Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66, it's the Rock and Roll Chicago Podcast. Hey, everybody, it's Ray the Roadie. And this is Hollywood Mike.

Hello, Hollywood Mike. How are you? Hey, you know, I'm doing good. I'm doing real good, man.

What a fantastic weekend we had in the Chicagoland area for music. Yeah. This past weekend was really good.

Everybody was working. Everybody was playing. Everybody was partying.

Everybody was dancing. That's great. And people were even showing up to Sunday night jams and stuff.

They were all looking like zombies and everything. But, you know, people were showing up and having a good time. Very good.

And yeah, it was a good time to be in Chicago. Yeah, you know, I know that it's November right now. Yeah.

But right now it's 90 degrees here where we're recording this episode. So we're always thankful for that. That's right.

That's right. Exactly. So what we got going on today? Today we got the Rott, oh, Rott Iron Soul Band.

Boy, why did I screw that up? The Rott Iron Soul Band. Excellent. How are you guys doing? We're great.

Fantastic. Thank you very much. Good time.

So which one of you guys is the steel steelworker guy? The fence installer. That's not where we got the name. That's harkening back to the Mayor Jane Byrne days when, you remember there was some controversy about the Rott Iron Fence Contractor, something like this? We actually got it when we were deciding the name, what, eight, nine years ago at that point.

What was the original name? Slim Pickens. Slim Pickens. And then I think Mike was like, yeah, that's the name of a guy.

I thought it was appropriate because we didn't get paid a whole hell of a lot. So the Pickens were slim, as they say. But we decided on a couple of names and the one that stuck happens to be the last words in the last song of the Doors, L.A. Woman on a song called Texas Radio and the big beat and they end with Rott Iron Soul.

And so we stole that and made that our name. Yeah, actually, John, our guitar player's wife, liked the name. Yeah.

And that's how it came along. And we all finally agreed upon it. So well, my streak is alive, though.

I try to guess every week and every week I'm wrong. Yeah, that's a tough one, right? Yeah. But, you know, I think I think Slim Pickens was a phrase before Mr. Pickens actually stole it.

So I think he'd have been OK. He would have been and he would have understood. Yeah, I think so, especially when it came to, you know, scrounging around for money when you're starting out and hard up.

For sure. Right, right. So when when was the creation of this of this Rott Iron Soul band? Well, like Tom was telling you a minute ago.

Yeah, we were trying to figure that out. We were talking about it. So it's kind of interesting how it formed.

We were in a we're in Tim's basement, our drummer at the time. Tim's basement. Yeah.

Tim and not your present drummer. No, no. We've gone through a couple of drummers.

Yeah. Yeah. And I guess that's kind of the origination of it.

And I would say, well, it was your birthday, if I can say it on the air, your 60th birthday was what year? That would have been in 2072. Yeah, it hasn't happened yet. Yeah, I wish.

Well, I was born in 1955. So you guys can do the math there. So 15.

So we're coming up on 10 years here. Yeah, just about around there. Yeah.

So, yeah, that's kind of how it just originated. And me, Mike and John, the lead guitar player, have been the three originals. And then Doug, chime in when you kind of came in.

So it was around 2016. So I've been with the band about eight years. John called me.

He contacted me through, I don't know if you guys know about Band Mix. Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, Band Mix is kind of like the Facebook for musicians.

And so I was on there and he found me and told me about the band. I came, I tried it out. It really worked out.

And we've been together ever since. Yeah. You know, I often refer to it as more like the Tinder for musicians.

But yeah, I went to Jewel in Amsterdam one time. The guy looked at me like I had three eyes. Where's the Band Mix, man? Yeah, no, it's technically more like Tinder than it is Facebook.

Because, I mean, the more people you come in contact with, the higher chance you have of getting screwed. No, I'm just kidding. No, I've done that before.

I've gone through Band Mix before. You meet some decent people. And a lot of times you... And some weirdos.

Yeah, and some weirdos. Because we went through a few bass player tryouts before we got to Doug. So I remember that.

So who was the person that made the first phone call? Or who was the person that said, let's put something together? Well, we met, the three of us, Tom here, myself, and then John LaMontagne, our lead guitar player. We actually met in Downers Grove at a little place right next to Tobias Music on Fairview. If you know where the White Fence Farm Chicken Outlet is.

