FINAL FULL BAND SHOW OF 2007
Friday, October 19th at 7:00pm ALL AGES!!
Special appearance by Tom and Lisa from X-ROCK 103.9 FM
Free Toasted Marshmallows and Apple Cider (supplies limited)
All Star Jam Session to end the night

Hobart Band Shell in Revelli Park (along Lake George)
111 East Ridge Road
Hobart IN 46342

More details on the Calendar Page


On May 20th, 2006 (at Romanos) we began what I have called (sometimes
tongue in cheek) the O.S.A. Tour. Named after the title of my latest
CD, the idea was to play live shows to promote the album and present
a concert of sorts. That is tough to do in an area with so few
options for this type of performance. We flirted with the bar scene
on occasion, but realized that those type of gigs really short
circuited what we were trying to do - present an original music show
unfettered by cat calls for the latest radio hits or warhorse classics
available on set lists of various bar bands on any given Friday
night.

So "on tour" we went, playing artist friendly environments like The
Blue Room Cafe or the X-ROCK studios along with our own events in
Hobart, Bagels & Beans (we laughed at the name, but all great gigs)
and opening slots for Robby Celestin and Steve Rempis and I at Star
Plaza Theatre. Oh, can't forget Cats On A Smooth Surface as one of
our favorite venues!! I even got to play in (no joke) Hollywood, CA.
It has been an incredibly rewarding 18 months of live gigs.

Just like the big boys though, our own tour must come to an end. It
is time to play our "Tour Finale" to say thanks to all who supported
this effort with CD purchases, coming to the live shows or helping to
promote all these events. I plan to go into hibernation and write
music, record demos, and reflect on what I'd like to do next. Quite
frankly, it will be nice to not have to promote stuff for awhile and
just be a musician. Zach has shows lined up with Big Sky String Band
and Steve has Reverse Bonaduce (his own original project) to unleash.

This is the best version of the Joe Roberts Band I've ever assembled.
When you have a group of musicians that play and work so well
together it is a gem that you should hold onto for as long as you can.
It is with great trepidation that I put the group on hiatus because
there is always the risk that it may be impossible to reassemble due
to scheduling or whatever. I believe the band is that good and I only
wish we had more opportunities for gigs like our summer show with
Robby Celestin and that there were ten other Blue Rooms around to
play on any given night.

I hope we can reassemble at some point with a new project. This has
been the last physical album I will release. I will have digital only
releases in the future. Music (like it or not) is on it's way to
being a free commodity. We played many shows for free in order to
promote and sell the OSA CD. Things are moving in reverse now. The
music will be given away and a band will make it's living from live
shows. If we reassemble with a new project, that will have to be the
model in which we proceed. The showcase shows I mentioned above will
have to be the norm and they will have to support us financially as
musicians who need to purchase and repair our instruments. My advice
to all those young bands is to learn the craft of performing. Get
good on stage and get good real soon.

I wish the music fans in the area knew there was much more than
"party music" bands and that just as much fun could be had witnessing
a live, original show than Karaoke or its bar band (insert current big
draw cover act here) equivalent. We have had mostly great turnouts
(and some duds) and I thank everybody for that. In a time of flat
sales for CD's, we did extremely well and I was able to recoup the
cost of our recording. I'm about 100 unit sales away from breaking
even on the packaging cost. Come on, you know every member of your
family needs this album for Christmas!!! Stuff those stocking with
O.S.A, the CD that likes to pretend it's a vinyl album. :)

Thanks again for a terrific 18 month adventure. See you at our All
Star Finale on October 19th. If you haven't seen the band live yet,
well....... I'd say NOW is the time!!

