Tom Ciurczak On the Making Of ‘I Ain't Ever Growing Up: Volume I’
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind 'I Ain't Ever Growing Up: Volume I' and the story it tells?
The title reflects the youthful spirit still in all of us as we age, well, at least it does in me. I see many bar bands and go to a lot of concerts. There is still a lot of love for the type of rock music that I like to write and play. But, there seem to be very few new artists writing music, these days, that sounds like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Warren Zevon, etc. I could see that there was still a big demand for the high-energy rock songs I write, and I had quite a collection of them that needed to get recorded.
I released my first album “Call Me Ishmael” in 2020, right at the time that COVID shut everything down. Even though the planet was shut down, it still received great critical success and was played on over 250 Radio Stations. This encouraged me to record the follow-up “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up Volume I” I believe if there is ONE thing that keeps us all young, it’s music. Also, I believe it’s the kind of music you grow up with that is forever stamped into your heart and soul. I wanted to make sure I contributed to keeping rock alive and keeping everyone forever young through my music.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for 'I Ain't Ever Growing Up: Volume I?'
Yeah, there were SO many great guest musicians that we recruited to play on the album. Having them all play on the album was such an honor. We had so much fun at the recording sessions, that I wish we would have recorded more songs. As it were we recorded two albums worth (Volumes I & II). Kenny Aronoff, who plays drums for John Mellencamp and John Fogerty, played drums on 3 songs and entertained us with behind the scene stories of working with the great ones. Richie Gajate Garcia, who played percussion on the album is one of the preeminent percussionists in the world toured with Phil Collins, the Four Seasons, and Tony Orlando and played over 80 shows of “The Lion King” on Broadway. He asked me please no “Hakuna Matata” when we record “Kilimanjaro Skies”, I told him not to worry the chant I used in the song was “Bula Matari” (you’ll need to look it up to see what it means!).
Every Guitarist on the album was fantastic and they all brought their own unique style and contribution to the record: Sarven Manguiat, Matt Hornbeck, Federico Navarro Trias, and Angela Petrilli were all amazing. Travis Carlton (who is the son of Larry...the talent doesn’t fall far from the tree) and Brett Grossman (also the primary engineer) traded off on bass throughout and both were awesome.
We wanted to bring some different sounds to the album, so we brought in a Vibraphone player, Alexander Burke, I had no idea about the important sound contributions he was about to make, but it turned out to be very significant to the album. I am so glad we made this decision. What a talented musician and what a cool instrument to hear in the mix.
We consciously wanted to stay away from sounding too much like Springsteen, so we decided to use Harmonica instead of Saxophone. Matt Lomeo, another from upstate NY who has the distinction of being the youngest artist to perform at Woodstock, came in and just blew the roof off of “The Vault.”
Aaron Durr, who played all the keys on my first album, contributed heavily again to “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up Part I”. The most memorable is the eerie bridge section in my homage to the 1970s Prog Rock track “Nights on Fire.”
The background vocalists included: Harrison Crenshaw, Jayme Palmer, Elise Lily (from year One of “the Voice”), and my secret weapon, my daughter Kelly Ciurczak.
The entire album and recording session would not have come together without the major contributions from the team of Brett Grossman and Stephen Haaker (who also played drums on 5 tracks). They handled all the producing, engineering, mixing, and mastering roles. In addition, the recording sessions were so well planned and organized by them, that I could never sing their praises high enough.
What has been one of your most favorite memories along the path to making this album?
I set out with a simple goal of making a better album than my first. Not as simple as it sounds. I needed even better songs and then I needed to execute them stronger.
The first thing I decided to do was to take singing lessons. I got together with Harrison Crenshaw, who had coordinated all the vocals on my first album. It was probably the smartest thing I did in advance of the new album and I had a blast. I didn’t think I would enjoy singing so many different “Broadway Show Tunes”, but it got me out of my comfort zone and gave me a lot more confidence with my range. He really helped me find my voice.
Also, I met with a number of different people to review many of the songs I was considering for the new CD. One of the people I met with was Richard T-Bear a producer and performer who has worked with Crosby Stills and Nash, Cher, Walter Trout, Richie Havens, and Kiss just to name a few. He listened to all my songs and simply said I needed to rewrite them all. This was not what I was expecting, but I quickly realized he was right. If I was going to make a better album than the first thing, I would need better songs. So, I spent the next 6 months re-writing and re-arranging all of the songs in addition to taking vocal lessons and working on improving my live performances.
I was unable to perform after my first album was released, due to the COVID shutdown. Once the COVID shutdown was lifted, I began the process of playing regularly out live 2-3 times per week in Orange County, CA. I wanted to refine my stage performance so that I could take the new album to the stage and perform it all live.
Can you share a bit about your musical background and the journey that led you to where you are today?
I grew up in a musical family. My father was the principal trombonist for the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, NY. The neighborhood I grew up in consisted of all the band members, so from an early age, I was surrounded by music everywhere I went. Then, what I like to refer to as, the “Big Bang” occurred Feb. 9th, 1964, when the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show. I and a million other kids decided that’s what we wanted to do, so I picked up the guitar and started off on my long musical journey.
In my early teens, I discovered a true love for songwriting. To me, songwriting was an art form like no other and I have worked on it diligently throughout my life, even while working a regular job to support my family.
In 2014, I attended a songwriter’s masterclass taught by Steve Earle. I met so many talented songwriters there that I like to say I found my lost tribe. Meeting so many similar-minded songwriters and musicians turned out to be the spark to finally record the songs I had been writing my entire life.
My daughter, Kelly, introduced me to Brett Grossman, a recording engineer friend of hers in Los Angeles. He in turn brought in drummer and producer, Stephen Haaker. The three of us started laying out the plans for an album, and in 2019 we went into Perfect Sound Studio in Frogtown, CA to record my first album “Call Me Ishmael,” which I mentioned earlier. was well received, but unfortunately, I never got to showcase it live with a full band due to the pandemic.
Brett, Stephen and I got together in the summer of 2022, again at Perfect Sound Studios, to record a follow-up album “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up.” In the end, we recorded enough songs for two albums! We released Volume I on August 4th, and we plan to release Volume II next spring.
Do you have any memorable on-stage moments or performances that stand out to you?
I think the best is yet to come. This time around, I have put together a full band to showcase the material. So, I hope you can catch one of our upcoming shows in the Orange County and Los Angeles area to hear all the songs on the album performed live.
Check my website TomCiurczak for upcoming concert dates.
The music is available in all the usual places, and on Bandcamp; thank you for the opportunity to share it!