Right, right. And they have a guy there, James... I can never remember his last name. But he's a professional bass player, one of the best guys around.

And he started something called Garage Band U. And so it was a way for people ages literally 8 through 80 to get together and come up with four songs and practice it for five weeks. And then you play them live at the place in Bowlingbrook. What's that? Tailgaters.

Tailgaters. Yeah, right. And so John and Tom and I met there.

And we had another guy who was an Australian who played this wacky, like long yodel type of whistle instrument that the Aborigines came up with. And then one other guy who played saxophone. And we came up with like four or five songs.

And we recognized that there was a chemistry there. And we wanted to explore that. And, you know, the chemistry was between Mike, me and John.

There was about six or seven in there. And again, it's just kind of that band is put together. And that's why I did it.

I wanted to meet some more people. And I luckily did. And I think I talked to them kind of after that gig at... Where was it in Bowlingbrook? Tailgaters.

Tailgaters. If anybody from Tailgaters is listening... Of course. We're always looking for sponsors.

Long story short, I did feel that with them. And I think I kind of pulled him to the side and said, hey, let's continue this. And then we did.

And it's crazy if you would have told us then what we'd be doing now and still doing it. And what were you doing at the time when you were looking to meet other people? Just as far as life or musically? In general, whatever you'd like to talk about. I'm sure your fans would love to hear what else you do.

Right now, well, I'm a school social worker. But back then, I was in school to be doing that. So that was early on.

And chasing women on the side. And chasing women. And getting into a band helps that significantly.

And getting into a band. Unless you're a bass player. That's the idea.

But yeah, and musically, just kind of looking for something to do, you know. And that's why I did the Garage Band News. So it was kind of fate that we all met.

It was great. When did you start down your musical journey? Were you a young kid? Or was it something you took up as an adult? As far as me, no, I always loved music. But I had that unfortunate attitude or self-esteem that I couldn't do it.

And then my dad bought me a guitar when I was 18. And that's the first time I kind of started picking it up. And took guitar lessons.

And then got okay with that. And then always wanted to sing. And that was partly why I did this Garage Band News as well.

So it just kind of moved from there, you know. So not until I was about 18 did I get into it. Gotcha.

Gotcha. You were going to say something and I got to interrupt it. I was just going to say that I also was in Garage Band News.

I literally live like three blocks from the place. But I didn't cross paths with Mike or Tom. I think I got into it later than when they got into it and met John.

But it's interesting how that's kind of a collecting point for a lot of people that then go on and form bands. Right, right. So, you know, we've all, all three of us are, I guess, graduates of Garage Band News.

Alumni. You know, it just dawned on me. We got right into the conversation and we didn't take a minute for you guys to introduce yourselves to everybody.

So why don't we step back again? We were listening to bass player tell everybody who you are. Yeah, this is Doug Florzek. I'm the bass player.

There you go. Yeah, yeah. Hey, everybody.

Happy November out there. This is Tom Fitzer, guitar player and singer in the band. Okay.

I'm Mike Reese and I'm the other singer. I play some guitar, but mostly I'm a harmonica player. There you go.

There you go. Good. Excellent.

Excellent. Okay. Well, now that everybody knows who you are, let's go back on to continue.

So you were in Garage Band U. And so you were an adult before you started playing. Is that? Well, actually, in my case, I started playing. I started playing guitar when I was in college in my 20s.

So that goes back a ways, like 79, 80. And then... No, it's not that bad yet. So that's interesting.

Okay. So right when Tom was born, I started playing guitar. You have to throw that in there.

That's right. People born in the 80s always have to throw it in there. Like they're special.

Look, I have no belly button. I was born in a test tube. So I started out on guitar.

And then there was like a local neighborhood group and we wanted to start a band. But it's the usual story where there's too many guitar players. And I wasn't ever really that great.

I wasn't going to be a lead guitar player. And they looked around, they said, well, somebody's got to play bass. So that fell on me.

I took up bass. But then I found out I really loved it. I just loved it.

And so that was probably like around 1990, actually. So it's been 30 years. That sounds impressive.

But you have to realize it was a lot of off and on. Right. More off than on.

Right. So there might be five years where I didn't touch either my bass or my guitar. Right.

And it was like starting over again. So I didn't really, really get into it until I went back and started playing with the Garage Band U thing in Downers Grove and then met these guys. And then it really kind of took off from there.

