Call of the Wild: Pack of wolves aims to take a bite out of rock

March 23, 2005

If you live in Northern Michigan and have been listening carefully, you probably have been hearing a howling coming from the woods. DNR Wildlife biologists and conservation officers have been busy trying to track wolves that are rumored to have returned to northern lower Michigan for the first time in 90 years. But they just haven’t been looking in the right place as wolves run in packs. Finding them shouldn’t be too hard; so I set out into the woods east of Traverse City and found the Pack Of Wolves.
These Wolves are friendly, have names and play instruments. Kenny Olson, guitarist, Chris Van Dahl on microphone, bassist Adam Kurry, and on drums Shannon Boone. Wolves have been on the endangered species list for years, and for that matter, so has rock and roll. Wolves are now making a comeback and if the Pack Of Wolves has anything to say about it, so will rock and roll.
After rehearsing and recording in secret for the past eight months, Pack Of Wolves will make their public debut as the headliners of the Detroit Motor City Rocks Show at Streeters’ Ground Zero Nightclub, Friday, March 25.

THE RIGHT PACK
“I have always wanted to do a straight up rock and roll band,” said Kenny Olson, Traverse City native and famed guitarist with Kid Rock. “I have been writing songs for years but I was looking for the right pack of guys to make it happen.”
While Olson continues his work with Kid Rock (see sidebar) he is enthusiastic about his new venture and the team that has formed that also includes legendary sound engineer Kenneth “Pooch” Van Druten of Motley Crue, KISS and Kid Rock fame.
“Pooch is the best and we are lucky to have him,” said Olson. “He could be out on tour right now with Motley Crue but he believes in this project and the music.”
Pooch, who has also worked with Guns and Roses, Ted Nugent and Dwight Yoakum to name a few, isn’t the only one who believes in the band. Several high-powered industry insiders have taken an interest, so look for a Pack of Wolves album to be out this fall.
“It is a little too early yet to reveal all the details and I have learned in this industry it is best to wait for the ink to dry before you say too much,” said Olson. “There is definite interest and we will be touring as a band this summer.”
Pack Of Wolves formed when a mutual friend of Kenny Olson and vocalist Chris Van Dahl set up a meeting between the two last July at Olson’s parents’ home on East Bay.
“Our friend had to go out of town so he couldn’t make it and gave me directions, and I just showed up to the house,” said VanDahl. “Kenny opened the door and had a guitar in one hand and a bottle of Cuervo in the other and said ‘hey brother which one do you want?’ Next thing you know I am down at the beach with him and his family and we started writing songs.”

LA GUNS CONNECTION
VanDahl is no stranger to the music scene; during the 1990s he was the lead singer of the band LA Guns. Prior to his time with the Guns he was known as Roxy Dahl in the popular glam band Cherry Street, and eventually with another popular LA-based glam band Boneyard (Adam Kurry was the group’s bass player). Tiring of the music scene VanDahl left L.A. and retuned to Michigan (he grew up in Detroit), eventually moving toTraverse City.
“I was definitely fed up with the whole scene,” said VanDahl. “After a few years of hanging out up here, I put my house up for sale last spring and headed back to LA. Trust me, it hadn’t gotten any better out there and I came back and took my house off the market and then Kenny and I met.”
Both agree that an immediate connection took place at that beach meeting last July.
“After being around this business for several years you know when you are on that same wavelength with someone,” said Olson. “Chris and I hit it off and I felt finally I have found someone I could collaborate with. We wrote several songs around the fire that night.”
PERFECT MATCH
Olson and VanDahl figure they have enough songs for two albums and the challenge to date has been to narrow the selection of songs to 12 or 13 for their first album. What wasn’t a challenge for the two was rounding out the band.
“Kenny said to me he had this drummer Shannon and I said I had this bass player Adam,” said VanDahl. “When we all got together it was like we had been together forever. Our personalities are matched perfectly for a band.”
Boone and Kurry are also veterans of the music scene. Kurry, who lives in L.A. and flies to Traverse City for band rehearsals, is an in-demand session musician and for several years played bass for the legendary rockers Legs Diamond. He also did stints with Boneyard, Sister Shotgun and the Liberators. Boone currently is in two bands in Detroit: The Howling Diablos and South Normal. The Diablos have always been on the verge of breaking it big and will release their new album next month titled “Car Wash.”
So how are these guys juggling all these bands and projects?
“It is really the way it works in this business,” said Kurry, who juggles his time between various bands and giving lessons. “I think people are under this impression that when they pay big money for tickets, that the guys in the band get it all. After the promoters, attorneys and everyone else with their hands in the pot, there isn’t much left over. So to be a professional musician, you have to be flexible and keep working at all times.”

