Ep 257 Rick Andrews Schlegel
(0:00 - 0:28)
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.
(0:28 - 0:52)
Hey, any bridges down? Oh god. You know, don't even get me, why? Why'd you have to go
there? Because I like to. Now I'm just going to be on a whole freaking tangent.
I just, you know, I've lived in this area for like 30 years. And for 28 years, I never saw these
bridges up. Now, for some reason, like the past two years, I can't come to downtown Joliet
without a bridge being up.
(0:53 - 0:55)
Yep. And it's like that everywhere. It's all over the places.
(0:55 - 1:06)
With trains too. Yeah. Trains and bridges.
What the hell? And roads that are taking three and four years to finish. God, are you kidding
me? Everything's down to one lane. Yeah, it's nuts.
(1:06 - 1:09)
Everything's one lane going the wrong direction. That's right. No life in the fast lane.
(1:09 - 1:19)
No, not at all. I mean, it's all messed up and screwy. Kind of like this name, Rick Andrews
Schlegel.
Rich Andrews Schlegel. I can't get through it. Rhymes with bagel.
(1:19 - 1:21)
Yeah. Rick Andrews Schlegel rhymed with bagel. Right.
(1:21 - 1:32)
I can't even say that one time. We have in the studio tonight, Rick Andrews Schlegel, everybody.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Yeah, the bridges are up. I didn't even notice.
(1:32 - 2:06)
Yeah. And they always seem to go up at like 540, right in the middle of rush hour. Like that old
Blues Brothers joke.
How often does that train go by? So often you won't even notice it. How often are the bridges
up? So often you won't even notice it. It's a fact of life.
You get used to it. Yeah. No, it's crazy.
And everything being down to one lane, you know, right now, it's backed up for a mile when the
bridges do go up. Yeah. So you're sitting there, you're trying to cross the bridge for 15 minutes.
It's terrible. But anyways. So how are you doing, man? I'm doing real well.
I appreciate being asked and being able to come down. Absolutely. Absolutely.
(2:06 - 2:34)
It's great to have you here. Thank you. Yeah.
You and I, you and I had probably known each other for a little while, but the first time we met,
I think, is when you played, you filled in for the Stillmasters. You were scheduled to fill in for
Cadillac Groove, but then a fundraiser came up at this place called, which it was, it was still
Scooters, but now it's Corrigan's, which we were just talking about on last week's podcast. And
that's when we met the very first time.
(2:35 - 3:59)
Yeah. You know, I, I've probably known of you and about you and your band. And I think we
might've been at a couple of open mics way back in the day, but probably for 10, 15 years.
But it's, it's odd that being around the local music scene, that we hadn't like run into each other
and known each other personally before that, you know? So but it was a cool honor to be asked
and recommended and come in and sit in with the band both nights and got an education and
experience. It was a gas and fun. And, you know, I, I always look forward to playing with you.
I, I know you're a big blues guy. I love playing the one, four, five blues base stuff. And, you
know, that was a, there's a lot of fun both nights.
Well, that first night was, was somewhat of a train wreck. We, we played for a fundraiser and,
and at the last second, the band that the family had hired, it was a, it was a fundraiser for, for
medical reasons, I believe. Like two days before the fundraiser, their band canceled on them
and they sent out a, you know, an SOS.
We need a band for this fundraiser. It's going on. It's scheduled the whole bit.
We, we have no band. And, and it just happened to be to catch the attention of Patty, the wife
of Jeff, who's our keyboard player in the Still Masters. So for about the next 48 hours, I'm
scrambling around because our regular bass player couldn't make it.
(3:59 - 5:36)
Our drummer didn't know if he was going to be available. It turns out he wasn't available. Then
Tom was available and then he wasn't available.
And then Jeff was, Jeff was available. I don't know. I went through about, it's, it literally took
about 48 hours for us to put together a band just to help them out.
So they would have a band for that fundraiser. It was, so it was, so it was a train wreck in that
regard that all of a sudden you get thrown in and only two people who were on that stage were
actually members of the Still Masters. And then we had Tom and Scott from Cadillac Groove.
And then we had you thrown in there, which you didn't meet any of us at that point. So, but we,
but we made it, we, we made it work. We made it happen using, using my small little PA to fill
that whole back room.
So, but it worked. You know, you said you're small, little, I thought you were going to say
something else. That's oddly how some of the best gigs happen though.
You know, right. Throw together at the last minute, you meet people walking in the door. Hey,
we're going to be playing together.
What are we doing? I don't know. Key of, and three chords in a cloud of dust. And here you go.
And you know, musicians play their instruments and they dig in, they listen, they have fun. And
I've been part of a handful of gigs like that, that I thought were going to be train wrecks. And
oh my gosh, how are we going to get through this? I don't even know these people and, or the
situation or the, is there a backline? Is there a PA? You have a place to stand next to the pool
table with dartboard.
I don't know. But at the end of the night, you walk out there like a conquering hero and you're
like, well, that was great. Well, if you don't know what you're doing, then you don't know you're
screwing up.
So the pressure's off. Part of the fun and joy of being a musician, you know, the pressure and
the edge makes you perform. And you know, that, that's a lot of fun.
(5:36 - 7:20)
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So when I, when, when I met you and then found out that, well, well it
was actually maybe just a couple months later, we got, we both got hired for a, like a festival
type kind of thing out in Dwight, right? I think it was Allie Ann.
So you were playing in the back room and you were playing the set. I shouldn't say back room,
it was more like the patio or their beer garden kind of thing. And then we were playing in the
front.
And that was the first time I knew of you actually playing guitar and writing your own music
and the whole bit. I just thought you were a bass player and didn't do anything else. Well, you
know, I, I know that you have been at the studio in Lockport quite a bit over the years and you
know, that's some place.
