Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast
The Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast is a weekly podcast that interviews bands and musicians from the Chicago area. The podcast is hosted by Ray Bernadisius ("Ray the Roadie") and Mike Metoyer ("Hollywood Mike" of Cadillac Groove, Mike & The Stillmasters). The podcast covers a wide range of topics, including the history of rock n roll in Chicago, the current state of the scene, and the challenges and opportunities facing musicians today.
Founded in 2019 by Ray the Roadie and Paul Martin, the two co-hosted the show until 2022. In 2023 Ray was joined by Mike Metoyer as the new show co-host.
The Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast is a great resource for fans of rock n roll and musicians alike. The podcast is informative, entertaining, and inspiring. It is a must-listen for anyone who loves rock n roll and wants to learn more about the Chicago music scene.
Here are some of the things you can expect to hear on the Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast:
Interviews with bands and musicians from the Chicago area
Discussions about the history of rock n roll in Chicago
Information about upcoming concerts and events
Tips and advice for musicians
And much more!
If you're a fan of rock n roll, or if you're just curious about the Chicago music scene, then you need to check out the Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms.
Show your support of the podcast and visit our Swag Store. Just click copy and paste this link in your browser: https://tinyurl.com/yr5pa7zt
The Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast is edited by Paul Martin.
Theme song courtesy of M&R Rush.
Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast
Ep 27 Ronnie Rice
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Ronnie Rice picked up a guitar when he was 16 years old and hasn't put it down yet! He began his musical career as a solo performer in Evanston, Illinois. In the late 1960s, Ron joined the Chicago-based group, The New Colony Six and sang lead vocals on many of their hit records, including oldies favorites I Will Always Think About You and Things I'd Like to Say. Paul and Ray sat down for a conversation about his illustrious career.
Podcast edited by Paul Martin.
Theme song courtesy of M&R Rush.
www.rocknrollchicagopodcast.com
Rock and roll, when I was born in the city, going to rock the city of Chicago. This is Paul Martin and Ray LaRoti for the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. So we're going kind of way, way back this week in our interview.
Yes, we are. We're back to the 60s and the psychedelic era. Free sex, tie dye, hippies.
Colonial outfits. Colonial outfits, exactly. We're talking today with Ronnie Rice, who was lead singer, songwriter for the New Colony Six.
New Colony Six, and they're still around. Yes, they are. Ronnie does a few shows with them, some of the cornerstones of rock shows.
But otherwise, you can see Ronnie performing on his own, playing acoustic guitar. It's just him and acoustic guitar, and in the audience. And he does a great job at it.
We get a chance to see him back in August. Yeah, that was a good show. Yes, he is.
He's got a great shtick he's got going there. He sure does. Well, let's get this shtick on the road and hear what he has to say.
Okay, let's do it. This is Paul Martin and Ray the Roadie for the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Joining us today in our studio, actually via phone line, is the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Ronnie Rice.
Oh, listen to me. I didn't see you. Just kidding.
Too much ego on my side, I think, anyway. How are you guys doing? We're doing great. How are you doing? I'm fine as wine.
Now that we're going to be talking, it's going to be more fun. So, what's going on, man? Nothing. You're keeping pretty busy, I see.
Knock on wood, yeah. So far, so good. I'm only 150 years old, so it's not bad.
That's good. You never know. You may hit 151 and things may slow down, right? No, man.
Well, it's been pretty good. I can't complain. As long as people keep enjoying it, I'm making it more fun for myself that way.
Actually, what do you call it? The audience, let's put it that way, is really everything. They're the whole ticket, really. They're the reason to get up there and rock and roll and have a good time with everybody.
It's really a party, you know, and that's what it's meant to be. So, I'm having a good time. Can't complain.
We saw you out in Hillside doing a show with Crying Shames. Right on. And you were knocking them dead, as always.
Oh, man, are you nice. Well, thank you so much. I mean, it means a lot to me to hear that, especially from guys as young as you.
Because you're, what, 14 and 16? Yeah, that's it. You have 14. You know, to have all age groups is amazing.
Thank you so much. Thanks for the reference. I appreciate that.
That was nice of you. Well, tell us, first of all, how you got started in the business. Let's go back in.
