The Predictors...

It was October 1991. Vinny and Chris, who as freshmen at Marquette University shared a 5-man quad (do the math), completed a dress rehearsal for their first show. As legend has it, it was the 69th annual Marquette Evans Scholars Halloween bash that would provide them with their first live performance as a band. To calm their nerves, Vin and Chris headed to their favorite eatery to fuel up before the big night.

The place was Chicago’s on the east side of Milwaukee. Terry and Wakeem, the partners in crime who ran the joint, knew the two aspiring musicians and greeted them with the usual trash talking about their Chicago sports teams. As the orders were places, Vin and Chris looked beyond the border that separated Milwaukee and Chicago sports fans, and extended a formal invitation to Terry and his trusty sidekick to come see the band for the first time at the Scholar House. Wakeem immediately asked the name of the band. With the rush to put together a band and a set list, a name was never considered. As Chris set his sheet on the counter listing his picks for the Sunday games, the sheet was signed in jest with the token alias “The Predictor”. Chris, in a quick response to spare the harassment from the duo behind the counter for having a band with no name, confidently stated “The Predictors”. Terry proudly blessed the boss burgers, and thus christened the start of the Predictors.

The first show was a huge success, with the help of the crowd noise drowning out the PA system. After numerous gigs at the Scholar House, White House (not the real White a house- more like Animal House), Yellow House, Gloccamora, O’Donohugh’s, and the Avalanche, the Predictors landed something special. In the spring of 1992, both Vin and Chris found a job running flyers for Big Tony at The Rave in Milwaukee. Landing the job is a story in itself.

That spring, while trying to enter The Rave for the newly relocated Jiggles Fest, Vin noticed that the stocky bouncer working the door was ferociously scrutinizing all IDs of everyone in line. Vin backed out, but Chris rallied and came up with a plan. “Follow my lead,” he said. Chris tore a flyer off the wall of a previously dated death metal show featuring Gwar. As it became their turn to pass thru security, Chris shook the flyer in disbelief proclaiming, “I can’t believe these guys played here two weeks ago. I’m a huge fan. I live four blocks away and didn’t know anything about the show. Who does your advertising?”…No response. “You’re missing out on the entire Marquette crowd. You need to get flyers out to the college kids around town”. The guy despondently replied acknowledging the lack of good help to spread the word.

Chris & Vinny stepped up and offered their services in a grass roots campaign to promote the club. The bouncer quickly extended his hand introducing himself as Tony. He grabbed another security guy to cover the door, and asked them to come right in and take a look around. Mission accomplished!

Tony gave them a tour of the venue, ending at his office with a box of flyers for upcoming shows. It was too late to back out at that point. The twisted means of entering the club resulted in a good paying job that had great benefits for two college kids in a band. The following fall, local band Secrete Goldfish invited The Predictors to play a battle of the bands at The Rave. Although there were no real awards, the Predictors ended the big night with an invitation from the Rave’s booking agent to open for the Colorado based band “The Samples” at an upcoming show in December.

The show opening for the Samples was a huge success. As Vin and Chris walked off stage, they were greeted by a long blond-haired surfer-looking guy wearing a beat-up fisherman’s hat who told them “Great job, I really enjoyed your originals”. The incognito back-stage vagrant turned out to be The Samples keyboard player Al Laughlin.

The success of the show at the Rave landed The Predictors with more gigs at bigger venues. The Predictors followed by becoming the first 4-piece band to perform for the annual Evans Scholar dance at The Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago. This paved the way for future bands within the Evans Scholar organization to show off their stuff in front of the hundreds of alumni and students that attend the event every year. The Predictors went on to play several shows with their new found friends from Chicago, the bands Hello Dave and The Junction. From 1993-1995, The Predictors began to build a bigger following in both Milwaukee and Chicago with the help of their friends in Hello Dave and The Junction.

In the spring of 1995, as graduation neared at Marquette University, Vin and Chris sat at the Avalanche bar on Wells Ave, discussing plans for their final show at Marquette. They needed something big, something over the top to make it a memorable experience for their die-hard local following. As the bar became more and more crowded that Friday night, the sound of a familiar voice could be heard outside near the entrance of the bar singing in a piercing R&B style “I wanna get freaky with you”. It was Marquette’s favorite street guy “The Singerman” earning his wages that night for singing random bits of R&B tunes for anyone willing to listen, and give a dollar. The decision was made instantly. The Singerman would share the stage with the Predictors for the last show at The Annex.