So you were kind of using Garage Band U as almost like a springboard. Yes. In a way.

Yes, because it was a great chance to, if you want to play in a band, okay. But you don't know how to link up with people to do this. This was before I knew about band mix, too.

Right, right, right. Because they put you together in a band, you got like six, seven weeks to get a set of songs together, and then you actually go and perform. And mostly it's on a Sunday at Tailgaters.

It's mostly family and everything that show up. But still, it gives you that experience of preparing a set or two of music, going and performing live, and you would get a mixture. You get some people that were terrible, frankly, and then you get some people that were just astounding.

But it was a way to kind of get your feet wet with that kind of thing. Right, right. It sounds a lot like School of Rock or something like that.

And this was before School of Rock, too, actually took off. Is that still going on? Is Garage Band still going on right now? I think so, yeah. Yes, they are.

Yeah, as is the School of Rock. I did both. The thing I discovered about School of Rock is that you don't really have too much of a choice on what you bring to the table as far as what you play.

They'll give you like, okay, you can play from this genre, you can play these three songs or from this one, these three songs. But we would rather you stick with one or the other. The Garage Band you experienced was such that you could bring in something just completely arbitrary from what you might expect the other guys that you're combining with to do, which is how you come up with this really interesting and eclectic mix of music.

But I think that's kind of what gets people really kind of motivated to pursue it because it taps into things you may not even have thought of. Right, right. Okay, all right.

And kind of just giving you the experience, too, of what you would deal with in a band of decision making. And like, we did bring in probably 10, 15 songs. And as six people that didn't know each other had to come up with those five, you know, final songs to practice each week, five or six songs.

And, you know, I'll kind of make the decision about that and work that out. Right, right. Did you find that that was hard to get the band off the ground in that regard, like coming up with, you know, creative similarities? Um, this is post-Garage Band U you're talking about when we decided to go for it? Yeah, sure, sure.

Yeah, yeah, I can speak on that first and then Mike chime in. No, I think we have similar tastes in music. I think from the beginning, we always knew that we'd be a cover band, you know, and we liked rock and roll and blues.

And because of that premise, we kind of, you know, stuck with some songs that we probably all knew pretty well in the beginning. And that's how it kind of got off the ground while we're trying to find a drummer and bass player and having a few characters come in on. Well, and then ultimately what the audience will recognize.

Right, right, right. That's that's that's going to be important if you're doing a cover band. Sure.

They're going to they're going to gauge you by what they've heard on the radio and on their iPods or record players if you're old enough to have one of those. Right. So, yeah, so we discovered certain songs that seem to be those that people would recognize and that we would try and give a good account of ourselves.

Yeah, but Mr. 1980 over there doesn't know what a record player is. I do. I have an old soul for some reason.

That's good. Or a CD player probably. Well, the CDs were around then.

That's true. I was going to say, I think the way we select songs, we try to pick songs that are familiar, but not overplayed. Sure.

So, you know, we stick with stuff that that you would recognize if you heard it, but you don't hear it every day on the radio necessarily. Right, right, right. And yeah, it's it's been a process in the eight, nine years.

And right now, you know, I'm not going to get into the process, but we do have one of kind of choosing newer songs so that it's kind of democratic and we all have a choice on it and vote on it and then know, you know, me and Mike are the singers. So that's got to be number one. We got to be able to sing it and then kind of move from there, do a vote and then throw it into the practice and see what happens.

And it's surprising sometimes songs that I think this is not going to work out. I don't like this. Just like pop and practice and it's like, whoa, you know, and then some of them that you just think are going to be like, oh, this would be perfect.

And it's like this isn't going to kind of throw it out. That happens all the time. Yeah, it really does.

Yeah, yeah. So your common thread seems to be this whole garage band, you think. How did you fall into that mix, Mike? Well, so I started playing around with music when I was in college in the early 80s.

I just decided I was sick and tired of just listening to it all the time. So I picked up a harmonica. It's a very easy and portable instrument.

And at the time they were cheap, not so cheap anymore. But I started noodling around with it. And I was managing a Holiday Inn bar down in Charleston, Illinois, where Eastern Illinois University is.

And we actually had these live musicians who would come in virtually every weekend. And I would sort of insinuate myself into one or two of their songs each night. In the process of doing that, over time, I got actually better and better on the thing.

