Published: November 05, 2009 10:09 am      

MUSIC: Wojick set for 'Storytellers' show at NU

By Phil Dzikiy



In a career that’s featured nearly as many bands as years, Bruce Wojick has amassed more than his fair share of stories. The stories have led to his songs, and vice versa. Friday night, he gets to let them all out.

Wojick, a guitarist and songwriter in local bands Klear, God’s Children and American Sunseekers (to name a few), will be taking the stage at Niagara University for a special show: “Bruce Wojick Storytellers.”

The show will be similar to an episode of “VH1 Storytellers” — Wojick will be singing favorite songs he’s written and co-written throughout the years, while stopping to tell stories along the way. Wojick said he’s always been “a band guy,” but he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to do such a show.

“I’ve been thinking about doing this for the last four years or so,” Wojick said. “When I decided to do my own show, I decided it would be great to do it in that kind of format and talk about the songs. I thought it would be an extra cool thing to talk about the songs, how they were written.”

Wojick won’t be alone on the stage, though. A handful of guest musicians who have played with him during his career will be backing up Wojick in full force — Jamie Holka, Leo McDonald, Zak Ward, Kevin Connor, Denny Pelczynski, Dennis Fura and Will Holton.

Wojick’s career started in earnest with God’s Children in 1990. The rock band took Wojick — the band’s guitarist — through the 1990s before Klear started.

Klear became one of the area’s most popular hard rock bands. Though the lineup has changed a few times, most notably in the lead singer role, Wojick has remained a constant. The group is “on the back burner right now,” he noted, but he also said he would love to make a new Klear record.

Among his other projects, Wojick is now in a group called the American Sunseekers, which features most of Klear’s lineup. The Sunseekers, however, are set apart by an Americana rock sound, Wojick said.

“I don’t want to dip into the country thing like everybody’s doing,” he said. “(American Sunseekers) still has a rock edge, but some songs are country-tinged.”

Other than the time spent in Klear with Fred Shafer fronting the band, Wojick has always been involved in his groups as a key songwriter. He’s mentioned that when he’s not writing, it’s “a little tough for me.”

Wojick hopes the storytelling aspect of the show will be enlightening, but also restrained enough to show that he doesn’t take himself too seriously.

“I’m not Eddie Vedder,” he said. “I don’t want to bore people.”

Wojick will be drawing heavily from all phases of his songwriting career. He’ll be performing songs by God’s Children, Klear and some solo tunes, as well. He estimates that a quarter of the show will feature new songs.

And unlike many of the shows that Wojick plays, for his “Storytellers” concert, he’ll be doing all of the singing.

“People have said, ‘Man, I love your voice, why don’t you sing more?’ ”

Wojick said his songwriting juices are flowing again. He hopes to put out a new solo album in the coming year, which he describes as “a classic full-length, rock and roll” album.

For more information on the show, visit niagara.edu. For more information on Wojick, visit brucewojick.com.

•••

The opening act for Wojick is Michael Miller, a singer-songwriter from southern California. Miller’s newest album, “I Made You Up,” features guest appearances from Pete Yorn, Tracy Bonham and Amy Correia. “I Made You Up” was recorded at Elliot Smith’s Los Angeles studio.

For more information on Miller, visit his Web site, michaelmillercrusade.com.



IF YOU GO



WHAT: Bruce Wojick Storytellers plus Michael Miller at NU's Live Music Series

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday

WHERE: NU's "Under the Taps" Club at the Gallagher Center

MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.niagara.edu or call 286-8510