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From: Kulick.net Hello everyone. Writing this one from my home in Los Angeles as the event at B.B. King's ended so late, and then of course it was celebration time with all the participants and a long flight on Jet Blue (great airline) back to the West coast. Did some mounds of laundry and got my home in order, all the boring stuff in life as in what can compare with 5 days at FANTASY CAMP!!! When I last wrote it was the night before the big day when we all compete on stage at a real club with our friends and family and public and press in attendance. Started Thursday early with press from NBC's Today show, as they watched and filmed me rehearsing my band and interviewed everyone. Hope some of my band "Hells Kitchen" makes it in the report. Our eclectic singer Seth nearly blew out his voice he was so excited performing for them. He spent the rest of the afternoon with hot tea and throat remedies as the big night was approaching. Of course we still had a visit with Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers as he was going to riff with us on stage for the Bryan Adams song, "Summer of 69." He walked in so cool, lit a cigarette (the star guitarist in my band is Charles, a pulmonary doctor... as in lung doctor) and watched us go through the song. He was pleased with the band and he took pix and actually grabbed Charles' guitar and did some riffs on it over his shoulder! I made sure my campers had their guitars ready with new strings, well stretched out, etc., and I want to thank Glenn from Gibson who was always there to help me with any instrument set up. We talked guitars all the time and of course the entire team at the Gibson facility is excellent. Well, we got our two songs together and even had some time to jam on some Allman Bros. songs, but only had time for Dickey to hear the Bryan Adams number. Mark Farner also stopped by to see us rehearse and he was pleased with the sound of my band. After pix and autographs, we were ready to get to B.B. King's for the big event. I have been to the club with the same name here at LA's Universal Studios, but the N.Y. B.B.'s seems more New York for sure. Dinner was served and of course the excitement from everyone getting there was electric. All the campers' instruments were lined up backstage in order and it was quite amazing to see. I was whisked away for another interview for Australia (I think they are fascinated with the concept of the Fantasy Camp), and then took some pix for the "Mail on Sunday", which my band camper Jonathan writes for. It is a publication with huge circulation in the UK, and it was funny to see him come to my band knowing a few guitar chords and now ready to rock out with my band. Strange of course to have a camper writing little notes all the time in his notepad like a good writer should I guess. I was as hard on him as anyone, and I really wonder how that article will be. But we all bonded in a great way. Let me introduce my band to you all. The doctor Charles, quite, smart, very talented, and it was a pleasure to work with him and to tell a doctor what to do! II know he plays on the weekend and I hope he learned a lot from working from me. My keyboard player Barry I have seen at previous camps, and he was the band Captain. Special thanks to him for helping me in many ways at the rehearsals. We also wrote the original band song together that we performed and recorded at Sirius the night before. He is funny and enthusiastic and I love when he has an idea that I like... and when I think it blows I say so. He is very successful in the business world and I hope to get some time to hang and jam with him as he lives on the West coast. We had fun taking off for an hour from the camp to do some shopping to get him a cool shirt I picked out for him, after which Barry and I stoped for a quick slice of N.Y. Pizza. I wish I had more time for some cool clothing shopping as I don't have to rave anymore about how blown away I was being in NYC, greatest city in the world. There I said it! Jonathan was the journalist, and he had a cool British accent of course, and he looked like a dear in the headlights while he played along, knowing I was keeping an eye on him. He told me that the magazine in the UK that sent him really was expecting this camp thing to be all fun and games about how to drink and score like a rock star! When he found out it was all serious business he nearly bailed, but I think he realized what a once in a lifetime experience the camp truly is. Patrick, one of my singers, is tall and well built, and he played a nice Martin acoustic and sang the Bryan Adams number. His wife gave him the camp trip as a present. He is a terrific guy who was quiet and very attentive to the details of the band. Wish I got a chance to talk to him more. Seth, my other singer, is harder to describe. Eclectic and extremely enthusiastic would be a start. He is a number genius and accountant. When I asked him how old is he, he replied double 4's. I think you get the picture that Seth is unique, and for him to be at the camp is truly a dream come true. The band name was chosen by him, and he was thrilled to sing the Romantics song, "What I Like About You." He was jumping up and down at the performance and pointing to the women in Mick Jagger fashion. He brought the house down, and that is what the FC is all about: dreams coming true. I miss him already! My secret weapon was my drummer Steve. He really can keep a beat and he makes a great living in the clothing industry. He took my direction well, and it was so cool to lock in with him as I played bass guitar for my band. Dickey Betts was very impressed with him, and I told him. He was so blown away by that! He played solid when it counted and I know he should be gigging all the time. One more Steve in the band, but very different from my drummer. This Steve is a total hippie, and once I got a beautiful red Gibson ES 335 in his hands he really came alive. He also only knew barely three chords on the guitar, but his wife gave him the camp as a gift for his birthday which really is amazing. We had cake and champagne I think on Wed, but I was yelling at everyone NOT to drink much as we had much work to do! (The competitive BK was very