We call that the place that shall not be mentioned. That's right. Paul, you can edit that or just
censor it.
Give us a little censor noise. The place that shall not ever be. Yeah.
Give us the boop. Yeah. But again, way back in the day, you know, I know that you played there
a lot, even as a singer songwriter and that it was always mentioned the material that you had.
And, and you know, that it was like, well, if Mike's playing there and they like original music,
that's someplace I could probably bring my guitar down to and, and, and try it out too. So I was
lucky enough to get a couple turns down there too. And that was a good experience and a lot of
fun to be able to air out songs and new material.
And yeah, yeah. So we've, we've hopscotched around and past each other, literally for 10, 15
years. Yeah.
Cause I'm assuming you probably went to, cause they had a, they had a singer songwriter open
mic there. So I hosted the full band, you know, open jam, we would call it not to confuse it with
just an open mic. And that was on Sundays, but then I can't remember if it was Tuesday or
Wednesday or something like that.
(7:20 - 11:51)
They would have the, the open mic where it was the singer songwriter nights. So you probably
went to that one. And that's why we just kept missing each other there.
Could be. I know I went to a couple of, of the opens there. My old buddy, Dave Walters was a
drummer and Dave and I have gone down there and played as a blues trio before, but as a
singer songwriter, just doing an acoustic set, you know, on my own there.
God, I haven't seen Dave in a long time. Yeah. Oh, he's still around.
Oh yeah. He's still around. That's good.
Still doing the same thing. Dave's not here. Yeah.
Dave's not here. Playing drums in pinstripe and he's one of the best. Yeah.
He, he, he drums and what do you say? Well, he's a long time pinstriper. That's, that's what he
does, does for a living. You know, he goes to all the car shows and hand stripes.
He's an, he's an old school, like a metal flake pins, drawn pinstripes on motorcycles and, and
cars. How did I not know that? He does dragsters and you name it. He, he does incredible work.
How did I not know that? I don't know, but he'll probably stripe up your guitar for you if you'd
like. No, I got a, I got a matte black Harley Davidson that I'd like to put some gloss black
pinstriping. He has splashed paint on every motorcycle I owned and he's fabulous from, from
murals to little details.
I like old school, real old school style lettering and it's all freehand and you can't believe it when
he does it. I'm like, how do you draw a straight line all the way down a car like that? And it's like,
perfect. It's, he's just been doing it since he was a kid.
I had no idea. That's what he did for a living. Wow.
He's fabulous. Wow. That's cool.
You just told me something about Dave, but anyways, we're not talking about Dave. We're
talking about you. So how long, how long you been performing solo and writing music and all
that good stuff? Well, you know, I guess my story goes back, uh, being a little kid, being the
youngest of five boys and, and the family and mom was a music teacher and the oldest three
got music lessons and on the piano.
And I was the little kid that really never got any, but I was always looking up at my older
brothers out there playing music and my mom playing music. And, uh, it was just a musical
household. So I kind of got the bug.
Um, a lot of people in the Joliet area may know my oldest brother, Ray, Ray Schlegel, who, uh,
has, he's been in a number of, you know, excellent long-term bands here in the Joliet area. Um,
Pyramid, the old horn band and, um, also vintage wood. But, you know, as a little kid, he was
the oldest brother, the vintage wood, you know, but as the youngest brother and he was the
oldest, he always had to drag me around babysitting and I'd sit in the corner at his rehearsals
and go, I want to do that too.
You know, and, you know, he eventually came my turn. And, uh, you know, in my junior, senior
summer year of high school, I bought a bass and started playing bass and graduated over to
guitar and the means of songwriting and been off to the races ever So you did start on bass.
Okay.
Yeah, I did. Well, you know, when you're in the high school bands and you're all dreaming of
being a rock star and, you know, I, I've probably written 300 songs in a loose leaf notebook
before I even touch an instrument, you know, but, um, everybody that I knew was like,
everybody was picking up a guitar. Everybody wanted to be the guitar player.
And I, I just always felt more gravitated towards the bass line, just the groove there. And, uh, I
always thought if everybody else is playing guitar, if I play bass, I'm always going to be in a
band, you know, and singing bass players are unicorns. It's like, uh, you know, keyboard players
hard to find.
And you know, when you happen there, there's something good. Well, that's good. That's good.
Yeah. So, um, when, so when, well, did you start writing your own music that early on, or was it,
was it, well, it was always like poetry and loose leaf stuff. And, you know, uh, in my mind's eye,
they were full songs, but without any music accompanying tip, it's just in my head, you know,
but, um, I went to college up in Minneapolis and, uh, met a girl met, it's always, I met a girl,
Mike, right.
I met a girl, met a girl in my class that, um, didn't really like too much. When I first met her, she
kind of got under my skin, but it's kind of one of those things where she kind of knew me from
the moment that she met me. And it turned out, um, after going to school there for a little while
and getting to know her, uh, I didn't know her background story at all, but it turned out that,
uh, she was there on a break from being a touring musician.
(11:51 - 12:57)
And she was the background vocalist for Jackson Brown for years. And it was the first time that I
ever met anybody that I saw up close, um, that had done that for a living. That was a
professional musician and had all the stories to go along with it.
And, you know, she played piano and saxophone and sang and played guitar. And she actually,
actually played guitar on the Helen Reddy, uh, Delta Dawn album, you know, and the, the guitar
that she played on that record, she actually gifted to me because we got, got to be close
friends. And she said, I don't know what, what it is, but something's telling me that you're going
to be a songwriter and you've got songs inside of you.
