10 shows in September, which was just astonishing to me. We were very fortunate. We got some Sunday shows.

In fact, we had two. We did a show at Jamie's Outpost in Utica on a Sunday afternoon. It might have been Labor Day weekend.

I can't remember exactly which Sunday it was. And then we hooked it up to Wisconsin and played a tractor pull in Wisconsin. Scott has it absolutely right.

We didn't have the summer we typically have. But by the middle of July, we were back to playing every week. At least one show a week.

And by September, we slammed September. Now it's getting colder. We still have shows on the books, but it's getting a little harder for the clubs.

They can't throw a stage in their parking lot and have it be 75 degrees anymore. Definitely, it's starting to cool off again, literally and figuratively. For the circumstances, summer was very strong for us.

Very grateful for that. Yeah. And a lot of the indoor venues now are limited to seating.

They can't pay us what they were going to pay us. Either they don't book us or we negotiate another price. We've worked with a lot of venues trying to help them out.

We understand we're all in this together. We can't demand the money that we normally can because we can't go to capacity anymore. It's fortunate to have that type of fan base.

It doesn't happen every weekend. But most weekends, we have a great, great crowd and people that follow us and are loyal fans that pay the cover. We're really grateful for that.

But then coming into winter, they're just calling me saying, Scott, we can't afford you guys because we can't get the people in to pay the cover. When there's only a limited amount of people they can put in a place. Yeah, yeah.

It's tough. And some places can only do 50 people max. 10 bucks a head, that's 500 bucks, which only pays for Craig.

That's about right, actually. It's about the first hour of the first side. Right.

So true. So Herman, the Hermanator. Yes.

Yes, Paul. I know your roots started with rock and roll, didn't it? Oh, God. Well, sort of.

Yeah. I mean, I started out rock and roll. And then during high school, went into the good old barfy death metal thing, which was really fun.

You know, blast beats and a lot of double bass and all of that. And then, right. So and then I went to music school and I was like, Oh, right.

I can play barfy death metal for like four people on a Wednesday. Or I can play popular music for people that actually want to hear it. And I got my first kind of like jobbing band.

I did a lot of jobbing. And then I had a couple of little original projects that were fun. And I would help out friends and stuff.

But no, I mean, I realized that what I love to do is be out there. And be entertaining and playing for people and making them happy and exchanging that energy. And so when I met Scott Lewis, I actually met him through a good bass player friend of mine who had been working with him at the time.

Scotty and I got along really well. And he asked me to fill in on a couple of shows because he was in between drummers. And I'm like, Yeah, totally.

I'll do that. So in the course of like a week, I think I told him like 3 or 4 shows. I don't remember exactly the amount.

And we had such a good time. And I said, Look, you know, I realize I'm kind of all over the place and subbing and jobbing and doing whatever. But if you ever need somebody, let me know.

And I was lucky enough, fortunate enough that, you know, within a few months, he reached out and he was just like, Yeah, no, we would like to pursue this. So that was what? End of 2012. I think I joined officially like beginning of 2013.

So Scotty and I have been loving this adventure together for about seven years now. We have not been loving this year as much as usual, obviously. No, we've had some killer shows, man.

Oh, amazing shows. And what surprises me is that we did a show two weeks ago. So two weeks ago, it was outside.

And it was by the old Sears Center, the hideaway. Oh, yeah, yeah. And it was freezing.

It was below freezing. There's no way anybody's showing up to this. The place was packed.

There were tons of line dancers staying warm out there, just enjoying every song. We had heaters on either side of the stage. And in between songs, like Scotty would run up to one of his to warm up his hands.

And then Rich would run up to the other to warm up his hands. And Nick would do the same. I mean, it was brutally cold.

And yet everybody had an absolute blast. And that's, you know, that's what we're going for. We obviously all love to do what we do.

