When he writes a song or plays the guitar, Dan Kouba does it from the bottom of his stitched-together heart.
He’s written songs about his mother, about small-town life, about an accident that took the fingers on his right hand.
He considers himself neither an exceptional guitarist nor an exceptional singer, but when he plays with his band, Dan Kouba and the Journeymen, he is in his element.
“I don’t get nervous before playing — just excited,” said Kouba, 67, of Hillsboro. “People say that it shows.”
The band plays a mix of original songs and covers, mostly classic rock. They’ve gained steam and notoriety, Kouba said, by playing live shows and getting a few songs on WRCO Radio in Richland Center.
On Saturday, May 11, the group will play a set at Leo & Leona’s tavern and dance hall — perhaps their biggest show yet.
“People say that when you play at Leo and Leona’s, you’ve made it,” Kouba said.
He was never musically gifted. As a child, Kouba had played the cornet and attempted to play the piano, the latter under his mother’s instruction.
But his lack of interest, paired with a hunting accident that claimed his fingers, drove him away from music. It was more than 40 years later, after having open-heart surgery and hearing from his surgeon that music relieves stress, that Kouba grabbed a guitar.
Progress was slow — slow, but encouraging.
Kouba took lessons from Joe Havlik, a longtime musician with whom Kouba has some kind of familial relation. “Second cousins once removed, or something like that,” Havlik said.
The pair met for two hours once a week, picking strings until Kouba got the hang of it.
All his life, Kouba has had a self-described knack for poetry — something that has served him well in songwriting.
One of his favorite pieces, “Thank You, Mom,” is a sort of love note to his mother. Another, called “Church Lady,” tells the story of an Elroy woman who, 50 years ago, had her neighbors burst in on her taking a bath, because they saw that her house was on fire.
“His songwriting is continuing to blossom,” Havlik said. “Everytime we get done with a song, Dan will say it’s the best one we’ve ever done. I never say that. I think that his best song is yet to be written.”
For Kouba, music has been more than just a creative outlet, a way to preserve stories or feelings. It’s been good for his health, too.
Since he started guitar and turned his well drilling business, Kouba Drilling in Hillsboro, over to his son, he’s felt better and better.
“My blood pressure is 112/71,” he said. “I feel so much less stressful.”
Still, Kouba is limited by his age and by what his body has been through.
It would be nice to practice every day and perform at bigger and bigger venues, he said, but that’s not necessarily realistic.
It’s also not required for Kouba to call his late-blooming music career a success.
“At my age, I know I’m not going to be able to go out and play day after day after day,” he said. “I just want to give our band the opportunity to be recognized, because they’ve made a lot of sacrifices. They mean a lot to me.”
Published in the La Crosse Tribune on May 5, 2019