JJ - TATANKA

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
Hunter S. Thompson

What is your nationality?

I am a U.S. citizen 🇺🇸 from the Chicago area 💨🌭🎶, but since 2004 I have lived and taught in small-town America. 🏡 🚜 🏕️

Which languages do you speak?

English, Spanish, Portuguese, and I know how to swear and/or get slapped in Greek and Croatian.

Introduction

I am from Chicagoland. Born in the city and raised in the suburbs, I left my comfort zone as a web developer in 2004 for a teaching job on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. There the TATANKA concept solidified, and it took another two decades, but after finally returning to recording in 2022, and a major change in life direction, I mustered the courage to go for it.

Hence, TATANKA.

My musical experience includes singing, playing bass, guitar, even a little keyboards, and enough drums to track a few songs. I was in numerous bands throughout high school and college. During that time I began writing and recording, but I never had “a sound,” which made sense once I committed to the hyper-eclectic TATANKA. I have always felt there is good music in every genre, and the fusion of multiple is where things get interesting as we all evolve, together, as a result.

In this age of polar division, around the planet, I know that we share more in common than contrast. TATANKA is a manifestation of the undying belief in the goodness of humanity, and how our greatest strength is our diversity. TATANKA is a decades-old ideal that became a reality, at the right time, in the right place, for the right reasons.

What do you do in TATANKA?

I am the “Second Bassist,” meaning I lazily complement (hopefully) what the First Bassist and Guitarists do. Cheap Trick, also from Chicagoland, has a bassist, Tom Petersson, who plays an 8-string and 12-string bass. I was always fascinated by that, so over time I taught myself, and play such basses with alternate tunings (Root/5th, for any musicians out there in the ether). It’s a cool “power chord” that works in Major and Minor structures. Yes, I am a nerd.

I also play Baritone guitar, a drop-tuned electric or acoustic guitar with heavier strings, adding more low end to the guitar parts (for my fellow aural nerds, the rhythm pickup is boss). Additionally, I have an addiction to all string instruments and play a variety of them in TATANKA, as needed. Finally, a fan of RUSH, I occasionally play the foot synth, ala Geddy Lee, because, again, I am a nerd.

And I sing. Kind of.

Describe Your Original Music

Train-wreck.

Seriously.

Imagine a mile-long line of disparate cars that suddenly careen off the track, into each other, and all over the crossing, erupting their hazardous contents onto the innocent gawkers who cannot avert their eyes (because it’s a train wreck), or ears in this case. I was reared on A.M. Country & Western, but I bucked it once I discovered F.M. and New Wave (my Underrated ’80s Playlist), which made me pick up the guitar, and is still a major influence today.

I also got heavily into Progressive Rock, aka, Art Rock, including bands like Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, etc. which opened me up to more Avant Garde artists like David Byrne, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. I naturally wandered into Goth, Techno, Industrial, then in college back to basics with Britpop, Blues, Jazz, New Age, Folk, and yep, C/W. At least the Country Punk variety such as Dwight Yoakam, k.d. lang, Lyle Lovett, and Wilco, which all nicely feed into and fall under the TATANKA Americana umbrella, but the “Alt” side of me still is dominant.

My most recent recordings are a bunch of cover songs I had been wanting to adapt for years, coyly titled, “Covers,” and recorded with my burgeoning musician son, who was fourteen at the time, and appears in various roles on most tracks. I must brag that his take on “Song 2” by Blur is all him – every track – all vocals – making this old man very, very proud!

Highlights

TATANKA will be my highlight. It is ambitious, difficult, and possibly logistically impossible, but somebody’s got to do it!

Other than that, I have been writing and recording for a LONG time, so I have amassed a deep bench of “work.” I stopped counting around the 200 mark. Quantity never mattered, but quality does, so I suppose that I am proud of the diversity of genres I have written in and yes, there is an occasional C/W song, but usually tongue-in-cheek. For example:

Sincere Apologies to C/W Fans