Frank Dunch...
posted by Mrs. Webster at 11:21 AM
Monday, January 01, 2007
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50 Comments:
It is with great sadness, and heart felt grief to share...Frank Duntch has died.
Frank WAS thee BEST guitarist Cleveland Country EVER experienced...a gentle spirit.
NOT boastful, NOT egotistical, NOT spiteful. A peaceful picker.
A Cleveland Country Blogspot "reader".
He took the past year in stride without much complaint. However, he was NEVER the same.
He will be missed.
I have no further details.
Oh my - I just saw Frank Saturday night. A friend of mine came to see Backwoods for the first time and commented on what an excellent guitarist he was. This is a tremendous loss. I will keep his family in my prayers....including his band family.
This is by far the hardest thing I've ever had to write.
First, I'd like to thank everyone who came out this past weekend. You saw Frank at what was probably his best. He was smiling, happy, and looked healthier than he has in a long, long time. Thank you to Tim Jordan, Danny Lawson, Brian Baldwin, Danny Martin, Rick from Heartland, and Ernie from Lawless for coming out Saturday to jam. You helped make my last night with Frank even more memorable, and I am forever in your debt.
I am cancelling all our shows in January. I just can't do it.
Understand or don't...I don't care.
There will be no services as per Frank's wishes. Instead of services, the next time you go out to see a band, take the time to let at least one member know that you appreciate their effort. It means more than you think.
Also, please don't take offense if I don't answer my phone for a while.
Leave a message and know that I really do appreciate your caring.
I just don't want to talk to people right now.
Thank you.
I always relished the opportunity to pick with Frank. If the part was there, he played it.
He was also a very funny guy.
So long, Buddy. Keep reading your books.
Love,
Tim King
JDH
Thanks, so much for the Frank photo.
Love you...
Foot
I know that Frank's life was enriched by your friendship...as has ours. Love you too!
Frank Dunch was the best guitar player I've EVER shared a stage with, period.
I wish I could express more, but I simply can't at the moment. We enjoyed 4 years together and I can't cram it into a sentence or two here.
Foot, thank you for the call and you know that my phone is on night or day. We shall soon do what we talked about, as I think it would be therapeutic for a few of us!
I just heard the news that makes this, what has to be, the worst start to a year that I can remember.
I echo the sentiments of all my brethren here... Frank was not only THE best guitar player that I was fortunate enough to share a stage with, but he was undeniably THE best country picker that this town has seen.
I wasn't able to make it out to Fat Boys on Saturday, but I did see Backwoods at Ace's last week. Frank was gracious enough to spend an entire break talking to me about playing guitar. His passion for the instrument was immeasurable. He talked to me that day as if it were the first day he started playing. He was so enthusiastic about music it was as if it were all new to him.
If I ever become half the guitarist he was, I'll have accomplished twice as much as I ever thought I could have. But more importantly... If I can become half the human Frank was, I'll have been a better person than I ever thought I could be.
Thanks, Frank... for all the times you took a few minutes to teach me a lick. Thanks for being the person you were.
A lot of people don't know... Not only was Frank one of the gentlest, kindest souls you could ever encounter, he was a VERY funny guy. He was very spiritual and as Mr. Web notes... an avid reader.
Sorry for rambling... I'm in shock. I'm sad. We've all lost a brother and the Cleveland music scene has lost one of its best.
If there's a band up there... They have a new lead guitar player... And you can be he's smiling as he picks out those fiddle and steel parts or rips through some ridiculous lead.
Frank, you are missed my friend. There is a huge hole in this city's heart that will not soon be filled.
R.I.P., friend.
If anybody needs or wants to talk... you can get in touch with me one way or another.
Goodbye my friend.
To: Frank
It was a pleasure to speak on your behalf. I got your words out onto this blog on more than one occassion. Glad we spoke one last time, if I had known it was going to be the last time. I think I would have said something different. Something with more meaning. I will miss you
I am sorry for the last rambling post I deleted, I really am just to upset to think. Thank you Foot and Ronnie and JW and Ernie Rick and Danny and Brian.
TimJ, you shouldn't have deleted that post. I was heartfelt and told what you were feeling as you typed it.
...IT was heartfelt....
