Dan
Nissly
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Mike
Woltz
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3.
IRRMA is not exactly a household name. Why? (Dan) Many people perceive us as being a regional organization. Though the museum is at Arnolds Park and we have our induction ceremony there over labor-day week-end; we are a state-wide organization with Directors in all regions and events in all regions. Mike and I and a hardy band of consultants are working diligently here in central Iowa to raise our profile. In the last three years we have had some nice press and had a great IRRMA concert at the Val-Air. One of our mottos is "who wants to be a member of a Hall of Fame that no one has ever heard of!" Iowa Rock Fact # 3 Anyone heard of the Doors? The Doors - KRNT Theater The Doors on Wednesday, September 27, 1967 -The "Book of Rock List" cites this show as the all - time worse attendance for a major act : 16 tickets sold . A year later " Light My Fire " lights up the charts. |
In 2003 John Senn (Jay of the Dee Jay & the Runaways) and the members of the Iowa Rock n' Roll Music Association opened the Rock 'n Roll Music Museum . The Iowa Rock 'n Roll Muesum is located on the site of the Roof Garden Ballroom in Arnolds Park |
4. tell me about the IRRMA Hall of Fame. We've talked about the purpose of IRRMA-your mission statement, so to speak, it appears one of the real exciting things you do is solicit nominations for music personages and induct the most deserving. (Dan - laughs) Well, we think they're the most deserving! This function is one of the main reasons that I volunteer a lot of time to this organization; not that I consider myself such a discriminating arbiter of talent, but I love the whole process of discovering groups, researching their history, hearing from their fans, looking at the old promo pics, 45's ,etc. This is the perfect hobby for the amateur musicologist. I would direct your readers again to our web-site www.iowarocknroll.com so they can read up on the nomination process, the criteria, and check out some of the inductees. The second phase of the process is working with the groups that are playing on induction night. As a professional musician myself, it is so gratifying to watch these people who maybe haven't seen each other, or played in 30-40 years, re-unite and rehearse. Mediacom did a great show on this whole process in late 2005. If you have a chance, find a copy or ask them to replay it. It's great. You'll notice we are evaluating nominations of groups from the 50's, 60's, and 70's.We are trying to reach out to all musicians in the State of Iowa because pretty soon we'll open up the 80's and so on. Iowa Rock Fact # 4 : O.W. Appleton Inventor of the first electric guitar, Burlington, Iowa - In the Winter of 1941-42, Appleton created and built what has turned out to be the first ever solid body electric guitar. He carved the body from a block of solid wood and added a Gibson neck. He used a Gibson neck, as they were the only company that offered an adjustable trust rod for a guitar neck. |
Dan Nissly Drums Induction Night for the Pelican Peace Band ? |
5. You
mentioned earlier a museum in Arnolds Park. Of all places, why have
it located in an amusement park?
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Iowa
Rock Fact
# 5
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(Mike) Absolutely there is relevance in
today's music scene. Many of the bands that are inducted rehearse to
perform at the induction celebration and discover just how much fun
it is to play rock 'n' roll.