But we really want to make people happy and just like share in the joy of making music. Now, I was not expecting to play Pitbull when I joined the country band, nor was I expecting to play Justin Timberlake or Guns N' Roses. But I will say that they all blend very nicely together, you know, when placed just right throughout the evening.

But, you know, we absolutely love it. We've been so blessed. So I can't say enough.

And Scotty's done such a great job of just keeping us booked, keeping us working. You know, we're good friends with obviously the guys from Seventh Heaven, Richie and all of them. And we do the music cruise every year.

And unfortunately, we had to cancel that this year. But even they were like, wow, like you guys are playing every weekend. How are you doing it? I'm like, you got to talk to Scott because I just play the drums.

I don't know. But this guy does the work. You know what I'm saying? He puts it in.

So kudos to Scotty. He keeps me working. And we love him for it.

Very cool. Thanks, buddy. Oh, yeah.

So Scott, tell us a little bit about your set list. It is probably 70% country, new and old, mostly new, top 40. You know, if it wasn't a top 10 hit, odds are we probably don't play it.

And then we'll mix in classic rock tunes that are, you know, fan favorites. That people have just asked us over the years. And some of them know that me, Richard, and Herman, you know, and Nick, you know, and our gal, Courtney, have played in bands like that.

So they'll challenge us, you know. We're like, come on, you guys know some Bon Jovi. You know, I'm like, we do.

But we're a country band, you know. You're sure every band knows some Bon Jovi, right? Right, exactly. So, you know, lo and behold, you know, once in a while, we would throw them out here and there.

And they just became like staples because people love it. It's not about us. So they come out for the heart of the country.

And then they know that, you know, at any time, we can just drop Guns N' Roses on them. We can, you know, drop, you know, some, you know, from Jason Aldean to Johnny Cash to, like he said, Justin Timberlake. And that's because I'm very, very picky on who I bring in the band.

I like musicians that are well-rounded. You know, I could have just hired, you know, a death metal drummer. But no, Herman was open-minded.

Yeah, like Craig. But Herman was open-minded. And he loves all music.

Richard loves all music. I love all music. But we really love and appreciate the stylings and the authenticity of country music.

The harmonies, you know, the clean guitar, you know, chicken picking, you know, hybrid picking, things of that sort that just is all very intriguing to us as musicians. You know, the off timing that people don't realize. I had another drummer in this band that had a tough time.

He was a rock drummer. And he came in and he goes, Scott, I love this band. And I really like being here.

But I can't get used to this drumming style. He said, I love it. I want to be here.

But there's just something people don't even realize that as simple as some country sounds, it's very complex. And he's right. And it's so true.

And he's a drum instructor on top of that. So he ended up leaving. And that was during the time when I brought Herman in.

And Herman's just so versatile. I mean, the guy can play jazz. He can play country, funk, you know, a little bit of everything.

So when I brought him in, it was just super exciting. And I like to be able to turn around at my band in the middle of a show and go, hey, we're playing this. And they go, OK, what key? And I give them the key.

And they play it. And there's been many times that we'll do a night of music. And I'll throw out taking care of business out of nowhere.

And they're like, Scott, we've never played this. I know. It's OK.

Grab a seat. Let's do it. And they just jump on board.

We play it. The crowd goes crazy. And then we go back to playing some Jason Aldean.

So it's nice to have that versatility and make people always be on their toes about the music. It's not just about us. It's about them.

So then at the end of the night, you're saying hi and thanking everybody. And you're like, oh, man, it was a great show. But man, we never heard you guys play that song.

If we can make people forget their problems for 90 minutes or two hours or three hours, whatever the show may be, that is what it's all about for Hibberly Rockstars. It really is. It's not about us.

It's about them. And once I got all the people in line with this band that had that same mindset, the sky was the limit. And that's really where it all came from.

So to have the band that I have now, I hope I never lose anybody, honestly. And now you've got it on recording. So you can try it.

Can I use this in court? I'm just double checking. I feel like I can, right? Now, you guys got some original material. How much of that is put into your set list, if any? Well, you know, best season seems to be the best time to put that out.

