It all started back in 1963, when the aura of discovery and mind pioneering pervaded the air and the exploration of musical styles was everywhere. Around that time, a young artist in Northern Michigan was discovering and exploring his own musical talents.
His first exposures to Dylan, Baez, Seeger, Farina and their contemporaries sparked the desire to express his own brand of social and political commentary and blend a little mystical exploration into the mix. His family had just relocated to Traverse City from Ann Arbor and they were living in a motel called BuenaVista (it was actually just a few cabins) and as a simple twist of fate, a coffee house opened across the street and was populated by the hidden “beat” and “folk” people of Northern Michigan. Some of the artists that played extended gigs there were “Spider John” Kerner and Chuck&Joni Mitchell (later to be just Joni Mitchell). In fact, Joni gave Dabek some of his first guitar lessons. After that, the music started taking over.
Dabek was asked by a friend to join a “jug band” (for those of you who don’t know, a jug band is a funky folk band that uses a conglomeration of instruments like washboards and jugs, banjos, guitars, etc.). Lots of local gigs and exposure but because a majority of the members were seniors and graduated and went to college and the band disbanded. There were a few gigs solo and then he had the notion to start a unique rockish band that played a lot of Dylan, The WHO, Cream, Kinks, Beatles, Byrds and a smattering of original tunes (a mix that went over well in Saginaw, Flint and Lansing, but left the farm boys&girls of Shelby and other farm towns in Michigan scratching their heads and saying “play Louie, Louie” which, of course they were required to do if they didn’t want to be beaten up. However, many of the farm girls found the band members very attractive.) They called themselves “The Hinge of Fate”. They played together for about two years after which they all split up and went on their divergent paths.
Dabek and Barry Krull, the drummer, headed out west in an old red Ford econoline van, taking the meandering path across the northern tier of the US. Somewhere in the Couer D’Laine forest they split paths, Dabek heading for Seattle and then to L.A. then to Seattle then to Traverse City and then to Seattle, where he has lived for 24 years (more about that later). Barry’s path lead him to Oregon and Idaho and eventually back to Glen Lake with his wife, Rose, and their children. The other members of the band, Dick Pearson and Jim Karchewski (sp?) all went paths that are unknown. There were two other band members who played with the band in the later days and who are not pictured: Robbie Rokos and Rick Schimmel who also are at places unknown.
Dabek played a solo act with his 12-string guitar and a duffle bag full of songs and some clothes in various places in Washington and Seattle in 1968, where he landed a gig as the “house” singer-songwriter at a club called “The Thirteenth House” . In those days he used the stage name "Mark English". He played the club for 2 months until it closed down amidst the ruins of no money, debts and a fracus involving Dabek and the speed freak co-owner (one owner was cool, the other was nuts) who belted him above the eye with his fist which had a large ring on it. It left a large scar. After it closed, Dabek lived in the back room and ate pizza and ice cream for several weeks. He also played two sets at the Sky River Rock Festival (the first).
Then he signed a management deal with some folks who ended up trying to make him into some kind of lounge singer and sent him to L.A. to link up with an agent. The agent didn’t do very well, and the money from the management ensemble disappeared and things began to look desperate. Far too many sojourns into the world of substances people should not take or if they do they had better know what they’re doing to themselves had left him ill equipped to handle any employment. He then met a woman somewhat older than himself and extremely psychic and intuitive who, in a relationship that lasted nearly 4 years helped him in innumerable emotional, spiritual and physical ways until it was time for them to part. It was at college that Dabek met his lovely wife of 28 years with whom he has shared a family of two wonderful children and a legacy of most of the best things in life. He worked in the printing industry for 25 years (raising a family is expensive!) and now he helps run a recycled computer company in Seattle.
However, back in 1976, a close friend (her name was Irmgard VonCube, andshe was a playwright in her late 70’s at the time. She had seen it all, born in Russia, escaped from Nazi Germany (her husband was Jewish), lived all over the world, and received an Academy Award nomination for her screenplay for “Johnny Belinda” and a woman with beautiful, passionate insight whose words meant a lot) told him “Never let the music stop playing...”. Well, he never did, and in the confines of his own “secretstudio” has continued to produce a myriad of musical works which now are brought to you via digital music and this web site. It is the sincere hope of the management that you enjoy the musical history of an artist through four decades.
