Bushwackers Homepage
The Wackers Mission
Watch the site for updates regularly... Were you at the show?
Don't be surprised to see your picture on the "Photo Album" page!
The dirty, loud sound of the group has been recaptured. From the strong vocal
leadership of Rodney, to the sweet sound of complimenting guitars of Jimmy and
Mark, to the solid rhythm section of Pete and Mike. We intend to bring you quality
music, delivered in a powerful package. Look out Chicago! The Boys are Back!
Co-Founder Mike Horan says his days of musical commitment
have passed him by. We will all miss his presence on stage, but
hopefully can coax some more wonderful lyrics from him to put to
music. Slainte Mike! Mike's take on the band...as borrowed from
his page found here: www.clannhoran.com
How to become a musical genius in ten easy steps:

Way back in time, I was in a rock and roll band called the Bushwackers.
We gained a fair amount of notoriety in the Chicago area, and were also
quite big in Belgium, Wisconsin. Whether playing for 20 people, or
20,000, we were usually a good rockin' band.We were blessed to have a
great group of fans. We were also blessed to have fans in the Chicago
radio industry. Our long-time pal Phil Jacobs had us in the studio at
WABT, and he was constantly playing our tunes and getting us some
exposure. Kevin Matthews (and Jimmy Shorts) were very instrumental in
exposing us, and I mean that literally. Jonathan Brandmeier and Buzz
Kilman thought we ruled! Richard Milne of WXRT was kind of enough to
give us raves on his "Local Anesthetic" show. And Danny Bonaduce
offered to dismember himself, all because he loved the Bushwackers. At
some point the band members were too busy getting married,
un-married, drunk, etc., to keep the band going. We had run our course.
But most of those four years were great. When we were on, we were on.
When we were off, we were drunk. Although the Bushwackers died a swift
death you can still catch the music here and there. Jimmy and Rodney
are now in a band called Axis (with Mark Sendra, Bill Cravens and Pete
Gonzalez), and Mike Sendra is now in the Donny Mac Band.

The Bushwackers had evolved from another local band called Red Alert.  
Red Alert included myself, Rodney Golembeck, Louie Ceja, Paul Smerz,
Jim Bubeck and the late great Tommy Minas.  You can also download
most of the Red Alert catalog here as well.The classic Bushwackers
line-up (if it can be called that, I think it can) was:

Rodney Golembeck - Vocals, Guitar
Jimmy Harris - Lead Guitar
Michael Sendra - Drums, Backing Vocals
Michael Horan - Bass

Other former Bushwackers include Paul Marolda, Louie Ceja, Royce
Golembeck, and occasional guest appearances by Mark and Matt
Sendra. Let's not forget Big Jay with his bottles of Watermelon shots. He
was onstage feeding us drinks enough to qualify as an official member.
Andy Athy of Rabid Elk Entertainment was our spiritual guide, and I mean
that in a "spirits" sort of way. He was also, in his spare time, the Mayor of
Andyland, which is a place where people drink, smoke cigarettes and
always have fun. We were also backed by Andy and Brian Mahoney
doing sound, Ray LaBonte doing the bookings and the prank phone
calls, and Sherry Pope (now Horan) doing the advertising. Cesspool
Party  Cesspool Party was the name of the lone Bushwackers CD. It was
an amalgam of songs that were mostly written by the band. The lone
cover is "Uncontrollable Urge", which is a rockin' fun Devo song off of
their first album. As for the Bushwackers songs, I wrote most of the lyrics,
and then the band would get together and put the words to music. It's a
decent representation of what we were. Looking back, it could have been
so much better. Songs such as "I'm Still Waiting For Mine", "Where Do
We Go From Here?", "Martyr" and "Grrls, Grrls, Grrls are Grreat" would
have truly provided a better picture of what we were all about. Lest we
forget, our pal Pete Krajci helped us out by playing mandolin on "Green
Fields" and it was one hell of job he did!
Obviously written awhile ago. Nonetheless, I think
it is a nice account of the history of the group!
Hosting by Yahoo! Web Hosting
Make sure you check out our "My Space"

www.myspace.com/bushwackers21
ATTENTION!!

Wacker Backers
Please go and sign
up for your yahoo
group.

Sign up NOW for our
email list!

Due to spamming J.O.s and the size
of our faithful following, we have to
step into the yahoo group arena.
This will ensure that you only
receive messages from us, and we
don't get spammed.

Even if you were receiving emails in
the past, please sign up for the
group. We WILL NOT SEND individual
emails, and the group will give you a
chance to discuss last nights show,
and vote for the originals you'll hear
at the next show!
Hear some of our music on the "My Space" page!
Schedule updates coming soon! Check out new
videos on "Blog"
IMPORTANT!
The band does NOT send out emails anymore, it became
a huge pain in the butt because there are so many of
you! Please keep yourself in the loop by joining the
group!! That way you can get email updates again, and
stop missing those shows!!!
JOIN OUR GROUP HERE
DO THIS, PLEASE!!!!!
Love ya!
Pix coming soon from Rodney and Mike's trip up to the North
Woods in Wisconsin. We had opportunity to meet and play with
some world renowned musicians, including Dewey Bunnell,
Richard Campbell, and Willie Leacox from "America"... yes
"America", and the great Rusty Young of Poco and Buffalo
Springfield.
It was a stroll through Rock and Roll with sure future
Hall-of-Famers.
Thanks to our friends from the Donny Mac Band, and to
Promoter and friend Mark Johnson for letting us be a part of it!
We're going up again next year. Plan to be there!
Read More
Thanks to all who threw in donations to the
Wayno Fund. We can still use any donations,
please contact me, or get the address here:

WAYNO

Get well soon Buddy!!! Love ya suit!
Over this past weekend the band, and our friends "The Donny Mac
Band" (you know sometimes I write like they're someone else...) had
an opportunity to JAM WITH, meet, and greet Joie Calio from Dada.

What a #@%*&(  AWESOME  Summer we've had!

We would like to thank, and send out a huge Bushwacker hug and
kiss to Steve and Teresa Hillstrom for their generosity, and
hospitality. Mostly though thanks for making it possible to meet one
of the band's biggest favorites!

Thanks again also to our great friend Brian Mahoney for donating
his time and talent as well!

We had to keep this one secret for obvious reasons, but I must say
that our two groups did a bang up job in an opening role for Joie,
were able to witness some of the finest acoustic guitar work, along
with some great material from Joie's new project

X Levitation Cult

You can download X's "Happiness in Hell" on I Tunes. It really
deserves a listen. Wacker Backers will really enjoy this one!

Check out Joie's and X's site here:

XLevitationcult.com

... make sure you read the reviews of both groups on the postings
page... pix coming soon I promise!
We are currently looking for a female
vocalist for a project outside of
Bushwackers
Interested in more info, or in trying out,
Drop me an email!
Thanks!