A welcome breeze cooled the 200 or so spectators gathered around the Zion Park District band shell in Shiloh Park. Some sat on the grass and enjoyed the first pleasant evening in weeks. Others chatted with friends and neighbors. But the space directly in front of the stage was the place to be on that August evening, because the band was rockin’.
The occasion was a musical interlude during the second annual Candle Light Walk for crime awareness, and the band was APB: All Police Band. The group’s name is pretty accurate, too. Seven of the band’s nine members are police officers, six from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department and one from the Illinois State Police. As for the other two, one is the brother of another band member and the other is the son of a detective.
The All Police Band was founded in 1991 almost by accident, when several members of the current lineup decided to jam.
“About four years ago some of us got together in my basement just to play some music,” explained Deputy Sheriff Rich Bilisko, a 49-year-old Grayslake resident who plays saxophone. “We had all been professional musicians at some point in our lives, so it seemed like the thing to do.”
“It wasn’t really a band; it was just goofing off,” chimed in Antioch resident Greg Reschke, 44, a fellow deputy who plays rhythm guitar, bass and keyboards.
But the guys had a good time, and because they didn’t make anybody’s ears bleed, they decided to try it again, but with an audience.
The venue was the yard of soon-to-be-manager Cpl. Mike Blazincic in Island Lake. Actually, it turned out to be his garage, because the weather was less than cooperative. Word of the weekend jam session had spread, attracting several new members to the band, but the distribution of talent left a bit to be desired.
“The band was basically a bunch of guys with guitars. We had a couple of horns, too, but no drums or keyboards,” said Blazincic, 42. “But that party at my house was when the band really began to jell. We had a ball.”
The All Police Band’s repertoire reaches from ’50s rock ‘n’ roll standards to blues, country and recent rock. Most of the members play more than one instrument, and the band often breaks up into smaller units depending upon the needs of the song.
By spring 1992, the All Police Band, as it had become officially known, had ironed out its personnel and instrument problems and officially debuted, with drums and keyboards no less, at a benefit for the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center. Since then, the band has played at innumerable benefits and parties.
“I basically got roped into it,” explained Gurnee resident Bob Byerly, 50, who contributes keyboards, saxophone and guitar. “Like several other members of the band, I was a professional musician at one time, too. But I’ve done the road thing. This is fun.”
Drummer and guitarist Mike Smith, 35, of North Chicago, brother of guitarist Martin Smith, is the only full-time musician in the band and one of its two non-police members. The youngest member of the band at 21, Danny Colin, a student at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and resident of Ingleside, was drafted into the band after his father, a detective with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, made it known that Danny was pretty handy with a saxophone.
The band has the blessing of Lake County Sheriff Clinton Grinnell, though members play on their own time and not in uniform.
“We don’t get paid for this,” explained 38-year-old guitarist and bassist Martin Smith of Antioch. “Most of the donations we get go to charity, and some goes into a fund we are building to buy our own P.A. system, which could easily cost $20,000.”
So far the band has managed to get by on a combination of house systems wherever it plays and on borrowed equipment. Some equipment has even been donated to the band by patrons such as Mackie Sound Systems in Woodenville, Wash., and Shure Brothers of Evanston.
But the band’s most important patron is the Music Source in Wildwood. Over the years, the retail store has helped the All Police Band by lending equipment and helping to track down hard-to-find equipment at a friendly price. The store is currently playing an important role in acquiring the P.A. system.
“We like the fact that they are standing for a good cause,” explained Music Source co-owner Doug Anderson. “They help people out, so we’re glad to help them out.”
The band is also supported by the families of the members. As long as they don’t spend the grocery money on rock ‘n’ roll gear, anyway.
“I cook for them, I clean up after them, I haul their equipment,” explained Cindy Bilisko, 38, whose house is often used for practice sessions. “I’m the mother of the band, but I have a lot of fun. I like them and their music, and we have a small barn that they can practice in.”
Judging by the reactions of the people gathered for the Zion performance, the All Police Band has become a pretty good cause all by itself.
“They’re great, and the kids just love it,” said Joy Nagel of Zion. Nagel had brought her six children and three neighbor children to the park for the show. All 10 had joined the group of active listeners dancing near the stage.
“They’re good,” said Lake County State’s Atty. Michael Waller. “We’ve had them play at several events. They add a unique ambience.”
In fact, the ambience seems strange to many people, Blazincic said.
“A lot of people can’t believe that it’s really a bunch of cops up there playing,” he said. “They see cops as the guys who write tickets and sit in coffee shops. But if these guys had more time to practice, with their talent they could play with the best.”
Said Bill Bobrowski, 41, of Waukegan, a deputy sheriff who plays drums and operates the sound equipment: “It’s a lot of fun for us, and it’s good p.r. for the police. sometimes it’s hard to get together, because police work has to come first.”
Demand for the band continues to be steady, and enthusiasm within the band is high. Despite what Reschke called “real cop stuff” limiting their ability to rehearse and perform, most of the members claim to be in it for the long haul.
“I used to play professionally, and I’ll never do it again,” said 31-year-old lead guitarist Joseph Perez, the lone representative of the State Police and a resident of unincorporated McHenry County. “The road thing is too much work. This is fun. If it ever stops being fun, I’ll quit, but I don’t see that happening.”