And this song, this guitar is meant for you. And sure enough, she handed it to me and I'm like, I
can't take that guitar from you now. But, uh, she gave it to me on permanent loan.
And, um, it turned out I've written hundreds and hundreds of songs on it. And she was, you
know, that's not it, but that's, you know, you can't drop a story like that and then show up with
this squeak box, whatever the hell that is. That's just a, you know, re-regular Taylor POS.
(12:57 - 13:24)
Yeah. But Helen Reddy didn't touch it. And it wasn't played on a number one record.
So I own a guitar that's more famous than me. The irony isn't lost on me, but that kind of
sparked me, you know, to, to write songs and see the bar and the level that I needed to be at in
order to be not just good, but great. And songwriting became a real big passion of mine and I
really started digging into it.
(13:24 - 14:21)
So what happened to the girl? Uh, she actually went on and, uh, her and her husband founded
Pachyderm Records in Minneapolis. Oh, wow. And that's where the Nirvana records were done.
Uh, you know, a live throwing copper was recorded there. The indigenous band records there.
It's a world famous studio.
It's got the old Jimi Hendrix Neve, uh, you know, recording console in it. It's a, it's a fabulous
studio. Um, unfortunately she passed away a couple of years ago, you know, so the guitar is
now mine, but we've got designs on getting it back to her family and her daughter.
And, uh, so that would, that would be pretty cool. But, uh, she was really an inspiration. She
helped me help me, um, learn a different way of living than the way I was living, which was not
good for my health back in those days, you know, partying as a college kid.
And, you know, she showed me a different way. And, uh, What was her name? Her name was
Lori Williams. Lori Williams.
(14:21 - 14:46)
Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
And then married Lori Nichol with the Pachyderm records studio. Okay. Okay.
Wow. That's a great story. Okay.
That's really cool. Very inspirational. She was a mentor, you know, or Did you write anything
with her? Never did, but we used to trade demos back and forth in the mail all the time.
And this is what I'm working on. And, you know, we'd send them back and forth and, um, uh,
you know, she'd give me a little recommendations here and there on songs. So.
(14:47 - 14:51)
Wow. Interesting. So there's nothing else you can say now that's really going to compare to
that.
(14:52 - 15:19)
No, I can't, I can't even think about it. So where'd you go to school in the Twin Cities? It's called
a Brown university up in Minneapolis. It doesn't, uh, exist anymore.
It was a trade school back then. You know, grew to be a full fledged institution, but it's since,
you know, petered out as some schools do and it doesn't exist anymore. But, uh, When did that
close down? It probably closed somewhere in the mid nineties or so, but I was there in like 86,
86.
(15:19 - 18:10)
Right. Right. Right.
I mean, I, I work in academia. I know I've heard it before, but I haven't been there in a long
time. Well, and, you know, so in the industry, if you were in radio and TV, they'd say, you're a
Brownie.
You went to Brown. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
I do remember that. You were a Brownie. Yeah.
You know, to go back before that, um, you know, I was an athlete in high school and, um, you
know, through the football and the rain played, you know, basketball and baseball and, um, did
a lot of drama and theater as well. And so it was a small town, central Wisconsin, and, uh, the
local, uh, uh, PD at the radio station knew me from doing stories and, and the productions and,
and sports. And he said, you know, Hey, why don't you come work for us at the radio station on
the weekends? So I started in radio my senior year of high school and did that for two years.
And I thought, well, this is something that I'd like to do maybe as a living. And they said, we'll
hire you full-time if you go get your education. And that's what happened.
I went to school, uh, fell in love with both radio TV and, um, you know, songwriting and music
and came back and worked at the station full-time and eventually worked my way down here to
Chicago where the rest of my family was and did radio and TV around here locally in Aurora and
here in Joliet and out handful of different stations. So that's, you know, at the beginning, um, of
the, uh, of the session here, Rick Andrews Schlegel, that's where the Rick Andrews comes from
is the very first time I was on the radio. My program director said, Schlegel, Schlegel, Schlegel.
And, uh, and, and he said, uh, we need to get you a different name. And, uh, I said, well,
Schlegel is a German word. It means hammer.
And he's like, Rick, the hammer, you could be the hammer. And I'm like, I'm not a big Mickey
Spillane fan, you know? And luckily to my, to my luck, the overnight guy, his name was Greg and
they called him the hammer. And I'm like, you can't have two hammers at one radio station.
I'm like, I'll just use my middle name, Andrew. You know? So, uh, when, when I, when I was in
that industry for about, you know, about seven to 10 years. And, uh, when I started doing, uh,
the music thing, getting a real serious about it, nobody knew who Rick Schlegel was, you know,
but they, if I said, Hey, I'm Rick Andrews from, and the different radio stations I worked at, you
know, like 96.7 IROC here, WKKD in Aurora, um, WCFL out in Morris, the, you know, uh, they
would go, Oh, we know, well, we know who that is.
So I used it professionally as a means of songwriting to open doors and get gigs. And that kind
of became the professional nom de plume, so to speak, you know, I, I never meant it to be like,
you know, something egotistical or pompous to have an altered name or a stage name like
that. It was just because Schlegel is too darn hard to say on the radio, you know, but it's kind of
come full circle.
(18:10 - 18:51)
Like, you know, the old John Cougar, Cougar Mellencamp kind of thing. Is he Johnny Cougar? Is
he Johnny Mellencamp? And now he uses all of it and all three and it really doesn't matter. It's
just, you know, me and my guitar and three chords, clouded dust.
And, you know, I'm writing the songs, put my heart on my sleeve and hopefully people like
what they hear. Yeah. Yeah.
