I’ve ended some bands and started a new one. Well, it’s sorta new: Colin and the Bowlers will be playing Sunday, April 29th at Little Rock Bar from 2-5 pm. Yes, you read that right, it’s a day drinking gig for all you Sunday Funday folks. It’s a kinda new idea for a kinda new band. No cover, either.
In the past three years I've recorded or performed with the following bands:
Watershed
The Lonely Bones
Why Isn’t Cheap Trick in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
The League Bowlers
The Willie Phoenix Tribute Machine
Dead Schembechlers
And I was still playing solo gigs and trying to pump out shite for Pencilstorm.
Don’t get me wrong, I did this to myself and it was all tons of fun, but after the release of League Bowlers - Some Balls Deluxe in December 2017, and the passing of our great guitarist Mike Parks in January 2018, I knew it was the end of an era. And besides, I’m getting older and all these early morning coffee shop hours make me sleepy. It was time to downsize from my rock n roll McMansion to a condo with a small yard.
Bowlers vs Bones. That was the question.
The League Bowlers were my original side band: a way to blow off steam between Watershed shows. Once Watershed went on hiatus, it’s didn’t make much sense to have a side band for no band, so I formed The Lonely Bones. I felt like I needed to make a real attempt to establish myself as a valid solo artist (pardon that pretentious term). I wasn’t gunning for the top of the charts or anything, I just had to challenge myself to exist outside the world of Watershed. Thanks to the help of many, I feel like The Lonely Bones accomplished all we set out to achieve. With the release of Superior - The Best of Colin Gawel in 2016, I was ready to close the chapter on that band, if not the songs.
Meanwhile, getting back together in 2016 with the classic League Bowlers line-up of Jim Johnson, Dan Cochran, Mike and myself was truly a blessing. We had a great two-year run and Some Balls is a record that will live forever. But with Mike's passing, and Dan now busy with three young kids and the Four String Brewery to run, it was time to call it a day. I know this sucks for Jim but I’m hoping a version of the League Bowlers with him and Dan can still make special appearances. For instance, we applied to this year’s Comfest. And the nice thing about the Bowlers is whoever has a shirt on that day can be part of the band. Once this thing gets going we can rotate some folks in and out depending on the schedule.
But if I am only going to have one band outside of Watershed, I can only have one drummer and Herb Schupp & myself started this journey together as lab partners in 7th grade and we are going to ride this thing to the finish line.
Rick Kinsinger does everything. He records the Bones, Bowlers and Watershed and plays in all three as well. None of this happens without Rick. He is playing guitar. No more keyboards. I threw them in the dumpster while moving out of the McMansion.
With Dan wanting to spend more time with his family and play with his original band Feversmile, we needed a new bass player. I’ve always preferred friendship over musicianship so it’s been a treat to spend time again with my old pal Andy Hindman. For those of you that don’t know, Andy grew up with me in Worthington, was the original Watershed roadie for hundreds of shows before getting a better gig with the Goo Goo Dolls. He still works with them to this day. He is also an accomplished musician and recording engineer himself.
I thought about changing the band name but since my merch table only has two CDs available: Colin Gawel - Superior, and The League Bowlers - Some Balls Deluxe I just wanted to keep it simple. ANOTHER new band would take all kinds of explaining and who has the time or energy for that when we could be drinking a beer and talking about Cheap Trick?
With the new lineup in place, we have been having a blast getting together in my basement playing Bowlers and Bones tunes along with all kind of covers just for kicks. Our goal is to be a bar band that we would like to see if we were in a bar. Wearing Bowling shirts of course.
So, Day Drinking with Colin and The Bowlers will be happening Sunday, April 29th 2-5 pm at Little Rock Bar. I can’t guarantee we will be great, but I can guarantee it will be fun. I hope you can join us for the ride. - Colin