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Since I was about five years old I've been an entertainer. My first memory of
this was at a church function. There was a guy playing the piano and I did an
Elvis impersonation. I believe I sang "One Last Kiss" from Bye Bye Birdie.
When I was about 8 years old, my friend Matt Brett and I use to lip sync to the
Beatles, The Turtles, The Monkees and others. One day Matt and I picked up
the guitars and started faking those as well. Eventually my sister Mary Beth
showed me a few chords for the song "Sons of God" which were also the
chords for "Here We Are (All Together)" and about ninety other church songs.
This was in the day of the Folk Mass. My brother Pat also played and I use to
learn from him although he didn't directly teach me.
When I was about 11 I was drafted by the Folk Choir at St. Cajetan's, a
Chicago, Southside church that mainly consisted of Irish and a few Germans.
I stayed with the choir till I was around 15 and we moved to the Northside.
During that time I also learned that playing guitar and singing could attract the
opposite sex. That was all the more reason to stick with it. In the meantime I
was a member of four bands as a singer and rhythm guitar player: the Young
Movement (started with Matt Brett and Rob Decker), Bruised Banana (Art Heil,
Danny Lyons and Jim Pfordresser), Joint Stock Company (replaced by Ed
Zelnis, a keyboard player who went on to become Ertha Kitt's musical director)
and Badge (a rock 'n roll cover band).
Through high school (St. Ignatius College Prep) I played solo and in duos and
trios. At 16, Jim Mulqueeny and I showed up at the Earl of Old Town in
Chicago with a group of friends and performed at the legendary club. Jim
worked on Earl Pionke at a graduation party we attended. Earl promised us a
spot, but when we showed up that day, a Sunday afternoon, Earl was nowhere
to be found. Fortunately the management took pity on us and let us play a set.
We sang some John Prine and Steve Goodman to get into the spirit and I
played a couple of original songs. Another guy I played with in high school
was Tim Gainer. Tim and I had a duo and our voices blended well together.
Once in a while I sang with Charlie Johnson and Joe Poprocki who's brother
Ed played with me in summers home from college on Broadway in Chicago.
At NIU (Northern Illinios University), I played with a bunch of different folks, but
mainly with Dave Roller. Dave and I lived on the same dorm floor our
freshman year (Grant North - 8th Floor in 1977) and we always lived in close
proximity throughout our college careers. After Christmas break my freshman
year, Dave showed up with a Banjo that he'd received from his grandfather.
Dave could play it well immediately and we soon became inseparable with
Dave on Banjo and me on guitar. Dave was also an accomplished guitar
player and I believe he plays even more instruments now. We played coffee
houses and outdoor festivals around NIU. One year we played the Joliet
Jubilee at some grade school and had a gas. We played with Dave's brother
Dan and Andy, a friend who played bass. Dave and I, with Jim Kanas and Phil
Bava (harp player playing with Brother John and Blues Ministers), formed the
Pickin' County Band. We frequently performed at taverns like Andy's, the
Shamrock and a place called Club 72. Club 72 was a converted Little Red
Schoolhouse West on route 72, I think it was near the town of Malta. Bernie
Daley (great fiddle player) ran the place and led the house band. We were
mainly playing Bluegrass and Southern California stuff like the Eagles and Dan
Fogelberg. Anyhow, I just loved that place. One Friday night I just showed up
with a bunch of folks from Happy Hour in DeKalb and got up and performed
with the house band. They said "You're welcome anytime Dave, but next time
where some pants". Being a typcial college student I was wearing shorts that
night which was considered to be in appopriate at Club 72. Two other
members were in the Pickin' County Band, a pretty fiddle player named Patty (I
don't remember her last name) and a bass player (don't remember his name at
all - sorry). There was a Pickin' County Reunion a couple of years ago that I'll
cover later in this story.
During my last summer in DeKalb, IL, in 1982, I started planning my return to
Chicago which meant three things: find a place to live, find a job, find a band
to join. As it was, my old high school buddies (in fact my best friends) were
starting a band. I opted in and we started working up some cover songs and a
few originals. We came up with the name "Harm's Way", I'm not sure who
came up with it, but I suspect it was a friend of Charlie Johnson's. The band
members were Charlie Johnson on drums, vocals and guitar, Phil O'Leary on
bass and Xavier Callobre on vocals and lead guitar. I sang and played rhythm
and our strength was our three part harmonies. We produced a cassette album
called "Some Assembly Required" (Soon to be released on CD remastered and
with an accompanying DVD) and played Chicago clubs like Orphan's,
Minstrel's, Biddy Mulligan's and the Thirsty Whale. It was one of my best bands
and we were very tight but eventually we broke up. Here's an MP3 of a song
called "Run Me Over" that was part of "Some Assembly Required".
In the early Harm's Way years, December 3, 1983, I was at a dance club with
Xavier and Phil. I noticed this cute gal in a pink mini skirt and she was dancing
with all of these geeky guys. I thought if I asked her to dance I might have a
chance. She had her back turned towards me and I tapped her on the
shoulder. I asked her to dance and she said "yes". Thankfully. As this was my
wife Beverly of now 17 years.