Talk soon,
Steve

The 2006 Midwest Beat Readers Poll results are now in. Here are some
of the categories and results:

Best Chicagoland Album Artwork:
1st Place: The Other Side of America - Steve Vansak

2nd Place: 2nd Generation Loss - Josh Holmes
--------------------------------------------------
Best Chicagoland Album:
1st Place: Revelation Sunday - The Steepwater Band

2nd Place: The Other Side of America - Steve Vansak
--------------------------------------------------

Best Chicagoland Songwriter:
1st Place: Chad Clifford (Crawpuppies)

2nd Place: Steve Vansak
--------------------------------------------------

Thank you to all who gave us a shout and thanks to Midwest Beat
Magazine for the recognition and also for printing the 2nd place
names. The new issue is out now and you can find the complete list
of reader's picks there.

The editors / critics awards will be announced on March 31st at the
awards show ceremony at 2nd Dimension. We will be in attendance
after our show at Blue Room Cafe that night. I'll have directions
and you can follow us out there for an after show party.

Get ready for an onslaught of emails promoting the benefit concert we
are playing that night. Please visit the Shows Page for details:


We'd like to have a good showing and collect lot's of food to aid
those in need.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to the awards....

I'm especially proud of placing in the Best Album category. The
Steepwater Band is a big draw with an Indie label and management
behind them, so for our few hundred sales of the new CD to translate
into enough votes to put us right under them is terrific.

I also want to add that having our album and my name next to talented
artists like Steepwater, Chad Clifford and Josh Holmes makes for good
company. Although Aaron, Zach and Steve R. didn't place first for
their respective roles it doesn't mean they are any less talented
than those who have their name in print. There's plenty of love to
go around and if it wasn't for their input, the new CD and live show
wouldn't be getting the accolades it's been getting. Be sure to
congratulate them when you come out to Blue Room on the 31st. You
will be coming out, right?!! :)

Peace,
Steve
http://www.stevevansak.com

Since so many people commented on how much they enjoyed the California updates, I've compiled them all here in one tidy blog:

11/06/06 - from San Diego, CA

Live From the Tropicana Cafe

Greetings from San Diego CA. I'm writing on a borrowed laptop
(thanks Angies) from the Tropicana Cafe, a few blocks from the ocean.
The weather here is perfect. If you are wondering what hell I'm
doing here, this is my rest and relaxation part of my trip before I
drive up to Hollywood on Wednesday to gig and network with music
industry people.

These are the people who put songs into film and TV. So, maybe I can
get some tunes into more than just the Letterman show. Tomorrow night
I'll be on stage again the rest of the week. From Hollywood to Bagels
and Beans next week!! Whoo-hoo!!! Actually that will be the perfect
gig to tell all my stories. I have a few so far. Like Todd, the guy
I met yesterday who owns a Harley dealership and closes in the winters
to go surfing. He is on his way to Australia now and stays in Hostels
like an againg hippie even though he is on like 30.

Anyway, look for more updates here.

Talk soon,
Steve
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11/06/06 - San Diego, CA

Walking the Beach

It is with great sadness that I must leave my favorite city of San
Diego tomorrow, but the sharks in Hollywood await me!! Writing from
the (outdoor) hotel bar right now listening to business people argue
about money. Ooooh, Walgreens stock just got mentioned. Hope they
don't get a peek at this. :)

Gonna get dinner, walk the beach for a bit and get ready for the
drive up to LA. I can't wait to get up there an play some tunes.

Talk soon,
Steve
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11/08/06 - Hollywood, CA

Hooray for Hollywood

Greeting to everyone from the land of glamor, glitz and.... uh,
homeless people. Driving into LA and Hollywood today in my snazzy
rented Taurus and getting stuck in a bit of traffic, I had a chance
to get a close look at the area. Yes, lot's of ultra rich homes and
all, but lot's of hobos running around as well. Quite the contrast
in images out here. Found myself at a red light and looked up to see
I was at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, a pretty famous
intersection. Apparently this was a slum area ten years ago and is
now a tourist trap of Disney shops and stuff. Things change here
real fast they tell me.

Right now I'm all checked in to the hotel and watching lots of
guitars walk in with their owners strapped on and looking jet lagged.
People come here from all over the world. The hotel handed out
brochures warning of a noise ordinance within the building. Apparently it got a bit nuts with 2am jam sessions in rooms and such
last year.

