Ep 263 Wildeye 

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. 

Hollywood, wood, wood, wood, Mike, Mike, Mike. Oh, we got some new effects. Yeah, we do. 

Wow, I didn't even know we had those. Those are analog effects. Analog, my goodness. 

How nice. I'm doing wonderful. This weather we're having is like crazy. 

Yeah. Cold, hot, warm, rain, snow. Yeah, but I hear it's like this coming week, it's going to be in the high 40s. 

Yeah, maybe 50 days. Yeah, no kidding. I was thinking about the people, like last week I had a fence installed, and they came out while there was still eight inches of snow on the ground, and it was like 20 degrees. 

And these three guys were just out there digging through frozen dirt, and they put the fence up. They did it. And I'm thinking, man, they could have waited just like five more days. 

That's true. And they'd have been fine. Yeah. 

So you know what my adventure was this morning? What? My adventure was I'm hearing all this ruckus, you know, a ruckus outside my yard. Every dog in the neighborhood's going freaking nuts. Then all of a sudden I start hearing cats. 

Oh, cats are going nuts. I'm like, so you got dogs chasing cats or something like that. So I let my poor, you know, my new dog out to go out and have some fun. 

And he's barking and having a good time. All of a sudden he stops barking. He's quiet. 

And he's got a very distinctive bark because he's part hound, right? And I don't hear him anymore. I'm like, what's going on? He's staring at the new gate, right? You know how dogs, you look back and forth like this, wondering what's going on. You do that really well. 

Yeah. The neighbor's cat next door was chasing a rabbit all over the place. And the rest of that was causing the rest of the dogs in the neighborhood to go nuts. 

Well, the poor rabbit tried to get between my fence and got stuck. And my dog was there just staring at him going, do I play with that? Yeah. Do I eat that? What the heck do I do with that? So I had to go outside and my new fence that just went up, I had to go out there with the electric drill and take apart my fence so I could get the rabbit out of the fence. 

Oh man. And the rabbit hops out. He finally had enough room. 

He hops out and he just kind of hung around there for a minute. I know he was just lethargic. Hung out there for a minute as if to say thank you and then hopped off. 

I'm sure he was all freaked out. If you looked at him, he had like a wild eye. He did. 

He did. He had a wild eye. It was absolutely crazy. 

You guys know anything about that? Oh yeah. We know about wild eye. Oh, you're friends with Marty Feldman. 

Is that what it is? Hey, Marty. Welcome wild eye, everybody. See, that little skit wasn't rehearsed or anything. 

That was good. That was a good transition. So how y'all doing? We're doing good. 

Yeah. Good to see y'all. Good to see y'all. 

We've had you in the studio before. Yes. Yeah. 

Trip number two. Yeah. Trip two. 

So yeah, she's on the, I guess she gets on the leaderboard of multiple- Yeah. We still have some, Greg Rapp, I believe, four times. Greg Rapp. 

Greg Rapp, four times. Four times, so. That's right. 

He's still a leader. So yeah. Why don't you go around the table, kindergarten style, and tell us all who you are. 

Yeah. My name is Chris Bielefeld, last name. And I'm the founder of the Wild Eye Band. 

All right. 20 years ago. 20 years ago. 

Wow. 20 years ago. And we're excited about being here and doing this interview. 

We're excited to have you guys. Thanks for coming out again. And I'm Dawn Weber. 

I'm the singer in the band. Everybody knows Dawn. I just joined the band a few months ago. 

Yeah. Just a few months ago. Okay. 

All right. All right. So brand new. 

I'm Rich Newland. I'm a bass player. And I also sing in the band. 

And I've been here since, it'll be close to a year now. Yeah. Yeah. 

And we're missing your drummer. The new drummer, right? Yes. Is that what it is? Yeah. 

What we got going on now, right now, our recent drummer, he has decided to retire. Retire. Okay. 

Yeah. All right. And so we just currently held auditions for drummers. 

We wrapped that up last night and we did make a selection. And so we decided to go with Mr. Richard Wooten. Okay. 

He's going to be our new drummer. He's sports out of Nashville, Tennessee. Relations to Victor Wooten? I don't know about that. 

