Tristen

The life of a rock scribe is not as glamorous as you might imagine. Let me tell you- deadlines stink.

...For the record, when it comes to the countless regional demos and press packages I get, I generally take 'em as I get 'em. The stack of regional CDs mounts daily and never seems to subside, but one by one they ALL eventually make it into the trusty office boom box and are heard.

...Aside from all the typing, calling, talking and reading that comes with this gig, my job description calls for me to do a LOT of listening. Since a requirement of being a rock scribe is being a music "fan,'' that is the part of my job that does NOT stink.

I love digging through the demos and stumbling across new bands that jump out from the pack. I enjoy hearing fresh sounds, and on occasion discovering a diamond in the rough and anticipating the day when that diamond will shine brightly with his or her music.

One such diamond is Tristen Gaspadarek, a Lansing native who now calls Chicago home. She was 16 when her first demo came to my attention and I ventured out to a local coffee house to catch her live. Though rather rough around the edges that night, there was that glint of a diamond lurking underneath, even then.

Now a third-year college student, Gaspadarek has grown into her music and wears it like a glove. Emotive, mature and warm are ways to describe the 10 songs found on her third independently produced CD, "Among the Crowd.'' Her songwriting is soul deep and her singing has matured.

Backing Gaspadarek on her new studio set is her steady three-piece live band, along with a host of special guest players who add cool but quirky things like cello, B-3 organ and accordion to the mix. Production has been taken a few steps higher from her past releases, thanks to putting Ides of March-Jim Peterik producer Larry Millas behind the control board.

Hearing an artist grow before your very ears, as Gaspadarek has done, is rewarding for someone in my profession...
- BY TOM LOUNGES Times CorrespondentBY TOM LOUNGES Times Correspondent Tom Lounges- Times Correspon

Tristen Gaspadarek brought it all back home Friday, sharing her latest creation with family, friends and fans.

Gaspadarek, a Chicago singer-songwriter who performs as simply Tristen, officially released her third CD with a performance for about 150 people at JJ Kelly's, 2455 Bernice Road.


Tristen, 21, a junior at DePaul University, got her start as a singer-songwriter at coffeehouses in the south suburbs and Northwest Indiana.

She chose JJ Kelly's to release the CD as payback. The club hired her to host a weekly open mic for the last year, allowing her to save money for recording.

"They're the entire reason I was able to do this record," Tristen said. "They paid me and I saved all the money. It took a year, because I had to wait until the money came in from all the shows."

Fans have responded with praise to "Among the Crowd," six songs written by Tristen and four she co-wrote.

"People have been blown away because it's such a leap from my last record, in production and in quality of sound and songs," she said. "I really feel like I put myself out there on this one."

Larry Millas, who has engineered recordings by David Bowie, Bruce Hornsby and Billy Idol, co-produced the album at The Cave Studios in LaPorte. Kyle Woodring, who has toured with John Mellencamp and Dennis DeYoung, played drums.

"It was a fluke that we met Larry, but it was like fate," Tristen said. "It made such a difference with this record."

Tristen's Lansing roots run deep. As a freshman at Thornton Fractional South High School, she played her first live show at the former Lisabet's, now the Muse Cafe.

She played coffeehouses in Tinley Park, Highland and Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, before moving on to bigger venues. She's played The Star Plaza with the Guess Who, Double Door with Alana Davis and Chicago's House of Blues with Edwin McCain.

Tristen acted in junior high school, when she appeared in "Bye Bye Birdie" at the Munster Performing Arts Center and played a snow child in "Carousel" at the Candlelight Dinner Theater in Summit.

The latter required eight shows a week for three months.

"It was hard-core," she said. "I thought I wanted to do theater in high school, but I started to lose interest and became more interested in music."

Tristen's father, Charlie Gaspadarek of Lansing, plays lead guitar in her band.
- by Phil Rockrohr- Times Staff Writer

You would never know by listening to Tristen that she’s all of 17 years old. Her voice carries a perfect balance of beauty and power. In a time when the young stars are cranking out the corporate bubble gum pop, Tristen breaks the mold with her soulful acoustic rock and country pop. This album has a style that will easily cross over to a variety of audiences.

Tristen’s vocals are full of emotion, capturing the listener and luring them in to the tales told on tracks like “Easy Jo” and “It Don’t hurt anymore”.

Two of the four songs co-written with her father, “Something Good” is definitely a breath of fresh air. - Lisa Wood- music critic at www.gogirlsmusic.com