Iona Dorian (the band)

Iona Dorian is a Rock, Heavy Metal, and Blues band hailing from Chicago,IL. Its members include Michael Gajewski as singer and guitarist, Rich Korbal as bassist, Michael Rakoczy as drummer and singer, and Daniel Lewandowski as guitarist. Former members included bassist Joe Keleghan and guitarist Ken Becker.

Early days

Iona Dorian started off with a band called Mindstane in which Iona Dorian's current guitarist Michael Gajewski and drummer Michael Rakoczy were members of. The original line-up of Mindstane was Michael Gajewski as guitarist, Daniel Lewandowski as guitarist, Joe Keleghan as bassist, Ken Becker as guitarist, and Michael Rakoczy as drummer. Ken Becker went in and out of Mindstane but Joe Keleghan was in the band for a good amount of time. Ken Becker finally quit Mindstane but the rest of the bands members carried on and continued to play music from other bands like Metallica and Lynyrd Skynyrd. A few years into the band, arguments started to break out between the two remaining guitarists Michael Gajewski and Daniel Lewandowski. Michael Gajewskis father, Thomas Gajewski, would try to mediate the arguments and try to settle the disputes. The mediation worked for a while but it started not to work. The fights became more and more intense and soon they became inevitable. Michael Gajewski told Joe Keleghan and Michael Rakoczy he was going to leave the band and if they wanted to come, they were welcome. Mindstane broke up in mid-2005 with guitarist Michael Gajewski, bassist Joe keleghan, and drummer Michael Rakoczy leaving to form a different band later to be called Iona Dorian.

The beginning of Iona Dorian

A few months passed before anything happened with Iona Dorian. Its members of the newly formed band (Michael Gajewski, Michael Rakoczy, and Joe Keleghan) were at this point looking for a practicing spot. Things were not looking good at this point considering the band couldn't find a place to practice. With Daniel Lewandowski out of the band, there was now virtually nowhere for Iona Dorian to pick up where it left off. (because practice was held at Dan's house)

Thomas Gajewski saw his son Michael Gajewski struggling with finding a place to play and one other major deficit. The band lacked a singer meaning that the band was only permitted to do instrumental songs. It was a perfect match because Thomas Gajewski was in a band when he was younger and was a singer. He was the missing piece to the Iona Dorian puzzle. Thomas Gajewski went to his son and offered him the permission to practice at their house. So {{Michael Gajewski]] moved his guitar equipment into his house, Michael Rakoczy moved his drum equipment into the house, and Joe Keleghan moved his bass equipment into the house. They remained practicing songs from bands like Primus, Metallica, and Black Sabbath. Thomas Gajewski slowly moved into the picture by starting off with songs from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Iona Dorian then started playing more blues orientated songs like Oreo Cookie Blues, I Can't Be Satisfied, Pride and Joy, and Cold Shot from blues artists like Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Chuck Berry.

Success

Iona Dorian has enjoyed local success since they have played all over Chicago. They are currently in the process of recording an album called "Run the Gamett" Former Chicago Bears have made personal appearances to the Gajewski residence to hear the band practice. The bands drummer, Michael Rakoczy, has been featured in a series of polish TV episodes on Polvision with band called F3 performing original material. The guitarist, Michael Gajewski, has played shows at The Taste of Chicago in 2004, held fund raisers at his High School in which Hugh Hefner donated money to and the fund raiser itself made over $10,000. He has also been featured on numerous radio shows as a number one topic. The radio show hosts judged Michael in some guitar competitions he participated in in which they witnessed him play behind his head and back. The radio show hosts called the bands guitarist a "sensation" and "absolutely amazing."