It's mid afternoon now and I have to check in at 5:30 then be ready
to be on stage sometime between 9pm and Midnight. Too hyped up to
take a nap here in my 9th floor room - tons of traffic below me, the
Hollywood sign a stones throw from my window (okay, with a helluva
strong arm), a giant iPod billboard across the street and a church
tower with a huge AIDS ribbon tied around it. And if those damn
musicians play into the night, I won't be getting too much sleep
anyway!!

So, I think I'll clean up a bit and wander the many ballrooms where
things are being set up. Tomorrow evening Robbie Robertson will be
here. If you don't know who that is, definitely Google him. As the
leader of The Band, he wrote and co-wrote songs like "The Night They
Drove Old Dixie Down" and "The Weight" and spent some time with Bob
Dylan as well. It's going to be a thrill to hear him. Dave Stewart
is supposed to be here from the Eurythmics as well. If you grew up
in the eighties, you know who they are.

Once again, thanks for reading about my little adventure here. Please don't think this is some rock star fest. Of course some show
up here like it is and make asses of themselves. It's simply a music
industry function for placing one's songs into films and TV. They
like to get independents like me as we are much cheaper than the big
names. It can make for a nice living if you can get enough
placements. I've only gotten one big placement from two years ago,
so I won't be retiring from the day gig anytime soon. Trying
however, never hurt and it is quite exciting to be here.

Talk again soon,
Steve
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11/09/06 - Hollywood, CA

Snoop Dogg and Me

Hello once again from the land of the weird!! Let's get right to the
subject line here.

Okay, so I'm backstage waiting for the other performers to finish up
and then I'll go on. I hear this commotion by the back door with
people going outside. So I wander out there and lean over the
balcony to see down below. What could it be? A Snoop Dogg video
shoot of course!! It's across the street and there's lights, cameras
and chicks dancing on an ice cream truck. Of course this is causing a
commotion for cars passing by. They shot a number of scenes and I was
able to get a few snapshots although from pretty high up. I'll post
them when I get back. I have no idea what song it's for, but I think
I heard a sample of Stairway To Heaven in it.

I tore myself away long enough to go play Brooklyn's House for the
crowd. It's weird to play for industry people. It went fine and I
got some nice comments afterward, but they don't have much energy. Of course this is night one and jet lag is there as many people flew
in from all over and it was a light crowd. Should be packed tomorrow
night.

Tomorrow I have a 15 minute meeting with Laura Becker who works as a
music supervisor for a bunch of TV shows.

I wasn't going to send another update until late tomorrow, but wanted
to get Snoop Dogg in while still fresh.

Later,
Steve
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11/10/06 - Hollywood, CA

Tony and Stevie: The Celebrity Bump

Yesterday (Thursday) was so jam packed for me (8am - 2am) that I could
not get an update in.

Let's see, met with lot's of film and TV people at various events and
got good words on placing songs into things, but nothing definite. In
other words, they accepted material but do not have a home for it at
this time. I took a small class on how to use Apple's GarageBand
software as a demo writing tool. So, it was a working day.

When it came time to play in the evening, I had been given word that
our venue was changing to a smaller auditorium and that the one we
were in the previous night was being used for a last minute event. The LA Music Awards were taking place in another venue and a charity
event was set up with some big names to perform.

In the afternoon I had seen a lot of old dudes in tuxedos coming in
with big band instruments. Walking in the lobby late in the day
coming back from dinner I noticed Tony Bennet wandering around. Seems he and Stevie Wonder were playing in the auditorium for this
event. Since our show was now going to be starting late, people had
to be cut and I was one of those. Instead, I played on a smaller
B-stage to an audience of around 150. Gotta say though, I had played
the big gig the night before and this smaller room was much better for
me. Playing solo in front of an enthusiastic, bar sized room felt
very comfortable and I think it showed in my performance and it was
received very well with big applause. The night before felt polite
and perhap because it was the first night, it wasn't full so it was
this huge place half empty. We'll see tonight. I may just ask for
the B-stage again it was so fun. After my performance I just hung
around until it was all over and socialized and ended up in a small
jam session with some other musicians. So, not too bad getting
bumped by Tony Bennet and Stevie Wonder!!

