Veteran guitarist Bruce Wojick is one of the busiest guys on the music scene.
The award-winning musician and member of the Niagara Falls Music Hall of Fame is known for his work with some of Western New York’s most popular bands, starting with the rock act God’s Children in the 1990s, then with Klear and through his current 16-year run with Strictly Hip. You may have also seen him on stage collaborating with other musicians and with Bruce Wojick and the Struggle, a side project he formed after wanting to do something on his own that has become “the heart of everything” for him.
Along the way, he’s never stopped performing, collaborating and writing music – which brings us to “The Hard Way,” Wojick’s new full-length album that is being released in concert on Oct. 3 in the 9th Ward at Babeville.
The nine-song album is a journey through what Wojick calls “the culmination of every lesson learned on stage, in the studio, and on the road, and made by musicians who’ve lived it. Each song was written on the same acoustic guitar my mom bought me as a kid which might tell you everything you need to know. So we keep writing, plowing through, and still in the Struggle.”
The album was an organic effort that wasn’t planned, but something the busy Niagara Falls native has been “chipping away” at through his songwriting for years.
“I wasn’t thinking of an album. But one night I was listening to some of the songs I had and thought ‘I think I got a record here,’ ” Wojick recalled. “Seeing it all come together has been great.”
Through that music, he has welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with family – and musical family. He draws on the strength of his close-knit family for emotional support – he’ll be married to his wife, Cynthia (his “support system”), for 24 years on Halloween – and it means the world to him to have songs on the album that he co-wrote with his son and brother.
About six years ago, his feeling that time was “going by fast” turned into co-writing the song “More Time” with his son Vito, a drummer, who was only 15 then.
“I don’t need more guitars or money – the most precious thing we have is time,” Wojick said.
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His brother, Joshua, wrote the music and plays bass on “Watching the Sky Turn Blue,” the last song recorded for the album.
There’s also a guest appearance by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Black Sabbath), which is “huge” for Wojick, a longtime fan.
“I used to watch him with Rainbow on MTV all the time,” Wojick said. They met while Rondinelli was working on an album earlier this year with local musician Jamie Holka.
Wojick, who describes the music as “soulful rock, a little bluesy, gets a little hard and rocks,” has released music videos for three of the songs so far, including “More Time,” which he calls “loud, raw, and straight-up rock,” a sound you can hear in his guitar solos. (Wojick is a six-time winner of best guitarist at the Buffalo Music Awards.) “Louder than Concorde” is a tribute to his first concert – Elton John. The song is named for John’s 1976 tour he attended at then-Rich Stadium with his mother and cousin. “This song is really special to me,” Wojick said.
“Cryin’ Shame” is a slow blues rocker that visualizes struggles of homelessness and hardships through its lyrics and the emotionally powerful saxophone by Holton. “Ain’t it time for a change?” Wojick asks in the lyrics.
Another thing that makes his work with the Struggle so meaningful is that he continues to work with longtime friends and collaborators like keyboardist Dan DeLano, bassist Leo McDonald, drummer Denny Pelczynski and Holton who have all played with Wojick through the years. Wojick, DeLano, McDonald and Pelczynski were all members of Klear. (Holton joined Klear for multiple shows before joining Wojick in 2011 as a regular collaborator.) McDonald has played with Wojick since the early days with God’s Children.
That means a musical lifetime of shared experiences and memories with highlights like gigs at three famed music clubs (CBGBs in New York with both God’s Children and Klear, plus Whiskey A Go Go and the Viper Room in L.A. with Klear) and original songs heard in movies and television shows including “The Station Agent,” “ER” and “Vegas Vacation.”
And that brings us back to the word that means the most to Wojick – family.
“To share all of these experiences,” Wojick said, “it’s like family.”
“The Hard Way” will be released on digital and vinyl on Oct. 3 on Segno Records. The album release concert is 8 p.m. Oct. 3 in the 9th Ward at Babeville (341 Delaware Ave.). For tickets and info, visit babevillebuffalo.com and tixr.com.
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Toni Ruberto
Gusto Editor
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