I just got word that one of my best friends, though we'd been estranged for a few years, has died.
Estranged only in the sense that I'd lost my mind to drugs and alcohol, was no longer welcome in most circles etc...
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Jay” Ohsiek, III, 63, passed away Friday, April 2, 2021 at Candler Hospital. Jay was born January 10, 1958 in Fort Oglethorpe, GA. He was formerly employed by Stage Front Productions as a Sound Engineer. He was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension, and was an avid fisherman.
When I came back to Georgia from my stint in the USAF, I was already deeply disturbed, emotionally and physically.
My high school friend Mark Fallin (also from our small town) had a 3 piece band, playing R&B around Savannah Ga. Jay Ohsiek was the Drummer
I had a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and a Marshall Cabinet with 4, 10inch Celestion speakers
They needed a keyboard player, I needed a job.
So I traded all of the above for a Korg Poly 61 keyboard, and in the process throwing away a LOT of value in that guitar
So much so that unbeknownst to me, a neighbor down the road, having heard of this, went within 2 days, went to Rody's music and bought my guitar.
He lived less than a mile away, and to this day he will not let me see, play or consider selling it back to me
But as usual, I digress
Mark and all band members lived in Savannah (on the coast), I lived in Claxton (60 mi inland) Once I was established with the band, Jay would drive to Claxton and pick me up.
What a guy.
Often, or should I say luckily, or should I say due to the hard work of Mark, we had several gigs in a week. I would stay with him, or sometimes with Jay at his rental apt on the grounds of the former Ft Screven
on Tybee Island
At that time, Ft Screven was very much undeveloped.
His apartment (a standalone 2 story surrounded by derelict cast aluminum lawnmower frames... I presume it was a repair shop at one point,) was within easy sight of this lighthouse
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Jay's family had lived in and around Tybee for generations. They had a house just yards from the ocean on the beachfront.
Almost always rented, but we had occasional usage of it.
They also had a one bedroom flat on one of the tidal creeks.
Jay lived there for quite a while, and I would sleep on the floor in the living room.
We'd go out on the dock during the days off or before a gig.
He taught me how to use a cast net to catch shrimp.
Conversely, when we had gigs in the inland area, Jay would stay with me and Mama.
After I joined the band the name was changed to "Hot Cargo" (I think it was "Folding Change" before I came along)
Jay painted that sign sitting on my livingroom floor.
Mark was the "front man" playing guitar, singing and mixing sound, in this image (from "The Office Lounge" in our home town: the motto was 'where friends come to meet', we affectionately called it, The Orifice Lunge 😈 )
Jay was a MASTER Percussionist (quite literally, I think he had a college degree,).
After the band split, he taught Band at Benedictine Academy in Sav, then went on to work as a sound engineer for large venues
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Mike Burke was the most excellent bassist,
and I was the keyboardist/vocalist
We often had visiting musicians sit in with us
On the far left, in front of Mike, is Jay Stewart, who became a lawyer, then a judge, and all the while cultivating his guitar skills, and is now known in the music world to a degree.
We had a long standing gig at "The Other End" A bar on Riverstreet in Sav. Literally you stepped out of any bar or establishment on Riverstreet and you were looking at the Savannah River.
The Port of Savannah is one of the largest on the East Coast of the United States, and as such many sailors would walk down river to the Historic Riverstreet area (Savannah is also the oldest city in Georgia, Riverstreet is where Gen James Oglethorpe and the colonists landed to establish the colony of Georgia) and engage with us in the bars.
On one such visit, we were given an invitation to tour the ship
Only Mark and I accepted, the officers served us cucumber sandwiches and REAL British bitters, and REAL Scotch.
Mark left fairly early, as should I have, but I didn't and got ROARING Drunk.
Because I'd had military experience, indeed Nuclear experience, they broke the rules and gave me a tour of "the war room"
Wot Larks!
So, I say so long to you my dear friend. I wish we had reconnected sooner so I could have actually SEEN you after those nearly 30 yrs had passed
"Rest in Peace, Jay Ohsiek"
by
Jerry E Smith
©04/04/2021
All images not linked are original.