In other celebrity sightings, Jack Black also was in the lobby
wearing an animal outfit. He stayed and chatted with some people
briefly and then drove off in a pimped out vintage Chevy Deluxe. I
assume he was either filming something or had done some skit for the
LA music awards. Oh, he was still in costume when he drove off!! I
heard about a lot of other big names who were coming in and out of
this hotel last night but I wasn't around nor did I have my camera
with me for Tony and Jack.

This area I'm in, it seems like you walk around the block and a video
shoot or TV show filming could break out at any time.

Here's how my lunch went today (Friday):

I get me a sandwhich and look for a secluded spot outside to eat and
get away from crowds of people. I start chowing down on my footlong
turkey sub when I see about a dozen of the skinnies girls I have ever
seen in my life. Then these cameras and light crews show up and I
realize I'm in the middle of some shoot. Turns out I had planted
myself right in front of the Janice Dickerson modeling agency and
they happen to be filming their reality show at the time. Imagine
the irony to be chowing down on this huge pile of deli meat in front
of these girls who are probably only allowed to eat brown rice and
water!! Anyway, I did get pictures of this. I had no idea this TV
show even existed or who this Janice person is, but she came out and
waved to me like I was supposed to know. So, I waved back between
bites. Oh, and the sub was DELICIOUS by the way.

Just got back from Robbie Robertson's appearance, which was terrific.
Again, if you don't know who he is, just Goggle him and you will see
just how legendary his status is in rock music.

It's about 6pm here now, so have to go get some dinner and then get
ready to play again tonight. We'll see what other craziness can
occur in the next two days. I may break away and do something
touristy tomorrow like check out the Chinese Theatre and the walk of
fame which is across the street.

Will probably give one more update before heading back. Hope to see
some of you on the 17th with more tales of Hollywood.

Later,
Steve
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11/11/06 - Hollywood, CA

It's All Over Now Baby Blue

Wow, what a week it's been. The conference here is now officially
over. There is one more show tonight that I have to be at in a couple
of hours. Gonna take a stroll around the area in between.

A few hours ago I did my last official business and had a good
meeting with a guy who places songs into shows like Greys Anatomy,
Law and Order and much more. Would be great to get Heavy Stuff into
an action scene which I was told it is well suited for. It's
interesting stuff. Angelina was a favorite of many of these people
out here as a song, but they do not want it at all as it is hard to
place songs with a name specific title. The chances of the character
being named after the song are slim and make it harder to place. So
to them, something like Come Home is more marketable for placement as
it's about a feeling and not a specific named person.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff. Yes, there was one more celebrity
sighting today....... Jennifer Lopez was in an elevator as I walked
by. I knew because there was a bit of commotion, I looked, got a
glimpse and the door closed. So there you go, one celebrity per day
of my stay. I know these people all live in LA, but they must meet
people here for meeting or socializing or whatever. She certainly
wasn't with our conference at all. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics
was a scheduled guest and he was here a few hours ago getting
interviewed. He's a strange guy and claimed to be under heavy
sedation of sleeping pills. I do not doubt it at all!!

Well, I have to do one last gig in about 90 minutes, so going to get
away from this keyboard and take that walk.

Thanks for reading all this drivel. Come down to the Bagels and
Beans show and say hello. I'd love to tell you some of these stories
in person. Check out the Shows page for directions.

Later,
Steve
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11/13/06 - Gary, IN

Say Goodbye to Hollywood

Hello everyone!! I'm back in the real world and it's cold, damn
cold!!!