And so then I got very interested in pursuing that. But I didn't really know how to do it. Right, right.

And so post-college, I would just like go into a bar. And if there was a band playing, I would get up there and I'd, you know, pester them until they either, you know, threw me out of the bar or they would let me get up on stage and do something like Working for a Living by Huey Lewis, where there's a little harmonica solo and something like that. But when I came across GarageBand, I realized this was an opportunity to get into something where you're likely to improve just because you were doing it and you're doing it with other people.

And I was correct. I mean, we've all gotten better because we've done it on a continuous basis. And now, you know, looking back, it's been 10 years.

It's remarkable. And so, yeah, I think that we've improved. I think, personally, I've improved.

I play more guitar now and I'm actually, you know, passable on it so that it's not just like, you know, they're going, OK, let's do this. He's filler. Yeah.

Or he's filler when he's not playing harmonica. So it's a means of scratching that itch. It's a means of just, you know, being able to play something that you really dig.

Right. And that you always have. And then getting to show off for your wife and some of your friends is not such a bad thing.

That gets old after a while. She would tell you that. There comes a point I've gone through where your wife is just like, you know what? Just go.

I'm not going to any more gigs. You don't mind if I stay home. I was going to say that's interesting.

Yeah, because their attendance starts to fade over the years. Oh, yeah, absolutely. My wife used to go to every single show.

And now she's just like, just go. Don't wake me up when you get home. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, that's interesting. So it seems like you all kind of came up. You know, through this through this garage band, you, which is very interesting.

Have you ever over the years decided to give back a little bit and get involved in that and pass some knowledge on the youngsters in that regard? Well, Tom, you you're you work in a high school. I imagine that you would probably have a great opportunity to do that, right? Yeah, I mean, I don't I, you know, I've played with some of the band kids and stuff out there. I just had to kind of think of the question.

I guess I give back in my, you know, my talking with them more. But, you know, garage band, you as far as giving back to that. Or not necessarily giving back to that.

What I I should probably clarify what I meant is since you received that kind of tutelage in a way, do you kind of mentor younger kids that want to become musicians but don't really know how to do it and or are afraid to do it? Just like you said yourself, you're afraid to get up in front of people. Yeah, so I could say so I have two young sons who I've been in that respect. One of them's definitely interested in music.

So I tried in that way to really give him some options on how to play, you know, playing music and teaching. It can be frustrating, especially when you're learning it from dad, you know, but we've had him take some lessons and things like that. But specifically, kind of doing our thing in the band and giving it back that way.

You know, what do you guys think? Anything I've often kind of tinkered with the idea that at some point I would open up maybe a little makeshift recording studio and not charge anything for, I guess, middle age school and high school kids, maybe even junior college kids that are local in the area. If they want to come by and, you know, throw together a couple of songs, maybe originals. Right, right, right.

And and kind of give them the opportunity to hear what they sound like after being recorded, because that's that's a major thing. When you first hear yourself, you know, and you've never really heard your voice before, whether speaking or singing. That can freak you out.

It's an adult dose. I got to tell you. To this day, I don't like to hear my own voice.

Speaking or singing. Yeah, it's terrible. Well, you guys probably have some knowledge about that history that way, too, right? Well, a little bit.

I mean, I guess we all do in one way or another. We we have our brushes with young people who, you know, ask advice. You know, how do you how do you get gigs? How do you keep a band together? How do you do that? You know, just try and be as helpful as possible.

That's the one thing about musicians. Musicians are cool people in that and, you know, in that way for the most part. I think that would be a great idea for the museum to do something like that.

Oh, they definitely will be. Yeah. Did you guys get a chance to volunteer to help with that? If you guys are interested.

Yeah, the plan is to have classrooms here and, you know, in the whole bit. I mean, I haven't talked to to Ron Romero, you know, in depth about what actually is going to go on, but there's classrooms downstairs. There's a performance area.

There is a recording studio downstairs and it's all there for a reason. So, yeah, I'm sure there will be opportunities for that. But yeah, they're planning on teaching everything.

Musical instruments, voice lessons, sound engineering, lighting. I mean, the whole gamut. Yeah, right.

Well, all this talk about about playing. I think it's that time. I think so.

I think it's time to put the money where the mouth is, boys. That's right. So let's take a short break.

We're going to do that. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast.

Hey, everybody, it's Ray the Roadie. And this is Hollywood Mike of the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. If you've been joining our weekly program, we have great news for you.