You remember back that far, right? Well, let me think. That was only a couple weeks ago. So, no, I'm kidding.
But actually, I actually knocked on a door one day of a guy named Dick Biondi, who was a pretty important guy. He sure was. In the record business, radio business.
He was probably the main, probably one of the most celebrated guys at the time. 1961 is when I was 16 years old, and I knocked on his door. And he's the one who introduced me to the people that really brought me into the studio.
And I signed a recording contract, actually, a local thing. And my first tune came out, was on the air at that time at 16. And it was pretty exciting.
And when I went to Columbia College later on, which was about, I don't know, I was 19 years old or whatever. Columbia College here in Chicago. I met these guys called the New Colony Six.
And at that time, they hadn't had a record out yet, or there wasn't anything. You know, we called them records, as you remember. I remember records.
Those vinyl things, you know what I'm saying? Anyway, so as it turns out, wound up, they actually introduced him to who became my manager, who was probably the biggest record promoter in the city of Chicago, a guy named Pete Wright. And he was an independent promoter. But anyway, since Nick Biondi introduced me to him and so on and so forth, at that time I introduced him to the colony.
And because of him, the New Colony had their first tune on the radio. I don't know if that was 1964 or 65, but they got a hit record here in Chicago that became a number two song here called I Confess. And a year later, they wanted to replace our keyboard player, and they asked me if I would join.
And I said, yeah, but I can't play keyboards. I'm so bad at it. But I did it anyway, and that's the way it started with me.
And I joined in 67. So I can't complain. Things have been pretty good, you know.
Well, now you've had a series of a couple of hits with them too. Yeah, yeah. I was lucky enough, you know.
After I Confess, they had here in Chicago, we were the first out of the groups that did come out of here. You had the New Colony, then you had Shadows of Night, Crying Shames, American Breach, Buckingham's, Ides of March. And there were other groups like The Flock, and there were other groups locally that had tunes on the air, but unfortunately didn't get the opportunity that we did.
And record-wise, so we got lucky. And 1960s, I think it was 1967, I'm not sure. But after having a couple of local things, I wrote a tune called Treat Her Groovy, Take Her to a Movie.
Anyway, that didn't do very well. You know, here are numbers on WLS. We were lucky enough to get that kind of airplay.
And WLS was a 50,000-watt station, so they went all the way down south. And as it turns out, after Treat Her Groovy, myself and a guy brought into the group later on. He wasn't in the group right away.
He replaced a guy named Wally Kemp with our bass player, the original New Colony bass player. And his name was Les Cuomo. This was the guy that I wrote I Will Always Think About You With.
And that became, we got real lucky with that one. And that was our first number 22 in both trades. You know, Billboard, Cashbox.
And that became our number one here. That was the start of something real nice. And as it kept going, you know, about a year later, Things I'd Like to Say came out.
And I was fortunate enough to write that one too with Les. And, you know, sang it. You sang both of those, right? You sang both of those songs, correct? Yeah, not at the same time, though.
No, no, that'd be difficult. I Will Always Think. Baby, as you look at it, I Will Always Think.
It's very, very tough to do that. But, yeah, so it afforded a nice, you know, for a 22-year-old at the time, it afforded me quite a nice existence. It was very pleasant, very nice.
It's you that I dream of. Sometimes love hurts, and sometimes love's unkind, and sometimes you might feel blue. But remember now, darling, if his words are real, this will never, never happen to you.
Baby, baby, those things I'd like to say, I was talking that would all work, would get my head started. How long did you stay with New Colony Six? I think I was with them until about 1974. I see.
And then I went on my own. And, yeah, the colony continued on, as they still do. You know, they're still together.
And, as you know, well, I think you might be aware of it, we do a thing called Cornerstones of Rock, which was on PBS a couple of years ago. We recorded it along with all those other groups I had mentioned. And because of Jim Pedrick from the Ides of March, you know, who wrote Survivor.
Anyhow, so Jimmy put that idea to here in Chicago, Channel 11. They ran it in different parts of the country, but here in Chicago it did rather well, obviously. And as it turns out, you know, we've been doing theaters like that.