I haven't got that far. We haven't had those discussions. That would have been my first question. 

You know, if a phone conversation took place. Yes. My name is Richard Wooten. 

Is your brother happened to be Victor Wooten? I mean, that would have been the very first question out of my mind. Yeah. He's no relation to Marty Feldman either. 

Yeah. Well, you can't be, you can't because I mean, yeah. You'd have to have Betty Davis eyes in order to be related to Marty Feldman. 

That's right. That's right. Have you heard that Weird Al Yankovic version of that? Weird Al did a version instead of Betty Davis eyes, it's Marty Feldman eyes. 

Oh, that's yeah. The video was hilarious. So we decided to bring him on. 

He's accepted and he's got quite a background. He's a mechanical engineer, master's mechanical engineer. All right. 

And he's a drummer. Yes, he's a drummer and he's very IT experienced. Okay. 

So he brings a lot of helping us with recording and sound systems and all that kind of thing. Excellent. And him and Rich are gonna, their background is in sound. 

So they're going to be able to help us really get our quality sound and get it under control for rehearsals. And as a band, that's what you would do is make sound. Yeah, exactly. 

Sometimes too loud, too many squeals. He still doesn't get a mic though. You can't give drummers microphones. 

But I can see a problem though, because I mean, having a drummer who's an engineer, who's going to bring the pizza? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. 

You got it. Yeah. Maybe the promotions department. 

There you go. Where'd that voice come from? We call her the candy lady. That means something else where I'm from, but okay, we'll go with that. 

We'll go with that. So, man. So 20 years ago, this whole thing started. 

Yeah, we started out in Oakland, Illinois. Okay. It was three guys. 

And then we started looking for a lead guitar player. And Tommy McLaughlin came, McLaughlin, sorry, Tom, came aboard. Right. 

And it was his first project as being a lead guitar because he'd always played rhythm before. Right. And we started out with him and we had a lead singer called, his name was Steve Bevard. 

Okay. It started out. We were doing like a lot of bad company, a lot of classic rock type stuff. 

And we were all basically just kind of new guys just out there, not knowing anything in the band world or how it works. Sure. We thought we knew everything until we started doing it and we learned. 

Well, you're one of the fortunate people that did realize that because there's a lot of people still walking around that still think they're the best. Yeah. That's right. 

So we just kind of grew. We stayed in the local area playing and we were able to get shows and stuff like that. And we played together for about three or four years. 

And then one of the bass player had to leave the band. So we all decided, yeah, let's take a break for a while. Right. 

And so we did. And of course, Tommy went on to play with 3AM, which is a band, a tribute band to Matchbox 20. Right, right, right. 

And he also played with a few other, Ugadawana and some other places. No kidding with Ugadawana. Yeah. 

He played with them for a while. Okay. And then he played, there was another band. 

He played in a couple of different bands with lead guitar. Are you talking the Ugadawana, the guys that are all disabled or in wheelchairs? Yes. The drummer was in a wheelchair. 

Yes, he played with them for a while. Right, right. And they were doing Bourbon Street and all kinds of different, the bigger venues. 

I met those guys 20 years ago. I was in a band called Static and we played the Oak Lawn area and the South Side a lot. And we, for some reason, we used to always open up for them at, oh God, what was the name of that place? It was a place right on Cicero. 

It may have been even Midlothian, not really Orland. Yeah, no, but it was a place where you had to go downstairs. Yes. 

Cheers. No, it wasn't called Cheers. I can't remember the name of the place, but you had to go downstairs and, you know, there was a, there was like a, of course there was a bar at street level, right? But the people who knew would go downstairs and the place was just kind of like a hole in the wall. 

It really was, but there was always great music down there. And for some reason they always used to have us open up for those guys and we would always help them bring their gear down the stairs and everything. They were a great, they were a great band though. 

They were really good. Wow. Yeah. 

No kidding. Yeah. So we played with them for a while. 

And then as he went on and when he got at 3am, he went with them and they played for, I think it was like six or seven years. They were together and they ended up doing rib fest and doing all kinds of different things and meetings. So Tommy was doing that. 