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That'll bring you to the Road to Rock Radio, a station committed entirely to the great music from Illinois, from Chicago blues born on Maxwell Street to today's rock and roll and everything in between. 24-7 all music with its roots in Illinois. Hi, I'm Rick Anthony.

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The podcast is heard twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, and you can check it out on your favorite streaming platforms and on the Web at Someone You Should Know podcast dot com. That's the Someone You Should Know podcast with me, Rick Anthony, making a difference one artist at a time. And live in the studio tonight, guys, we've got Rod Iron Soul.

And I hear the speed inside my shoe. I want you to come on, come on, come on down, come on down, sweet Virginia. Come on, come on, honey child, honey child, I beg you.

I want you to come on, come on, come on down, come on down, come on down, sweet Virginia. I want you to come on, honey child, honey child, I beg you. I want you to come on, come on, come on down, yeah, girl, you got it in you to scrape that shit right off your shoe.

All right. OK, good. Sweet Virginia by the Rolling Stones, huh? Yes, sweet, sweet Virginia.

That's what that was. Sweet Virginia off of Exile Main Street. We make sure we don't misrepresent that name.

I just had to check my shoe to make sure it was clean. Right, right, right, right. Well, we have before when we had a few drinks.

Sweet, sweet Virginia. But that was very good. That was good.

Oh, thanks, guys. Nice bluegrass kind of sound to it. I like that.

That was good. Yeah. So who is your so so I guess who's the one who's making the call on the music is the two of you guys because you're the singers.

And well, I think it was alluded to earlier. It's it's fairly democratic, which can be a blessing and a curse. You know, when you have a band Nazi in charge, then there's no doubt which path you're going down.

But we've found that it's it's more. I guess it's it's a more positive thing when when everybody gets their input, then they feel like they have some stake in the matter. Right.

And that includes, you know, people that aren't singing and they're just doing the rhythm like Doug and Kevin on drums and John on guitar. You know, they don't sing. We wish they would or could.

Well, yeah, I said that that's another discussion for another day. But everybody gets to say so in the matter. And I think that that it works better that way because of that.

So how you guys break up the other jobs in the band, because it's not just all about playing who's who's doing your booking. So I'll hand the mic over here to Doug, who does a lot for us, and we're very appreciative on that and the things we could talk a little bit about that. There you go.

So everybody in the band really brings in business. So it's not like we have one person or one book or we do work with some bookers. But a lot of the business we bring in ourselves and everybody in the band has brought in clients.

So that's great, because when everybody's pulling in the same direction, it's a force multiplier for your for your advertising and for your ability to pull in gigs. We've been getting a lot of private parties that's been working out really well. That's where you kind of make a little bit more money, I think, doing private parties.

But from an administrative point of view, I end up doing a lot of the kind of business paperwork type stuff. So, you know, I'll I'll distribute the payments to the band. And, you know, I work on a lot of the marketing materials.

And they take your cut, of course. Well, no, but we we split everything evenly. We don't we don't, you know, have a structured system.

I mean, it's all divided evenly. Right, right. So so we do that.

But I also handle the sound, you know, for the for the band and not because I'm a good sound engineer, but just because I'm dangerous enough to know how to do it. And when you're a small band playing just local venues, you can't most bands can't afford to have a real sound guy do it. So it works out pretty good.

We have a digital PA. We have a Behringer X18. And once we get a sound we like, I can save the settings and then you just basically reload it the next time that you're you're playing it.

Well, and like everybody has improved on their respective instruments and or singing. Doug has improved enormously on his ability to mix the levels in a way that people come up and they and I'll go like, yeah, you guys sounded great. You were balanced.

You know, we heard each one of you, but not too much of one and the other. So, you know, he's he's being kind of modest here. He's done a yeoman's job and really that area.

Yeah, right. So did you kind of pick up the duty of doing all the paperwork and stuff, maybe because of your daytime gig or? No. Well, I'm a I'm a systems analyst, you know, in I.T., but.

So he does your website as well. I do handle that and the Facebook social media stuff mostly. I mean, the other guys post too on it.

But yeah, it's I think it was just kind of it wasn't because anybody forced it on me or anything or because I, you know, wanted to do it so badly, I forced them to let me do it. It just kind of it shook out that way. And everybody the work is pretty well divided.

