Welcome to Zestysol!!
Thank you so much for visiting my website! I’ve been playing music in Illinois for over thirty years. I started playing bass in a metal band with some friends when I was fifteen years old., leading to many years of community and friendships within this Chicagoland/Joliet music scene.The connections I’ve made over the years are what keeps me enthusiastic about life itself.
I discovered I had a real love for teaching when I was in my twenties. A friend was teaching at three or four guitar shops and needed to cut down. He thought of me for a little place in Tinley Park. The lessons learned in that small room were as much for me as my students.
I was bitten by the podcasting bug after sitting in during an interview a couple friends of mine were conducting at the magical Third City Sounds studio in Joliet, Illinois. I went on to host a podcast called What’s Goin’ Down In Downtown J-Town with David Francis. As he showed me the finer points of the podcast interview we had been asked to host a radio show. It was a small station out of The University of Saint Francis WCSF 88.7fm. I love being on live radio. I had the honor of airing over 350 bands from Illinois on our Local Music Bonanza.
On this site you can find some links and recordings of My Music.
I have links to some of the podcast episodes and radio show recordings within What’s Goin Down In Downtown J-Town and The Local Music Bonanza.There is a directory of links to each bands’ website that were played on those shows under ‘The Bonanzanites”.
Music of The Ancient Ones is a directory of bands that were always in the same venues when I was growing up. For me it was the early days of the music community I am part of.
String Theories has information about the private lessons and instructional books I offer.
I hope you find something here to enhance your life.
-Tom Maslowski
Email me directly: tommaslowski@comcast.net
String Theories Music Lessons
I've been teaching music for over twenty years. I have developed a great method of teaching music fundamentals for everyday use. Whether you're a novice player or a gigging musician that wants a little more insight, I can help you out.
Click on the logo for information and learning materials for music instruction. You can sign contact me for private lessons for bass, guitar, ukulele, and drums. I have some instructional videos, play-a-longs, and study guides for sale.
My Music
Click on my gloriously serious photo to explore some of the music I've made over the years. You'll find links to videos and music that have been captured professional and by amateurs.
The What's Goin' Down In Downtown J-Town Podcast
This started off as a way to preserve the Joliet music scene. Our interview podcast exclusively featured musicians that were hanging out at Chicago Street Pub in Downtown Joliet. These people are very much into their craft. So many nights we'd sit and watch these brilliant musicians cast spells. We couldn't help but wonder, where the hell IS everybody? What do we need to do to get the word out? Thus, The What's Goin' Down In Downtown J-Town Podcast was born. I started a Facebook page to post the podcast's episodes. I thought it might be cool to post bands' area shows. That turned into posting anything positive that related to Joliet. The podcast evolved along with that idea as we began anyone doing anything positive in Joliet. I set out to show that Joliet had more to offer than what's more commonly displayed in the media.
Click on the logo find all of the photos, videos, podcast episodes, and links to some of my favorite spots to hang. Enjoy.
The Local Music Bonanza
When we found out that Downtown Joliet was getting a record store, the whole city got excited. I personally missed record stores so much. I was into tapes and CD's before MP3's took over. Nothing against digital formats, but I missed being able to go to the store and get a tangible item. These guys supported the music scene right from the start being musicians themselves. They were asked by The University of Saint Francis to host an hour long show on their radio station WCSF 88.7fm Joliet. They were unable to do so at that time. Audiophil's recommended David Francis and I to do a local music show. It was such a great experience. We discovered a lot of great unknown music.
In this section you'll find links to all of the bands that have been aired on our show. There's also a couple of broadcasts that we were to have recorded for your listening pleasure. Recording the show wasn't always an option. We had to adhere to some regulations being that we weren't students or employees of the university. We haven't been able to get back on the air since the 2020 shutdown began. I look forward to starting up a prerecorded version that will have a home on this website. I hope to get these back on the air as soon as possible. Click on the logo to go, yo.
Music Of The Ancient Ones
This page is going to be a constant work in progress. I'm trying to put the music of Chicago and the it's suburbs from the 1990's all in one place. Remember venues like The Thirsty Whale, The Gateway Theater, Smilar Coogan's, Off The Alley, Riley's Rock House, and The Lion's Den. Some of the bands I'm thinking of would be Lungbrush, Relative Ash, Milk Plow, Clockbox, FarOutOfMe, and Unique Chique. There's a lot more, and I only have some of these albums in my collection. Send me pictures, old flyers, and of course music from this time period and scene. I'll get all of it up here for everyone to enjoy.