The Toasted Western Swing Band

Niagara Falls Review (March 14, 2008)


Hungry for country music?; Check out the Toasted Western Swing Band

Posted By JOHN LAW

Wanted: Some of the region's top musicians, willing to put egos aside and work Sunday nights. For free.
That was guitarist Steve Kostyk's sales pitch for The Toasted Western Swing Band last spring. He had some big names in mind: Grammy-winner Walter Ostanek, Canadian pedal steel great Patrick Fourtney and veteran bassist Bill Cooper among them.
The mandate was simple: Pay bills the rest of the week, but come out Sunday because you love the music.
Not surprisingly, everyone hopped aboard.
"We thought, if it's going to be a seven-piece band ... who can afford it?," recalls Kostyk. "It was at that point we just mutually said, 'why don't we do something for the love of it for a change instead of for the money.'"
With seven members in town, the Toasted Western Swing Band started playing at the Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel on Lundy's Lane June 14. They're still there.
By the end of summer they were packing the patio with hundreds of people every week. Management agreed to start paying them to keep playing through winter, but the philosophy hasn't changed, says Kostyk.
"They're great believers in the project here and they've been extremely supportive."
The current line-up consists of Kostyk, Ostanek, Cooper, Fourtney, drummer Mike McDowell, accordion player Stan Drobnich and singer Steve Fortin.
Fortin recalls reading about Vince Gill playing part-time in a band called The Time Jumpers. Even if he made $30 a night in tips, the country superstar would buy breakfast with it and feel content.
He knew Niagara had enough talent to form a similar outfit.
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"Everybody in this band has paid their dues to music. We have guys that have toured coast to coast. We have guys that have been in the big spotlight, like Walter Ostanek. It's definitely experience that's brought to the table when we play."
Of all the members, three-time Grammy-winner Ostanek of St. Catharines has the most pedigree. Kostyk has known Canada's 'Polka King' for years and didn't hesitate asking for his services.
"When we asked Walter to join ranks, I can't say I'm surprised he said yes. Walter is a big supporter of local talent and I think a large part of why he wanted to be with us is because he supports the guys that he works with."
The band's profile got even bigger this month after three nominations for the March 25 Niagara Music Awards.
Fortin calls it one of the proudest moments of a long career.
"I've spent a lifetime in Niagara playing - I started in this industry when I was 13 years old and never was I ever honoured as much as I was when I got the phone call saying we were nominated."
It validated they were for real, but Cairn Croft general manager Paul Kyle didn't need convincing - he knew the Toasted Western Swing Band was something special after the first show.
"It took off right away," he says. "The music is different - you can't run a hotel where the music is the same thing every night of the week.
"It's been a lot of fun and they're good."
Things are moving fast, says Kostyk: Agents and festivals are starting to call and a CD should be out this summer.
But don't expect bigger heads to fill those cowboy hats. It's still all about the joy of playing country music on a Sunday night.
"I don't think we're ever going to be stars," he says. "We know who we are and we know what we're capable of. The band will be commercially viable over time, but we're not headed for the big time."
jlaw@nfreview.com - Niagara Falls Review

Niagara Falls Review - Mar 4/08

Nominations unveiled for Niagara Music Awards
Oliver Black, Toasted Western Swing Band lead the way

Posted By JOHN LAW
Updated 6 hours ago

Welland rockers Oliver Black and Niagara Falls country group The Toasted Western Swing Band top the list of nominees for the first annual Niagara Music Awards.
Nominations were announced Tuesday for the inaugural event, being held March 25 at the Niagara Centre for the Performing Arts in Niagara Falls. Nearly 200 submissions poured in for 26 categories, and organizer Morgan Whelan was thriled with the calibre.
“Amazing,” she raved. “I think it was really hard for our judges. I mean, I want to know where these people have been! A lot of them I’ve never heard of, and they’re fantastic.”
Long touted for stardom, Oliver Black – led by fireball singer Serena Pruyn – gathered five nominations, including Original Song of the Year (“Into the Wind”), Female Vocalist of the Year and Original Band of the Year. Proving their versatility, they also got a nod for Country Band of the Year.
The Toasted Western Swing Band made its debut just nine months ago, but collected three nominations for Recording Engineer of the Year (Dean Malton), Country Band of the Year, and lead singer Steve Fortin for Male Vocalist of the Year.
Full story in Wednesday's Review - Niagara Falls Review

When Steve Fortin and Steve Kostyk put the call out for musicians to join the Western swing band they wanted to put together, they weren't sure what the response would be since they were asking to do it for free.
When some of Canada's top musicians, including three-time Grammy award winner Walter Ostanek, signed on, the two couldn't have been more surprised.

The result, a blend of jazz and country that's unique to the region, has been a hit that's leaving audiences at the Best Western Cairn Croft wanting for more.

"People have been coming back for a second look," said Kostyk, himself a Grammy winner as part Ostanek's band on his 1993 35th anniversary CD. Shows got so big during summer performances on the patio that people turned away at the door were setting up lawn chairs in the parking lot.

"I thought that was really cool," said Kostyk, who plays electric guitar with the band. "That's a great compliment to a band."

The Toasted Western Swing Band has staged its show at the Cairn Croft for more than 40 consecutive weeks since its debut in June 2007 and have garnered three nominations for Niagara Music Awards, set to be dished out Tuesday.

The band received nods best country band, best male vocalist (Steve Fortin, a Nashville recording artist) and best recording engineer (Dean Malton).

Toasted Western is also nearing completion of its first studio album. It's release is scheduled for some time this summer.

The band was put together as a way for the musicians to have some fun playing music that means something to them. Kostyk jokes Sunday nights have quickly become known as therapy nights amongst his bandmates.

"It's a night we get to play a genre of music we really enjoy and really love," he said, adding Western swing caught his attention when visiting Nashville with Ostanek for a Grammy Award nomination party. There he saw a collection of about seven of the hottest country stars on stage, doing Western swing, and brought a tape back to show Fortin.

"This music is so creative and so expressive, no two evenings are the same."

Even though the band is made up of accomplished musicians at various points in their careers -- including Patrick Fourtney, one of Canada's foremost steel guitar players, Bill Cooper, a journeyman bassist and one of Canadian music's best kept secrets, drummer Mike McDowell (formerly of Rick Rose Band, Oksana and MacRaeh), Stan Drobnich on accordion, formerly of One Night Stan and The Big Squeeze, and Winston James on vocals and fiddle, an icon in country music in Canada -- recognition from the inaugural Niagara Music Awards is still very meaningful, said Kostyk. Especially since the band's only been together for about nine months.

"To be recognized in your own back yard, that's always a thrill," said Kostyk.

The Toasted Western Swing Band plays every Sunday night at the Best Western Cairn Croft from 7-9:30 p.m.

- robert lapensee--niagara this week