I was playing in a couple of acoustic bands where we had, or just a trio duo band. And then Tommy came over and played with me with that. And we had a phenomenal lead singer, Victoria Miller, that was phenomenal. 

And we did that and we played around the area. And, uh, and then at the time, uh, David hadn't done nothing. The bass player, he had left and the drummer had kind of fizzled out. 

Right. So recently then, um, a while ago, um, I had gotten cancer in my finger and they had to amputate my finger. And as a guitar player, it was really, um, very distressful time for me and, uh, chemotherapy for a year. 

Yeah. And, um, so the doctor told me, he goes, we have to amputate. And, uh, it's either, I said, yeah, but I play guitar and in these bands and stuff. 

And he was like, well, it's either that or die. Yeah. So that's your choice. 

Yeah. You can live with the finger or you can live without it or die with it. It's so it was, it was, it was kind of depressing for me at the time. 

And then I said, well, you know what? I'm not a quitter. I will figure it out. And I talked to a few guitar people from players, music and stuff that taught me and a few of my good close friends that play. 

Yeah. And they said, Chris, you can, you can deal with this. You can handle it. 

You can get back on the horse. You might have to do it a little differently, but you can do it. Yeah. 

And then they would encourage me by all the other bands out there that play with their fingers miss centers. Yeah. And, uh, it's been quite a journey with it. 

And so I sat down and started playing again and I stuck with it and I said, okay. And then Tommy was so enthralled with my determination to play. Yeah. 

That, uh, we decided, Hey, let's put wild. I 0.20 back together. And so we got our original drummer and Tommy came on board and he said, I'm, I fulfilled my bucket list, but you haven't. 

And I want to help you get there. So I'm with you as long as you want to do this. And, uh, he's been there every step of the way from the original. 

And then, uh, the drummer was there. And so, um, uh, it was the three of us. Then we started, then we said, then we have my daughter, which was at the time about 31. 

She decided, yeah, dad, I want to do something with you, you know, sing. And she's really a good singer. And she came on board and she's a ballroom dancer too. 

Oh, wow. So she had the whole package entertaining, the whole thing. And she came on board and started singing. 

Then she came and said, well, we're going to start. You know, uh, uh, Danny and I have decided we're going to start our family because she had gotten married two or three years prior to that. We didn't realize she was going to be that quick, right? Right. 

So anyway, she ended up getting pregnant and then she started getting sick and stuff. So she's like, I can't do this no more. So then Richard stepped up and we had rich Newland came in. 

Originally we had that, and we had another bass player that came in and played with us, but is, uh, who was not Victor. Wouldn't we? No, no. So, and then he came on board and then he left about a year later because his mother got sick and he, she was elderly. 

So we had to take care of her, but he stayed with us until we found a replacement. So we held auditions and we found Richard, rich Newland, which we're very pleased with. He's been with us for about a year, a very important piece of this band. 

He brings a lot of experience, not knowledge. He can tell you about his background and all the music he's done, but I can tell you from a standpoint of a band, he's bonded us together. Right. 

And it's been really good. And then when the singer left, rich stepped in and took over the singing. And I was doing a few songs. 

Singing and playing bass at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. 

That's a talent. Yeah. That's like doing this. 

And then I do a few songs and rich handled most of it. We went out and did the shows that we were committed to. Yeah. 

And I can also tell you a couple of quick stories. I hope I don't embarrass you. This man is so dedicated. 

I don't think he cares if he embarrasses you right now. This guy, this guy went, we had a rehearsal one night. He didn't tell us that he had a colonoscopy that day. 

His wife drove. But he showed us. He had film, he had pictures. 

The camera's still up there. Look. But he. 

It's a multi-day study. Look at this polyp. I named this one. 

That's the wild eye polyp. Oh my goodness. But his wife brought him to rehearsal because he didn't want to miss. 

And then we did a show in Mattson. And we did their Taste of Mattson show. And he showed up with a hundred and some fever. 

He had a urinary tract infection so bad. He just got back to the doctor and we did the show. And he sang. 

What the hell's going on with your undercarriage? Yeah, no kidding. You know, he's been roto-rooted out and he's up there playing. Well, it all started when I was a teenager. 