You know, you know, John, whatever we want to call him, John Cougar, John Mellencamp,
whatever the heck we want to call him. He was a visionary actually, because nowadays that's
like totally in vogue to keep changing your name. I mean, look at, look at, look at, I mean, P
Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy, whatever the heck he is, you know, I mean, Jailbird, whatever the heck
is, whatever the heck he is nowadays.
Yeah. I, I did. I went there.
(18:52 - 18:55)
I never changed my name to a symbol though. Yeah. No, I haven't.
(18:55 - 19:07)
Artist known as. Yeah. That's it.
I actually attempted to do that one, one time, but I, I, I couldn't, the fleur-de-lis just didn't catch
on, but you know. I thought you were some stripper. Yeah.
(19:07 - 19:15)
Please welcome Fleur-de-lis. Oh yeah. Next on the poll we have.
Yeah. All this talk about music. I want to hear some.
(19:15 - 19:27)
I do too. I, I, I do too, but I wanted to get one more thing out of them then. So when you started
writing songs, I mean, I'm assuming like when were you in high school, like 80s? Class of 85,
man.
(19:27 - 19:33)
Class of 85. Yeah. So you were, you graduated high school, your formative years were at the
height of hair metal and the whole bit.
(19:33 - 19:52)
Yes, it was. Was that influencing your early songwriting? Is that what you were into? A little bit
to a degree. I made a conscious effort really not to cover bands of that day and era because I
always felt like I wanted to develop my own sound and my own identity.
(19:52 - 20:14)
You know, one of the really cool things about music of the 70s is that every band was unique
and different. You know, Boston sounded like Boston. Aerosmith was Aerosmith.
You know, all of these bands were instantly identifiable the moment you heard them. And, you
know, I didn't want to sound like the next Poison or the next whoever, you know. Funny how
the times have changed.
(20:14 - 20:19)
Yeah, well. Because nowadays everybody sounds like everybody else on the radio. Yes, they do.
(20:19 - 20:25)
Yeah. You don't know who they are unless you look down at your car stereo and see the name
of the song and the artist. But yeah.
(20:25 - 21:11)
So I tried to develop that identity. And I think the most accurate description that has ever been
said of me and what I was working for in my mind's eye, I had somebody say, hey, Rick, you
sound like, like Brian Adams meets the Eagles, but wearing mag wheels and headers. And I'm
like, yeah, that's, that's pretty.
Yeah, that's pretty close. I'll take it. You know, I don't do anything fancy.
It's not like big progressive stuff. It's, you know, Midwestern rock, three chords in a cloud of
dust, so to speak. But, you know, hopefully it's always got a good message and a good feel and
something gets through from a singer songwriter perspective, you know? All right.
Yeah. Well, I think it's that time then. I think it's time for us to take a break.
Yep. We'll be back. We'll be back.
(21:12 - 21:21)
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.
(21:21 - 21:39)
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(21:39 - 21:56)
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(21:58 - 22:13)
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(22:13 - 22:29)
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(22:35 - 22:41)
We are back in the first time tonight. We have Rick Andrews Schlegel. Take it away, man.
(22:41 - 22:55)
The song we're going to play for you is called Rock Island Line. And it's a song about coming
home. Very simply, I was working downtown and going Union Station to Union Station on the
Rock Island Line every day, every night.
(22:55 - 25:00)
And, you know, work is hard sometimes and you're drained and you just want to come home.
And the sun was setting, not to steal the lines from the song, but this is a song about coming
home. You know, I love songs about trains and coming home.
So it's Rock Island Line. Rock Island, westward run, melt into the setting sun, when my day is
done, the shadows grow in long, the main line don't be slow, and take me home. Speak on this
rock island I stand, get your tickets please, won't you carry me to the place where I belong, and
take me, Steve, Steve.
(26:01 - 26:05)
Very nice. There you go, man. I was ready to hop on the train.
(26:06 - 26:13)
That was a powerful song. You know, I'm talking into the ass end of the mic. You are talking
into the ass end of the mic.
(26:13 - 26:21)
There we go. Man, maybe that's why my wife can't hear and understand what I'm saying. You
know, I'm always talking behind her.
(26:21 - 26:36)
That's right. Something like that. Sorry, honey, I had to say that.
I'm sorry. Just let me back in the house tonight. Okay, there we go.
No, that was a good song. I liked that. But I have to tell you, you know, there was one, it got
halfway through the song and I heard, real man a genius.
(26:38 - 26:43)
Yeah, I think I did too a little bit. Yeah. Missed you multicolored sweater.
(26:46 - 26:52)
I remember my first day with my first beer. Yeah. I think they just, I think they just found their
next guy to sing.
(26:52 - 26:55)
That's right. Whatever happened to those commercials? I don't know. They were great.
(26:55 - 27:00)
They were great. Didn't he die? I don't know. I don't, I hope it was.
(27:01 - 27:07)
Yeah, he died. Who was it? The guy from Survivor. No, that's not the guy that was doing those.
(27:07 - 27:16)
Yeah, it was. I forget his name now. Jimmy Jameson? Yeah.
Yeah, that's who it was. That was Jimmy Jameson doing those commercials? Yes. I didn't even
know that.
(27:17 - 27:19)
I didn't know that either. I didn't know that. Yep.
(27:20 - 27:25)
Man, at first I thought it was Jon Parr. Remember Jon Parr? Yeah. Yeah, at first I thought it was
Jon Parr.
(27:25 - 27:27)
I didn't realize that was Jimmy Jameson. Yeah. He was doing that stuff.
(27:28 - 27:31)
Well, I think they found the next guy. They don't do those commercials anymore. They should
bring them back.