Yesterday morning the shuttle driver took me though the deserted
streets of LA on the way to the airport. On my way I saw workers
tacking down red carpet for yet another movie premier that evening. If any of my meetings reap any success, perhaps in the next year
there will be a movie or TV showing and one of my songs will be
playing in the background.

To recap, I belong to an organization that puts out music listings
for films and TV shows of all types for Independent Music. They may
film a scene and stick a U2 (or Sheryl Crow or Beck, or White
Stripes, etc.) song in it and then realize that they can't afford it
or the band won't allow it. Then they call my organization which
lets me know what is needed and I (and thousands of others) submit. Once a year they have a convention where you can pitch and learn the
craft one on one with people in the music business. I've been to
these before, but this being the first one I attended in the heart of
Hollywood. It was fun, exciting and exhausting and now it's over. If
anything cool comes from it, I'll be sure to shout about it here.

Cool project: Next time you are watching your favorite show, count
the number of songs you hear in the background that you have never
heard before. Chances are you will hear quite a few in any given
episode and they are all Independent artists.

Speaking of glamor shots, I'll be debuting TourBook 2006 this Friday
night at the Bagels and Beans show. The 42 page book contains 399
glossy photos spanning the OSA studio sessions and every gig through
October, including our radio spots and album cover out-takes. It
will be passed around at the show and many of you are in the book. It's the perfect gig to check out the book as it will be all acoustic
and a casual, all ages family affair. Hope to see you there!!

If you want a copy of TourBook 2006, I'm going to take orders and
sell it for cost.

Take care,
Steve

We have two weeks off before our next gig and I thought it was a good time to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us live and buying those CD's. It is greatly appreciated and has been key to a very successful summer.

I also wanted to take this time to appeal to those of you who have been putting off purchasing the new CD. Now is the perfect time to pick one up as we are elegible to be placed on a national compilation CD of 10,000 pressings if we can get at least 50 units sold by the end of August.

My recommendation (to count in the contest) would be to purchase The Other Side of America at CD Baby here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/vansak3

It is also available at Amazon.com here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G1QWZ0/sr=1-2/qid=1155170408/ref=sr_1_2/103-4796793-0479836?ie=UTF8&s=music

For digital downloads like iTunes go to my profile and click on iTunes button.

Locally stop off at Blue Room Cafe in Highland or Front Porch Music in Valparaiso. Thanks so much and if you already have it, please recommend to a friend or consider purchasing another as a gift.

Audio of the X ROCK live appearance is now up on the audio / video page:
http://www.stevevansak.com/music.html

See you in two weeks at Martini's Lounge in Valparaiso!!

Steve
http://cdbaby.com/cd/vansak3

Well, it's 3 am and I should be asleep as more work needs to be done in the morning to promote the new CD. Yes, it's done and it's out - so for god's sake go get it!!! :)
It sounds good and it looks good too.
You can get it online via my website: http://www.stevevansak.com

Or get over to Blue Room Cafe in Highland or Front Porch in Valpo to get one. It will go out to many more stores come Tuesday and iTunes and Napster real soon.

I gotta say, it's tougher than ever booking shows. NW Indiana is just NOT receptive to creativity. I think the music fans are, but the clubs want the same 12 songs over and over. So, please come out and support the shows we do have booked.

Okay, that's all I've got. It's bedtime.

Steve

Last summer I called my friend Zach and asked him to "play on a demo" so I could decide if I wanted to "maybe, possibly" record a few songs. "Sure, he said. I'll do it." That fall and about 20 songs later, I called again and asked him to play drums on what might be my latest CD. I was still very paranoid that the whole damn thing would fall apart from some tragedy or another. God knows, 2005 was full of them.

I wittled down my written songs to 14 and Aaron, Zach and myself started rehearsing last December. We recorded basic tracks in January, then I started overdubbing more guitar parts, and more guitar parts and more... Can you tell I played a lot of guitar on this album? Anyway, every single week I did some work on the recording and even had to take some time off from my day job to do it. My co-workers will tell you that is rare for me. I'm one of those workaholics!!

