Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… If it wasn’t for music, I wouldn’t know most of the people I know. I decided to follow up on one of my recent columns where I talked about how music is changing the world and how music changed me. It is a change that eventually branches out and touches many lives. My musical direction took a sharp turn when I heard the album Four Way Street by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young in the mid ‘70s. It was the live, acoustic performances on the album,”wooden music” as Crosby called it, that really changed me. Overnight, I went from wanting to play heavy, hard rock to acoustic music. As time marched on, I gravitated towards the music of acoustic duos, mainly Aztec Two-Step. That is how I wanted to make music, in an acoustic duo. I started playing with a friend from high school and we rehearsed for about a year, but never played a gig. Then I turned to musician classified ads and started looking for duo partners. I found someone else to form a duo with; once again we rehearsed for quite a long time, but never played a gig. We did come up with a name and take promo photos, though!

The next attempt was with a woman. I liked the blend of the voices and energy. This seemed like a better fit. We rehearsed for quite a while, then she decided she was going to move to another state. By this time, I was frustrated. I had spent years not getting anywhere with duos and started playing solo gigs, but I really wanted to play music with a partner. One day, I was looking through the classifieds and saw a musician ad that had been running as long as mine. It was a woman who wanted to start a female duo. I said “what the hell” and scribbled out a note (the ad listed a PO Box – it was the ‘80s) and mailed it away. I had completely forgotten about it. Weeks passed by the time my phone rang. It was the woman from the ad! We talked for hours and realized we had a similar vision. I left the meeting up to her. I was playing a show in Providence and told her to come. If she liked what she heard, then she should introduce herself; if not, just leave and that would be that. She showed up, she liked it, and we took it from there. It was a slow start. This time it was going to be original music instead of covers. We had to find a catalyst. We went to the Newport Folk Festival and that inspired us to get writing. We rehearsed a lot. Before we even had a set, I booked our first gig. That pushed us even harder. We debuted in November of 1989. That duo was Fuzek-Rossoni and we recorded and toured for seven years. Are you still with me? There is a reason, that is NOT about me, that I am bringing this all up. Here it is…

In the early days of Fuzek-Rossoni I was dealing with writer’s block. Mary Ann Rossoni came across a flier for a group that had just formed called The Rhode Island Songwriters Association (RISA). A woman named Mary Wheelan started it. There were a few members, mostly the RI folks who were crashing the CT Songwriter Association meetings. At the meeting I opened my mouth and, as I put it then, (I borrowed a saying) “my two cents turned to five dollars” and wound up taking things over. I designed a logo that is still in use, started workshops, showcases, and other activities. From this, I started the Hear in Rhode Island Festival that turned into Hear in RI, the organization that produces the Rhode Island Folk Festival. We created an edition of Fast Folk Magazine that was released nationally/internationally and featured RI songwriters on the CD. We even released a naked calendar! While I was running RISA and trying to promote events I connected with a fledgling publication, Motif, and was asked to write for it. Now, I have been writing for Motif for 20 years, have written hundreds of columns, reviews, etc. I started the podcast and concert photo coverage. Also out of my connections with RISA, I met a LOT of other musicians. Many of them I still play music with, or am great friends with. My band, Forever Young, came from connections I made in RISA. Then there was the Folk Alliance, a national folk music organization for which I was elected to the regional board. I ended up traveling around the US going to conferences and meeting more people and making more connections. I was able to bring a few songwriters with me to Texas where we all performed at the Kerrville Folk Festival. I also made connections with Bob Jones at the Newport Folk Festival and wound up working with them for 18 years, and through that wound up at Jazz Festival and Rhythm and Roots Festival as well. I am skipping over a LOT. What I am trying to say is that I became a music conduit. Well, Mary Ann Rossoni and I did. Lots of people made musical connections through the work that we did, and still do. Some made great friends, some even found life partners. Decades later what we set in motion is still moving. Never doubt that your two cents won’t make a difference and keep working on your goals, you never know. I will wrap this column letting you know that Mary Ann Rossoni and I will be performing a 35th Anniversary Reunion Show on Saturday, Nov 30 at Stone Soup Coffeehouse at The Music Mansion. This is also a fundraising event for Stone Soup (Mary Ann and I were both board members at one time!). You can find out more about this show and the duo by getting the folk over to StoneSoupCoffeehouse.org or FuzekRossoni.com. •

That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast and find my concert photographs at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. johnfuzek.com