(27:32 - 27:43)
They should. I think the commercial, you know what it is? They've replaced those commercials
with the guy that's helping the homeowners who are turning into their parents. Oh.
(27:45 - 27:50)
Yeah. Those are absolutely hilarious during football on Sunday, but that's a good song, man. I
really like that one.
(27:50 - 27:55)
Thanks. I'm at the age where I identify with those commercials a little too much. Oh, no.
(27:55 - 27:59)
It wasn't him. It was Dave Bickler. Oh, okay.
(27:59 - 28:01)
Yeah. It was Dave Bickler. Yeah.
(28:01 - 28:10)
Okay. You know what? If you come up with a few different songs like that, you record them and
you send it into them to Budweiser. Say, hey, how about bringing this back? I can do this for
you.
(28:10 - 28:12)
Yeah. I can do this voice. I can do this.
(28:12 - 28:22)
Well, the best Survivor song is, was, and always will be Roy, Roy, Roy, the Eye of the Tiger in the
Starbucks commercials. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
(28:22 - 28:29)
Remember that one going off the elevator? Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy. You know, I was like, wow.
Now, that's funny.
(28:29 - 28:36)
Yeah. Now, when did you write that one? Not too long ago. About, well, that's about 15 years
ago.
(28:36 - 28:46)
It's on an album called Candid, Transparent, and Gratitude. But that's just my attempt to write
something Americana. Yeah.
(28:47 - 29:12)
So, I mean, why'd you pick that one to play for us today? I like the message, you know, and I like
the arrangement and the structure of the song and how it turned out. And if you like that, then
hopefully it'll drive you over to, you know, one of the websites to listen to the full production of
the actual recording. And, well, that's for anything that we're doing here today.
(29:12 - 29:42)
But, you know, I just think there's a lot of meat in that song that people can grab onto and
identify with. Would you say that your style of writing has changed over the years? Or have you
stayed pretty true? Yeah. As you grow, you know, as an artist and you go through the creative
process of making albums, I think you kind of fine tune who you are and what you do.
(29:42 - 29:57)
You know, the very first record I ever did was called Little Brother. And I did that back in like 96.
And I remember writing like 75 songs for that record to get the best nine or 10, you know? So
you still write a lot of songs to get to the best ones and gems and see which ones are going to
fit.
(29:57 - 30:19)
But I think now knowing who I am as an artist and what my voice is and what you want to say in
a song helps me get down to the point of what I need in that song a little bit more quickly. You
know, I don't have to write so many songs to get to the one I, you know, those ones don't ever
grow up. They stay on the, on the scratch pad.
(30:19 - 30:32)
And then in the notebook and, you know, but the ones that you're pretty sure are going to be
there, you know, are the ones that you end up finishing and fleshing out. Yeah. Oh, can I ask
my question? Can I ask my question? Go ahead.
(30:35 - 32:31)
Lyrics or melody, which comes first? It's a little bit of both. I'm always jotting down song titles
that, you know, something will hit me and, you know, I'll take out the phone and put it on the
list of song titles to work on. I've got reams and reams of notebooks like that too.
And then, you know, you sit around watching the, watching the baseball game with the guitar
in your hand and sitting on the couch and you kneel around and you're like, Oh, that's cool.
Maybe that'll fit with this, you know? And you start assembling things together. But generally
it's the song title and the melody and the message that you want to get across and then kind of
hammering that into shape.
You know, the creative process of songwriting is what really lights my fire. You know, every
different step along the process is really super rewarding. You know, from the initial thought of,
Oh, that might be a good song title or this idea, or, Hey, that's a cool lick, or a nice chord
progression.
You know, that's the first reward. Ooh, I've got something to work with here, you know, and,
and then the rough draft and then kind of hammering that into an arrangement and a
structure. And the very first time you complete the lyrics and the music together and you go,
you play the song for the first time, that still gives me goosebumps.
Oh, new song, you know? And then it's, let's take it to the studio and assemble it and see how
it's going to grow up. You know, when you start laying the instruments on and you know, it's
like building a house, you know, you got the framework and the structure, and then you get all
of the accoutrements of the house, the, the shades and the drapes and you know, the paintings
on the walls, those are the other colors of the other instruments, the mandolins, the B3s, you
know, the backing vocals, everything that you could put on there to layer it, to really put the
finishing touches on. And, you know, sometimes you don't know what a song is going to be
when you first write it.
(32:31 - 32:51)
And then after you get all the layers on it and it grows up to full thing, you know, some of the
ones you think there does turn out to be the great ones, ones you think are great and end up
not being so good, you know? But it's, it's all part of the process and, and I love it. It, every,
every part of that process is a touchstone that I'm absolutely in love with. That's great.
(32:52 - 33:10)
So now he's just showing off because, you know, I, I write 75 songs to, you know, to come up
with the, you know, the best 10 for one album. Yeah. Yeah.
He's just showing up. No, I mean, my song ideas come to me when I'm usually when I'm on the
toilet and I go down and then I go down into the basement with a guitar and a notebook. Right.
(33:10 - 33:28)
And I get in, it's like, they come in like 10 minutes, right? It's ready. And then I get to where,
okay, I need one more verse. And I'm like, fuck, I can't think of one more verse.
God damn it. And then I take about another 20 minutes and I finish it and go, thank God. And I
put it over there in a pile and I go, nah, I'm sick of you.
(33:28 - 34:16)
I'll come back to you next week and figure it out later because I get, and, and I hate the
process. You're like the opposite. You're like the Zen master of writing songs.
Me, I'm just like, I, yeah, I don't want to go. Yeah. I want to have a new song, but I want to have
to, God, okay.
15 minutes. That's all I'm putting into it. Well, I'm, I'm nowhere near as prolific as I used to be.