You know, he does say, talk about dedication. And it, there's nothing that stopped me except COVID from playing. I play with broken legs and played with fevers and colonoscopies. 

And yeah, I could barely move my arm. I auditioned for these guys and I couldn't move this arm. He did. 

Yeah. And we've had some issues where, you know, like I played one time we played a girl out in Millbrook. I had a horrible toothache, horrible toothache and still sang. 

And we still did. We did the show. Wild eye does not let those kinds of things stop them. 

Show must go on. And right. And we give a hundred percent to the audience. 

And down the road, we'll talk maybe a little bit more about what makes us different than others. And, but this is a different type of band. We're not just your typical bar, you know, stand up there and play and get paid and go home. 

We have a dedication and a level that we want to reach to the area. And so we understand marketing is a huge point. Saturation on Facebook and websites, going out in the community, advertisement, trinkets, all the little things make a big difference. 

But the most important thing that makes a difference that we do is our stage presentation. If we're having fun, they're going to have fun. We got to connect with them and bring them in and draw them in. 

So I came up with this wild idea. Well, and we've also played born to be wild. All right. 

So we play born to be wild eye. And that's what was playing during the colonoscopy. We still not wearing a dress. 

We've got to find that and put music to that. We got to put, yeah, we got to put music to the colonoscopy. But yeah, the dedication. 

So what I did is I come up with an idea. I said, what is it that we can draw people in? That'll get them to hang around when we're playing. So I came up with this idea. 

I found beer mugs and I put the wild eye label on it. So every between every set we did, we'd raffle off a free mug and my wife, the candy lady here, she would fill them with candy and wrap them and make them real nice and, you know, marketable. And we'd always give whoever booked us a beer mug with it in there. 

And where is there a beer mug? We have we have we gave them water bottles this time. Yes, because we ran out of the wild eye beer mugs because everybody out. Everybody sensed that they sensed the problem with us. 

They're like, we're not going to encourage them to drink any more beer. Those two look like they shouldn't be drinking. So water, water for them. 

Water. So we did that between each set, hopefully to get them to draw, stay for the raffle and that. Yeah. 

And that. So we just thought it was just, again, one of those little pieces that you put together to help, you know, the bars or wherever you're playing the venues, get people to stick around, because that's the hardest part is getting people to stick around. But if you're playing good music, simple music like we do, we play all classic country and rock. 

But we do a side only songs. We don't play anything. That's a B side or an offshoot from it. 

We try to stay to those radios that you still hear today on the radio. That's the important for those of you under the age of 40. That's back in the days when you have to flip this giant black platter over. 

Right, right, right. And there was only two songs. A side and you had the B side. 

That's that was it. That's it. Forty five was the speed. 

That's right. Sammy Hagar can't go 55. So when did the new songstress join the band? Okay, Dawn came in after we had did that. 

A few months, right? Yeah, a few months. Yeah, a few months after that, we had decided as a band that we would like to have that female voice in front. And also it opens up a lot of opportunity to do a lot of the classic and country and stuff that we don't have that Rich and I can't hit those notes. 

But anyway, so we were out. Not without a colonoscopy. Yeah, that's right. 

So anyway, where's that whistle coming from? So we decided that we needed somebody August when you came. Yeah, it was about. Yeah, it was about that. 

About that time. Yeah, we were just finished up. I think it was Millbrook or something. 

We did. So what was going on with you? They were like, yeah, I think I'm going to bring on another project. Because I know you've got, I know you've got Storm Empress. 

Right. Going on, right? That band is a little different than this band. Right. 

That band is more like hard rock, heavier. This one is more what I've been wanting to do. Right. 

And I used to do. Excellent. So this is more like the classic rock. 

So you made time. So I made time. Excellent. 

Excellent. If anybody's interested. I'm not getting any younger. 

So I mean. If anyone's interested out there, Storm Empress is episode 167 of the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. And if anybody else from Storm Empress is listening, we're looking for sponsorship. 

We just gave you a free plug. There you go. Express strength. 

Okay. Well, that's good. You're doing stuff that you like, that you enjoy doing. 

