Ari Ptacek Obituary

I started dancing when I was 5 years old. Then when I was 11 I began taking the clarinet, bassinet and guitar lessons I was given in school. Then, after high school, I moved to Berkley, CA for 9 straight years!

My first song was an unknown (if I remember correctly) by Chicago, IL songwriter "RJ" called "Turn Me Round."

I used to ride my bike all over that area during summers until I got too old and sickly to keep going, and eventually gave it up in favor of working on my music in the evenings. I took a few years off from working and was miserable. I worked at a laundromat for several months (off and on in the middle of the night while still trying to write my first song when the real world showed up). I went through a lot of big life changes and I wondered if what I was doing and living for was even real. I tried to break down into writing songs to God's guidance and to get some relief from the daily rigors of being on the road all day and trying to make it to set ends meet. I thought that maybe I was just lonely and in a rut because of all of that frustration; but no matter how angry I got from my seemingly godless position as a hard street singer, I always knew that I was doing this because of a desire to make a difference, and not because any particular god seemed to care at all. It was in those moments when I felt most alone that I needed help and found my voice - it sounds crazy but it was the best thing I have ever experienced.

I sang back in the small church where I grew up in the Chicago area, and worked my way up the power and voice to the point where I was in a wedding benefit. I always loved performing, so meeting people on the street was fun. A friend said the girls liked me too because I could joke.

While in Philly I did a little studio time to learn on my own. After a few years with that (I think I was 24) I decided it would be good to record an album, and the concept was to learn the melodies on my own and then record them into a song that people could buy. After lots of working with different people, the songs were pretty well on their way when the song was interrupted by the good news.