So that's the only time I hook up with the colony, or at least a couple of the guys from the colony. And that's how we're doing it, you know. And that's the only time I do other than that.
You know, I haven't been on my own since 1977. Excuse me. And it's been myself and the guitar and the audience.
And they're the singers. I'm just kind of bringing it on, you know, trying to bring it to everybody. Hopefully they'll do it.
So we do it together. It's like a party. I love it.
I love the audience. Love it. You're the vehicle that makes them work, right? Yeah.
That's the way to look at it. That's right. I want them to—I just want them to have a great time.
I mean, again, it's a mutual situation, you know. Takes two to tangle, baby. Takes two to tangle.
So if you have a crowd that's doing well, I mean, obviously we're having a good time with it. You know, there's nothing better. And then, of course, you've all—you know, everybody experiences times when it's not as great.
You could be doing a private thing or you could be doing something where it's not really working the way you want it to because it just happens to be that way. So I call that combat pay. You know, it's like, oh, my goodness gracious.
But again, in a way, you know, if you have a couple of jobs that aren't as hot as you would like them to be or the audience isn't what you expected, you know, it just makes it so much better for the ones that are great. And I'd say about 99% are really a lot of good time, you know. Okay, I'll see you.
Bye. So what else is happening, David? Give me more. So you were with the New Cality Six and through their four albums, correct? Oh, well, yeah, Reveille, I guess.
Well, no, not the first one. The first one was— Breakthrough? Would I confess, I was on the second one. Colonization.
I don't remember. What's that? Colonization in 67. Well, yeah, I was definitely on that, yeah.
The first tune I was on with the New Cality was a song called I Love You So Much, and I sang background on that. Never let me, that was the part. And Ooze and Oz and all that.
You still remember those parts, huh? What's that? You still remember those parts, huh? Oh, yeah, man. I do, I do, I do. So, you know, we all kind of collaborated on that to figure out what to do where, you know.
And, well, again, I kind of liked that tune a lot. I mean, not kind of, but I do. I Love You So Much, I think it's a good up-tempo, kind of medium up-tempo thing.
And that became a number two song here in Chicago, and it didn't do quite as well nationally. So, you know, you just keep going. That's pretty much the deal.
And again, here we are, you know. Knock on wood, knock on wood. Do you do any of those hits when you play live? Well, I do.
In your show now? What about, say it again? In your show now. Oh, yeah. In your show now.
I never heard that song. But the truth is, yes, I do. You know, it's really weird, because I wrote a couple other things called I Could Never Lie to You and Long Time to Be Alone and You're Gonna Be Mine and I don't know what else.
But, you know, the bottom line is I only do the ones that hopefully they can connect with, the ones that they may recall. And I think in most cases, you know, you go places where things they like to say did very well for us. And so I do that, and I will always generally for sure.
You know, I used to do maybe, excuse me, I used to do I Confess, I Love You So Much. So it depends on what mood I'm in, because I never know exactly what I'm going to do at what point. I just go do it.
So what are some of your favorite songs from that era when you were with them? You talking about any? Well, let's see if I think back. I mean, I like the Blues Magoos. Remember those guys? Yeah.
I thought that was a cool tune. I thought Tobacco Road was a cool tune. I thought Buffalo Springfield was cool.
I liked, you know, Love the One You're With was another good one. I mean, there's a bunch of good stuff back then, you know? Like a couple of Blood, Sweat & Tears tunes, you know? So what was your main influence? Oh gosh, for me? What are you kidding? I was, you know, being 150 years old, I mean, I started young. We all started young.
No, but seriously, I'm with the roots of rock and roll. So in other words, I was there when they invented it. And that was in the 50s.
So you're talking about Little Richard and Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley. Right. These were my influences.
These are the people that I like boogie-woogie feeling. I like shuffle kind of stuff. I like, you know, it comes down to what you do.
And so, yeah. I'd say the stuff from the early to late, you know, up until maybe, I'll sprinkle it. Pretty much what I do is stuff I grew up with.
So the people that, you know, it's kind of ironic because the era where I was in my 20s, when I was with The Colony, at that time, all these groups like Moody Blues, you know, we were doing Moody Blues stuff. Because you only got so many hits of your own. You only have, you know, whatever you got to do.
