HISTORY

The original Northwind band was founded in 1968 by Roland Ernest and me (Jan Stepka).
We were inspired originally by bands such as the Doors, Cream, the Moody Blues,
the Beatles, and Procol Harum.

We were later heavily influenced by ELP, Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis. Echoes of these styles
are found in the Distant Shores recordings.

The band went through four membership changes. The first incarnation was a trio with drummer Steve White.
In 1970 we created and performed an original rock opera entitled “Looking Back.”
In 1972 we recorded an untitled demo album featuring the song “Last Day at Lokun.”

Tom Iacaboni replaced Steve White on drums when Steve White left the band to pursue the guitar.
In 1974 Tom, Jan and Roland recorded the world famous (in collectors' circles) Northwind demo album
in Roland's family's basement. This album is often erroneously referred to as “Woods of Zandor.”

Tom was at heart a jazz drummer, and when he left Northwind, Tim Cahill joined on drums and percussion.
For a short period, Bob Pascoe contributed his rock guitar to Northwind's sound.
Northwind performed mostly in clubs at that time and created a reputation in Canada. This period
largely had the band playing covers of other rock bands' material.

In 1977 returning to original music, Roland took over guitars and the band added the talents
of Rob Foster on wind instruments. In 1978 we recorded our magnum opus “Distant Shores”
in Roland's family's basement in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
One song, “Just Yesterday,” was released as part of a local radio station's
compilation of Detroit area bands' music entitled “Home Grown.”

Tim Cahill's religious calling conflicted with his perception of the rock and roll lifestyle
leading him to leave secular musical performing. Howard Wells joined the band on drums and percussion
for rehearsals while Roland and the band's manager Ron Geddish vainly persued a record contract.
These efforts included a trip to California to visit record companies.

Northwind broke up in 1978 largely because of this failure. In the end, the
“Distant Shores” songs were never performed outside of Roland's basement.

I (Jan Stepka) created this site in 2002 to keep Northwind's music and memory alive.
I'm very proud of the music we produced, and hope you enjoy it too.

And shall all our sound and fury fade
Listen: for our voices have joined
the song of the wind and the waves,
bound for distant shores - Jan Stepka 2002

DOWNLOADS are now available!

Please continue to visit this site –
higher quality Distant Shores recordings are now available for download.
Send e-mail to me at jan.stepka@gmail.com with comments.
You can also tweet me as @aiphone on Twitter.com
or befriend me (Jan Stepka) on Facebook.

Northwind - Distant Shores (©1977)

Roland Ernest – composer, guitars, keyboards (Just Yesterday), vocals
Jan Stepka – keyboards
Rob Foster – winds
Tim Cahill - drums, percussion, vibes
Joseph Dedischew – sound

Special credit to:

Howard Wells – drums, percussion (after Tim Cahill left)

Comment on Distant Shores from Clay Gaunce WRFL radio host, Lexington, Kentucky USA

(Distant Shores is) “unequivocally ... nothing short of a treasure from the golden age of progressive rock”

Northwind - Northwind (©1974)

Song Titles: Live, Nightmares, Zandor, Some Other Way, Aftermath
Roland Ernest - composer, guitars, vocals
Jan Stepka – keyboards, vocals
Tom Iacaboni – drums, percussion, vocals
Joseph Dedischew, James Allen Lee – sound and lighting

This is the album known on the internet as “Woods of Zandor.” This title is a fabrication
by album collectors, although Zandor is a song about an evil wizard on the album.
A single limited pressing in 1974 was released as a demo.
The label on the record is blank. The cover art was done by the late Tom Iacaboni.
The cover art is posted. Eventuall we will have mpg and wav files for download.
“Woods of Zandor” presently has a rating of 9 (out of a possible 15) on Gnosis.
The production values were not as good as we would have liked –
for example, no phasing was added to the Hammond organ,
and the piano/harpsichord work was done on an RMI electric piano.
The music on this album is interesting primarily as a harbinger of the Distant Shores recordings.
We know of no available copies of the album and will not respond to questions on that subject.

Northwind - Last Day at Lokun (©1974)

Song Titles: Waited Long Enough, Green Hills of Earth, Autumn's Song, DASC, Remember the Rain, Last Day at Lokun
Roland Ernest - composer, guitars, vocals
Jan Stepka – keyboards, vocals
Steve White – drums, percussion, vocals
Joseph Dedischew, James Allen Lee – sound and lighting

Special thanks to:

Parents of Roland – who put up with the music in the basement and things rattling off the shelves almost every night for over ten years

Cheryl Goodwin Dedischew – equipment

Ron Geddish – management

Lynda Turgeon

Karen McConachie

Steve White – original Northwind drums and percussion (Looking Back, Last Day at Lokun)

James Allen Lee (Jim Lee)– sound and lighting
(Jim, if you see this please contact me - Jan)

Contact jan.stepka@gmail.com Updated 2009-02-23

This site was created and is being maintained using the OpenOffice.org   open source (free) office suite HTML editor
and the free image editor Irfanview.
Many thanks to the people who create and develop free and open source software.
The world will be a better place because of their efforts.