Richard Medek

One thing I’ve been really enjoying lately is playing with Iowa City transplant Dave Olson…in part because Dave is a great songwriter and a nice guy but mostly because I also get to play with my great friend and bass player Atom Robinson. Atom and I played together with Teddy Morgan and Kelly Pardekooper for a few years through Europe and various places and in the process became really good friends. Atom is only occasionally playing bass these days so it’s a treat to get the rhythm section back together again.

I’ve also been playing a few shows here-and-there with Drew Peterson of Forty Watt Bulb…very laid back sorts of gigs, just acoustic guitar and drums. The combo works surprisingly well and the sparse instrumentation lends itself to Drew’s witty vocal delivery. We also played a full-band-type show at his “Big Outdoor Festival” in Santiago, MN…other than the fact that tornados were touching down miles away and the entire show quickly became a “Big Indoor Clusterfuck,” we had a great time and the band (Drew, Atom on bass and Erik Koskinen on guitar) sounded great. Special props go to Donn Ganske for keeping it together and saving the show.

In the “ohgodwhyisthishappeningtome” department, forty-five minutes into a two-hour drive with swing/rockabilly guitarist Robby Vee I get the increasingly worrying feeling of something being horribly wrong. Sure enough—the moment every drummer fears—my stick bag was left behind in an equipment shuffle. Ah, jeez. [There’s a little Minnesota for you!—Ed.] So what is a drummer without sticks to do? Cancel the show? No sir! We stopped at a local Wal-Mart, where I bought two dowels from the craft department and proceeded to whittle my own goddamn drumsticks like God and Nature intended. Beat that, suckas. Not only did the show go on, but those things actually sounded great! I mean, really, really good. If the drumming thing doesn’t work I might have a future in this. There is photographic evidence of my handiwork in the Photos section.

June’s highlight was playing a few shows around the Upper Midwest with Austin-via-Los-Angeles songwriter Randy Weeks. Randy is just plain crazy good…his songs have the catchiest melodies with upbeat, danceable grooves but are sprinkled with dark—almost cynical sometimes—lyrics. It might be an odd combination in lesser hands but it sounds so natural coming from him. I’ve been wanting to play with Randy since I heard his Madeline album so this mini-tour was a real treat. He’s working on a new record as I write this; you can keep tabs on him via his personal website or his MySpace page. Sign his email list and tell him Richard sent you.

My next “big” summer project is going to be in the studio…I’ll be locked away producing a record for, and with, Erik Koskinen and I am really excited about it. Erik is very talented and has this cool “J.J. Cale meets Daniel Lanois” sort of thing going…it’s a blast to play and I’m looking forward to the challenges of getting it on tape and eventually on an album. Erik is a great producer—I’ve been playing on a few tracks for him on an upcoming Ray Barnard record—and drummer as well so we’ll see how much I’m actually involved. I could use the free time to, say, whittle up a few more drumsticks.

The best part about the my time here in Minneapolis so far? Turns out that the great band I saw my first night out on the town needed a full-time drummer. So I’ve been playing with Molly Maher (along with Erik and Paul Bergen on guitars and Steve Murray on bass) fairly regularly around town, as well as most Wednesday nights at Nye’s in downtown Minneapolis. Molly is a fantastic performer and singer and, quite frankly, if you don’t like her music then there is probably something wrong with you. She’s also responsible for coordinating most of my wedding so far…thanks Molly!