We don't play a lot of it in bars unless it's requested. You know, we have a patriotic song called I Will Fight For You that went over huge this summer. We ended up getting like 15,000 spins over the summer on Spotify, which is huge for a local band.

And then Feels Like Home I wrote for my family last year, and we released it. And it actually went on country radio. And it peaked out, I think, at 39 on the charts.

So it actually charted. And that was played in like 50 different countries. And that one, I think, is almost like 40,000 spins on Spotify and iTunes.

It's got like another 20,000. So would you get like $7 for those? It's funny you should say that. I swear to God, CD Baby just sent me an email two days ago for $23.23. Nice.

Do you do most of the writing, Scott? Um, yeah, I mean, I'm involved in all of it. Feels Like Home I wrote myself. And I collaborated with some of my Nashville friends.

And then the other songs, you know, I collaborated with our former singer, Anna Kay. She's an amazing lyricist. So and then I would bring the idea to the band, and then the band, you know, and I would you know, knock it out.

So it was great. Paul, he's lying. I wrote all the songs.

I wrote everything. I knew it. I knew it.

Actually, Craig did before he even joined the band. And that's why I hired him. Craig's actually the drummer.

He actually plays drums for the band. I just hang out. Like I show up, I do a couple songs.

Then he gets up there. It's great. Kind of like what I do.

Yeah, that sounds about right. But now do you work off a set list? Or are you one of those guys who calls the songs out as you're going, feeling out the ground? I will do a set list, but it's never written in stone, because we read the crowd, you know? Very good for you, isn't it, Craig? That helps you out. I was just going to say, I print out the set list, and I have notes, you know, for the songs for various things.

And by the end of the show, there's sharpie marks of the song was out, the song was added. And it's just, you know, I keep track of it, because I record all the shows, too, just so, you know, like we have sort of like a archive of everything. So it's one of those things I just keep track of.

I don't know when I started it. I just did. And I've been doing it for a while.

But yeah, so it's fun to look back sometimes, and I'm like, oh, yeah, we made it through the first like 10 songs before we took the turn. Well, we like to brag about Craig, because he's been on tour with National Acts. You know, one of his claims to fame is ACDC.

So pretty cool. Our sound guy, yeah, he was on tour with ACDC, you know. He brought the water bottles, dude.

That doesn't really count. I don't, you know, this whole, like, he was the sound guy. He was like the water boy.

I'm just fucking with you, Craig. That's all right. I wouldn't mind being a water boy.

As long as you get paid, that's right, dude. As long as your check clears, right? Anytime, bro. Agreed.

So now you've got an album out, don't you? Yeah, it's just a five song LP, you know, EP. But we're definitely working on another one, hopefully for this next coming year for 2021. Looking at six to eight songs for that one.

Let's take a time out here for a second. Paul Martin of M&R Rush and the Dancing Noodles. And Ray the Roadie.

The Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast. Join Paul and Ray as they bring you weekly interviews from bands that have rocked Chicago. It's the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast.

Monday night at six on Road to Rock Radio. This is Paul Martin. And Ray the Roadie.

And we're here to talk to you about GHS strings. That's right, Ray. Whether you play electric guitar, acoustic, or bass.

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Great for all musical styles. So if you play. Play with the best.

Play GHS strings. So tell us a little bit about Nick and Courtney who couldn't make it here tonight. Well, Courtney.

I will let Herman explain how we found Courtney. Okay. With Anna Kay giving her notice.

Right. So. Wow.

That was an exciting adventure. Okay. So Anna had given us her notice.

Fine. And so we had some time. And then there was a show that she couldn't do.

And I don't remember there was a reason. It was a legit reason. She couldn't do the show.

And so we needed to get a sub last minute. So Scott's like, dude, we got to find a sub. So I was at work at my old job and was on the phone all day.

I had talked to like 30 different people. I'm like, can you do it? Can you do it? Yeah. You know, here's a set list.

