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Sentient Cement Project
Drummer Dave, Tunesmith Tim and I have been jamming for a
couple of months now. We're recording jam sessions to either mine for
goodies or just listen to cause it's kinda fun.
Here's the project's research and development warehouse.
We're looking for a Guitar or Keyboard player who can maybe also sing. If
you're interested in dropping by to join in a jam here in Arvada Colorado, toss me an e-mail. |
JC Solo
I'm working up a repertoire of covers and various retro
original tunes. The idea is mostly to get my chops back and to maybe
play some solo slots here and there. If you're curious you can check
out my rehearsal page.
There was a recent reunion show with Shannara in October.
Here's a page with some pics taken
there. |
JC Apking is a guy who traveled a whole lot
of the world doing a wide variety of things, and then eventually landed
in Denver, Colorado. Here is the music-related portion of his story.
His early childhood was spent in New Jersey followed by
protracted settlement in Cincinnati. Growing up, he was heavily
influenced by dueling musical genre's. He became an accomplished
trombone player and played with the Cincinnati Youth Symphony Orchestra for
a number of years. At the same time, much of the 60's-70's
rock and 80's alternative, which was slowly percolating into the
mid-west made a significant impression. After playing with a garage
band called Moral Minority through high school, JC met Kevin Fox who was
already an established solo acoustic player. Shortly thereafter, Shannara
was born. Shannara was a rock cover band
that also produced original music. JC
played keyboard for Shannara and sang backup and occasional lead.
Shannara worked with the recording workshop in Chilocothe, Ohio, and played
any and all venues relentlessly, from Blues Brothers-esque dives to the
shores of Cincinnati's massive Riverfest celebration.
After a few years of this, JC (now going by "Johnny
Crowe") started a new project while still playing with Shannara.
For this one, he switched to playing Bass and created Mystery Wagon. Joining forces
with former Moral Minority singer/songwriter Eric Falstrom, the group focused
primarily on developing the loudest and angstiest underground sounds around.
They were firmly rooted in a punk/indy/goth genre and although the word
hadn't been coined until a year later, what they played was grunge.
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After a brief hiatus from music, JC released the solo
set - Sun Needle and around this time
also did some symphonic and other keyboard related
eclectric experimentation. He also joined the original formation of the
Cincinnati alternative cover band Forehead - initially as lead singer and
playing keyboard. This eventually was followed by a new, more serious,
rebirth of Mystery Wagon with JC again
playing Bass. Shortly after the completion of the
Mystery Wagon "debut" album, JC joined the US. Navy. He served as a
Quartermaster (that's navigation stuff in the Navy ye landlubbers) and found
time to work up some tunes with shipmates during deployment. He has
the distinction of playing loud rock and roll on the fantail of the guided
missile cruiser USS Normandy during steel beaches at sea in the
Mediterranean. He also occasionally took the opportunity to spend port
visit R&R playing in various venues in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Israel.
After completing two deployments in the Navy, JC was honorably discharged
and returned to Cincinnati. For a brief time he played with a
fledgling country band
Reckless alongside former Shannara drummer King Fox, but then he shifted
focus to work
in the "tech sector" for the next decade or so - almost (but not quite)
ceasing to make music altogether. JC also created The Grendelcat Lair
during this time, which used to be a sprawling megalithic website occupying
this very location. During this musical sabbatical, he moved to
Dallas, worked the better part of a year in New York City, and finally
snatched an opportunity to move to Denver.
Most recently JC has been working on new music (Sentient Cement
Project) and also experimenting with playing solo acoustic guitar in the
Arvada, Colorado area. |
