SongNotes: Roots Salon Artist
Jamie O’Reilly
You gotta like this guy
Singer/Guitarist Steve Zahradnik

He’s been around for years. In fact I first heard about Steve from my late musical partner, the songwriter Michael Smith. Steve’s wife Barbie had been a big fan of Michael’s. She told him about Steve playing a steady singing American standards at an Italian restaurant in the city. Michael heard him and was blown away.
“You should hear this guy. He’s got a great voice and he plays guitar real good!”

Roots History
Steve came with Barbie to a bunch of my Roots Salons at Tre Kronor and other events,
always complimentary. Very music-savvy.
“What about you? Do you want to d a few songs sometime?” I asked after a winter salon, still not having heard him myself.
“Sure” he said.
We scheduled a gig. I sent him a list of songs and some charts; among them Michael’s send-up of Mona Lisa, a duet featuring a funny second part I sing, as the lady herself, bored at sitting still so long.
“This is gonna be fun,” we agreed.
Then he fell and broke his wrist. Playing was stopped. The gig was postponed.
Within several months, having following the doctor’s advice, resting, then doing pt, by May, Steve was playing like normal. We started rehearsing.

He came to the first rehearsal with all the of the songs down. No music or charts. He played Michael’s songs for me like the Master-himself; accompanying me with confidence, skill and phrasing most collaborations take months to achieve.

Then came the gig. When he sang and played it was like Roy Orbison and Britain’s Matt Monroe joined forces with Bucky Pizzarelli or Les Paul; performing the most sophisticated chords and melodies with aplomb. He delivered the goods. There was a standing O that night.

Listening to Steve brings back the best of our baby-boomer memories. His is a dreamy soundtrack, seamlessly mixing songs of a lost era with the fervent anthems of our youth. His voice recalling an earlier time, when only possibilities lay before us.

In these times fraught with anxiety and chaos, we can all use a “Steve.” Who shows us what is still possible.

Listen to Take My Heart

BIOGRAPHY
Steve Zahradnik is a longtime fixture in the Chicago music scene. He first made his mark as the lead singer, guitarist, and co-founder of the prog-psych band Seiche—pronounced “SAYSH”—whose 1981 release Demo Press has become a cult favorite among collectors and fans of the genre. went on to front and play guitar and bass in the rock bands The Raving Mad and Dose After Dose, before shifting gears into a long solo run—performing vocals and guitar in a swanky, eclectic mix of jazz standards, obscure lounge and folk, sentimental pop, and other musical oddities. More recently, Steve played guitar in the 9-piece retro lounge outfit Bric-a-Brac, and he now holds down the low end as bassist for The Country Doctors, an old-school honky-tonk band.

Photo Barbie Fickett.

Read about Roots Midsummer Fest here: https://www.jamieoreilly.com/events/roots-midsummer-musicfest-at-tre-kronor/