Here's this. Here's that. I had like seven different people lined up to possibly do the show the next day.

And then Scott calls me. He goes, uh, yeah. So Desiree from libido suggested we use this girl, Courtney.

And I'm like, oh, cool. So thank you for six hours of nothing. Like I spent six hours.

Anyway, so I'm like. You could call Scott the boss. He would have done it.

Yeah. Yeah. It isn't.

Stu, but you know, no, I'm just kidding. Anyway, so I'm like, okay, cool. Right.

So I sent Courtney all the info and she comes out, she meets us there. And I remember it was like a crazy rainy night and it was horrible. And like, I was running late because of traffic and whatever it was walking into it.

I was just like in a mood. Right. And so I meet this girl and I'm like, oh, hi, nice to meet you.

Okay, let's do the show. So I downloaded a couple of new tracks for her or whatever, some pop songs. Anyway, so we play the first set.

We get done with the first set. And I walk over to Scott and I'm like, dude, this is the girl. And he's like, I fucking agree.

I'm like, do we offer the job right now? And he goes, yeah, do you want it? And I'm like, please hold. I'm like, hey, Courtney, could you come over here for a second? Okay, so we really appreciate you driving out here. There's something I wanted to talk to you about.

She's like, oh, is everything okay? We're like, yeah, it's more than okay. Like, can you start on whatever was March 3rd? Because she's leaving. She's like, wait, what? We're like, no, we totally want you to be the singer.

And there was a show the next night. Right. There was a show the next night.

That is true. I don't remember the name of the place. It was Firewater in Edison Park.

You did leave out one part. And that was during break. She said, I really love country music, and I wish I was in a country band.

And I'm just saying, I can't leave my band that I'm with now. But I just want you to know, I'd love to sub for you guys anytime. Because this is where my heart's at.

I'm really a country girl. And come to find out, she had recorded an album as a teenager in Nashville. She had all this pedigree from Nashville and knows country music like we do.

I mean, she's only 30 years old. But she's like a big 80s, 90s country girl, which is shocking to me. But she did.

So I'm getting all this feedback from her while Herman is in this year. And then Richard's going, hey, Scott. And he's giving me the look.

I'm like, yeah, I know. I know, Rich. I got you.

Made a long story short, we offered her the job. And she was ecstatic about it. But she had to go talk to her band, talk to her husband, talk to her mom.

The whole meal, shemago, hot stuff incorporated. And so she ended up taking the job. And we were just blown away because she fit in so well.

I mean, the first night she was doing dance moves with us, you know, that me and Richard choreographed. You spent years and years trying to create these, right, Richard? Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

She was nails. I mean, just it really was just like, you know, I put it this way. I think that we're a really good band.

And I think that we definitely could set the standard and find talent like that. But we would have had to work a long time. It would have had to do a lot of auditions.

We would have had to beat the bushes. And she basically just fell out of the sky right on the stage at the Hard Rock at the Four Winds in New Buffalo, Michigan. So I think we were so blessed that just like out of nowhere, here comes the perfect fit.

And we did not lift. Well, Herman lifted a finger. But the rest of us did not lift a finger to bring this girl in.

And she's just been unbelievable. No, I mean, Scott and I were actually even at the point prior to her subbing in, you know, we'd been discussing like, OK, well, so here's what we need to do. You and I, we're going to go down to Nashville.

We're going to, you know, take out a couple of ads. We're going to go to the studio. Yeah, right.

Rent the studio, line up like 100 girls and be like, look, we know you want to be the next whomever. You're not going to be. But if you want to be in like the number one country band in the Midwest, you should move to Chicago.

If you, you know, pass the audition process, you'll make good money and you'll get to, you know, be a part of something special. So we were literally ready to have to go do that. And then she subbed in and I was like, she's the one.

Like, there's no way. I mean, Courtney's the best. I mean, she's the she's amazing.

