Jam For Karl: A Night Of Blues, Funk & Rock At Edmond Town Hall

A number of the area’s top musicians have teamed up to recognize and celebrate the musical contributions of Karl Schwichtenberg, a Sandy Hook resident and member of the band Spontaneous Combustion.

Mr Schwichtenberg has been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. With this in mind, friends and family have decided to create a special event called “jam for karl.” The musical event will take place Friday, February 6, from 7 to 11 pm, in The Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown.

Tickets are $29 if purchased in advance or $33 at the door, and all proceeds will help Karl with medical costs and related expenses. The cost of admission covers light snacks and soft drinks; a cash bar will be available.

Another highlight of the evening will be the silent auction of a Line 6 Variax first issue model guitar with over 20 specific acoustic and electric guitar sounds including sitar and banjo, in mint condition.

Karl Schwichtenberg loves — and lives — the blues.  On one of his favorite Telecasters or Les Paul electric guitars, the veteran musician will dig deep into tunes by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton & Cream, or one of his own soul-filled, funky originals. His wife of over 20 years, Erica, is usually close by, unfurling a soaring solo on her electric violin and singing harmony to Karl.

The Sandy Hook duo has had a long-running musical duo and band known as Spontaneous Combustion. But as the holidays were nearing in 2008, the couple received news that brought its own brand of blues. Karl had been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer, a disease with few advance symptoms and generally poor prognosis. Pancreatic cancer has been in the news recently as actor Patrick Swayze has been openly battling it.

Karl and Erica Schwichtenberg met more than two decades ago, auspiciously enough at the Georgetown Saloon, a well-known Fairfield County music venue where they would go on to play many times themselves.  The two discovered a shared passion for blues, rock, and funk music. Karl, a largely self-taught guitarist from New Haven who picked up the instrument at age 10, was playing in a popular country-rock outfit at the time, The Stoney Boys.

“We almost got picked up by RCA Records,” says Karl. “It was us or Alabama, and the rest is history.”

Erica was a classically-trained violinist, a Westport native who had studied at the esteemed music program at Indiana University in Bloomington, but her heart was also in the blues. Soon Karl had won her heart too, and Erica began sitting in with the Stoney Boys.

The two eventually formed one of the area’s longest-running musical units, Spontaneous Combustion, a blues-funk-rock group with a shifting rhythm section of some of the region’s best players, with Karl and Erica’s violin and guitar at its core.

Over the years, Spontaneous Combustion has played long-standing runs at such regional hot-spots as the Redding Roadhouse, (the now-defunct) 59 Bank Street in New Milford, and Washington Depot’s legendary GW Tavern.  In their 20-year run, they had a number of memorable shows opening for such artists as country star Jeannie C. Riley (in the Stoney Boys era), the Beach Boys at Ives Concert Park, Charlie Daniels Band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Wishbone Ash, The Average White Band, and Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner.

Karl remembers one of the stand-out experiences as the time they were hired for a private party in Litchfield.

“We shared the bill with Rick Danko and other members of The Band,” he recalled fondly. “In fact, those guys released their tracks from that day on an album called ‘Live from Breeze Hill.’”

Spontaneous Combustion has released two CDs of their own, The Nature of Love and Love & War, both of which received favorable reviews and national college and public radio airplay.  Karl also managed Danbury’s Kane Music Store for over 20 years, and in the last few years has become a popular local guitar teacher.

The Schwichtenbergs have also made long and lasting friendships and mutual admiration societies with many area musicians.  Some of these artists are now giving back to one of their own, coming out to play – and pay tribute – at the Jam for Karl benefit concert on February 6.

Among Fairfield County’s legendary guitar slingers and the region’s top blues, funk, rock, country and jazz musicians who will be featured in the five-hour long jam for karl will be Chance Brown (The Twinkies), Charlie Karp (of the Buddy Miles Band), Big Eric Walters & The Budget Crunch, drummer Thierry Arpino (of Jean Luc Ponty’s band), and of the younger generation, guitar wonder Matt Rae and his trio.

Closing the show, of course, will be Spontaneous Combustion.  The name will prove appropriate as most of the musical guests will join the duo onstage for an extended and exciting jam.  

Advance tickets can be purchased at the Manager’s Office of Edmond Town Hall (telephone 270-4285); Route 7 Music, 355 Federal Road in Brookfield, (775-6377); Disc and Dat, 107 Greenwood Avenue in Bethel (797-0067); Ridgefield Music, 19 Governor Street in Ridgefield (203-438-7446); and Sally’s Place, 190 Main Street in Westport (203-454-0303).

Additional information is available by calling 748-7110 or visiting JamForKarl.com.