12 HOURS A DAY
In the case of the Pack Of Wolves the band has already worked several hours recording and rehearsing without pay.
“We rehearse 12 plus hours a day,” said VanDahl. “You have to in this business and all four of us are committed to this project. It is like starting a new business; it takes time before you collect that first paycheck.”
So what should people expect when they come out for the band’s debut?
“Musically we have been influenced by all the great bands we have all grown up listening to,” said Van Dahl. “Black Sabbath, Zeppelin, Hendrix, The Stones and others,” Olson adds.
“We are not a copycat band,” said Olson. “We definitely have our own sound that is rooted the great traditions of rock and roll. Our show will be all original music with a few covers thrown in the mix.”
So you are not going to use gimmicks to get people to come out?
“Yeah we have gimmicks,” said Olson. “Our goal is to get Britney Spears to come out on the road with us and to come up on stage each night and light her farts.”
Do you think Britney farts?
“Look at her, she is full of gas,” laughs VanDahl.
So will Britney be with you at Streeters?
“Well the invitation is going out to her,” laughs Olson.

NO GIMMICKS
With their high-powered in-your-face rock and roll sound, Pack of Wolves won’t need to rely on gimmicks. The group is made up of four talented musicians. While Olson’s name and reputation will open the doors at the start, this group will succeed because it has rooted itself in their music.
The band has a recording and rehearsal studio at VanDahl’s home east of Traverse City. All four members have checked their egos at the door and their laid-back personalities have created a perfect creative atmosphere for success. Each member is bringing their talents to the table along with their musical experiences.
“It is exciting because this environment has allowed for us to create without having to force it,” said VanDahl. “We are not being dictated to by a label or in a position where we have to deliver some hit single. We are free to simply create and I think the result of this process is several songs that have come to us naturally, the way bands use to do it.”
Pack Of Wolves is returning to the roots of album rock. Remember the days when you bought a record and listened to every track? Well those days have disappeared and this band plans to bring that concept back.
“We didn’t sit around and try and craft one song to sell a bunch of CDs,” said VanDahl. “We have written several songs that connect together and make an album.”
“It is important to us that when our CD comes out that people will want the whole album,” said Olson. “When you listen to an album it should be a sexual experience from start to finish and there is too much premature ejaculation out there right now in the music business. One song and it is rollover and say good night. Everyone knows that great sex should last longer than a couple of minutes – so should a great album.”
VanDahl agrees.
“I think for consumers the music business has stuffed a lot of crap down our throats, ” said VanDahl. “It is the fast food mentality of order it quickly and eat it quickly. Sure the value meal is packed full of food, but ever notice you are not satisfied after eating one. Same holds for a lot of CDs out there today that are full of wasted calories.”

HEY WOLFIE
As for the name, every time the band turned around wolves kept appearing.
“When Kenny moved up here in the fall there was a big painting of wolves hanging on the wall of the home. Then I was driving and saw a wounded wolf dog on the side of the road,” said VanDahl. “One day when I called Kenny on his cell phone and we were talking about possible band names, he said, ‘there goes an old ’70s van with a big mural of wolves painted on the side of it.’ Almost simultaneously we said Pack Of Wolves and the name stuck.”
While the Wolves will perform several of their new songs publicly for the first time, including “Stillwater” (the first song Olson and VanDahl wrote that night on the beach), and “The Devil Went to Detroit,” on March 25 an album won’t be available.
“We will be back before the album comes out as well as after it comes out,” said Olson. “This show is our opportunity to test the music and get out feet wet live in front of friendly faces.”
So are you making Traverse City your base?
“We are wolves and our den will be the tour bus and the recording studio,” said Olson. “We will be around town, but in this business your home is the road.”
So what’s next after the unveiling on Friday?
“We are finishing up the record,” said Olson. “We are also playing some shows on the east and west coasts at the request of the label who is looking to sign us. We are heading to Europe to play some festivals. I am very excited that we will be the house band for the welcoming back of Creem Magazine and their release party this May in Detroit. We will be the featured entertainment and Creem has invited several rock greats who will get up and jam with us.”
They are also looking forward to playing Traverse City this summer.
“We worked so hard during the dreary weather months up here it is only right that we come back and play during the warm and sunny months,” said VanDahl. “We don’t have anything set at this time but a few things are in the works.”
Don’t wait ’til summer though. Here is your chance to make history and hear a band’s debut, a band whose howl is so good that it will soon be heard beyond the north woods. Pack of Wolves will headline a night of great rock and roll featuring up and coming bands from the revitalized Detroit rock music scene, that Olson has helped to create with his sizzling guitar work during the past 10 years with Kid Rock.
Joining the Pack Of Wolves will be the all-girl band Lola Kitty featuring performance artists Danger Kitty, The Kingsnakes (produced by Kenny Olson) and a return appearance by Jo Caine and
75 North who rocked the house last
October with Uncle Kracker. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.
For tickets or additional information visit www.streetersonline.com or call
(231) 932-1300.