Look at the money you saved on the trip to Nashville. Yeah, that's right. It's a lot of time and money for sure.

That is true. Although I do love. Yeah, I do love when when Scott and I get to go to Nashville.

We always have a blast with Nick. Actually, we actually found him. Oh, it's almost four years ago.

His band opened up for hillbilly rock stars at Spring Hill or Spring Stratford Mall. Stratford Mall. That's what it was.

Oh, the car show thing, right? Yeah. Righteous Hillbillies still got the hillbilly in the name. But that was Nick's old band.

They're an all original good band. Like a southern rock style band. They're really good.

And so they opened up for us. And me and Herman were, you know, sitting back. We had already done soundcheck and they were playing.

And we're waiting, you know, for our set to hit. And we're listening to this kid. And I say kid because back then he was 24, 25.

Maybe younger than that. Even then. And I look at him and I go, dude, we got to keep in touch with this kid.

He's really good. And we weren't looking for anybody at that time. I said, but man, we got to keep him on our radar.

His slide was amazing, dude. The slide guitar playing work was just excellent. Second to none.

His slide work is sick. So we go up. We introduce ourselves.

We talk to him. You know, I remember exchanging numbers and everything. But we literally three, four years later forgot about him.

Because we had our guy. Everyone was going good. Dave Gans was our guitar player at that time.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. He spent two years with us.

You probably know Dave. Yeah, yeah. I know who he is, right? You've been around forever.

Great player. Somebody else mentioned him, Ray. Yeah, they did.

Somebody else just mentioned him recently. I can't remember who it was now. I think it was The Outfit.

No, no, no. It was a couple of weeks ago. Was it? But regardless, go ahead.

I'm sorry. Great talent. Great talent.

Well, he got a day job with Shure Microphones, where they were going to be traveling him all over the world. You know, doing some type of product line thing. Sean and Charlie, as it was.

Yeah. Sean and Charlie. Yeah.

So he gave his notice two years ago, maybe. Somewhere near Rich. I can't remember.

That sounds about right. That's about right. Two years ago, yeah.

It was like April or May, just before fest season. Classic. You know the story, guys.

You got a great summer coming up, and then somebody decides they're going to leave. I mean, it was plenty of time, but it was like, but we got to have our guy in place. Carry on, Scott.

So we start auditioning guitar players. Rich brings in some guys. Herman brings in some guys.

And we're just, you know, you either got the guy or you don't. You know, it's like, this guy's just not country enough. He doesn't have the hybrid picking down.

He doesn't have this. He doesn't have that. Or some of them couldn't sing, and we're used to three, four part harmonies.

So it's like, it's really tough to just settle, because you get to a certain bar, you don't want to keep going, you know, you don't want to go backwards. So it's a really tough decision, you know, what we were going to do. And I'll never forget it.

I'm looking through Facebook, and one of the group's pages pops up. I think it was Joliet music scene or something. And Robert Hillbilly said they're playing next week.

And I'm like, oh my God, like a light bulb went off in my head. And I remember very vividly, I picked up the phone and go, Herman, Herman. He's like, what? I'm like, I think I found our guy.

He's like, what are you talking about? You don't even know if the guy's looking. I'm like, yeah, but you remember that kid, you know, from Stratford mall. And he's like, yeah, he goes, I got to reach out to him and just see if he's even interested or whatnot.

So we were very frustrated at a point where we didn't know what to do. We didn't know, you know, and Dave's like, well, as long as I can, but keep looking because my job's going to be sending me to Japan next month, you know. Right, I remember that.

That was crazy. So we contact Nick, and this is exactly how the phone call went. Hey, Nick Scott, Hillbilly Rockstars.

I don't know if you remember me or not. He's like, yeah, I remember you. I'm like, yeah, we're looking for a guitar player.

You know, always subtly. I don't know if you know anyone that might be looking, but we're looking for a guitar player. And he's like, yeah, me.

