Globe-trotting guitarist Jeff Kollman drops in for a hometown reunion

BOWLING GREEN – It was a rocking reunion when guitarist Jeff Kollman recently took the stage at Howard’s Club H in Bowling Green, Ohio.

The guitar virtuoso, who grew up in Toledo and now lives in California and Indiana, has been traveling the world for the last three decades performing with some of the top names in pop, rock and jazz, including Alan Parsons, Lou Gramm, UFO, Lyle Lovette, Miranda Lambert, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

He was named one of 50 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Japan’s Young Guitar magazine, and Guitar Player magazine called Kollman “the musical equivalent of an acetylene torch.”

His homecoming show in BG was a walk down memory lane for Kollman, who shared stories about growing up in Toledo, attending Bowsher High, performing at local clubs, and playing in local bands such as Edwin Dare and The Stain.

The trio featured bassist Kevin Chown, who had been in Edwin Dare, and a new member of Kollman’s band, drummer Dave Potvin.

Opening the concert was Mark Mikel and the Dive-Bombing Space Pigeons. Mikel was a member of The Stain with Kollman and drummer Jon Stainbrook back in the ’90s.

Dan Dauer, who has been a friend of Kollman since they were teenagers, helped close Kollman’s two-hour set by singing a few songs including “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath. Dauer said he invited Kollman to join his band when Kollman was 14 but the guitarist quit after only a month.

“He said he had to practice and the band was taking up too much time,” Dauer said. “He was already playing like Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads at 14 but he wanted to get even better.”

Kollman thanked many friends and musicians in the audience who “changed my life,” including local jazz legend Gene Parker, who gave Kollman music lessons when he was a kid.

The guitarist has built an impressive career as a solo artist, session musician and touring artist. He’s been performing with the Alan Parsons band since 2017, and recently finished a five-show tour with Lou Gramm, cofounder of the band Foreigner.

“I’m juggling the tours and family life. I’m never the guy to get on a tour bus and go on tour for nine months, then come home divorced,” Kollman said in a recent interview. “The artists I play with, it’s usually weekend gigs. The longest I’m gone is four or five days.”

Kollman recalled how Mikel inspired him to further his music career.

“I remember going to his studio when I was like 14 or 15, just watching and listening to the songs he recorded and mixed. He said, ‘You need to get an eight-track machine.’ An eight-track cost $2,200 back then and we saved up our money and went to Bowling Green and bought one. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Mikel is well known on the local scene, just notching his 300^th show at Howard’s Club H, and in recent years has enjoyed a career boost thanks to Kollman.

“I wrote a song called ‘Fly to Me’ for Alan and I needed lyrics,” Kollman said. “I sent it to Mark and he sent it back like the next day with lyrics. He sang the song and he also changed some of the chords around. I presented it to Alan (Parsons) and told him Mark is gold in Toledo, and that I’d put him up there with Jeff Lynne of ELO.

“Alan listened to the song and said it’s uncanny how much he sounds like John Lennon, but maybe we need a famous singer to do it for the album. The next day, he said, ‘I can’t imagine anyone else singing this. Do you think your friend Mark would fly out here to California and sing the song in my studio?”

They recorded the tune with Mikel on vocals and it was included on Parson’s album “The Secret,” released in 2019. Mikel has continued to write and record songs with Parson.

Kollman just released a double-vinyl album and CD titled “2023 A.D.,” consisting entirely of instrumental tunes.

“I have a fanbase with my instrumental music. I have been putting out instruments since Toledo and my “Schizoid” album (released in 1990). Since then, I’ve recorded instrumentals with Cosmosquad on my solo records and with Chad Smith.

“This time I definitely set out to do a new instrumental record and to make it the best it can be, sonically, with the best players and the best flow of the songs. The reviews have been fantastic.”

Special guests include bassist Jimmy Johnson and Smith.

“I wanted to get Chad Smith to play on ‘Tongs and Thongs’ but he was super busy with Chili Pepper stuff and was also working with Iggy Pop and drumming with ZZ Top … I texted him on Monday and he said it’s a really busy week but I’d love to do it. I’ll try. He texted me on Thursday and said, ‘What are you doing at 1?’”

Smith showed up at Kollman’s home studio in Grenada Hills, Calif., and they recorded the song in two takes.

Kollman said he decided to make “2023 A.D.” a double vinyl album because he had 49 minute’s worth of music recorded, which fit on a CD but was too long for a single vinyl album.

“I was not going to cut out songs to put it on vinyl so at the eleventh hour I decided we need a fourth side. The fourth side of the vinyl album has three bonus songs that are not on the CD. You can’t get them anywhere except on the vinyl album.”

The last song is “A Tribute to Tommy,” which he wrote and played in honor of his late brother who passed away in 2012. “It’s just a great way to end the record,” Kollman said.

Now that he’s finished the instrumental album, Kollman is already working on his next project. And true to Kollman’s adventurous approach to music, it’s a total turnaround from “2023 A.D.”

“The next album will be all vocals, one album with 44 minutes of music. I’m going to have different singers, kind of like Alan (Parson) does. You create this music and then you choose different singers. Phil Mogg (of UFO) will be on one of them. I’ve already got Mark Mikel on board.

“I’ve written 27 songs so far and will be going full throttle on the new album in the fall,” Kollman said, adding that he plans to pare the songs down to a manageable number.

More information on Jeff Kollman is available online at jeffkollman.com.