Right. Exactly. Like what? What are your. 

Well, I mean, with Storm Empress, it's more like the Iron Maiden and. Yeah. I'm more, you know, I deal and like that kind of stuff, a little heavier stuff. 

And then I'm also doing lighter stuff. You know, we started doing, but now with this band, it's more like what I want to do. I want to do more like the classic rock, the lighter stuff and the country. 

The country is what I really was focused on. Right. Right. 

Like what's your favorite? What's your favorite song or give me your ideal set list with Wild Eye? Well, I like Shania Twain. Okay. I like Gretchen Wilson. 

I like Patsy Cline. I like to take a song and like I do with Storm Empress and take it where make it my own. Sure. 

So with that, we take a male song and we put a girl's voice to it. You know, I like to be a little bit diverse. Sure. 

Okay. I get that. All right. 

And she also just, you know, what Dawn brings to the band, too, is not just the voice and that kind of match that we're looking for. She's been awesome in helping us book shows, help us with our Facebook page. She's been kind of taken over that part of it because as anybody knows, if you're a leader in a band, you can't do everything. 

And most people get burned out trying to do everything. So in this band, every member takes on a certain responsibility to make it work and we bring it together. Right. 

And she's handled that, done an awesome job. She does our emailings and helps us with our bookings and getting clients to come out. She has a huge background in knowing a lot of people in a lot of places. 

So that's helped us greatly, too, to get it out there. So we're very grateful for her, not just for her voice and her talent, but also for what she brings in behind the scenes that people don't see. So what's your philosophy for putting together a set list? I guess, what kind of crowd are you trying to reach? Well, we we're we're geared up. 

We we're not just your ordinary. We're just not a I keep telling the band is we are not a bar band. We are at the next. 

We want to do the festivals. We want to do the community events, campgrounds, corporate parties. I mean, retirement parties, block parties, all those kind of things where the crowds are built in, where you're not required. 

Hey, how many people can you bring into the to the gig? And you know what I mean? And just playing for the door. Right. We want to go in and be able to have built in crowds that are excited about seeing us and having a wide variety of music because you might get people from all ages. 

We've done where we did a carillon event over there at the golf course. Of course, everybody there was 60 plus. Yeah. 

You know what I mean? And they wanted to hear a certain style. You know what I mean? So but there was something everybody could take away from the music, even if we did a classic rock that maybe was a little, you know, newer than they were, you know, but they could take away something. And we got something newer than they were. 

They were. But they still got up and they danced. And that's the thing. 

It's we want them to have an experience that is fun. And when they walk in or if you go into, say, you play a bar or you play a campground, everybody knows the music. There's going to be music. 

You're going to walk away and you're going to know it because you've heard it on the radio. You've heard it might be a little different variation of it or something. But we try to stay as close as we can. 

But like what Don was saying, you know, we try to put our little bit of twist on it. But there's a song I do. I we they do it differently. 

They do it more in a country twang style. And then I do with Storm Empress. So it's we do. 

We're so different. And that's what I love about it. It's a very diverse kind of, you know. 

What do you have prepared for us this evening? I see a guitar on the back there. Yeah. Richard and I brought our guitars. 

All right. And we're going to do a couple of songs. Richard's going to do one, sing one. 

And then Don's going to sing. OK. For just just a couple of simple tunes, you know, on the acoustic. 

OK, well, why don't we take a little break here and then tune up and we'll bring them back in with a song. Sounds good. All right. 

Be right back. You're listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Your Sunday nights just got a whole lot bluesier. 

Get ready for the Bus Stop Blues show that takes you deep into the soul of the blues with classic hits, road stories and live jam sessions. Hosted by blues man Kevin Purcell and me, the one and only Road Bill. The Bus Stop Blues is two hours of nonstop blues, banter and badassery. 

Check out the Bus Stop Blues podcast at thebusstopblues.com where you can listen on Spotify, iHeart, Apple Podcasts or any other major podcast platform. Hop on board the Bus Stop Blues where the blues never stops rolling. And we are back with WildEye for the first time tonight performing in the studio. 