So here we are in late April and in two weeks the whole package (CD's, artwork, posters, etc.) will be out for everyone to listen to and criticize. :) I'm just taking a moment here to reflect on what a whirlwind it's been since starting the project. The band has been great, people who have heard some advance tracks have been digging it, and I'm on the cover of a freaking magazine that just came out!! What were they thinking? :)

Now we are rehearsing for a live show and just brought in Steve Rempis to help with all those damn guitars I recorded. It's been non-stop activity and now I have to do my most hated chore - booking gigs. Hey, I love to play, but the business end is a necessary evil. Can't let up now though. If you are reading this, please come out to a show - we need you.

And.... in two weeks, give some thought to picking up this new CD. I can't guarantee you'll like it, but I can promise it will sound good and look good too.

Two more weeks... I can finally let down my guard a little and say I'm excited.

Thanks for reading and listening too!!

Later,
Steve

Settle in, this is a long one....

I can't tell you how much it means to me to announce that my new CD will
be out this coming May!! It's been a long time. Coming off a lot of
disappointment and disillusionment, both professional and personal in 2005
- it's very liberating and exciting to finally have some new music ready
for release.

The album is called "The Other Side of America" and contains 12 songs
recorded with the Joe Roberts Band. Like I say in the Press Release posted
up on the website (go here - http://www.stevevansak.com/rants_raves.html),
despite the title, it is NOT a political album. If you watch TV every
night you see only one version of American life, one of seemingly endless
wealth and people with lot's of time on their hands going on exotic
adventures, etc. These songs are the alternate version of all that, and
more based in reality (I think) than any episode of The Bachelor. :)

It's also a ROCK album in every way. For the first time I went outside my
home studio and didn't twist a single knob on the console. There are a lot
of guitars on here all played by me except for a short solo played by my
friend Doug Lins. I had a blast lining up every amp I could get my hands
on and experimenting with some different tones. This is very much a guitar
album with some elements of what I've done before, but also a lot of new
sounds. I consider it to have one foot in classic rock and the other in a
modern rock world. It was put together like a vinyl LP.

If you've got any of the previous two discs then you know how great Aaron
Yakovetz is on the bass. He has again taken my songs and helped drive them
to new heights with his incredible sense of melody and taste. Thank you
Aaron.

Zach Malasto is now a member of the Joe Roberts band on drums. He is a
great self editor and a musician who not only knows his instrument very
well, but who also is greatly aware of "the song" and he knows how to play
as a servant to the music. That is very rare and something to be coveted.
Thank you Zach.

Doug Lins engineered the recording end of the project at Willow Tree
Recording (219-477-4447) in Kouts, IN. Doug worked tirelessly for me and
is always a great help with backing vocals and coaching me on harmonies.
Thank you Doug.

John Carpenter again helped me mix the music at Thunderclap Recording in
Hammond. We work so well together and his enthusiasm for this music was a
great confidence booster. Thank you John.

Robby Celestin of Time Peace and Waz from Freek Johnson make guest
appearances on a pair of tracks. These guys are pros through and through.
Robby and Waz - thanks so much.

I want to thank Chris for understanding that neurotic, obsessed and
overworked are all part of the job of making what you hope to be great
art. Despite all that (and the obsessing isn't over yet!!) it has been
great fun making this one.

Currently the album is being mastered in Colorado and will then enter the
manufacturing stage. The CD packaging is going to be extravagant and I
think you will want to purchase this one as opposed to a digital download.
The lyric book will have a written introduction of each song and will be
loaded with pictures as well. It will be well worth the money and I hope
you'll take a chance on it.

We have gigs!! Visit the shows page for details:
http://www.stevevansak.com

Thanks for subscribing to this mailer. I promise not to be so long winded
on the next update.

Hope to see you soon,
Steve
http://www.mp3tunes.com/SteveVansak
http://www.stevevansak.com