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7. OK, you guys honor people, you have a museum, you do shows featuring inductees. That can't take all year, does it? (Mike) We have a tremendous amount of projects that take place year round. I am going to let Dan explain those projects. However, I would like to mention that I am the Chair of our Membership Committee so I spend much of my time attempting to communicate with and involve our members. Believe me, there is plenty of activities for our members to be involved with. One of the fund raising projects that I am proud of involve producing music CDs. We pick a type of music and then ask our members to record a tune or two to put on the CD. We are currently in the process of producing an IRRMA RockABilly CD. It should be released shortly after the first of the year. (Dan) (laughs) If you do it right, it can! Seriously, we are involved in some other programs also. One of the fastest growing and most popular is our 4-Rs program. (details on the web) This is an outreach, hands-on, in-school program developed by one of our directors. it is aimed at an even younger audience - grade school, junior high. It is a multi-media show focusing on the history of rock' n' roll; nationally and locally. We also spend a lot of time archiving the history of the music here in Iowa. Our hope is to be able in the near future to present some exhibits in various museums around the state |
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Dan Nissly (Left) in the band Sky Dancer |
8
. Why are you doing this? What's your background? (Mike) Can you imagine a world without music? Music has played a vital role in my life. It's good for the soul. I played in a rock 'n' roll band for 6-7 years back in the late sixties and early seventies. Since then, music has continued to be a large influence in my life. Much of my free time has been spent being involved in attempting to learn the art of recording and producing music. Becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the Iowa Rock 'N Roll Music Association is very important to me because the mission of the organization is very honorable. (Dan) Actually I'm more "were" than "are" (laughs) briefly, grew up on a farm west of Des Moines. Started drum lessons in 1963. Started playing semi-pro in 1966. Went full-time in 1972 with a group called Pelican Peace Band. In the next 7 years, we traveled a 10 state area with this group and another group called Sky Dancer. Pelican was honored with an induction in 2004. Iowa Rock Fact # 8 Iron Maiden was a last minute addition to the Iowa Jam in 1982. The Jam featured Loverboy, Triumph, .38 Special, Quarterflash and Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden played the jam at noon after having played a last minute gig at Des Moines nightclub "The Joker" the night before. |
(Dan) It was an interesting decade. |
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Another cool thing happened in the
70's, some bands were starting do their own tunes on a consistent basis.
Both my groups normally did 40-50% original tunes during a four-hour
night. This was unheard of just a few years before. You had to mix them
up so the club owner didn't complain. When we did concerts as an opening
act our 40 minutes was always original material. It's so refreshing
to see that this seems to be commonplace now. There are some other observations.
It was rare to have a group back then do a record unless they were actually
signed to a record deal. (Mike) (laughing) I guess
I really didn't consider myself a professional musician. If performing
for pay makes a person a professional, then I guess I was a professional.
When I think back about playing in the 70s, it seems as if our world
was less complex back in those days and we all felt better about the
world and ourselves. A band developed loyal fans. They would follow
the band from gig to gig. There seemed to be a brotherhood/sisterhood
atmosphere. I'm not sure that exists today. Who knows, maybe I was just
young and naïve with youthful dreams. It seems to me that the music
scene, the music and our world changed toward the latter 70s. Our society
became more conservative but that's a whole different subject. I very
much agree with Dan in regard to most bands recording and promoting
CDs today. This is a good thing. The ability to do that back in the
70s was cost prohibitive. All in all, looking back the 70s seems like
a pretty good time. I'm not sure I could survive it a second time (smiling).
Iowa
Rock Fact
# 9 |
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10 . Is it still
possible to be a full-time rock musician here in central Iowa? Mike's Band : Freedom Road -
1969
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Iowa Rock Fact # 11
Iowa
Rock Fact
# 12 |
(Mike) First, I think it is important to
mention that the cost (Dan) That is very true! We are a non-profit
organization, and as such we are dependent upon concert revenues, dues
revenue, grants; and we are grateful for the various charitable gifts
we receive. If you're interested it's tax deductible. Once again, we
are growing, but maintaining an adequate income stream takes a lot of
effort. (Dan) Looks bright and we are especially interested in involving your readership. Thanks for the help. |
Iowa
Rock Fact
# 13
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13. Once again, why the heck are you guys doing this. It must take a lot of your time. (Mike) Well, it certainly isn't for any earnings because there isn't any. In short, I believe I am involved because of my love for the music and because of the honorable mission of the organization. 14. Any final thoughts? (Mike) I would just like to invite your readers to become IRRMA members and get involved in our mission. The greater our membership and involvement, the more we will be able to accomplish for the rock 'n' roll scene in Iowa. Thanks for the interview. We appreciate it. Final Rock Fact: Thanks to Mike and Dan! Support of local musicians and Iowa's rock history is made possible by people like you ! Show your support … Iowa
Rock Fact
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