I just can't understand why him? I get close to very few people and he felt like kin at the first conversation. I am trying VERY hard to be reserved but its hard to understand. Then idiots come on here for self gratification and it just consumes me. I am now drinking and hope to fall asleep remembering the most enjoyable night since the last time I played on stage with my father.(1984) Sorry if I offended anyone here I am just hurt.
Thank you Molly and TKF for being kind to me Saturday night.
Please be mindful that we are observing and mourning the death of someone special to many people.
For Molly........
I have had honor to share the stage with 4 people that inspire me to play as well as well try to be a better human being although I fail most times at being decent and kind these men never have. Don Thompson(my father),Robbie Spanski,and Frank Dunch, and Foot. I have now lost 2 that will never be replaced or duplicated. I have known the latter 2 for the shortest and longest time, I say that because I have seen traits that each of them share all my life.
Kindness honesty and integrity, as well as friendship I could never earn. There are reasons the good ones are taken but I'll be damned if I don't know what those are right now.
I got to see my friends smile all of Saturday night and to God I say thank you for that!
Although I looked down that Saturday night to watch Frank play I was looking up at another pair of shoes I could never or ever want to fill.
Well, it's been almost 3 hours since TimJ called me to let me know about Frank.
It's still not sinkin' in... This one's gonna take a while.
TimJ - Glad to see the post back. Never apologize for rambling or saying what you feel, especially at times like this. Obviously, I did not know Frank like any of you guys and ALL of the kind words about him today are so gratifying. There's a lot of love there. I'm just a fan who is SO thankful to have gone out on Saturday.
Molly called me yesterday to relay the bad news. My heart goes out to all those who knew Frank. I feel honored to have seen him play Saturday night.
Foot, hang in there. Frank is probably very happy and learning to play the harp. It is those left here on earth that suffer. Will be waiting for you to come back. God Bless.
Isn't that a great picture of Frank on the front page of the blog! Look how happy he is. That is how I will remember him.
Thanks,John.
I've been thinking...
Comparing the "FRANK DUNCH" Clevelandcountry.blogspot.com posts to sitting around the funeral parlour. We have had the prayer service. The wake is on.
Just waiting for the point we all get to Aunt Betsy's house for the after funeral gathering of the mourners. The women are crying in the bathroom, sometimes wailing...but NOT over the dearly deceased, they are wailing about something else that has been eating their soul.
The "menfolk" are on the backporch...smoking, drinking and tell'en stories. Uncle Butch is poised to punch Uncle Michael in the mouth, but Uncle Glen gets in the middle.
Family quarrels escalate during mourning periods. I don't want the brawl that is brewing to land on this page.
I want someone/everyone that loved Frank to have the posts. Frank does NOT have an obituary to date. This may be it!
Take the quarrels to another page...there are plenty available.
NOMINATE FRANK
We all agree...he was the BEST!
I did not know Frank but from the sounds/looks of it he was a great guy. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends/family
She, right. We are writing the only memorial Frank is going to get. Remember that as you post your thoughts.
Hello All, My heart has been hurt again, when one of my fellow musicians leaves us well before thier time it hurts. Frank has always been a pleasure to chat with, jam with, and a great joy to listen to, he will be sadly missed by all of us. I thanks God for my time on earth and for putting me in a place where I have the pleasure of knowing so many good friends and comrads at arms, Maybe Frank and Kenny (and so many others) will put a good word in for us. RIP.
We loved Frank...he knew it and we knew it! Says it all.
Frank and Mr. Webster had been friends for years.
Frank liked my sparkly dresses. He said so the night we met.
We became friends.
When Frank came to see Mr. Webster. He and I sat together for hours, and hours talking. He was sooooooo funny...and we agreed on so much...politics, religion, the war and a host of other things.
The last time I had dinner with Frank, he was still with Laredo. He was looking to make a move away from country. He asked for the Webster's blog address that night...
Mr. Webster and I went to go see Backwoods as often as we could.
I gave him a "No one cares about your blog" pin after "blogger's night". He actually laughed and said, "that's NOT what I heard." He asked for the blog address again.
Frank said, something to the effect...if folks do NOT come to see me when I am alive, they sure are NOT coming to see me when I am gone, the funeral is not for the dead...it's for the living.
January 1st, 2007 was the saddest New Year's Day I can remember in my lifetime. We are glad we told Frank we loved him before he died. We have comfort in seeing him at ACE's, in one of his last performances, and dancing to his country sound.