SIDE BAR

Keeping up with Kenny
By Rick Coates

For the past eight months Kid Rock guitarist Kenny Olson has been secretly rehearsing and recording with his new band Pack Of Wolves at their studio in the woods near Traverse City. Olson has kept the project secretive because of the way the industry works; he didn’t want rumors out there that he had quit Kid Rock. But the secret can longer be kept, as Pack Of Wolves will debut March 25 at Streeters, so Olson felt it was time to explain his desire to create his own band.
“First of all I am still in Kid Rock,” said Olson. “In fact we just did a show together a month ago. But after eight straight years of either being on the road and or in the studio we decided to take a break. We will do some occasional shows this year. A new live album is due out this fall and in 2006 we will begin work on another Kid Rock studio album, which means a tour as well.”
For Olson, he had a choice to make: either take it easy for a year or keep working, and he chose the latter.
“I am a musician, it is what I do, and as they say in this business, you have to strike while the iron is hot,” said Olson. “I have had and continue to have a lot of irons in the musical fire.”
Olson is hotter than hot and is very sought after in the industry. His scorching guitar work has appeared on albums that have collectively sold over 20 million copies. He is also becoming a household name and thousands of fans have been visiting his new website, www.kennyolson.com. Some of those fans include the best players to ever pick up the guitar, like the legendary Les Paul.
“I am a big fan of Kenny’s and it is why Gibson released the Kenny Olson Signature Guitar,” said Paul.
Olson has joined the ranks of Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Keith Richards in having Gibson release a signature Les Paul guitar in their names.
A few months ago Les Paul called Olson and asked him to come to New York this May and join several rock guitar legends including Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana for a CD featuring rock’s best guitarists. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, also a fan of Olson’s work, requested that he and Olson do a song together on the album.
“Sometimes it all seems like a dream,” said Olson. “But I really don’t have time to wake up and enjoy it. You really need to keep at it and that is what I am doing.”
Olson just appeared on a Jimi Hendrix Tribute CD, “Power of Soul,” that featured Eric Clapton, Santana, Sting and Prince. He remains close to the Hendrix sister Janie, who considers him to be part of the family and has asked him to work on some additional projects later this year.
As for starting his own band, he has been encouraged over the years by his musical colleagues as well as industry executives. So with the Kid Rock band on a short break, Olson decided to seize the moment and move forward some of his own musical ideas.
“Don’t get me wrong, the past eight years have been wonderful. I have played on every major stage and made several television appearances,” said Olson. “I have been able to jam with some of the legends in this business. But I think all musicians have an inner desire to continue to create. I have music that does not fit the Kid Rock profile. For that matter so does Bob (Kid Rock), as he has projects outside of the band as well.”
So does starting a new band create the potential for friction with your band mates in Kid Rock?
“No. We all have other projects and it really is healthy. It energizes us all so when we get back together we are creatively refreshed,” said Olson. “It is also good for Kid Rock that I succeed in my various projects. I am always being referred to as Kid Rock’s guitarist.”
So how has Kid responded to the new band?
“Well, it has been a secret so we haven’t had a chance to talk about it,” said Olson. “We are both so busy that when we are together our focus is on Kid Rock business and not our personal projects. We are friends and I know he always wants the best for me as I do for him. We have been through a lot together, both good and tough times. One of these days we will catch our breaths and get caught up with each other.”
So what happens when Pack Of Wolves takes off? How do you choose?
“I guess I will be busy playing in two successful bands,” said Olson. “This is my life, it is my passion and if I have to play every night, that’s okay with me. This is my dream and I just want to keep on dreaming.”
While the business of rock and roll is a nightmare for many musicians, Traverse City native Kenny Olson has found the right pillow to sleep on. His hard work and perseverance has paid off, earning him respect and fans from all corners of the industry. Pack Of Wolves is not the
end of the Kid Rock chapter; instead it will be Olson’s second best seller.