the ondavon project was created by two musicians, frank barbalace writer/guitarist with trillion and wild blue - formerly jinx and rebecca barbalace a singer/musician from down state and good friend of studio owner/engineer al ursinin in 1992.

'voice of reason' is the first cd and an avenue used to express their creativity and musicianship. this cd, co-written by this husband and wife team, was co-produced and mastered by al ursini, owner of studio chicago. ondavon mp3s can be purchased and downloaded : voice of reason http://cdbaby.com/cd/ondavon

please see the credits link, which lists our good friends/great players who contributed to the ondavon recording. we had a lot of fun working with them and their help and dedication to the project was much appreciated. see the song list below of current ondavon, ondavon 'works in progress' and trillion new and 'never heard tracks' from the second album.

if you are interested in getting updates on the release of any of these songs, email me.

would you be intrested in a uk re-mastered re-release of the clear approach cd ??? email me. also check out http://www.frankbarbalace.com

trillion

ondavon available at cdbaby trillion - currently in studio 02/16/09 official trillion website trillion never released coming soon!

notime

save yourself

wandering child

rain

steel eyes

dancing in the fire

freedom

steal me

deep attraction

golden sun beyond

she hates sunday

rush - it's in my blood

your time our time

so slowly - live performance

you clown - b side of single make time

i know feeling

i started playing at 8 yrs old by ear. self taught for the most part. played school parties and lots of rehearsals got me eventually playing and writing in a four piece original basement band called jr. lace. we decided one evening during the week to take a trip to los angeles. a big deal for a suburban group of young guys. we left in the drummer's camaro, little money and two acoustic guitars. got there on a friday night and couldn't believe the circus of people in hollywood and on sunset blvd. what a trip. we rented a motel room at the sunset palms in hollywood and bought a local newspaper. we looked for the clubs on sunset blvd. and searched for the record companies and agencies in the losangeles area. we found the william morris agency.

monday we called for an appointment and got one for tues morning that following week. took our basement demo tape, two acoustic guitars and the four of us met with mark warwick and mark turk. after a 30 minute wait in the main lobby, mark warwick came down, introduced himself and invited us to the office where we proceeded to perform our original songs acoustically. they loved our style and the two part vocal harmonies. the first question they asked was, "can you go back and get your gear in chicago and come back to record?" we left for chicago that weekend, packed up our gear in a ford van and turned right around. four trips on old route 66.

in that same year, we signed a management contract with the william morris agency and signed a 3 singles record deal with griffin mgm records. to make ends meet, william morris booked us on the merv griffin show, a show called super stars of rock and we backed up chuck berry on soul train with host don cornelias. we opened up for climax blues band at the whiskey a go-go for a week straight. meantime we'd hang at the hyatt on sunset where we met little richard and led zepplin in the lobby and drank lots of coffee in the lobby coffee house where they pumped wolfman jack on the hotel speakers, also met edgar and johnny winters and lots of other stars staying at the hotel. a normal la trip for the guys from niles illinois.

time went by and with no record play we ended up coming back home to perform in clubs but eventually broke up from the lack of cover material. all the club people here wanted was to hear songs by the band chicago. what an experience and may end up in a book someday.

i then moved on to other things like joining a new original band called trillion. in less than one year, we landed a 2 album deal with epic records, toured 52 cities opening up for bands like heart, styx, ian hunter, toto, moody blues and had a blast until the egos got out of hand. it ended abruptly at a sound check the night of the rick derringer concert. tried to keep it going replacing pat leonard on keys with cj vanston from michigan. marketing money wasn't there on the new trillion so the lack of promotion killed us. a typical trend in the music business unless you have a great manager and the timing of the record release is just right. it was too much of a struggle without strong financial and moral support so it ended.

i continued other band projects and commercial jingle sessions downtown with some great players. jinx/wild blue who toured and opened up for mister mister and a few others, recorded a record on a deal with crysalis and pasha records that eventually got lost in the shuffle and once again killed the band.

i demo'd with giant from chicago, a billy idol style band and also a project called radio city with dave bickler from survivor, barb unger and bill syniar who all play and write great songs. neither band had enough drive or backing to evolve but definitely had the power and style to create great music.

then one day i woke up and i realized that it was time to get serious and settle down with a family. rebecca and i got married but still write and record. she has an extensive classical music background and a great piano teacher to boot with 35 students currently. we are also great friends. we have a wonderful son together, adam, now 9years old, a step son michael 18 and all things are good on the home front. we still write and record for ondavon.

watch and listen for more music listed here. enjoy the ondavon cd and if you care to, order it and own it from cdbaby.

here's an update, i got a phone call from drummer bill wilkins and thom griffin from trillion and you guessed it, time for more writing and recording. we started a couple of weeks ago and believe it or not, the stuff is sounding great. samples will be posted for you to listen to soon. cj vanston has found some time to devote to the project also. he was pat's replacement and has really done alot of great things in the past few years with some great artists in la. check out the cjvanston.com website. pat leonard has also added some great b3 playing to golden sun beyond now available on the official trillion website. this should end up to be quit a project. check back for a listen. http://www.myspace.com/trillionprogrock

official trillion website

my guitar collection

reviews by listeners on the first trillion album

shop at the itunes music store.