And he said, it's just like that. And I go, aren't you in a band? He's like, yeah, but we play out like twice a month and we don't make a lot of money. I'm like, okay.

He's like, so what's your gig all about? So I tell him what it's all about and the money that we're going to make. And he already knew us and knew of us. And he goes, let me make a phone call, but I'm 90% sure I want this job.

Hangs up the phone, calls me back five minutes later. I just talked to my dad. He told me to take the gig.

I go, you do have to audition. Send me the list of songs. So I send him a list of like eight or nine songs.

He comes to my house. We all are ready for him to try out. And he learned every song except for Sweet Child of Mine.

Oh, he fucked that one up so bad. Oh, it's amazing. Really hard.

He tried really hard. Well, he had forgotten. He went down the list.

He nailed everything. And for some reason, he didn't comprehend that song. So we get there and we're like, okay, now we're going to do Sweet Child of Mine.

He looks at us and he's like, what? Oh, look at the list. Guys, I really didn't learn that one. I'm like, well, let's try it anyway.

It was bad. But all the country parts, he nailed it. He nailed it.

Just smoked all the parts. Yeah, I mean, he's doing the chicken picking. He's doing a hybrid.

And then he whips out the slide. And I'm like, hey, Herm, I think we can deal with not playing Sweet Child of Mine because it's a bad song anyway. And he goes, you'll have to learn it eventually.

But yeah, that's fine. All right, let's hop through. So we come upstairs.

We ordered a pizza. We're eating pizza. And I go, hey, Nick.

He goes, yeah, what's up, man? He goes, do I have to come back? And I go, yeah. And he goes, well, when do you think you'll know? I'm like, what if I told you we're going to offer you the job tonight? He's like, well, that would be cool. What? Yeah, as he's eating pizza.

And he stops eating. He's like shaking, you know? And I go, do you want the job? Yeah. And he just big smile lit up.

He's like, I'll learn Sweet Child of Mine. I swear I will. Have a little seat and learn Sweet Child of Mine.

Yeah, and he can sing, too. Yeah. And that's really important, I feel like.

Because, you know, the thing is, is that, you know, we don't want to just burden our female singer, Courtney, now. And Scott, like we want to have like a wide variety because Dave Gann sang a lot of songs. And so that kind of keeps, you know, people interested.

They're like, oh, who's singing the next one? Like, what's going on? And yeah, it's great. He's definitely picked up a bunch of tunes and he sings them really well. He's definitely gotten more powerful over time, which is great.

And then, you know, again, I can't speak enough to the slide work because really, like, we brought in Tush. And man, he kills that song to the point where we... He's got a lot of traction. Oh, a lot of traction.

Oh, absolutely. But like for Tush, I'm like, well, normally we would need 17 songs for a one-hour set. But if we play Tush, he's going to do like nine solos.

So I can cut three chorus songs out because this dude's going to kill it. You know what I'm saying? And he just does. Every night he kills it.

And that's a big line dance song. People don't even realize these line dancers will request songs. And Tush is a big line dance song.

Who'da thunk? So now when we play Tush, the line dancers are like, you got to play that one. After one of my first shows with them, I went up to Nick afterwards. I had toured with Allman Brothers for a while.

So I was very familiar with slide guitar and with some of the best. And I went up to him and I said, you're well on par with some of those guys with their slide work. And he appreciated it because he was a big Warren Ames and Derrick Trucks fan.

So coming from somebody who... I spent probably the better part of like seven years with those guys. He was really appreciative of that. Now, how long have you been with the band, Greg? I started at the beginning of this year.

Just in time for COVID. Right, exactly. And Scott's like, hey, we got a bunch of shows and that.

And it was like, hit a brick wall. Yeah, right. You're going to love it.

It's going to be amazing. And then, yes, not so much. The early part of COVID, we decided to do some streaming stuff.

And actually, the first one that we did was... I think it was a microphone that... Was it Courtney or maybe you had it, Scott? That plugged into an iPhone. Afterwards, we listened to it. And basically, all I picked up was just cymbals and maybe a little bit of vocals.