After leaving Harm's Way in 1985, I put a cassette project together called
"Some People's Kids" that consisted of 10 songs, mostly autobiographical.
Here's one of the songs from that album called "Easy to Say". Bev sings
backup vocals on the song. I put a band together briefly and despite personnel
issues I began a solo career and replaced members who left with synthesisers -
yes this was the mid-eighties after all. I performed at Orphan's, Rockin'
Chicago and other joints in Chicago. Bev played with us on a couple of gigs
so did Rob deWaal, Xaiver, Tom Ciappa, and Molly Hurley.
I released an EP during that time called "Hold Up" (Click for title track) that
received moderate success and good reviews. "Right on female harmony
vocals" said one critic to my wife's pleasure. You can hear her on the track
above. At the time I also met a guy named Jeff Kwantinetz who was helpful to
me getting me into the college circuit through NACA. Jeff has gone on to run
one of the biggest agencies in Hollywood called The Firm. (I guess I should
look him up again.) My friend Kevin Eatinger painted the album cover and
did the art layout. Overall it was a nice package. I have three regrets: the
drum machine and not remixing and remastering it. John Metzger helped
produce the record and smoked like a chimney. Mike Ward helped out in the
studio and was my roadie/soundman for quite a while.
Then I moved on to performing entirely solo on the college circuit and played
Notre Dame (on St. Patrick's Day), Loyola, Carthage College, Southeastern
Missouri State and others. It was playing the college circuit that I hooked up
with Willy Porter and Cathy Braaten, both aspiring singer/songwriters. Kraig
Kenning was also among that group of singer/songwriters and became a very
good friend. Cathy, Willy and I played a few shows in Chicago and Milwaukee
together. I recorded a couple of the shows on a simple cassette player and
here's "Fire on the Mountain" featuring the three of us. Kraig and I did the
same in the Chicago area. At that time I went back into the studio and
recorded a song on contract for the Independent Insurance Agents of America
- called "Independence", with a patriotic commercial theme. I used the time
to cut another demo and this time had Cathy Braaten assist on vocals. "Wish I
Was Comin' Home" was written about the touring and missing my Beverly while
on the road. Cathy did a nice job on the backing vocals - a true professional.
Doug Durham, the co-producer of the Harm's Way record engineered and
co-produced this effort. Other than that darn drum machine (ugh), this was a
fairly good effort. I also did a public access show for Chicago cable - Harry
Dubnick was the producer. I guess it got a lot of play in Chicago as people
would tell me they'd see as they were flipping channels.
Mark Mayer, a close friend of the family, provided the greatest influence of
music on my life from childhood to present. Mark, who played the flute,
provided me with all styles of music (and still does that - God bless him) acted
like a backdrop to my musical influences. John Prine and Steve Goodman,
Frank Zappa, the Grateful Dead, and music by more obscure artists was
supplied to me regularly on vinyl and cassette to listen to. Almost every time I
see Mark he hands me a CD of some compilation he's put together. He use to
spin at the Exit in Chicago years ago. Other people who've supplied me with
music over the years and turned me on to some classics are Doug Skinner, Don
Groble and Mark Baum (mentioned later).
After a bit of a solo stint that included some stand-in players and machines,
drummer Joe Valentino came into my life. I started hiring session players as I
got sick of playing with machines. Joe convinced me to hire a good bassist to
play with him and recommended Steve Hashimoto. These guys were top
notch musicians and we were able to get a good sound going. We also played
the Irish circuit, i.e. Gaelic Park, Reilly's Daughter, the Goal Post, Vaughan's,
etc. This was humorous as Joe's Italian and looked like Elvis and Steve is a
moonfaced Japanese man. Unfortunately though, these guys got a little too
busy with other jobbing dates so I found replacements. Either guy would
occasionally play with me but not together too often.
I ran through a number of drummers - Jeff Villereal, Boomer (I don't remember
his real name), and Larry Dutmer. All three played with me on various gigs,
both Irish and Rock 'n Roll. I was doing the Carlos Murphy's circuit, Durty
Nellie's in Palatine and a host of other places in city and suburbs. I was
playing three nights a week - solo on the weeknights, band on the weekends.
One night Boomer sent a sub, a guy by the name of Danny Keller. Danny had
toured with Harvey Mandel (Canned Heat) and Bobby Womack. He had also
been in a band in Chicago that had a regular gig back in the 60's. Danny had
boasted about a short stint with Little Feat and Kansas. The guy was an
incredible drummer, but also incredibly crazy. He was a certified Reverend
and a certified nut.
As I ran through bass players, i.e. Steve Hash, Jeff Martindale, Erwin (long
Japanese last name) I was running out of patience. But fortunately it's a small
world. Kim Collins who lived in the same apartment complex I did met a guy
named Jim Chevalier and fell in love (married for years now). Chevy was a
bass player and on a wing and a prayer I called him to fill in one night on
bass. Chevy turned out to not only be a good bass player, but also had the
same sense of humor I had. Anyhow, Chevy helped weigh crazy Danny down
and we had a nice little power trio. We recorded a demo at the height of our
busy performing stint. Here's a song from that demo called
"Which One Is You?" about a schizo girl friend.