You know, because in the early years, my, my whole focus was original music, the original band,
supporting those songs, you know, out there playing, but you know, you make your choices in
life. You have a family and a career and, you know, you end up playing in cover bands and
playing rock and roll and every weekend. And I'm doing that now with, with my band, the
somethings.
(34:16 - 34:54)
And that takes up just about every weekend as well. So there's not a lot of time. I've, I've kind of
passed the age of chasing the whole rock star thing, you know, so that's not important.
So now when you write a song, it's for a reason, it's because of the creative process and that's
who you are. You know, my wife and I and my daughter were talking recently about the new
Taylor Swift album, lover or hater. She has assembled an empire based on songwriting.
Right. And somebody asked if this was it, if this was the last record, you know, that she's ever
going to do. And she was frankly insulted by the question.
(34:54 - 35:10)
And I get it. And I understand because if you're a songwriter or a musician, it's something you
obsess over and you know, whether it's a, it's a cradle to the grave kind of thing. I don't know if
I'll ever be able to stop writing songs.
(35:10 - 35:36)
Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally get that.
I hate, when did you become a musician? You don't become a musician. You are, excuse me,
you are a musician. And, uh, and yeah, people don't understand that.
It's like, when, when are you going to stop doing it? When are you going to stop breathing? I
don't have a choice. It's who I am and it's what I do, you know? Right. It's right.
It's like, I can retire from my day job. I can't retire from being a musician. I might stop playing
for a little while, but I'm still a musician.
(35:37 - 36:25)
You know, that's the way, that's just the way it goes. Some guys play softball, some guys play
golf. You know, this is, this is where my talents and my pursuit, my pursuits led me and, um, I
dream it to epic proportions and love doing it.
And, you know, if, if you don't do that, if I'm not, you know, on stage with the band or recording
or pursuing it, I'm sitting there on the couch strumming a guitar and, you know, it's, um, it
doesn't matter if you're doing it just by yourself there, uh, on the couch at home or in front of a
thousand people or more. Um, it's who you are and it's what you do. It's part of you.
Right. You can't, you can't turn it off. Right.
I've taken, I've taken to, to doing this to solo artists that come into the studio now. And I think
Ray and I, I mean, we have to entertain ourselves. So I think, I think Ray and I enjoy this.
(36:25 - 36:58)
So what's the first song you ever wrote? Oh, um, that's a good question. Um, the first song was,
uh, was called raise my hands to the Lord. And, um, it turned out to be rewritten like six, seven
times before it became one of the ones that hit my first record.
Wow. You know, but again, that was a learning experience. It was, it was just a chord
progression and turned into like a country thing.
(36:58 - 37:12)
And, you know, you bounce it off other people that know and they're like, well, maybe you
could do this with it. And, uh, you know, you revise and you write, you revise and you revise, but
yeah, probably raise my hands to the Lord. Yeah.
So play it. Oh, geez. Uh, yeah.
(37:13 - 37:18)
This is the fun part. This is the fun part. I remember how to play it.
(37:18 - 37:20)
Verse and a chorus. Give us a sample. Give us, give us a sample.
(37:56 - 38:11)
Yeah. Okay. I guess you remember.
Yeah. I guess I should say that, that my pursuit early on was not just connected to music, but it
was also connected to my spirituality. And my whole aim wasn't to be a rock star.
(38:11 - 38:19)
I wanted to go in the other way. I wanted, I wanted to develop music for a Christian music
ministry. And for about 15 years, that's what I did.
(38:19 - 38:48)
And I was a worship leader at a church here locally as well. And, um, you know, we got to travel
around regionally behind some of the records and we did real well. We got some airplay.
We opened up from, for some bigger Christian artists. And, uh, I was always, um, intrigued by
the whole Kurt Cobain Nirvana kind of thing. Um, because people were like, Oh, he's the voice
of the generation.
I'm like, all he's doing is crying out in pain. Yeah. Everybody, no, everybody knows pain.
(38:48 - 40:00)
And that's what was attractive about Nirvana is everybody could identify with feeling like that.
But as a songwriter and as a believer, something that I felt was my responsibility was that
somewhere in the song, I got to provide an answer. Now I, I've never been of the, you know,
replace Jesus with baby and baby with Jesus.
And, you know, you've got to say Jesus 16 times in a song to make it a Christian song. Quite
frankly, uh, my songs are too rock and roll for, you know, a worship service, so to speak, but I
have written worship songs. I've been a, been a worship leader, but somewhere in, in the
songs, whether it's something about belief or spirituality, but, um, and as I've grown, it's been
less about music ministry, but more about sharing the experience of the human condition and
still crafting somewhere in that song, a connection that, that everybody can say, oh, I, I really
know what he's talking about.
He's not, he's not saying those words, but that's what he's talking about. Right. Right.
Right. Right. You ever see the South Park episode about when they, when, when they try to put
together a Christian rock band? No.
(40:02 - 40:27)
What haven't they lampooned and been great doing it? It's gotta be, it's gotta be, this episode's
gotta be 15, maybe even closer to 20 years old, but you've got to go on YouTube, but it's
absolutely hilarious. They put together this Christian rock group, right? And all they're doing is
taking popular songs and changing them to Jesus. So they go out on the very first song they
perform is cause you want twice, three times a Jesus.
(40:29 - 40:46)
Well, I got that from a Simpsons episode. There was an episode where Ned Flanders falls in
with the, with the country girl that does, you know, Christian rock songs. And, you know, and
Bart does, I think it was Bart that says that, yeah, you just replace Jesus with a baby and it
becomes a Christian song, you know? Yeah.