January 22, 007
Still thinking bout Frank...
My effort to get Frank Dunch nominated for the Free Times Music Award failed.
Still trying to figure that one out.
I thought we had enough votes to get him in the top five...if we all agreed.
Turns out...we did NOT all agree.
I have to admit, I was deeply offended by remarks that Frank Dunch was NOT deserving to be with four other guitarists in the area.
Good Lord...that was like the MOST pathetic thing I read while grieving a loss to our community...
Feburary 6, 007
Today, I attended a CEU program offered by Hospice of the Western Reserve. It was about grief/loss in the workplace. I immediately thought of Frank, as we were quizzed on recent losses. The facilitator was one of the best I have heard in months...maybe years.
I had to share my story about Frank. The loss, the shock, the grief...and that I am a creature of my culture. Not only do I mourn Frank, I mourn that we did NOT have a wake, a funeral, a luncheon.
OK...so I can't have a funeral, but I want a memorial/wake/meal to share.
I still fret. Frank always laughed when I said the word fret.
March 10, 007
Frank Dunch was a dear man.
Yesterday...we were gathering all the necessary documents needed to complete our taxes.
Ya know, ya sift through the stacks of things ya set aside and designate as important.
We came across a mailer package from Frank, postmarked February 16, 2006, addressed to: King of Tims.
We haven't decided whether to matte/frame it or just preserve it, in the "things ya save forever" chest.
Frank Dunch was a dear man...and we loved him.
April 9, 007
Yesterday morning I ran across a slip of paper with Frank's phone number on it.
A ping at my heart.
A prayer for my friend and another treasure to add to the things I save forever.
I toured with Frank in the 70's and reunited with him in the 90's and again in 2004 It was Frank that turned me on to Jeff Beck's Blow by Blow album. Dunch was the best guitarist I ever played with. He could do it all, any style, and sang great harmony too. My best playing was when I was with Frank, because he inspired you to play better, to listen better, and just be a better musician all around. We had some great times on the road. I am terribly distressed to learn of his passing. Now as I play some of those Beck tunes with my group, I still think of him. You will be sorely missed, my old friend.
Today...5/20/2007
I saw a Laredo group picture on WGAR's new Homegrown page with Frank in it.
Thanks to rmatousek for stopping by this month.
October 12, 007
SO...here's something that has been annoying me for awhile.
Despite my requests and conversations with your/our "friends"...I could NOT get a commitment for a memorial service.
Ya know, where we all gather together and share fond memories, some music, and a pot luck.
Now it is possible...they threw something together and didn't invite us.
Turns out our "friends" are NOT really our "friends".
This morning...I am recalling a conversation with the "Hardy Boy".
Ya see, I met you, my husband, FOOT, and JDg for the first time at the same time.
Anyway...JDg has been spouting off for 10 months, he warned you about Laredo trying to ace you.
Interesting isn't it?
Yeppers...I think ya know where I am going with this.
Ummm...where was his concern/warning when Mr. Webster was about to be aced?
SO...justenoughrope is disturbed by my posts regarding Frank.
I think he/she said something about allowing Frank to rest in peace.
My thinking is Frank's PEACE cannot be disturbed by anything.
Characterised as the "hate campaign" against Laredo is so flippen laughable.
As if their treatment of Frank was filled with LOVE. Good Lord...they tried to make it look that way. As if, Frank had a vote in being dealt to Backwoods.
Laredo was Frank's only source of income. So, when his income was cut by two thirds, what do ya suppose he didn't have money for...ummm, medications.
Jesus, Joseph and Mary...they talk a good game don't they?
If I were a Laredo fan...I would cringe every time your name was brought up too.
The BOYS in the BANDS are tripping all over themselves trying to convince the rest of us how heartfelt they are with meaningless expressions of sympathy for JDg.
Kinda reminds me of when Frank passed. The folks that treated him the worst lined up to express their grief.
The truth be told...they hate each other. Always trying to one up on each other. Pretending to be all forgiving.
It's actions...not meaningless exclamations of how they support each other.
These assholes couldn't muster up the votes for Frank. They ALL claimed he was the BEST...but nominated and voted for themselves.
Came across a photo of myself and Frank last night.
Think it was taken at the Loose Moose by the Mr.
It was bittersweet...ping, there goes my heart again.
I remember, we had dinner together that night. Can't remember what we ate...but will ALWAYS remember the conversation.