I mean, like I said, everybody brings in business and, you know, Mike and Tom will get together and work on vocals on their own without being asked to do it. And a lot of things like that. So it's I like the way it's pretty balanced and everybody really works to pull their own weight in some bands.

And I've heard a lot of stories and I mean, you get one or two guys, all they all they care about is just show up and play and they don't want to have anything to do with anything else with the band. But that's not how it is with us. Everybody participates pretty, pretty thoroughly.

Right. And I was just going to add to that, like we have a beautiful place to play at Mike's house that's set up for a band and practice. So that's been going on basically hosting us for these eight years.

We've had a couple other spots, but it's always come back to Mike's house or previous house or a new house. So we're very appreciative of that. And then the one thing I just wanted to add to, like Doug said, yeah, we really do split everything, including like when we're going to set all this stuff up, you know, we all stick around and take it down.

It's not like I take my guitar and amp and see you guys, you know, have fun with the next hour and a half. Now, sometimes if one of us has got to go because of a kid or family reason, that's midnight. Sure.

That's cool. But most of the time, we're all taking it down, packing it up with the cars and then Mike's taking it home. So we're also appreciate he stores the stuff there and then unpacks on his own down there and gets it ready for practice.

So it really is all of us contributing. I think that that's, you know, we've had a few bumps, but I mean, for the most part, obviously positive being together and doing this for this long. The only time that we had a big break was covid.

And it was exactly one year we didn't get together. And that was exactly one year to the date. After that, we practiced.

And then I think a week later, we played in somebody's front yard. And that was that's how we got going again. It was awesome.

So, yeah, we were able to, you know, have the social distancing thing of that particular time. God, I hate that phrase. I know it's gone.

I know, I know. It's it was it was probably one of the most frustrating stretches of time for us. And I know I'm preaching to everybody's choir when I say that, you know, especially musicians that like playing live in front of people or any other entertainer for that matter.

It really it was such a drag to have to put that on hold because I do remember at that time we were really kind of getting in a rhythm and a routine that looked like it was going to sustain us, you know, in high cotton, as they say. So, you know, we're trying to get back to that point now. And I think we're getting pretty close.

So where's the favorite place to play? Do you have a kind of like a home base that you play pretty regularly? Well, I don't know for a while. And the first place we ever played at was a erstwhile bar that no longer exists called Tracy's in Clarendon Hills on 55th Street. That's where we kind of cut our teeth.

And and that we played there like eight or nine times, I think. Yeah, we played maybe three, four times a year for years. And then they didn't renew the music license.

And now they're closed down and they're gone. But I think we might have our own favorite spots because like I know well, I guess we did the same out there. But I like a small spot like the Uptown and Westbound.

But I know Mike hates it. So I think we all have our own little spots. We just played the Irish Patriot outside on their deck.

And that was fun. So I mean, do you guys have a particular place now that we play? I've got I've got a particular Jones for a place that I would like to play. And that would be just about any town in the West suburbs in the summertime.

And he's midweek. Yeah, they have. And we haven't had any luck cracking it.

So anybody listening out there Wednesday and Thursday nights, you do well to hire us. And you can actually advertise them on the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. You can.

Absolutely. And and I will I will tell you the name of that organization that you need to contact. Oh, boy.

After this podcast is over. That'd be great because crack cracking the village festivals. We've been trying to do it for years.

And I talked to bookers and they say it's a lot of it's an inside thing. And they people book their friends or they have specific agents that they are contracted to work with. And so that's always been tough for us.

We really want to crack. That'd be the next thing we'd really want to crack into. For those of you listening that want to know what the answer is, email us.

And for a nominal fee, we'll give you that information, give you that information. Yes, worth every penny. It is worth every penny.

And it's a lot simpler than you think it is because really, it's just a simple matter of going to a trade show. And I'll tell you more about that now. All right.

Appreciate that. Yeah. And mainly because I don't know if this particular organization wants us to say their name.

Right. You know, on the podcast. So they are also not paying us.

Yeah, that's maybe we should write an original called Going to the Trade. We'll meet tomorrow and do that. Yeah.

No, there's all kinds of great things you can do. There's, you know, the like the concerts in the park is what you're referring to. Like hour and a half to two hour shows that go on Monday through Thursday during the summertime and everything.