(40:46 - 40:54)
I mean, what happened to those cartoons lampoon? I was not a big South Park fan when it first
came out. And then I had a friend of mine drag me to the movie. Oh God.
(40:55 - 41:01)
I was side-splittingly funny in the movie. Absolutely. And ever since then it's been on, you know,
South Park.
(41:02 - 41:06)
It's all tugging cheek and there's nobody safe from them. It's great. Right.
(41:06 - 41:33)
You want to laugh, that'll make you laugh. No, it's hilarious. Go, go and I'm not going to talk
about it in the podcast, but there's another whole stereotype that they just destroyed a
smithereens in the same episode where they're trying to form this Christian rock band.
It's the, and you'll know it. If you go and watch it, you'll know it. It's, it's what they're trying to
find a bass player.
I'm just going to, I'm going to leave it at that. And you're going to piss your pants. All I can say
is blame Canada.
(41:34 - 41:47)
Yeah, there you go. That's right. That's right.
That's right. So at any point in time, did you put together a band and you just went out and
played your original music? Yeah. You know, I, I had kind of a core of studio musicians.
(41:47 - 42:30)
And then when we finished the record, it was like, Ooh, now I got to go out and play behind this
stuff. And who do I get that can play these parts? You know? So I was really lucky early on when
I, when I first started down that pathway of making my first record, I met him and had known
Kenny Hark from off Broadway. And you know, he kind of helped mentor me and kind of tell me
things about the industry and songwriting and production.
And, and, and he promised me, I'm like, so if I ever get to the point where I'm ready to do this,
you think you'd ever, you know, come in and play drums for me? And he was like, sure. Really
gracious about it. And he helped me find the first studio.
(42:30 - 42:49)
And we did pre-production rehearsals together and, you know, we put together a great lineup
with Kenny on the drums. You probably know the keyboard player that was introduced to me,
my guitar player locally, John Boda. When I met John, it was like, where have you been all my
life? I was like, Oh, I'm Brian Adams.
(42:49 - 43:15)
But all of a sudden you're Keith Scott, you know, or I'm Mick and you're Keith Richards. And you
know, that's the foil. That's the lead guitar guy that, you know, fills in the gaps.
It was my songs. I'm like, I, I'm not a big lead guitar player just to be candid. So I always need
that a guitar player over there.
When I met John, he was like, well, do you need a keyboard player for the, for the record? And
I'm like, well, yeah, absolutely. That'd be great. And he goes, I know just the guy.
(43:15 - 43:23)
And it turned out to be Marty Salmon. Oh, no kidding. I first met Marty when he was 18 years
old.
(43:23 - 43:48)
He came over to my house to audition, to be in my band to do pre-production for the record.
Yeah. And for the next five years, you know, he was in and out of my band doing live, live
performances.
And, and he he's guested on every album I've done except the one I'm working on right now.
Wow. But talk about an honor and a pleasure working with those guys because they can just
take anything that you did and make you sound great.
(43:48 - 44:17)
Right. You know? Yep. They, they go, they go into the studio and they polish the turd so to
speak.
That's, that's a, that's a, that's a, that's a, what is it Steve Lukather says that all the time he goes,
you know, they call us in to polish the turd. Yeah. And then they make parts on your songs that
you may have not written, but that's what I love about bringing monster musicians in to play on
my records is because they'll, they'll hear things and they'll play things that then become
integral parts of the song that you need to have in there for all time.
(44:18 - 44:30)
Right. Right. You know? And then when we started playing out behind the record I recruited Jeff
Nestor, you might know Jeff to play bass, Bill Higgins on the drums, Marty on the keyboards
and John Boda.
(44:31 - 44:58)
And you know, we went out and supported these records and played a lot of shows and, and
had a whole heck of a lot of fun, not just playing rock and roll, but doing ministry and, and
trying to do all of that in the right way. But it was a real fulfilling for a long time. Excellent.
Excellent. Excellent. Well, before we run out of time, I would love to hear another one from you.
Yeah, absolutely. Why don't we do that? We'll just, we'll just do it on the fly. I know where all the
faders and everything need to be.
We'll spin this around. My son is, is in the military. He's in the air force.
(44:58 - 45:06)
Okay. He's over in Okinawa, Japan. But yeah, you get missing your kid when he's on the other
side of the world.
(45:06 - 45:46)
And I had started watching some of these YouTube videos of military reunions and surprise
reunions, you know, where they come in and surprise mom or dad and everybody's crying and
boo. And that's all I was thinking about, boy, wouldn't it be sweet to see my son, you know? So
that created the genesis of this next song. And this is a song that was written not only about
missing him, but what I wanted to highlight was the fact that not all the soldiers get to come
home, you know? But when they do, it's a sweet reunion.
(45:47 - 49:06)
So this is kind of a song for anybody that serves, anybody that is family of people that serve,
that knows that longing. And this is called When a Soldier Comes Home. To live every moment
Just to make it back home When a soldier comes home When a soldier comes home Now they
walk the wire They wish they were here They're hoping and praying With a thousand yard stare
Lost in the dreams of embraces That never let go When the doorwind gets rough Their
thoughts turn to home When a soldier comes home To the arms of his father When a soldier
comes home To the arms of a mother A brother, a sister, a spouse, or a friend It's cause to
celebrate When a soldier comes home When a soldier comes home We'll help you honor the
service you've shown Help you pick up the pieces And make you feel whole Under a blanket of
freedom Sewn by your sacrifice And to never forget those Paid the ultimate price When a
soldier comes home To the arms of a sainter When a soldier comes home To the arms of a
soldier We stand as a nation Where divided we'll fall Salute and celebrate I'm not compelled to
hit the applause button.