And again, you want to do, I always believe in doing something that we all can identify with, the audience and us. And so in order to do, you know, that, you want to do stuff like what at that time was current. I mean, we would do Beatles stuff and we would do, you know, like I say, Moody Blues, we would do, you know, a bunch of different things.
Bee Gees. So we would do, we even did Mountain, you know. Wow.
You know, and then we did, yeah, you remember Mountain? Sure do. Leslie West. Yep.
Mississippi Queen. Oh yeah. Now, I didn't do the lead on that, but Bill Herman, who was our drummer at the time, because Chick Chakowsky was the original drummer of the group.
And then when he left, we got a guy named Bill Herman, who used to be with a group called The Exceptions. The Exceptions had Pizzaterra, and, you know, they were a local band, but they were the best local band there ever was as far as doing things, or cover tunes and so on, until CTA, the organization, Pizzaterra went with them and so on. But anyway, yeah, so there's a lot of good times to think back about, you know, very cool.
Now, let me ask you, why the colonial outfits? Well, Ray Graf, you know, it's a kind of interesting thing. New Colony being back then, and that's probably what, you know, what sparked that in Ray's mind, because Ray and Pat McBride, the original Colony guys, that was their idea. And so they went from those outfits later on, that we went, like you saw the colonized album, you saw the cover, you'd see the guys wearing stuff, looked like, you know, uniforms, but they weren't anymore.
You know, the Colony kind of thing. But that was just, it was his idea. I guess it was their idea to do that, because of New Colony representing America back in that era.
And following the British invasion, of course. Yeah, that was it, you know, because that was the whole point of calling it New Colony Six, was they were representing America, so New Colony being that. And you're right, that's exactly what the reason was.
But when they went to, you know, the story goes that when they went to California, this was before ever, obviously before they were noticed, you know, noticed at all, before they even had a tune-out. While they were out there, they met the Paul Reverdy Raiders, and they had the same idea. Right.
As far as wearing clothes. Wore the same kind of thing, same kind of idea, you know. Do they still do that with their shows nowadays? The Raiders do, yeah.
Yeah, I know the Raiders do. Yeah, the Colony, well, when the Colony plays, I guess they're individually dressed at this point. Ray Graffia, the founder of the band, well, he actually still does fit into whatever, and then I guess there are times when they do dress that way, and there are times they don't.
You know, I mean, they're like, he may wear, back then, you know, Nehru jackets were big, and so he, Ray could still fit into his, you know. Good luck to me. Yeah, I know that feeling.
Oh, it's a wonderful thing. Food is actually my drug of choice. Yeah.
Unfortunately, yeah. But of course, it's all still hanging in your closet. Just one day, you're going to be able to put it on.
Oh, yeah, probably when I drop dead so I can thin down a little bit. You know what I mean? Then they could go put that on me. So, yeah, I don't know.
Tell me about Ronnie Rice and the Gents, and Ronnie Rice and the Silvertones. Now, that's going back to pre-New California days. Yeah, that's pre-Colony, sure.
That was, again, when I was with that gentleman, you know, like I told you, that record promoter. Oh, okay. And, you know, it was, like I said, I was 16 years old when those came out.
They didn't do anything. Well, they did come out, and that got you a little bit of, obviously, exposure. But I wasn't really playing a lot of jobs at that time, even with those guys we're talking about.
Did a couple of record hops, as you called it back then. You know, I did one with Gene Chandler, the Duke of Earl, and I did, you know, pretty much, that was, I couldn't even think of anybody else that I did something with back in the day. But I remember doing it with him, you know, over at an armory in Gary, Indiana.
But I would lip-sync like an old Frankie Lyman tune, called Whitey Fool's Fall in Love. Oh, now Whitey Fool's Fall in Love. Come on, people, let's go downtown.
That was it. And, I'll live, I want you to be my girl was the name of the tune. I want you to be my girl.
And, again, it sounded more like a surfer kind of thing. But anyway, that was, you know, that's pretty much the beginning of the recording thing for me. It's pretty exciting for a young person to have that happen, very much so.
Sure, of course. Yeah. Now, tell me what, well, yeah, you talked about Dick Biondi.