And I'm just sitting there listening to it. I'm like, oh, my God. I'm like, people are going to hear this and be like, what did you guys do? So from that point, I basically figured out a system and hooked up cameras and did a whole bunch of stuff.

Yeah, we invested money, didn't we? Yeah. The second stream we did was 100 times better. And then it just kept on getting better and better from there.

So that kept us busy for a while, too. Well, that had to be like April, May, somewhere in there. And then from that point, the shows just started to pick up more and more.

Granted, it wasn't what was in the brochure, but it was still a lot better than any of the other bands or engineers that I was talking to. Because they're like, I mean, this whole industry right now is just dead in the water. And a lot of my friends are hurting right now.

Now, are you from Chicago area? Yeah. And who did you work for before you got this gig? I know you said you've been on tour with ACDC and the Elmer Brothers. And who did you work for? Like touring-wise or local bands? Well, no, no, I'm talking about the sound company.

Oh, I started out sort of independent. I was doing a lot of work with like 80s has-been bands, like in the late 90s or somewhere around there. And then I joined, I basically started with DB Sound, was with them for a while.

Went to 8th Aid. Claire ended up buying out DB, so I was working for Claire while still doing like the independent thing. It was just a matter of who needed something and then they would call me.

If it wasn't through one of the companies that I was aligned with. To be doing ACDC or Elmer Brothers, you had to work for DB. And then, like you said, Claire Brothers, right? Yeah.

Because once I started with Claire, then I was doing Bon Jovi, Kid Rock, a whole bunch. I suck at remembering some of them because to us, they sort of all run together. It's just like you're moving on.

Rock and roll, man. It's rock and roll. Kid Rock is country, right? No, what's that? Kid Rock is country, right? That's what I sold to these guys.

They're like, so have you worked for any country? I'm like, Kid Rock is about the closest I can remember. He is when we play him. Yeah.

Are we adding that one? Wait a second. No. Yeah, we're gonna have it by Friday.

But what else have you got lined up for, say, December or whatever? Or after Thanksgiving? Yeah, that's a good question. Give me one second. Accessing that information now.

Yeah, let's see. You're supposed to be on top of this stuff, man. I wasn't thinking.

What can I say? Yep, there you go. Go, Craig. Go, Craig.

Saddle up at Q on the 12th and Shakers in Ottawa on the 18th. So it's one show a weekend for three weekends in a row, December 5th, December 12th, and December 18th. Yeah, we do have a tentative on November 28th, but it's not for sure yet.

I'm waiting for a confirmation. So how do people find out where your band is playing? What about a website and everything else? Well, the website is hillbillyrockstarswithaz.com.net. We own them both. So it's one word, Hillbilly Rockstars, and then we end it with a Z, so original.

Then we also have our own app, which you can download at Google Play. Oh, very cool. It's very, very cool.

We love the app. A lot of people use the app. They can request things.

They can request songs. They can request shout outs. They can.

I mean, we have a bunch of people where Scott will get a text on a Wednesday for a show on a Friday. He'll be like, we just got this through the app. Can you guys do X song? It's like, yeah, I can learn that in a day.

No problem. You can also request dinner menu items on the app. Look what I got right here, guys.

I know everybody's jealous on this feed here, but this is really good stuff. I think this is the first time we've interviewed a pasta. You guys are the best.

Well, if I come out to a show, I'm going to request a shambala and a ding dong. All right, we'll make that happen. We did that last week.

We will shoot Paul for you. Literally, I will play shambala and a ding dong all night long. We'll get Craig on drums.

I'll play the guitar. Scott will play like the pan flute. It's going to be amazing.

You said pan flute, right? I have a question for Ray and Paul. I'm just curious how you guys heard about us and what you know about us. I'm just kind of curious, you know, the fly in the wall kind of thing.

