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Toast-ing music of then and now

January 11, 2007

By ROBERT LOERZEL Contributor

Some of the musicians in the North Shore rock band Toast are old enough to remember seeing the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show," so it's no surprise that the group plays oldies.

But the guys in Toast also dig new music.

"One of the comments we get from people who come up after a gig is the extreme range of what we play," drummer Howie Winestock says. "Here's a band playing everything from 'White Rabbit' to the White Stripes."

Toast also plays a fair share of original songs, and the band will celebrate the release of its first CD, "Ekstreemleeburnt," with a concert Jan. 20 at Gabe's Backstage Lounge in Highwood.

The group's kid

While most of the musicians are middle-aged, one of them is a college kid. Guitarist Drew Hosfield joined Toast when he was a student at New Trier High School, and now he squeezes occasional Toast gigs into his schedule as a DePaul University student.

As singer-guitarist Jim O'Connell tells it, Hosfield joined after one of his parents asked: "Could you do me a favor and let him step up and do a tune with you guys?"

Once the band heard Hosfield play, they wanted him in the band. "He blew the roof off," O'Connell said.

"I like just about every style of music, from bluegrass to jazz to rock," said Hosfield, who's hoping to switch from his undeclared major to DePaul's School of Music next year.

Toast's members are north suburban residents who have played in various bands over the years and still love doing it, balancing the pursuit of musical fun with their professional day jobs.

Winestock, O'Connell and Hosfield live in Wilmette, as does guitarist Paul Trottier. Singer Chris Zeman lives in Glenview, and bassist Brian Murphy is from Arlington Heights.

Scrambled success

Toast came together a couple of years ago, when O'Connell had planned to play with another group of musicians one night at C.J. Arthur's in Wilmette. The other musicians cancelled, however.

"There I was with a gig and no band," O'Connell said. "So I scrambled around."

O'Connell assembled some of his musician friends for the concert, and it went so well that the group became a going concern.

In 2004, Toast opened for Collective Soul at the Rave Club in Milwaukee. "That's probably the highlight of many of our musical careers," Winestock said.

Like Toast's repertoire of cover songs, the original tunes on "Ekstreemleeburnt" sound like a mix of classic and alternative rock. "It really is diverse," Winestock said.

TOAST