What do you have for us? We have Bad Moon Rising. All right. A cover of Creedence Clearwater. 

I love it. Creedence Clearwater Revival. The band that never saw Swamp. 

That's right. And they sing about swamp music and swamp rock and roll and hang out with Byron Hope and they're all from San Francisco, California. That's right. 

California. And then they booted their lead singer out. Yeah, they did. 

We could have a whole podcast about what they did to that poor guy. That's right. And what he had to go through to just be able to sing and play the songs that he wrote. 

Just crazy. I've always liked them. I've always liked them. 

They're a prime example of the type of music that I like. That I call it swamp rock and roll. It really is. 

And they do it pretty good for a bunch of guys. I think so. I think they're millionaires. 

Yeah, I think so. So I think they've done very well. Yeah. 

I mean, they're on their way. Oh man. So what made you guys, what made you decide that you were going to sing that song? You were talking about how you like to take things written for a male voice and do it yourself. 

Is that just a favorite song? Something you've always wanted to do? Well, it's actually a karaoke song that I've been asked to do. Okay. And I never thought I would be able to sing it. 

And somebody came up to me and said, can you sing this song? So I did. And then I had mentioned it to Chris and I'm like, can we do this song? And he's like, hell yeah, let's do it. Why not? Let's do it. 

Yeah. We'll try anything once and it sounds good and it works. Well, good. 

Excellent. Excellent. So what kind of places are you guys playing? Where are you finding your gigs these days? We're playing, we're doing, yeah, we've been playing, we've done like last year, we didn't like, I think it was like 14 or 15 different gigs from starting. 

Okay. And we played three different campgrounds. Okay. 

We played a golf course. We did White Sox Park. We played out. 

Oh, nice. So we got that gig and then we played Taste of Matson. And then we did a few bars, mug shots. 

We did Carson's Taphouse down in Morris. We played there and we're getting ready to play True Country. Nice. 

And we're also playing. I'll tell you what, that's a great place. I really like, I really like True Country. 

My kids have a lot of friends that live over in that area. And I've played there a few times over the course of the last year. What a fun place that is. 

Small place. Small place, but it's a really cool place. Unless you go outside. 

Yeah. Right. Well, I don't think they're doing that much anymore. 

Because if you notice, if you go out to the beer garden, there's literally houses right on the other side of the fence. So they're not doing that anymore. Yeah. 

So I mean, even in the middle of summer and the spring and stuff, we were playing inside. It's a little small, a little tight, but it's like you were talking earlier about places that have their own draw and their own clientele. Everybody literally walks across the street from their houses. 

It's a neighborhood bar. Everybody just walks across the street and the place is full of people. Yeah. 

We're actually going to be there on New Year's Eve. On New Year's Eve. Yeah. 

Wow. Excellent. Yeah. 

We're playing True Country New Year's Eve. We're doing Crowd Around Me in Shorewood on the 27th of December. I just played there two weeks ago. 

Oh, did you? Yeah. That's a fun place too. Yeah. 

And then we're doing, like you said, True Country. And then we're doing, we got called back to do mug shots again. Okay. 

We're going to be doing mug shots out in Homer. Yeah. Glen. 

And of course, in the wintertime, you go inside. You got to. And we do that where we basically try to play out a few times a month. 

Yeah. Is what we do. Okay. 

We put our playlist together. We try to stay with it till it becomes muscle memory. So. 

Sure. You know, we can concentrate more on the audience. Right. 

You know, rather than trying to pick out new stuff. But when we do, we do use rehearsal time to work on new things. And then we'll pull songs in and replace them out later. 

Yeah. But our big goal right now is we're heading into the festival. Yeah. 

And, you know, right now. And we've had a few, a lot of interesting places. Bolingbroke contacted us and they want us to do a show up there where their video. 

It stops. So I'm looking into that. Oh, at the Performing Arts Center. 

Yeah. That is, if you get that, that is great. Yeah. 

And that video will become your promo video. I mean, it's a professional stage, professional crew. It's really cool. 

Really cool gig. Yeah. She talked to me. 

So I'm in conference with her about that. Of course, we got to wait till warmer weather. Because I guess two municipalities use it. 