(49:06 - 49:10)
No, no, no. That one needs to fade on its own. That was very good.
(49:10 - 49:12)
That was great. Very nice song. That was great.
(49:12 - 49:28)
Excellent song. Thank you. So do you have any gigs coming up on your own or with your band?
Man, I told you before, I kind of chased my oldest brother around to become a musician.
(49:28 - 49:41)
That inspired me to become a musician. And all of our adult lives, I never got a chance to be in a
band with him. But about five years ago, my brother raised two sons, Brandon and Colin
Schlegel.
(49:42 - 49:53)
They invited me to be part of their band called The Somethings. And these kids, they had the
same problem that I did. Dad drug them around to rehearsals and shows.
(49:53 - 50:06)
And they got the music bug. And they started music at a really young age. And they have
become incredible songwriters, musicians, players, and really incredible people.
(50:08 - 50:28)
They started this band called The Somethings, I think, like back in eighth grade. And the band's
been around for 10 years. I mean, they're only like 22, 23, 25 years old, right? But five years ago,
the bass player that they had with them, you know, had to step out of music, was having some
health problems.
(50:28 - 50:37)
And they said, hey, we need a bass player. How about Uncle Ricky? He's pretty grooving. Little
did I know that the invite over to jam at their house one day was really an audition.
(50:38 - 50:50)
And then I get the call a couple days later, and my brother's like, we'd like to ask you to, you
know, to join the band. And I'm like, yes, it's not even, not even a question. I've always wanted
to be in a band.
(50:50 - 51:10)
And so I get to be in a band with my oldest brother, who I idolize and love. And his two sons are
the supreme musicians and they just kill it, you know? And my first thought was, yeah, Uncle
Ricky's going to come in and I'm going to show these little whippersnappers. And little did I
know until they handed me the set list.
(51:10 - 51:27)
And I'm like, I got to learn what? It was all this steely Dan and Toto. I'm like, I'm going to really
have to work here. As a matter of fact, the former bass player, Mark Garvey, he called me
before I had a first rehearsal with him.
(51:27 - 51:36)
And he's like, Rick, these guys will wear you out. Be careful. Make sure you do your homework
and prepare, you know? So it was good advice.
(51:36 - 51:52)
And I like to prepare to the point where I'm, it's automatic when I step, step on stage. So I
found very quickly that it was a challenge to, to come up to what they were doing. But night
after night, it's a fabulous band.
(51:52 - 52:02)
The four of us all sing and trade off lead vocals. And then our drummer, Andy Kremski grew up
with my oldest brother, Ray in elementary school. And I played, and they were in first bands
together.
(52:03 - 52:08)
And then I was in a band with Andy called Smokey Colon. And it was just love. Smokey Colon.
(52:08 - 52:18)
Yeah, it was a, it was a power blues band, you know? So, I mean, we've all played together and
stuff. I know. And the name was never spelled once, right on the marquee, anywhere we ever
played.
(52:19 - 52:32)
But the somethings, we are, we're kicking it. I mean, we're playing, I've been in the band now
for five years, and I'd say that I've played probably 250 shows with them. We play between 45 to
60 shows a year.
(52:32 - 52:38)
Nice. We're somewhere just about every weekend. As a matter of fact, next weekend, we'll be at
the Promenade in Bolingbrook.
(52:39 - 52:47)
Okay. You know, playing there, but either it's a local club, bar, tavern, restaurant, or local fest.
But, you know, it's a great band.
(52:47 - 53:02)
And as a high degree of musicianship in the vocals, all mesh because of the family thing. And
it's, it's a cool thing to see, but it's an honor to play with them and play with family. And it's
almost criminal to have that much fun playing music.
(53:03 - 53:30)
And what about your music? Where can people find, find your albums? Well, Rick Andrews
Schlegel is on the web with just Rick Andrews. So anywhere you can find music, whether it's,
you know, Spotify, Apple, iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby. I have a site where you can actually
purchase and download the songs, or you can stream it, which is just a band camp site.
(53:30 - 53:47)
So it's rickandrews.bandcamp.com. So you can get all the material there. And, you know, if you
like what you've heard today and some of the songs, hopefully you'll go there and download a
few. And, you know, it's not about for me making money, doing any of that.
(53:47 - 54:17)
It's more about the message of the songs. And, you know, if there's something in these songs
that catches your ear and you make it part of your heart and who you are and part of your daily
life, that's all you can ask for as a songwriter. You know, my, my ultimate dream is to be able to
have one song and in constant public unconsciousness of America, you know, like Brian Adams,
you know, cuts like a knife for, you know, summer of 69, you know, and buy a house on a hill
and retire.
(54:18 - 54:34)
But, you know, but like we said before, you do it because you love it. And, you know, hopefully if
you like what you heard, you go hear the whole thing, because I don't think you'd be able to tell
that it was, you know, done locally versus listening to an Eagles record. Right.
(54:34 - 54:37)
Right. That kind of quality and pursuit passion in it. Good.
(54:37 - 54:39)
Excellent. Hopefully people like it. Yeah.
(54:39 - 54:41)
That's all we can hope for. Yep. That's it.
(54:41 - 54:44)
All right. Alrighty, Rick. Well, thanks for coming out tonight.
(54:44 - 54:54)
Great talking to you. Really honored to be asked him to be here. And Mike, I've admired you for
a long time and people here and to be able to play with you and your band was great.
(54:54 - 54:59)
And to be here with you tonight and Ray, thank you very much for having me. And I really
appreciate it. Awesome.
(54:59 - 55:25)
Thanks for being our pleasure. Thank you. The rock and roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul
Martin theme song courtesy of MNR Rush.
(55:25 - 55:32)
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.