Not a typical musician
Man whose music includes songs with fishing themes just wants to leave something behind
John Kurkosky has written more than 40 songs, plays a little guitar, too, but don't expect to see him live and in concert.
"I've been on stage three times in my life," Kurkosky said. "I was terrified every time."
His band, Cloudy Towne Guys, isn't really a band, just a collection of musicians Kurkosky picked up around St. Cloud. They're featured along with his brother-in-law, Dave Daniel, on Kurkosky's only CD, "John Kurkosky and Dave Daniel with Cloudy Towne Guys."
The CD has 16 songs, including five with a fishing theme: "I Fish Everywhere" (a spinoff on Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere," with Gull and Round lakes mentioned), "Fishin' Brainerd," "Fishin' Minnesota," "Governor's Fishing Opener in Willmar" and "Ice Fishin' with my buddies and me."
Kurkosky, 55, isn't your typical musician, if there is such a thing. He's a construction worker who writes music as a hobby. He has no aspirations beyond "leaving something behind" and he has never kept a dollar from the sales of his music. Instead, the money goes to food shelves, charitable groups and organizations such as the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, Take Back the Night, Factory and Farm USA and private individuals who need money.
Carol Koltes, his son's wife's mother, had a stroke while awaiting a kidney transplant. Kurkosky dedicated his CD to her.
"They were going to auction off a four-wheeler," Kurkosky said, "so I said, 'Why don't you let me throw a CD together?' We've sold somewhere between 200 and 300 of them at $12 apiece."
A TV station in West Virginia played Kurkosky's version of "Amazing Grace" after the recent deaths of 12 coal miners.
"I really like how that one turned out," he said. "The original doesn't have a chorus. Mine does. I stuck some money into that one. I hired some professional backup vocalists."
He once attempted to make personal money from his music at the Governor's Fishing Opener. A company said it would pay him if he mentioned 14 products made in Minnesota. Kurkosky held up his part of the deal. The company did not.
"They ripped me off," he said. "I never got a dime. I got to go to the governor's dinner. It's hard chasing after a big company. I'm not one to make waves."
Kurkosky recorded his first song in 1980 after Ronald Reagan was elected president. It was a 45 rpm country single titled, "Reaganomics." With lyrics such as, "He doesn't seem so bright, jelly beans don't make him right," the song was hardly flattering to the former president.
"I got some hate mail from that one," Kurkosky said. "But that's what makes this country great. We voice our opinions."
Kurkosky said a radio announcer once told him he was sitting on a couple million dollars worth of songs.
"But that doesn't mean anything," he said. "Music is a very hard industry to break into. I'm a construction worker. If all I leave behind is a song, I'm fine with that."
Kurkosky's CD is available for $12 at Annandale Floral, Al's Music in St. Cloud, or by writing 5508 Lathrop Ave. N.W., Annandale, MN 55302.
VINCE MEYER can be reached at vince.meyer@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5862.