Yeah. So that space. There's an idea. 

We should get, we should get the folks that run that Performing Arts Center to come over on to the podcast. I'd love to have those guys out. That'd be a great podcast. 

I think, you know, they'd like to hear about what they have going on at that place. I hope you get that gig. It's a good one. 

Really. It sounds like. I'll leave that up to you. 

Yeah. Sounds like a great opportunity for us. So we're getting a lot of exposure and that. 

And I think people enjoy the concept of what we're doing. And like I said, the built in crowds. And we cater to the little kids. 

We got tons of photographs where I get up there with the guitar. I'm kind of a wireless type guy. So I'll go out in the audience. 

And if I have them hold my A card down and I'm playing, they feel like they're doing something. And I'll tell them slide it up too. And they feel like part of it. 

And as soon as you connect that, all of a sudden, then their friends are involved. Hey, we know the band. And that's the connection you want to make, at least as far as. 

And that's what I enjoy performing and seeing the audience get into it. And that's what the whole band's about. Yeah. 

You know, some people are chained to their boards and stuff. Tommy has to be for leads because there's a lot of switching and stuff going on where we can get out there and be free as I like freedom. I like to go out and just perform. 

So nothing original. Nothing. No, not at this point. 

I've dabbled in writing original stuff, but it's difficult to put it together. You know, I mean, to get everybody on, you know, same thing. Yeah, absolutely. 

Absolutely. Nothing yet. Nothing yet. 

Rich and I talked about putting stuff, country stuff together. Him and I doing it a little bit too, you know, and we just enjoy playing and having fun. Yeah. 

Put together a couple of them and sneak them in. They won't even notice. They won't even, they won't know. 

A lot of people say, I know that song. No, you don't. Yeah. 

You can't know it. Right, right. So what's the hardest part about being a working band? The hardest part, I guess would be. 

Yeah, the rehearsals, making sure what we want to do. Everybody's on the same page. I keep forgetting she's behind me. 

Having to do podcasts. Yeah, I know. As you well know, the hardest part, the funnest part in the band is playing. 

It's to set up, tear down, loading up, unloading, uploading, you know, getting all that arranged. I have three philosophies I have with the band that I tell them that the goal of Wild Eye is. First of all, is you got to have fun doing it. 

That's the first thing. Oh, yeah. Second thing is you play your best. 

You can play the absolute best you can. That's a lot. That leaves a lot to interpretation. 

Yes, whatever your ability is, play it to the best you can know the material. And the last thing is play better than what they're paying you. If we do those three things, we'll accomplish a lot and we'll grow and we'll and everything else will take care of itself. 

And plus, another thing we do is I keep we all keep talking about is no drama, no drama. Bands and yourself can get into a lot of dramas. Anybody's played in a band knows you got three, four or five different people in a band. 

They all have different opinions and ideas. You got to keep it down. Agree. 

Don't argue. Try to work it out. Come up with solutions. 

Yeah, more like Mike and I were fighting all the time. I guess constantly. We're like an old married couple. 

Yep. They chose throats. Yep. 

One day we're rolling around out here. It's my day to do the crowd sound. Yeah, yeah. 

So I think. Yeah, so I understand we've got we've got another song where we're going to get to hear Rich sing, right? Yeah. Rich Newland's going to sing. 

All right. Yes, this is something that's fun because they just brings it up out of out of the clear blue sky. So this is going to be a George Strait song. 

Blue clear sky. Oh, that wasn't the segue? No. Oh, I thought it was. 

I thought I nailed it. No, man. OK, well, now you got it. 

Now you got to learn that. You got to do that one. This is about that old girlfriend that you're not no longer with. 

You know, I've never heard a rock and roll song that had that as the theme before. I'll let you introduce it, Rich. Well, just, you know, we we lost a country artist last week. 

Yeah. Raul Milo from the Mavericks. So yeah, he just out of the blue said, hey, we should do this song. 

And it's like, OK, we played it a couple of times. And he's like, OK, we're doing it. All right. 

All right. So let's see. You're not singing on this at all, Don? No. 

I'm going to try to help with the background, with the chorus line. All right. You better. 