And there's a lot of great developing areas around here that are all up and coming. You mentioned Westmont. There's a few there's a few places in Westmont around the corner from the uptown.

Right. There's a couple of places. Johnny's Blitz is one I think you're referring to.

Yeah, exactly. There's places in Lockport. There's places in downtown Plainfield.

There's all kinds of places like that that like to have entertainment. Some of them actually have during the week. There's a few of them that have live entertainment, you know, Monday through Sunday.

So I should say or I should say I got that reversed. Right. Sunday through Saturday, I guess, would be the thing to say.

So, yeah, yeah, yeah, that'd be great. So other than other than concerts in the park and stuff like that, like what has to what has to happen? Let's well, we're almost at the end of 2024. Well, you know, let's do a two part question.

What did you need to happen in 2024 in order for you to consider this to be a successful year for the Rhode Island Soul Band? That's a good question. I think everybody has, you know, their own respective lives and schedules in addition to that, that oftentimes involve families and loved ones. And so you don't want to necessarily just like shut that part of your life off entirely.

But you would like something, at least I would. I would like something on a fairly regular basis to keep scratching that itch, you know. Yeah.

So in 2024, we've already done a few things that are of interest. We did something I'd like to put a shout out to. And that's the Barrington Porch Fest that takes place usually in July, but always in the summertime.

And it's put on by a man named Jay Isfan. And real briefly, a bunch of neighbors in an area will donate their front porches and bands of all sizes, shapes and kinds will play on the front porch of this person's house. And everybody comes in for free and they get to walk up and down and get to see everything done out in the open on a person's porch.

And I would love to continue that. I'd like to see more towns in the area incorporate something like that. And maybe we could be a part of it.

That sounds really interesting. It's awesome. Yeah, it was the third year we played there, correct? And third annual.

So I don't know if we're the main event or whatever, but we get to play on Jay's porch. So that's cool. It's been so cool to just go there and see it grow and get more porches and then kind of see there's more people out there.

It's been really cool. As far as 2024, from my eyes, it's been really about getting new songs to play. You guys know I'm always pushing that, you know, and it's tough because we'll think we'll have time, then all of a sudden a gig pops up or something, which is great.

And then it's like, no, we got to get some sets down and kind of practice for that gig coming up. And so put that on the back burner. But I think we've worked it well this 2024 to where we've made the time to get those songs, try them out, and really, you know, let our catalog grow and then try them out there on the gigs and stuff.

And that's what I was always pushing for this year and hope we continue through the winter and next year just to make our catalog bigger. So for me, my goals were to get more private parties, and we got three private parties, I think, this year that we did. I've never heard anybody say my goal is to get more private parties.

Well, I mean, it's more lucrative, I think, for a band. Built-in fan base, too. Built-in fan base and also a good chance maybe for repeat business also.

I mean, venues have a limit to what they can pay a band. Now, you kind of make that up because you get repetitive bookings with them. But if you're doing a yard party or a wedding or, you know, we did a Halloween party last year that was a lot of fun.

So there's people that are a lot more enthusiastic. They pay more attention to the band, too, you know, actually, and they're having a lot more fun. And frankly, it pays better.

So we try to make it a little bit customized for the client. So we'll let them look at our catalog and say, you could pick 10 songs, you know, you songs and things like that. And sometimes you don't want us to do it as well.

Right. Or yeah, they can say, I don't we don't want to hear these three. We're sick of these.

We have personal reasons. We don't want to hear that, whatever. So and, you know, it's a lot.

We have a lot more of a connection, I think, with, you know, the audience is a little more enthusiastic with that. So that's one thing. The other thing would be eventually to get into the festival circuit, you know, so that we can just kind of get around to some of the villages and everything, play a little bit earlier hours, get older and, you know, be nice in the summer to maybe pack up while it's still twilight or something.

So if you if you if you learn how to do that, you let me know. Yeah, OK. So then the other part of that, then so end of the year is coming around.

Right. And let's just say you're going to have the the proverbial band meeting. What's going to be the hot topper for 2025? Where are you guys going to go? I don't know.

That's a very good question. Oftentimes we don't really structure things with prearranged question and answers like that. We just sort of let it kind of develop organically.

And eventually we get around to, well, what Thomas said, adding some new music, what Doug said, you know, finding some new venues that are maybe a little more lucrative, have better hours. And then, you know, just what everybody's hot buttons are. I guess you allow everybody to have the floor, you know, while you're noshing on your food and stuff and and have everybody's input.