His first exposures to Dylan, Baez, Seeger, Farina and their contemporaries sparked the desire to express his own brand of social and political commentary and blend a little mystical exploration into the mix. His family had just relocated to Traverse City from Ann Arbor and they were living in a motel called BuenaVista (it was actually just a few cabins) and as a simple twist of fate, a coffee house opened across the street and was populated by the hidden “beat” and “folk” people of Northern Michigan. Some of the artists that played extended gigs there were “Spider John” Kerner and Chuck&Joni Mitchell (later to be just Joni Mitchell). In fact, Joni gave Dabek some of his first guitar lessons. After that, the music started taking over.
Dabek was asked by a friend to join a “jug band” (for those of you who don’t know, a jug band is a funky folk band that uses a conglomeration of instruments like washboards and jugs, banjos, guitars, etc.). Lots of local gigs and exposure but because a majority of the members were seniors and graduated and went to college and the band disbanded. There were a few gigs solo and then he had the notion to start a unique rockish band that played a lot of Dylan, The WHO, Cream, Kinks, Beatles, Byrds and a smattering of original tunes (a mix that went over well in Saginaw, Flint and Lansing, but left the farm boys&girls of Shelby and other farm towns in Michigan scratching their heads and saying “play Louie, Louie” which, of course they were required to do if they didn’t want to be beaten up. However, many of the farm girls found the band members very attractive.) They called themselves “The Hinge of Fate”. They played together for about two years after which they all split up and went on their divergent paths.
Dabek and Barry Krull, the drummer, headed out west in an old red Ford econoline van, taking the meandering path across the northern tier of the US. Somewhere in the Couer D’Laine forest they split paths, Dabek heading for Seattle and then to L.A. then to Seattle then to Traverse City and then to Seattle, where he has lived for 24 years (more about that later). Barry’s path lead him to Oregon and Idaho and eventually back to Glen Lake with his wife, Rose, and their children. The other members of the band, Dick Pearson and Jim Karchewski (sp?) all went paths that are unknown. There were two other band members who played with the band in the later days and who are not pictured: Robbie Rokos and Rick Schimmel who also are at places unknown.
Dabek played a solo act with his 12-string guitar and a duffle bag full of songs and some clothes in various places in Washington and Seattle in 1968, where he landed a gig as the “house” singer-songwriter at a club called “The Thirteenth House” . In those days he used the stage name "Mark English". He played the club for 2 months until it closed down amidst the ruins of no money, debts and a fracus involving Dabek and the speed freak co-owner (one owner was cool, the other was nuts) who belted him above the eye with his fist which had a large ring on it. It left a large scar. After it closed, Dabek lived in the back room and ate pizza and ice cream for several weeks. He also played two sets at the Sky River Rock Festival (the first).
Then he signed a management deal with some folks who ended up trying to make him into some kind of lounge singer and sent him to L.A. to link up with an agent. The agent didn’t do very well, and the money from the management ensemble disappeared and things began to look desperate. Far too many sojourns into the world of substances people should not take or if they do they had better know what they’re doing to themselves had left him ill equipped to handle any employment. He then met a woman somewhat older than himself and extremely psychic and intuitive who, in a relationship that lasted nearly 4 years helped him in innumerable emotional, spiritual and physical ways until it was time for them to part. It was at college that Dabek met his lovely wife of 28 years with whom he has shared a family of two wonderful children and a legacy of most of the best things in life. He worked in the printing industry for 25 years (raising a family is expensive!) and now he helps run a recycled computer company in Seattle.
However, back in 1976, a close friend (her name was Irmgard VonCube, andshe was a playwright in her late 70’s at the time. She had seen it all, born in Russia, escaped from Nazi Germany (her husband was Jewish), lived all over the world, and received an Academy Award nomination for her screenplay for “Johnny Belinda” and a woman with beautiful, passionate insight whose words meant a lot) told him “Never let the music stop playing...”. Well, he never did, and in the confines of his own “secretstudio” has continued to produce a myriad of musical works which now are brought to you via digital music and this web site. It is the sincere hope of the management that you enjoy the musical history of an artist through four decades.
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