Otherwise, you're singing it. No. Ready? Ready. 

One, two, three, four. Wild Eye covering the Mavericks, everybody. I'm kind of down. 

I'll tell you what, I got a, I got a group of friends. Whenever the Mavericks come to town, they will have to go and see them. I've never seen them live, but they've got to be something live because I'm telling you, I've, I've got this group of friends I've known for 10 years and for 10 years in a row, the same group of people, they go on, they see the Mavericks. 

Well, they must like them. Yeah. Yeah. 

I've never seen them. Maybe if I got an invite, maybe one day I can go and see them, but you know, they don't like me. You're probably not in that circle. 

Yeah, I'm kind of an asshole. Yeah. So nobody runs me around. 

Yeah. All I ever do is bring them down. That's true. 

I apologize for the headphones. That's okay. I couldn't hear the leads. 

I mean, don't worry about it. You own them now, so. You'll be getting an invoice in the morning. 

Make that in care of, Wild Eye. There's a breakage fee. So how can people find you? You are on Facebook, I know. 

I'll let Dawn field that one. Yes, we're on Facebook. We also have a website and I also put stuff on Instagram. 

What is the website? It's www.wildeye.com, right? It's www.wildeyeband.com. Oh, there you go. See, I don't even know. See, it's got to be Wild Eye Band. 

Because I bet you, if you look for Wild Eye, it's just going to pull up like a tuna company or something like that. No, that's Sockeye. Oh, that's Sockeye. 

There are no videos of me as of yet. There will be on the 27th. Oh, there you go. 

There is some photographs of her. That you know of. Yeah. 

You'll have the can out of the bag. Yeah, there you go. And that's the name of the video, actually. 

Can out of the bag. Yeah. Remember that one band we had here and they recruited their singer. 

The guy said she was a neighbor of his. Yes, that was kind of creepy. And she said, I only sing in the shower. 

And I'm like, how did you hear her in the shower? He didn't have a logical answer for that. He didn't. At least not the one that he wanted to admit. 

He invited her to try out. Yeah, that's right. That was weird. 

Yeah, she had a great voice in the shower. It was great. Stalker. 

So Wild Eye band. And then you're on Facebook and you're also on Instagram. OK, excellent, excellent. 

And you're posting all kinds of stuff to that. Yes, we got all kinds of previous pictures through the whole year that we've been doing. And then so we're excited about getting ready to do this December 27th, because we'll get Dawn on stage and our new drummer that's coming in. 

He does audio and video. All right. So he is really going to put together a really good promo package. 

So right now, the promo on there is a lot of photographs of the different we did events that we played and behind it. And so but if you go on the website, you can see all our upcoming shows. You can see photographs from that. 

There's even some video on their previous singers and us playing. And there's also about our bookings and information about each band member on there, which we'll be getting that updated to as we go along. And so all the information is right there. 

And if you go to Facebook, right on Facebook, there's the website right on the Facebook page. You click on that. I'll take you right to the website. 

Any shows coming up the first part of 2026? Yeah, we got mugshots on the 23rd of there and then January, January 23rd at mugshots. OK, while we are at Shakers on February 6th. OK, March 21st, we are at the Irish Rebel. 

All right. And on April 4th, we are at the Quarry. Nice. 

And then we'll be at Deer Creek on July. I believe that 4th of July weekend. They're talking about booking us. 

And plus, there's a lot of other ones who are still waiting to come in and get confirmation on dates. So it looks like it's filling up. But we're also still trying to leave some room for the venues to call because we have a feeling they've been calling and I've been filling out applications for them because they're looking at us. 

Excellent. And we all know from experience that January into February is when their municipalities and all that are booking your shows and calling you. So we're waiting to kind of see that to keep our schedule. 

So we'll be able to accommodate that too. Excellent. Very good. 

Sounds good. Well, thanks for coming out, guys. Good to see you. 

Appreciate it. Thanks for having us. Yeah, we really appreciate it. 

Had a lot of fun. You guys are a riot. We'll see you out there. 

The Rock & Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin. Theme song courtesy of MNR Rush. The Rock & 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.