And I think maybe the most important thing is find out if everybody is still enthusiastic and happy and want to and want to stay around. Right, right. So, of course, of course.

So I'll tell you what, it's about that time where we got to start closing everything down. We'd like to get one more song. Yeah, get one more song and we can take a quick break.

Yeah, that's good. Take a quick break and we'll be right back. You're listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast.

I'm Christy from Crime Cave podcast. I've had a huge interest in true crime since my days of watching marathons have snapped back in the mid 90s. I needed an outlet to talk about the cases that have haunted me for a very long time.

With each episode under 20 minutes, I shine a light on some of the most bizarre cases in the last 50 years. Join me in the Crime Cave. But I've been told you never slow down.

You never grow old. Tired of screwing up. Tired of going down.

Tired of myself. Tired of this town. Oh my my.

Oh hell yes. God put on your party dress. Buy me a drink.

Sing me a song. Take me as I come. But I can't stay long.

Last dance with Mary Jane. One more time to kill the pain. I feel someone creeping in.

And I'm tired of this town again. Engine's down on Market Square. She's standing in her underwear.

Looking down from a hotel room. Nightfall will be coming soon. Oh my my.

Oh hell yes. You gotta put on that party dress. It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone.

I hit the last number. I walked to the road. Last dance with Mary Jane.

One more time to kill the pain. I feel someone creeping in. And I'm tired of this town again.

That's the Rod Irons old man right there. Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you guys. All right, all right, all right.

You have jars in the front. Thanks. So tell everybody how they can find you.

What's your website? Anything like that? So we have rodironsoul.com. We're also on Facebook. So just do a search for Rod Iron Soul Band. And we haven't started anything on Instagram.

I think that's the next thing maybe we should start doing. But we currently don't have that. But those would be the two best ways to contact us.

Any gigs coming up at the end of November, December? Well, we're not really booked out that far right now. But usually things come up, you know, as we go along. We've got some coming up in a couple of weeks from when this was recorded.

But it'll be gone. It'll be over by the time. It'll be over.

It was a great show. We were there. It was fantastic.

Yeah, it was awesome. And that might actually be something we would also want to add to the mix as far as what we would like to strive to do. And that is get more of a time travel.

Yes. Yeah, backwards. Yeah.

Yeah. Now get your social media and everything straightened out. So everybody just go back to their website.

Go to their Facebook page. Check their calendar frequently. And often we are in the Chicago area.

See where they're at, you know, and see where they are. And go out and see these guys. Let your fingers do the walking.

Oh, wait. Don't do that anymore. No, we don't.

No, no. Well, I guess you're mousing. Yeah.

Well, yeah, I guess so. All right, guys. Thanks for coming out.

Thank you guys for having a great time. I greatly appreciate it. Well, there you have it.

Rot Iron Soul. And once again, I'm wrong in the guess of the name. Yep.

You couldn't figure it out. Rot Iron Soul. But I kind of like the name.

That's pretty cool. It is a cool name. I like the way they got it.

That's pretty neat. You know, I'm still going to keep trying to guess every week. Yeah, I'm going to try.

Yep. You know, I thought they presented a pretty good message on the program this week. You know, they're older guys.

When they all started playing, they got together. They figured, you know, I need to be disciplined. So they joined this organization.

What was it? The Garage Band. Yeah. You.

Yeah. And learned what it takes to put together a band. And I liked what Mike said.

Mike was playing harmonica. And he said he just kept going to open jams and putting himself on stage, whether they wanted him there or not. And he started getting better.

Getting better. And that's the way you do it. And anything.

Anything. You play guitar, bass, drum, and horn. The more you play, the better you're going to get.

You sound great in your bedroom. That's right. But then you get on stage with other musicians and realize, oh, shit, I got some stuff to learn.

You got some stuff to learn. And, you know, you get over them jitters of playing in front of people. Or playing with other people.

Some people freak out about that. Playing with somebody. Always worried.

Don't worry about that. Just get up there and do it. That's right.

People are there to help you. That's right. All right.

Thanks again for listening to the podcast. And you can catch us every Tuesday for another exciting episode of the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. See you next week.

The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin. Theme song courtesy of MNR Rush. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music heard on the show.

The music is used to promote the guests that are featured.