Have A Sandwich Artists




Here is a list of some of the artists who have released music on Have A Sandwich over the past two decades.

FREEBUS
Freebus is a Chicago-based singer/guitarist who has been performing throughout the Chicagoland area and greater Midwest since 1986. He got his start playing at parties, clubs, rallies, and festivals in the mid-Michigan area while in attendance at Michigan State University. In 1991 Freebus moved to Chicago where he has continued his pursuit of music. From 1992 to present, Freebus led several prominent Chicago groups including Food Chain, Dude Parlor, Kentucky Jelly, and Woody Wagon. While working with these groups Freebus spent much of his spare time writing and recording solo material; culminating in the release of his first solo record The Yeti during the summer of 2000. His second solo CD Songs about Fishing was released in 2002 and features (Crazy) Tim Rutkowski on drums, sax, and percussion. Since the beginning of 2008, Freebus has been focusing on producing video for his music. Shortly thereafter a video for "People Too", the second track on The Yeti, was released. Other video releases since 2008 include "Nocturn", a song originally recorded on 4-track the summer of 1990, "Livin' It Up" a remake of a song he did with his first band back in Ithaca NY, and "These are our Days", a new song expected to be included with the next Freebus album which is slated to be released sometime in 2011.

SCANNING BABIES
After having worked together in the cover band "Hit Machine", Roy Wollen, Peter Michael Downes, and Tim Rutkowski decided to take a stab at doing some original music. At the end of the first session, the three went to a party where they ran into an old friend who had recently become an ultra-sound technician. When asked what he'd been up to of late, he replied, "I've been scanning babies." The three busted out laughing and quickly agreed that "Scanning Babies" should be the name of the band. More writing and recording sessions followed and soon Scanning Babies was ready to start mixing down their first full-length CD Government Approved. In 2007, with Tim now gone, Roy and Pete got together to revisit the music that was written and recorded after the release of Government Approved. The two found a ton of great material; plenty enough to put together a second full length CD Devolver which was released on May 3rd, 2008 at the Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown on Chicago's near northwest side. R. Huiskens sat in on drums and the three put on a great show in Tim's honor. Most of these performances can be viewed directly from this site. Plans are also underway for additional single releases, as well as another video.

KENTUCKY JELLY
The original 5 members of Kentucky Jelly (Peter Michael Downes (guitar/vox), Tim Rutkowski (sax), John Duncan (bass), Matt Fisher (bass), and Dominic Vaglica (drums) first recorded in August of 1999 as a continuation of the double bass concept originally explored with the Mega Esophagus sessions in early 1998. The session was a huge success so three more sessions were booked. After the fourth session, the group found itself ready to release it's first record, a 15-song CD titled Cold Fusion Winniebago. The album features the best of the best from these four sessions. The record proved to be the springboard to much greater things, with one of the cuts "New Dude Parlor" getting air-play on WXRT. The group was then asked to do a Friday night performance at the Double Door opening for the cult phenom Pere Ubu. With a live on-air performance at WZRD featuring on-air live improv performances of topics phoned in by the listeners, the group was suddenly starting to really make a buzz. In 2002, the band followed up the Cold Fusion Winniebago CD with a second release, Heavebucket; an album that was written and recorded in just one day and features the hit "Boogie Sugar Man".

Beginning in 2003 the group took it's improvisational style to the road and started doing full-on live improv shows. During this time, and up until Tim Rutkowski's passing in March of 2005, the group also did a lot of recording with Roy Wollen on second bass (replacing Matt Fisher). In 2011, the surviving members are planning to release "Milk of Amnesia" the third and likely last Kentucky Jelly record featuring material from this era. Many of the surviving members still perform together in the improv group "Woody Wagon" wherein the spirit of Kentucky Jelly continues to live on.

WOODY WAGON
The first Woody Wagon sessions occurred during the summer of 2003 at Fat City in the basement of a Bucktown 3-flat on Chicago's near northwest side. It began simply as an experiment combining musicians of varying backgrounds to see what the combination would wind up producing. Notable tunes from this session included "Panic Attack", "Licenses for Bribes", and "Ride". With Kentucky Jelly going strong during the same time period, Woody Wagon took a back seat until early in 2005 when the passing of saxophone player Tim Rutkowski (Crazy Tim) brought with it the end of Kentucky Jelly and allowed room for development of the Woody Wagon concept. On March 26th, 2006 Woody Wagon took the stage at the Gallery Cabaret for an all-improv show with Mike Mikalunas on drums, L.Roy Wooley on bass, Wigsten on keys, and Freebus on guitar and vox. The show was a big success producing some of the earliest live improv video performances. Some of the highlights include "Turtle Man", "Firehouse Hotels", and "Grizzly Man". Woody Wagon has gone on to do numerous other live improv performances; with most of them being at the Gallery Cabaret: 10/1/2006, 3/31/2007, 9/7/2007, 5/3/2008, and 8/14/2008 with another show at Weed's on 6/14/2008. In addition to the live shows, Woody Wagon has done numerous studio improv projects including Kimchee Taco, and Pineapple Fatwa to name a couple. A full-length DVD of the Pineapple Fatwa session is scheduled for release in 2011 so stay tuned!

TURTLE PORN
After working together in Hit Machine, Kentucky Jelly, and Scanning Babies, Tim Rutkowski and Peter Michael Downes began a different kind of experimental recording project focusing on improvisation and overdubbing. The early sessions featured Tim on drums and Pete on bass, with Tim then overdubbing sax and percussion and Pete overdubbing guitar and vocals. At the end of the third session it was decided that a CD had to be released with the best of the best. A name for the project proved elusive until late in one of the mixdown sessions when Max and Venus (Pete's turtles) began getting amorous, and Turtle Porn was born. After the release of Turtle Porn's first record Big Action Issue, Tim and Pete continued recording; becoming increasingly more and more experimental. A session with Tim playing stand-up drums and Pete on guitar and vocals resulted in several great cuts including "Buy the Limes" and "It's Raining in Blue". Subsequent sessions became more and more experimental featuring looping drum beats and Tim even stepping up and taking a stab at vocals and guitar. With Tim playing guitar and singing, and Pete using unconventional instruments including an accordian-style keyboard he picked up for 5 bucks at a garage sale, some very unique and interesting sounds emerged. None of the music created during these sessions has been released so the Have a Sandwich team is currently working on the logistics of making a second Turtle Porn album a reality.

GOD WAFER
God Wafer was formed early in the twenty-first century by guitarist Gusto Tangerine, bassist Superfly Russell and drummer Dyno. The band started playing shows throughout the Midwest and immediately began to develop a loyal following. The band decided to add a member to expand their already dynamic sound, and in 2003, keyboardist/drummer Johnny Everwood joined the group. The stage show started to become more elaborate, including various props, "visual aids" and the development of a dual drum sound, adding a tribal percussive element to the funky groove. The Host With The Most, the first official God Wafer CD, was released in 2003, followed by a flurry of touring. Early in 2005, God Wafer added vocalists Vapor and Rooftop Honey, completing the vision and propelling the group into new realms of entertaining musical performances. In June 2005, 3 songs from the CD were featured on the Discovery Channel TV series Urban Explorers. Music For Heathens, the second official God Wafer CD, was released in the autumn of 2006.