Yeah. But tell me what WLS actually meant to, meant to, like, the Cornerstones of Rock, the Ides of March, and the Crying Shames, and the American Breed, and all those bands. Yeah, well.
What WLS actually meant to them. Oh, it meant everything. I mean, WLS would break the tunes, and then all of a sudden, you know, bingo bango.
So some of the guys, for instance, you know, it's interesting because, again, since we were the first to get lucky nationally, after us, I think, came to shadows at night. So, you know, WLS had a lot to do with it because being a 50,000-watt station, other people, other radio stations, would hear these tunes as well, and it would give the promoters, the record promoters a chance, you know, to identify with that and say, oh, yeah, it's really big here, if it is, you know, if it was. A legit hit is usually not you calling up 4,000 times requesting your own tunes, you know, or having your friends call you.
A legit hit would be something that actually did sell a lot of tunes. But WLS, yeah, meant a lot to everybody. It meant a lot to all the guys you're talking about.
They're the ones that broke every, you know, they're the ones that started all of those guys going. So we're real, everybody's real dedicated, appreciative of that station. I mean, it was fantastic.
And then, you know, these were the days when the DJs were celebrities. And so it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool.
I mean, everybody's really, you know, these are great memories to have for us. And when they play stuff as oldies as they still do, on the 60 channel and so on and so forth. So we were lucky with that too.
I wish that the Crying Shames, I've said this before, I wish that they would have gotten the opportunity from Columbia Records, but they were on a major label. And it was really kind of unfair that after having a number one tune here called Could Be Wearing Love, which was number one for a lot of weeks. And after that being said, you know, I mean, it was just not fair to them because I don't think Columbia did the promotion that they should have done.
It would have been, you know, I mean, it would have been top five in the United States if that were the case. So again, even if you're on a major label, you could get lost on a major label too. They may have other things going at the time which are, you know, giving more interest, obviously more attention to.
They were more of a regional hit, right? Well, that happens. Again, like I say, that was why we got lucky because we did get, we got lucky, and then again, we could have got luckier. And the part that could have been luckier would have been that if Mercury, we were on Mercury Records.
And at that time, if it weren't for Pete and Howard, again, well, I don't know, you're not aware of this, I don't think, but I will always think about you, Mercury Records thought it was a stiff. They didn't think it was a hit to them. Really? They thought Trita Gruby was a hit, and I will always think about you as a stiff.
Well, Pete and Howard, Pete, Howard Bennett was the other guy with Pete. They were both partners in crime over there. So as it turns out, Pete was the one who got it started naturally.
He's the one who really got it started. Like in Louisville, when it was number one here, about a week later, it became like top five in Louisville, and all of a sudden, bingo, bango, you know, now Mercury did the distribution and the promotion around the country, and like I said, it became number 22 in both charts, in national things. And then all of a sudden, things I like to say came out, and that became top five in every major market, LA, New York, Milwaukee, you know, whatever.
Chicago. So we were top five in every, which means your top five, you should show us top five in the, in Billboard and Cashbox. But unfortunately, because of distribution, by the time it became number two here, it was just starting elsewhere.
I see. So by the time I was coming down here, so the average, it averaged out like number 13 in Cashbox and number 16 in Billboard, whereas it really, you know, they're still playing in LA. You know, I'm talking about, if you're top 10 in every major market, then it should show it that way.
But because of the time they started promoting here and there in different places, it didn't get the saturation that it probably should have had. Right. But I'm not complaining.
No. Well, I am. But I'm really not.
Yeah. I mean, we lucked out. It still did a good thing for us.
So tell us about your current show, what you do now. I know you said it's just you and a guitar and the audience. You know the audience.
Right. And it's really up to the, you know, I mean, it's like a mutual signal. You guys remember this, remember that, that kind of thing.
Because, you know, the whole thing just was an idea that, when I first started, I started doing the solo thing, and Let Us Entertain You was a corporation, which is a, you know, Rich Baumann's thing, which is a thing that has all these restaurants. And a place called Orange River Regatta was on Diversity Avenue in Chicago. And at the time, I actually applied for a position because I was done with the county.