Unfortunately, the Singerman wandered off before the news could be shared that he would be given his big break soon- the chance to sing on stage with a microphone and a real band in front of hundreds. In the following weeks, The Predictors covered the campus with flyers advertising the Predictors to perform on May 5th, one night only, last show at the Annex, with the legendary Singerman. The posters included a photo taken of the Singerman flanked by Vin & Chis during a late night after-bars party where the entertainment was provided by an impromptu jam session featuring The Singerman.

Fortunately for The Predictors, Singerman saw the flyers while roaming the streets of Milwaukee. The anxiety the night of the show was high as everyone waited, but The Singerman came through in the 11th hour, bursting through the doors of the Annex wired-up and wearing his best silk shirt. His entrance that night, hopping up and down as he ran towards the stage, could be compared to Ray Lewis or Warren Sapp charging out of the tunnel for team introductions at the Superbowl. The final show at the Annex reached its pinnacle when The Singerman belted out a soulful and energetic version of Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay. Although the lyrics of the song were mostly made up on the go by the famous street singer, The Singerman brought the house down by bouncing back and forth at the front of the stage reaching out to everyone in the front row with one hand, while the other gripped the mic high in the air like a seasoned soul singer. At the end of the night, after The Predictors handed the Singerman his cut of the door, fans of the Singerman collected their own bounty for their new hero, and handed him their donation of cash.

(Eight years later, on a trip to a Marquette basketball game, Vin and Chris were shocked and overjoyed to find The Singerman at a Marquette bar telling stories of that legendary performance to a new generation of Singerman fans.)

After college, The members of The Predictors went their separate ways, and the band went on hiatus. Chris furthered his education and became deeply infused in jazz music after restoring a vintage stand-up bass passed on to him by his jazz musician father JJ Carani. Vin moved to West Virginia in 1996 for work. He maintained his tie to the music scene by performing weekly at the Mecklenburg’s open mic night in the college town of Shepherdstown, WV. The open mic performances also led to solo acoustic gigs. During his 3 years in WV, Vin developed a core of musician friends at the Mecklenburg.

While the folk influences at The Mecklenburg led Vin to learn the harmonica, his real change in musical direction came from Ed Barney of the bluegrass band Patent Pending. Ed and Vin played together at several open jam sessions at The Meck, and Ed’s bluegrass picking style had a real impact. With the help of Vin’s bride Amy, whose grandfather was an established bluegrass musician in his day, Vin received a new banjo to start off in a new direction musically. The newfound love of bluegrass can be heard on a few tunes at Predictors’ shows these days, along with a new song on the upcoming disk.

In October of 1999, Vin moved back to Chicago while Chris wrapped-up law school. Upon his return home, Vin contacted Chris Gombas, his old friend from grade school who once played lead guitar for their Mock-Heavy Metal Band DNA in the late ‘80’s. Vin and Gombas met frequently to jam at Gombas’ new rehearsal space in Wicker Park. During these jam sessions, Vin was introduced to Arek Aneszko, a rock/punk/reggae drummer who played with Gombas in the Bowling Ovals.

After getting their aggression out in a couple Heavy Metal ridden practices, Chris Carani was invited over to join in on bass in the informal sessions. During this time, Carani met an eclectic Vietnamese entrepreneur named Lee Lia, a.k.a. “General Lee”. The newly formed quartet went on to play several shows booked by General Lee under the alias “Sunlight Band #3”. However, as General Lee failed to come through on money owed to the band for a performance at Knock-Outs, the band knocked-out their scheming manager and reformed under their own rule as The Predictors. While the life of Sunlight Band #3 was a short-lived experiment, it formed into a newly established line-up for The Predictors.

Over the years, The Predictors have featured six different drummers, and several lead guitarists. Now the current line-up includes the scaled-down powerful trio of Vin, Chris, and Arek, with a combined style of rock, reggae, jazz, and bluegrass. The next step is the completion of the band’s first CD to be released sooner than later. Keep in touch at www.thepredictors.com for updates on future shows and news on the new CD!