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Music Profile:
Up Close & Personal with The Happy
Bastids CARY EWING
By Scott Baker
Even if he just realized it himself, Cary Ewing knows a little bit about having an artistic work ethic and how important it is to share it with the public.
For the Tri-cities scene, it's amazing
how rich the art livelihood has spelled out who we are as people in
Mid-Michigan and how it relates to everything that surrounds us.
Some people project louder than others;
you hear of them regularly, they promote well, they can be found each
weekend and raise the level of artistry in the area beyond expectations.
And then there are those that fly just
under the radar, cropping many different talents and touching a little
bit of everything along the way, helping keep the art flowing when it
comes to high inspiration, ultimately supporting the entire scene as a
whole.
A perfect example of the latter would be
Ewing, current bassist/vocalist for popular cover band, The Happy Bastids. One of his favorite mottos is 'Jack of
all trades, master of none!' Little did he know.
Ewing also serves as an original
singer/songwriter who released his own independent album Drive
in 2004, is a producer out of his own home Jolly Roger Studios,
and is a music teacher/guitarist/songwriter, a former Karaoke and DJ, a
soundman for the Bay Arts Council, and is currently a Music Major
at Delta College.
"I just realized that I'm a music guy
about two or three months ago," laughed Ewing during an interview after
a solo acoustic performance in Bay City last week. "I finally realized
that this is my life after stopping to think after taking piano lessons
when I was 11. I remember being about five in South Dakota where my mom
is from and in her family, everybody seemed to have a piano in the
basement and I remember plinking around on the piano and just goofing
around."
His musical timeline began taking control of him at an early age.
"The next instrument for me would have
been guitar. The neighborhood kid had a guitar. I think I was 14 and the
first thing I learned how to do was tune! I could tune a guitar. I was
living in Bridgeport (by then)."
For Ewing, his artist depth wasn't
measured by expectations, but rather by fumbling into and being around
specific situations.
"When I really started taking it seriously and really started getting into songwriting and goofing around with recording, I was probably 20-21, when I got my first acoustic. I started out with a Yamaha, but that got stolen and I went to the Tascam 424. That's when I really started messing around with it. I got a better keyboard and I started doing drum programming. I got another Yamaha keyboard, a bigger one, it had a drum machine and it had an area where you could program patches for melody lines and all that like most keyboards do now. And that's how I would get the rhythm section out."
"The first thing that I recorded was a
song called Don't Cry For Me. That was when I was 22-23. I just
turned 35."
Ewing remained in his own private musical
world for years, not wanting to go public with his music until he felt
it was appropriate.
"Around the neighborhood I was
embarrassed to hear people hearing me sing and I heard a neighbor lady
say once, 'Oh, he's got a good voice. And I just cringed to hear myself,
because I would record myself. And you do that because you want someone
to listen to it and at the same time you're thinking 'Oh my God.
Everyone's gonna laugh at me.' That's how it was."
It wasn't until the mid-'90s that Ewing
figured it was time to take action on his songs and put together a
project.
"My first band was Speed Limit in
the fall of '95," said Ewing. "I started out as a singer and then they
worked me into playing rhythm. After that band was my own band, Pit
Crew. A lot of teeth cuttin'. —I was still learning a lot of things.
That was a car crash! It really was. It was an experience. That was
'99-2000. It lasted for about a year. That was a lot of fun though. Then
came the group Reality Check."
Filling the bassist gap in The Happy
Bastids during the fall of 2002 helped Ewing head in a direction
that keeps the music fun for him, while still allowing him to explore
his prolific side.
"In the past couple of months I've gone through a lot of changes," Ewing stated. "The past year or so there has been a lot of changes in the economic structure of the planet and everybody's feeling it. I'm never going to claim to have it together mentally, I'm just glad I've got some really good friends with really good advice." "My Grandpa 'Turn the page, start a new chapter.' That's his adage. My friend John Potrykus, he plays fiddle in a band called The Lash and a band called Duality, he's a very spiritual person. He's a really big inspiration. One thing that he's passed along to me where it comes to situations that are too hot, is essentially, sometimes you've got to step away from the drama. There's a lot of drama out there - some people invite it into their lives. I like to be away from those people (and) sometimes you have no choice."
With so many twists and turns taking his
life in unsure directions, Ewing stopped to catch his breath in the fall
of 2005.
"I realized, 'what's wrong with me?' I'm
a music guy! And right around the same time I'm taking Pre-Theory at
Delta (College) and Group Piano, which takes a lot of things and puts
them into practice. Another thing that happened that really knocked it
home was being told by a professor that I should really look into
composition."
Ewing came to another realization
regarding his new, strong belief in fulfilled education. "At least an
Associate degree" and making your own breaks.
"That's where I'm kind of finding out now
that school is important," he said. "It's not the same world that it
was for our parents - getting out of high school, getting a job and
working for 30 years and retiring. The American dream has definitely
evolved. It's a very different atmosphere and it's not done changing."
Putting his thoughts together, Ewing felt
that a life changing musical experience while acting as a soundman, led
him to the ideals he now embraces.
"I work with the Bay Arts Council. I'm on
the tech crew. I run the monitor board mostly. I traveled to Holland
with (the now defunct) Hoolie. I was their sound guy for a little
over a year. One of the coolest experiences for me was Castle Radboud,
which is in Medemblik. We stayed on boats - it was great, an awesome
experience, just bangin' around in Holland. For the festival though,
they had two stages in this castle. So here I am in this basement,
running sound at this Maritime Festival all day with a packed room -
probably 150 people, running sound for bands from France, England, the
Netherlands and Italy too. I didn't know how to speak. The general
language was English, but here you are in a foreign country with other
foreign people from other foreign countries and now you have to talk to
these people and you're using hand gestures and nods and things like
that. It was great! It was such an awesome experience. (And only) Five
minutes between acts! Crazy running your ass off."
Ewing teaches out of his Jolly Rogers
Studio as well, with current songwriting student Katy Osantowski (21)
and guitar student Jillian Meissner (13). He hopes to have a
website soon for the studio, what he calls his 'idea factory'. He also
maintains business in graphic projects like window displays (he won
three awards for Herter Music, where he works as an Apprentice
Woodwind Repair Tech and backdrops for bands, all of which he wants to
tie in with his studio.
As his musical world evolves and matures,
Ewing is grasping for other ideas into 2006.
"I'm feeling this year out, because I'm looking into going to school full-time. Right now I'm in the middle of figuring out where and how much? There are a lot of options. There's a lot of ways I can approach this. I'm trying to be careful about it and not make a rush decision. I'm exploring a Music Major."
To purchase Ewing's debut CD Drive
or check out his Jolly Rogers Studio ideas, log onto
www.caryewing.com.
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