Peter Oyloe - Diamond In The (Not So) Rough?
MEET PETER OYLOE ("Oy-low"). From a music marketing perspective, that last name is a challenge; but in the grand history of movies and music, it could be changed in a day if push came to shove with a big deal in the balance. What can't be changed in a day is the voice (excellent pipes, excellent pitch); the right age of interest to labels (around 24?); and being camera friendly (the young girls seem to truly dig this cat - KA CHING). LIKE MOST MUSICIANS I'VE KNOWN, they'd rather their day job be kept on the "down-low"; but speaking as someone who doesn't give a damn how you meet someone, as long as you meet them, and not being ashamed of working in the food industry, now it can be told: We met on a catering gig, working for a West Loop (Chicago) sandwich shop. We hit it off, talked about music - actually, talked about music MARKETING & PROMO, far and away the most popular topic among professional musicians - and I invited him to perform at HankFest 2005. Oh, and without ever having heard him sing or play.
Gladly, his set at HankFest went well (I played guitar with the house band behind him), and we stayed in touch. But until last night at Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville, we'd never performed together since.
I WOULD DESCRIBE UNCOMMON GROUND as an interesting place. It's maybe 2 blocks from Wrigley Field, real upscale part of Chicago, parking is a pain in the ass, lots of foot traffic, sidewalk chairs & tables. They serve coffee (of course), but also full-on lunch and dinner menus, and have a full bar. The music room seats MAYBE 30 people (or less), and I think musicians only get paid in tips. No drums are allowed due to its miniature size, so maybe I should've been happy nobody squawked when I brought my ancient, loud-as-hell, love-it-to-death-till-death-do-we-part kickass little Randall amp for the set. (it's an RG 80 - 112SC solid state, for all you gear heads out there; arguably one of the best solid-state amps ever made).
MUSICALLY SPEAKING, Uncommon Ground is one of those places that seems to have created the perception of a must-play "unplugged" showcase room in Chicago. I think they burn a live CD of each artist's performance for free (nice touch), and I think I heard they have a record label affiliated with the place, too (?). As far as musicians go, the most famous one seems to be a guy I don't know much about - the late Jeff Buckley. He did a show there once that got a lot of press, which you see in their marketing & website; they also do an annual Jeff Buckley tribute there.
ANYWAY, SO THAT'S THE BACKGROUND. A tiny listening room with me, Peter Oyloe and the unexpected treat of another pal named Pat Keiner sitting in on mandolin (he was there to play with Dan McGuinness, the night's headliner). Pat is one of my all-time favorite musicians, a near-savant natural on many instruments: guitar, mandolin, lap steel, banjo and GREAT harmony vocals. Yes, an invaluable sideman, very hard to replace.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Even though we'd never performed together before, it came together well. Peter had a real nice edge and passion happening in his live performance, which (as I'll soon be telling him) is very hard to find on his CD. NOTE: This is a common issue with "local" musicians - they might be great live or great in the studio, but only when they have both sides covered is there a chance for them to break out big.
EDGE. To me, it's everything; Something I hope to bring to every musical situation. As I told my pal Chip Znuff (for my money, THE best rock bassist in the world), I love having him play on our country and Americana-style music projects, because even though it's a softer touch than hard rock, it's still there, driving it. The underlying push & power is beauty to my ears, which I think also applies to "coffee shop" performers. I hope I didn't freak Peter out too much by adding that element to the mix, but I'm hoping he agrees it made for a more watchable & listenable show.
REGRET! My only regret from last night - we didn't play the James Taylor version of "You've Got A Friend" we rehearsed (he busted a guitar string towards the end of the setr, had to use a different one with an open tuning). Peter absolutely KILLS those JT tunes - scary good.
NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT FOR PETER (or my involvement with him), but my feeling is we'll be hearing more about him soon...