alive and well at the camp, especially in NYC.) I saw him really transform over the course of 5 days, and although he works in the financial field by day Mr Savitsky is all Jerry Garcia! Great to see his tie dye shirts and hippie beard still alive and well in 2006. After some introductions by David Fishof, the promoter, and the always lovely Lynn Hoffman from VH-1 as the spokeswoman of the camp, first up was jamming with Kip Winger backing the 11 year old guitarist for a cool rendition of Led Zep's "Rock N Roll". Nice way to open the show, with my Les Paul 59 reissue hung low! My band was number 8 so we had some time to watch the competition, which ranged from good to very good to excellent. I was getting nervous, but it was so exciting to see everyone's faces in the crowd and on the stage. I told the band as we were getting ready backstage that even I was nervous, remember to think, and if you panic, watch your fellow band members and HAVE FUN! And so we did. How exciting to have Dickey Betts on stage with us. I know he wasn't that familiar with the "Summer of 69" tune, I even had to throw my hand his way to yell out a few chords, but at the ending where I wanted him to have a good jam he rose to the occasion and that thrilled my band-mates. Patrick looked great singing his heart out to the crowd. Next up was the Romantics hit with Seth singing. How cool is this... Jon Anderson of YES was on backing vocals AND the David Letterman Horn section (who are really cool guys btw) on stage with us as well. All I can say was Seth had his dream come true, and by the crowd's reaction they loved the spirited performance. It was amazing fun. Of course that was it for the campers, their job well done, and now time to relax and watch the final 4 bands, hear the announcement of the winners (we didn't place, but in our hearts we knew we were great), and then it was time for me to jam with the counselors. The counselor/special guest jam was awesome, featuring Spencer Davis, Kelly Keagy, Peter Tork, Kip Winger, Barry Goudreau, Mark Slaughter, Dickey Betts (and his son as well), Teddy Zig Zag, Michael Lardie, Skunk Baxter, my good friend Sandy Gennaro from my Blackjack days, Simon Kirke, Jerry Renino and Mark Farner. We all jammed various songs (not all of us all the time), but I was on stage the entire time and it was nearly a perfect performance from all of us. Ending the event on such a high like that with all the talent on stage and all of us having such respect for each other makes all the hard work so worth it. So once again an amazing camp experience. I know all the campers got what they came for, and what they may not know is that the counselors get as much out of it. Working as a band with total strangers for 5 days like this is just a perfect human experience. You get to share a common goal, to be the best you can be, while doing something you love, all while you feel the passions and pressures that are what life is all about. This concept of the camp will continue to grow, and I am proud to be a part of it. I want to thank everyone from Gibson, your staff is superb! Ultrasound rehearsal studios, Club T, The Hudson Hotel, Sirius, Howard Stern Show, Guitar Center, and of course a special thanks to my band and the staff that works for David Fishof. Their dedication to the camp and helping everyone makes the hard work much easier. Tiffany, who was my tour manager (along with Peter Tork's band), a special thanks to you for helping my band realize their dreams. We all love ya! Thanks for reading the blog, my first ever and a good way to start! I enjoyed it! Hope you all did! [You can read my other Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp NY '06 blogs by clicking over to the News page. BTW, right before the trip to NYC that was so exciting were a few GFR events that I want to share with you all. We played a few weeks ago at a private industry function in Florida at the beautiful Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando. NARM was the name of the convention, which is for the all the record companies, and Capital EMI asked Grand Funk to perform. The crowd went wild. Of course I saw many industry people that I have known for years and that felt good to say hello and for them to come see what I have been doing for the past 6 years. We also had three shows in a row prior to me going to NYC, so that is how the road is sometimes. The Milwaukee State Fair, which went great, then a huge event in Toledo, Ohio where original GFR keyboard player and Silver Bullet band member Craig Frost joined us on stage. We then were off to a big concert festival in Montana. The field was packed and we played after Badfinger and Guess Who. Joey Molland and his band flew the next morning to all go where we were headed. Joey is from Liverpool and I asked him many Beatles and Badfinger questions as that is music I love. The hotel was such a trip there in Montana. Think of going from this house in Three Forks and then winding up in Manhattan a few hours later! Talk about a change in scenery. Well, that is the joy of a working musician... to travel to many places all in one week. So as exhausted as I was in NYC, the campers' energy got me going right away. Sleep when I die! Last band at the Montana show were friends of mine from LA. THUNDHERSTRUCK, an all girl AC/DC tribute band. They are really great! I was only able to see a few songs in Montana as I had such an early flight for NYC, but I caught them last night here in LA. Really terrific. Go visit their website. Tina Wood, the "Angus", actually repairs my guitars! Very cool band and they were great to hang out with last night. Mixing the ESP live in Japan disc for the next week and a half, then off to Texas for a big show in Ft Worth with GFR at Billy Bob's. Should be fun. Some cool gigs coming up in NY state and at the Football stadium in Pittsburgh, so the holiday weekend will be busy for GFR. See you all on the road soon. Still working on my new material as I travel. Stay well, BRUCE KULICK PS - You can read my other Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp NY '06 blogs by clicking over to the News page. PPS - Thanks to Andy, Mike, and the people at Gibson for the photo used above. |
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