Well, I'll tell you, I will start out by saying that I've worked with Herman at Blue Chip Casino because I ran sound there for 10 or 12 years, almost 12 years. I know I had a version of the Hillbilly Rockstars in there. Now, I don't know.

I think it was the same version. It was different, yeah. I've seen you guys around town, you know, here and about a number of times.

You guys play CD and me a lot. That's just right down the street for me. So I go there quite often on Thursdays.

I've seen you guys there. That's why I was curious. I'm like, I know I've seen this guy before I met you.

Possibly. He could actually be my brother. Yeah, you too.

You too. You look a lot alike. But it's kind of our business now to keep in touch with bands and see what's going on with bands and talk to bands and find out what they're doing and what's going on.

Well, we appreciate what you're doing. Thank you. No problem.

You don't have to be a rock band to be on the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Thank you for that. Yeah.

Well, you do play some Bon Jovi, so that's cool. That's right. Sweet child o' night.

Every night. Every night. We promise, Paul, just for you.

You'll get Bon Jovi. You'll get Guns N' Roses. I was there.

I was at your show. So there's a show in Orland Park. It was fun.

Yeah, we got some surprises coming up, too. We're planning on interviewing Frank Rossi and Eddie Carrozza, the Polka Kings. That should be just something for fun.

I'd say it's all about music. Like you said, whether you like country or rock and roll or jazz or whatever, it's all about the music. If musicians are from Chicago, we like to interview them and talk to them and see what's happening in their world.

Yeah, there's no better scene in Chicago. No doubt about it. No, agreed.

I love the Chicago scene. It's amazing. It's not what it used to be.

No. I'll give it that. It's still better than everywhere else.

But it's still better than everywhere else. Exactly. There you go.

Well, thanks for joining us today, guys. We really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks a lot.

It's good to see all of you. Yeah, thanks for having us. We appreciate you guys.

Keeping Chicago music alive. Thank you. We're trying.

We're trying. I know it's tough times right now, but we're trying. We'll get through it together.

That's right. Thanks, guys. All right.

Thank you much. Thank you. Stay safe.

Stay to me. I ditch my inhibitions. Right on out of you.

Ain't no turning back now. Y'all know how it goes. The only thing I'm thinking about is tearing up the ground.

Well, the kinfolk said you should move away from there. Well, they didn't move away. They're still around Chicago, but they're playing an awful lot.

Even while the COVID thing and while the pandemic is happening, they're playing all over the place, aren't they? One of the more fortunate groups out there. Yeah, not like everybody else that isn't doing anything. No, no.

We talked with Scott Lewis and Herman Winkler and Richard Jacks and their sound engineer, their front of house guy, Craig Laskowski, and it was fun talking with them and getting to know the band a little better. Yes, it was. Yes, it was.

A lot of great insight in there and glad to see that they still got a few more gigs scheduled. Hopefully, they'll be able to get them off. Yeah, I know.

It's a strange time and a crazy time, but hopefully, they can get out there and keep gigging. That's right. And hopefully, everybody else will be out gigging soon.

And hopefully, all of you can get out there and see them. So thanks to the Hillbilly Rocksiders for joining us today. And well, you take care, Ray.

And are you going to Beverly Hills soon or no? No, I'm probably going to head over to the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66 in beautiful downtown Joliet, Illinois. I see. I'm going to go volunteer some time, help them work on getting some stuff going there.

It's also the home of Road to Rock Radio. That's an internet-based radio. And you can catch us on Road to Rock Radio every Monday at 6 p.m., one of our podcasts.

That's roadtorock.net. I can? You can. Even you. Even you can.

So everybody else can as well, right? That's right. Everyone in the world, in the world. Okay.

Every Monday at 6 o'clock. Every Monday, 6 p.m. All right. Sounds like a good deal.

All righty. Otherwise, find us everywhere you find your podcasts. If you don't find us, we might find you.

That's right. Thanks for listening, everybody. See you next week.

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.