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New Single "You're the One"![]()
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Single "Ain't it a Beautiful Day"![]()
Single "Free Wheelin" Please like and Subscribe![]()
On Location
Big thanks to Eric at "Half Evil Chop Shop" for providing such a cool back drop to shoot from!
And Thank You to Gabe at "Yellow Wood Media" for such a quality Video!
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Great Interview on Tiki Man Radio! Thank you Tiki Man.
A little background
Don Sprik
I remember back in my early grade school days, I had a very modern looking round blue transistor radio. That radio gave me the freedom to choose the kind of music that I wanted to listen to. And listen I did! It wasn't until my later teens that I learned to play a little guitar and soon a band was formed. Jimmy joined that group at some point, and we have remained friends ever since. It was right around that time that we booked our first recording session in a real studio and the writing started. I was 20 years old give or take. The next band we called Freewheelin and Jon came into the picture. We had a nice little run, doing some recording and playing parties, mixing covers with original works and having lots of fun! Through the 80's and 90's I was in and out of the studio with various lineups honing my craft. Al was my go to drummer on a lot of those sessions.Although I didn't play out a lot during those years, I kept plugging away. By 2010 I had released 3 albums.I wasn't really doing a lot musically when I received a call from my old friend Jimmy and well, just to keep this short, here we go again..... Hey! We're getting the old band back together.
Al Arkesteyn
My earliest memories of the drums is of my brother Dave playing his old red sparkle Norma drum set to the sound of Buddy Rich, and Louie Bellson. At the time, I didn’t consider playing myself, but I sure loved watching my brother play and the feeling I got from the sound coming from those drums! Not until high school did I get the urge to start playing the drums like my big brother. So I sat down behind the red sparkle Norma and started playing along to my favorite songs. However, it wasn’t long before I realized that as a lefty, playing drums right handed was awkward. That day I got serious and went in search of my own drum set. That summer I continued playing right handed until I bought an old white six piece Ludwig set and moved to college. It was during my time in college playing in various bands where I found my groove and my style. After graduation I moved back home and joined a local heavy metal band. I played around Grand Rapids in various bars and clubs with them until a buddy of mine mentioned that a guy he worked with, Don Sprik, was looking for a drummer! What! Don Sprik? I know him! He went to school with my sister! That was almost 30 years ago. Since then we’ve made two CD’s, played in multiple venues, and have had multiple different lineups. With that said, the current lineup of Don Sprik and Freewheelin is the best yet! I can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store for us!
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Jon Jarecki
So the story I was told goes something like this. My older brother was taking music lessons and couldn't get a certain song right. Apparently I hummed the part perfectly completely impressing everyone. I was too young to remember but I do believe I was born with a certain love for music. I do remember being not very old sneaking into the same brothers room when he was out. Putting on his 45 records (ok so I was old enough to know how too) "journey to the center of the mind" and "lier lier" and "quick joey small" standing in front of the mirror and played air guitar to millions of fans. Man those where the days right? At the old age of 15 I had a friend who wanted to sell a bass guitar and amp. $80 bucks. So we work out a deal and it was all down hill from there. I practiced when I could. Feeling confident I tried out for a band and was laughed out the door. Humiliated I decided I was going to learn and learn hard and fast. As far as the learning thing ..... well "luckily" I was in an accident ended up with a broken leg, no more job so no money so nothing to do. Except. Some days I would go for 14 hours. Self-taught which wasn't a good thing persay I had built enough courage to be able to audition. And I did audition for some guys that were regrouping and needed a bassist. Man I got the gig! We decided to call ourselves Freewheelin. We had a lot of great gigs a lot of fun and many stories made which Donny sings about in 2021's "Freewheelin (we were)" So after a long time of the original Freewheelin's break up (and I have to say a bit painfull for me) I received a message from Don and Jim wanting to get together and see what happens. How could I resist! And this is what happened... Happy listening and I hope you enjoy!
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Jimmy Warren
I grew up in a musical family. My dad was an amazing swing band clarinet player and both of my parents had records spinning all of the time. My two older brothers started on guitar which meant there was always one leaned up in a corner somewhere in the house. Smoke on the water, wipeout and taking care of business were some of the 1st I learned from them. Seems like I was always in something of a band from around 14 (I remember taking my gear to practice pulling it in a little red wagon). Our moms brought us to the battle of the bands at a skating rink around that time and I was hooked! Later on a friend of mine played in a band with Don and when the bass player left that band I jumped at the opportunity. Sometime after that Don , myself and a couple good friends started “Freewheelin”. We luckily found Jon right away and had a blast ripping up the
West Michigan music scene. Fast forward a number of decades and we are all excited to do it again. With Al on board we have great groove! We’re so excited to be recording new music again and getting back to some “unfinished business “ 🎼
Jimmy Markle
“Unfinished Business”, indeed!When I was younger, approximately a million years ago, I grew up with three older brothers and a twin sister, all of whom were into music to some degree.As for me, I was simply getting into trouble with my best friend who lived across the street. What could go wrong? There did come a point though, when getting into trouble just wasn’t enough, so “borrowing” my siblings records quickly became a great new habit, and I soon started my own collection of vinyl and listening to the radio whenever possible. After having multiple “eargasms”, I decided it was time to start beating the hell out of my parents’ upright piano in the living room just to see what would happen.I am pretty sure that I am the one responsible for ruining the action and tuning on the thing until I settled down a little bit to try and find my groove, all while listening to the very often shoutings of “SHUT UP!” and “I’M ON THE PHONE, DAMNIT!” and “GO DOWNSTAIRS!” Not long after that, high school was in the rear view mirror and I found myself in with a group of like-minded dudes and we called ourselves “Freewheelin’”. We planted the seed and apparently everyone has been watering it since then, albeit our own seperate ways. When Freewheelin split up I toyed around with various projects with other people, including all of these guys at one time or another. After that, I pretty much stepped away from it for the last 20 something years, thinking I was done with it all.And then I got an email from my twin sis that said Jimmy wanted to speak with me, so I made the call and lo and behold, not only are we all still alive, but are now currently writing and recording some fun stuff! Whoodathunkit?
Don's Previous Works
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Pretty Little Mama
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Hey Boy
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The Rebel