My name is Mike Calhoun,founding member of the Grammy Award Winning "Dazz Band"Motown Records, and a world class guitarist,Frank and i grew up together in Collinwood in the early 70s he was my teacher and best friend,my hero,there was and still is no better pure guitar talent in the world,and i have played with the best,look it it up.Frank saved my life during the Collinwood race riots.we would cut class and go over to his house and jamm while some of our friends were being killed in the riots, until my parents would pick me up .he was colorblind.I will always love Frank Dunch.If anyone knows anything about the funeral etc.you can reach me in Westlake @1-440-899-9374 or www.MySpace/Calzoninblue of www.Littlefishrecords.com Frank is jammin with Hendrx &Steveie Ray right now.can't you hear them?I do.Long live Frank Dunch![In Heaven]Thanks.Mike Calhoun
January 1, 2008
It has been a year.
I don't know that you would care you were googled 37 times in the past year and searchers landed on this thread.
A couple of folks stopped in and shared memories.
Our "friends" make me laugh.
It's been a year since you passed.
You changed my life in ways I cannot even begin to explain to people. Not a day goes by that I am not influenced by the things you taught me, by both word and deed. I hope this past year of, for lack of a better term, self-inspection and instruction shows now that I'll be playing out regularly. If it does, my mission will be complete.
Cheron- I know you'll see this, and I will be in contact soon.
I NEED THE MEMORIAL TOO!
Lunch? A night out? It's way too much for a phone call! Unfortunately I can't gather everyone together in one place at one time, so I'll be doing many of these "meetings."
"God only cries for the living"
Diamond Rio
Girls cry for the dead...then make a casserole
cmk
January 2008, I just found out about my buddy Frank's passing. I am devastated! :(
We played in two bands together back in the '70's and early '80's. I've known him since the mid-'70s.
I don't think he had a mean bone in his body.
Excellent guitarist.
I lost touch with him in the mid-'80's and have been looking for him ever since. I wish I could have found him before 2007.
One of the bands I was in with Frank also had one of this threads posters in it Rick-a-roo on lead vocals and keyboards. Hi Rick, long time no see.
RIP Frank, I am depressed that I will never see you again buddy.
-Walter
PS: Anyone with any information about Frank, i.e. what he was doing since the '80s when I lost touch.
Frank and I had some common ailments that we talked about quite a bit.
What did he die from?
Here is a tape I made of Frank and myself just jamming in the basement of a friend's house back around ~1980.
http://www.angelfire.com/oh5/thony/MyMusic.htm
Hi Walter...
I met Frank in 2001.
He was playing country.
First with Rebels & Rogues, then with Laredo until he was shown the door.
He was playing with Backwoods at the time of his death.
My understanding is he died from heart failure.
I will move your link to the current link. Very few people pay attention to this page anymore.
Thanks for stopping in...love it that you found him here.
Thanks Mrs. Webster.
Frank could play ANY style of music. He was the best local guitarist I've ever heard.
Walter
Look for Foot on MySpace,
follow the link at the front/main page of this blog, then Cleveland Country Blog MySpace...Foot will be there.
I have a couple of pictures of Frank...send me an email. websterscountry@aol.com, and I will send them to you.
E-mail sent. TY!
this is john bremer. frank was my best friend since the mid 80s. I have many audio tapes plus a couple of videos of frank that I will give to people for free who are interested. my number is 440-834-0251 I AM INTERESTED IN TAPES PICTURES VIDEOS ECT...... PS. FOOT are you enjoying the stratocaster still waiting to here from you. and to JW still interested in those videos you have.
Hello all,
I am shocked to hear that Frank has passed. I played in the very first band he was in called "The Girl Watchers Society" back around 1967. He and I were stand outs in Collinwood High in our mod clothes. If anyone would like to see an old picture of him in the band with me, Jeff Moses and Dennis Corbbett on drums just drop me an email at active@roadrunner.com
Has he ever playe a song called Isbert Grump for you?
My Name is Newt Gordon' I played Drums in the sleeper Band with Frank for about 3 months in 1974 he was amazing. Fingers Franks I use to call him, his love of hot dogs was mythical as was his guitar playing...Jon Horwitz was his Friend...local wanna be guitarist Jon
and Nordo North on Bass...Joe Perici on Keys,,,,
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