I went on to play with Chevy and Danny for a few years, but in 1996 decided to
retire from the club circuit. Instead I stayed home and wrote some new
material. I became the Marketing Director for the Fox Valley Blues Society
where I met the members of my current band the Empty Can Band. As the MD
for the Blues Society I was also Webmaster and newsletter editor. I wrote
several articles for the Blues Society, organized concerts and produced
videos. It was nice to have a creative outlet and I was fairly prolific. I recorded
a couple of songs during that time with a guy named Barry Leggett in Big
Rock, Illinois. He had a studio in his pole barn and wanted someone to
perform his country music songs. He was nice enough to record a couple of
mine, one called "Across the River".
Mark Baum, Executive Director for the Blues Society suggested I get together
with Paul Wegman, his friend and drummer to lay down some drum tracks. So
I worked with Paul on that project. Rich Van Ham, the man who drafted me
into the Blues Society was a harp player. Rich and I played together at parties
a few times with me on acoustic guitar. JD Klatt (bass) sat in on some jams
and then he hosted an Oktobeerfest party at his house and invited all of us to
jam. Everyone knew a couple of my songs so we had a good time and
decided to continue. Paul hosted more jams in his basement that eventually
turned into rehearsals. Johnny Mack, a friend of Paul's, kept showing up and
playing lead guitar - he knew songs like Rambin' Man from start to finish, so he
was a great addition. We became the Empty Can Band and played a benefit
for our first gig. Around that time we recorded a demo that included "Secret
Mission" in Paul's basement studio.
Scott Hammer a/k/a Hambone was kind enough to have the ECB on his radio
show twice and we used some of the sessions on the CD. Scott is a great guy
who's been a big supporter of the local music scene in Chicago, especially the
Blues music scene. He can be heard every Thursday night from 10:00 p.m. to
midnight on WDCB, College of DuPage radio, 90.9 FM. You can hear him
"ah-ha" in the Pickin' County track below.
Last summer we produced an entire album called "Still Alive" that is now
available on MP3Tunes, com, iTunes, Yahoo Music and CDBaby.com. The
ECB performs regularly at festivals and Fox Valley clubs and has performed at
the House of Blues in Chicago. It's a great group of guys and a heck of a lot of
fun! We play classic blues, rock and a variety of originals. Here's a track from
"Still Alive" called "Standin' in Rain".
This past summer we opened up for Marshall Tucker, and have opened up for
Koko Taylor and also Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees in Downtown Aurora. We
headlined the Downtown Alive Festival in Aurora (our home town) the Summer
of 2004.
Now, even after all of these years, I'm still performing and enjoying every
minute of it. Two years ago I organized a benefit for a friend with cancer
(Susan Moody - now fully recovered and as bright as ever) and reunited the
Pickin' County Band, unfortunately Dave Roller was not present. But, Jim
Kanas and Phil Bava were able to play the benefit. We did a radio show on
Hambone's Blues Party on WDCB to promote the show and here's a cut from
that show - "Folsum Prison Blues". Rich Van Ham (Empty Can Band) filled in
for Phil on the harp. Jimmy Kanas is on pedal steel and my ole pal Chevy's on
bass. Art Heil (drummer in Bruised Banana back in 1973) also sang at the
benefit. It was great to see my old friends and unite them with my new
bandmates. Gil Pini (The Boyzz) from Gibson showed up sick as a dog just to
drop off strings and stuff for everyone. It was a magical evening that featured
Nick Moss and the Flip Tops, the ECB and the Banjo Kings among the
aforementioned bands.
There's rumors of a Harm's Way reunion sometime, but it may just be three of
us. We'll keep you posted. I'll keep playing the music as long as folks keep
listening!!!
Major musical artist influences are in no particular order: Van Morrison, Frank
Zappa, the Beatles, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Band, Dylan, the
Stones (actually, they are a more recent influence believe it or not), the
Wallflowers, Big Head Todd, Cathy Braaten, Willy Porter, Kraig Kenning, Jim
Kanas, Dave Roller, Tim Gainer, Charles Johnson, the Gypsy Kings, Al
Dimeola, Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, Jean Luc Ponte, Mark Knopfler,
Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Eric
Clapton, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy,
Hubert Sumlin, Dave Specter, Robert Johnson, David Crosby, Steven Stills,
Neil Young, Paul Simon, Willy Nelson, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Dan Fogelberg,
Doc Watson, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, John Prine,
Steve Goodman, Little Feat, Canned Heat, the Doors and many others.
All songs ©1983 - 2005 by Dave Glynn except for Folsum Prison Blues ©1956
by Johnny Cash and Fire on the Mountain composed by: Robert Hunter and
Mickey Hart - ©1978.