I didn't do that anymore. And I told Rich Baumann, who happened to be the owner of Let Us Entertain You, he was the main dude. And he said, boy, you think we can do that here by getting people singing and stuff like that.
He knew who I was, he knew my background. So I helped pick people because it was that kind of a place. It was a restaurant where, if you're waiting in a waiting area, you would have people entertaining you.
And the waiters and waitresses. So that's where I started doing it in 1977. And then from that, it went from one place to another place, another place.
And now, you know, I do an hour and 20 minute program. And, you know, basically have a party. I always felt like a party because it's pretty much the way it is, you know.
Started my basement that way. Hey, you know, you have one or two people. Hey, how you doing? You want to do this one? Let's jam, you know, that kind of thing.
So it's really kind of a spontaneous thing in a way. and you do, you do a lot of, you do a lot of that old stuff from, uh, the Elvis, uh, in, in the, uh, Little Richard. I don't do a lot of Elvis, but I do some Elvis for sure.
Chuck Berry, Elvis, you know, a song by Little Richard. He'll do Beach Boys. Um, you know, we'll do, I do pretty much what, uh, like I say, you know, it could be a Buddy Holly thing.
I don't know what's going to come to my mind at the moment. Um, I kind of have a, I know how I'm going to start. Uh, I want to start with it up, but yeah, I want to start and kick some butt and then wherever it goes to, it'll be interesting.
I never know. I don't know exactly. Are, uh, are most of your shows local or are you traveling around the country? No, I hate traveling.
I can't stand it. I don't like traveling. Mainly because it messes up my ears.
If I have to fly, you know, I have to stay in Houston. So, you know, you're flying and take it, you know, you got to hold your nose and blow to try to open them up and then you're half your brains fly out. You know, it's kind of, that explains a lot.
I'm sure. Good picture there. You like that? It's the theater of the mind, right? Yes.
Yeah, you're right. It makes things a little simpler, but yeah, so traveling for me, it was more fun when you're young. You know, I did a lot of it.
By the way, I did do a lot of shows. I did a lot of corporate stuff a number of years ago and doing what I do now. And I've been doing that for years.
So I still do that here and there, but it's different than it was. You know, things are different. The guys that are really make a lot of noise right now are the tribute bands.
Oh, yeah. And, you know, these guys, you know, it's just, it's surprising how things are gone. So when you see, you know, that the turnout, that people are doing state, you know, not necessarily stadiums, but 4,000 seat places, maybe more that are, that are, you know, tribute groups.
But in actuality, there's so many, so many of these groups are obviously who are still have the name of the band. They're like, can I tell you one quick thing real fast? Sure, sure, sure. I'm late for that, ain't I? No, but anyway, here's the deal.
I went to go see Paul McCartney one time and he wasn't with Wings. It was just Paul McCartney. And this was a few years ago.
And Dick Biondi was still on the air at the time. And he said, Ron, call in and let us know how the Paul McCartney show was. Okay.
So I called, after the program, I was driving home with a bunch of people, whatever. And then I called into WLS and Biondi said, you know, we got so-and-so on the phone. He said, hey, Ronnie, so what'd you think of the Paul McCartney show? I said, it's the best Beatle tribute band I've ever seen in my life.
Yeah. Yeah. It really was.
you know, you're all, I mean, there are so many now. It's incredible how many careers some of these groups have started without realizing it. You know, even REO Speedwagon got a tribute band somewhere.
yeah. Yeah. Isn't that amazing? So in your solo career, are you an original member? Oh, yeah, I am.
Yes, I am. Yeah, I started, I wanted to be a soloist. I wanted to be Don Ho, but, I got the t-shirt, you know, I got the shirt, so, no, but actually, Tell me about the Rockin' Rabbi.
What's that all about? How'd you know about that? Oh, yeah, I came out to one of the programs. Yeah, yeah. Well, you knew, I tell you what, one day I was out at radio, I was doing an interview, since I'm a linesman, which is a Jewish person, you know, I was born in Israel, by the way, I wasn't born here.
Oh, okay. I was like, I remember Gene, you know, Gene Simmons, the same thing, and he was born there as well, but, anywho, the bottom line is, we weren't very religious, I shouldn't say that, because I got a gig tomorrow at a synagogue, by the way, which is hard to believe, it's in Skokie, isn't it? But anyway, so, imagine that. Yeah, dig it.
