From sideman to the spotlight: Nick Franclik releases solo album
Aug. 7—Like many musicians, Nick Franclik found himself with plenty of time on his hands when the pandemic-induced shutdown happened in March 2020.
As a longtime bassist in any number of bands in Berks and Lehigh counties and beyond, and sound engineer and mixer at the legendary Bethlehem folk club Godfrey Daniel's, Franclik suddenly found his revenue streams dried up.
Out of work and itching for something to do, he put down his bass, picked up his acoustic guitar and started writing songs — every day.
"I think without thinking about it, I kind of almost instinctively just started to try to write songs every day," he said. "Like I would get up in the morning and just write songs."
After a few months, he had enough in hand to reach out to his friend Bruce Siekmann about recording at the latter's Amoeba Audio in New Jerusalem, where the two have been working together on Siekmann's Dem Hills albums since the 1990s.
"We felt like it was safe enough that he and I could get together and work on it — wearing masks and everything," Franclik said. "So we laid down a bunch of stuff that I could do on my own, then we started bringing people in one at a time."
Key contributors included Wayne Smith on guitars and keyboards, Josh Kanusky on drums, Dave Van Allen on pedal steel and dobro and Ted Fenstermacher on fiddle and viola. Also adding their talents to the mix were John Morgan Kimock (drums), Wayne Johnston (harmonica, electric guitar), Ken Natoli (electric guitar and cigar box guitar), and Jonathan Beedle, Jolene Windmiller, Darren Schlappich and Mike Stengel (backing vocals).
And, of course, Siekmann's contributions were indispensible.
"We've worked together a lot in a lot of different ways, so we're very comfortable with each other," Franclik said. "He had a lot to offer. He played electric guitar and some percussion. And if something was in my head — like 'How do we do this? How do we get this sound?' — he was always right there."
The end result, "View From My Spaceship," is an 11-song album released last month on all the major streaming services. It spans a variety of genres including Americana, bluegrass, country and pop.
Franclik said his favorite tracks include the opener, "Playin' Your Guitar," a song about finding a creative outlet to cope with the turmoil of the pandemic; "You And I Are Free," featuring Fenstermacher on viola and Windmiller's vocal harmonies; the John Prine-inspired "Kind of Boy He Was," featuring Van Allen on dobro and Johnston on harmonica; and the peppy power pop finale, "Perfect Punching Bag."
Being front and center is a bit of a departure for Franclik, who has spent the last 30 years 10 feet from the spotlight in bands like Jack Murray & The Blue Tarp Wranglers, Ataloft, the Dina Hall Band, Swearingen & Kelli, the Electric Farm and BC Combo. Only in the past few years has he begun to book solo gigs. So far, he's found it invigorating to step out of his comfort zone.
His upcoming solo gigs include every Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Kospia Farms, Longswamp Township; Aug. 18 at Weis Pub, Macungie; Aug. 21 at Jake's Flea Market, Barto; and Aug. 25 at the Macungie Farmers Market. He's also playing bass with Jack Murray & The Blue Tarp Wranglers today at 11 a.m. at Das Awkscht Fescht in Macungie.
CDs are available at gigs and at Young Ones Records, Kutztown, and the Compact Disc Center, Bethlehem.