I've been there before, Temple Ezra Habanim, and, so I've been there before, but the thing is, this is the, what's the question? The Racking Rabbi. Oh, yeah, that's it. So, one day I'm doing a thing, I think, on the air, with somebody, well, Steve and Johnny of WGN Radio, and I was doing a thing with them, and I happen to go into this Jimmy Reed tune, you got me running, you got me hiding, you got me running, hiding, running, what do you want? I go, you got me running, you got me hiding, can I start doing one of these things, myself and Jake? And I'm like, you know, that was it.
Um, I guess they decided to indoctrinate, indoctrinate. Anyway, the colony for what I understand, you know, they went up there. I didn't go.
I didn't, I didn't, I didn't want to go there. I don't want to travel. So it turns out they did.
I was kind of surprised to see the bucks doing an interview on the iPad that I have, but that was kind of a surprise. So I don't, I don't know what they did. And I don't know if we were the first ones over there or not, but well, the reason to bring that up is because right now we're talking to you from the Illinois rock and roll museum.
Um, that's where we're at around 66 in a beautiful downtown Joliet. And, uh, we've, they've, they've been kind enough to set up a little studio for us here. Oh, that was nice.
Well, that's real nice. And, uh, and, uh, they, uh, they've also got a road to rock or what they call the road to rock radio, uh, internet radio show. Um, and our, our podcasts are broadcast every, uh, every Monday night from, uh, at six o'clock.
Oh, that's fun. Okay. That's pretty cool.
And I, uh, I know we were down there to try to raise a few bucks that time. Uh, and, uh, whatever. It's a good project.
I hope it, you know, I hope when it's concluded, when it's finished, I'm looking forward to seeing that, you know, there at least hope it gets finished. I don't know when it's going to be finished, but, uh, well, they're hoping sometime next year that it should be completed. At least the first floor.
Yes. Yeah. Ron, what's your last name again? Ron Romero.
Yeah. He's the boy. Yeah.
Ron Romero. Yeah. Good dude, man.
Yes. Um, say hi for me. And that's about it.
I don't know what else to tell you. How do we get ahold of you? How do, how do people find out where you're playing and where they can just look up the internet, you know, ronnie rice.com. Okay. And then if they want to find out what shows are open to the public, they could just look on their shows.
So, so you said you had a show come up tomorrow. You got anything else scheduled for the rest of the year? Well, we got the, uh, another cornerstone program coming up and, uh, that's November at the end of November. I mean, it's all listed down there.
Um, and then after that I got a private thing and then I got a Dell web. We're doing again, you know, it's the right era, you know, at the Dell web folks up there, young retirees, great crowd, great craft done it before. I love it.
It's a lot of fun. Excellent. So it's a story of moan and glory, but thanks for interviewing and I appreciate it.
Well, thanks for joining us. Thank you. My pleasure, man.
And thanks again. I'm going to go hit the washroom now. It's been a pleasure.
All right. Thanks, Ron. Thanks.
Take care, man. Thank you. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye. That was Ronnie Rice. Uh, the great Ronnie Rice, formerly with the new colony six and now on his own doing his own show.
So that was Ronnie Rice and, uh, Ronnie, uh, Ronnie's got some great stories from back in the day. And I love this tri-corner hat he gave me. Don't I look cool? I think this thing is so cool.
Oh yeah. Yeah. You're looking good.
I'm colonized, man. I'm colonized. That's not Colin.
That's not colonized. That's my doctor that takes care of that. So yes.
Um, but, uh, but ready, uh, Ronnie's a, a, a, a great performer and he does a great job, uh, playing, playing and keeping busy. Yes, he does. He's always in great spirits.
Funny guy. Uh, it was an honor and privilege to talk to him. Yes, it was.
Yes, it was. So make sure you guys are, uh, following us on Facebook, checking us out on, uh, iTunes and everywhere you get your podcasts, subscribe, let your friends know, share, uh, drop us a line. You know, if you, uh, there's somebody you want us to interview, maybe we can, we'll do that for you.
Thank you for listening. Thanks for listening. See you soon.
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