Loadstone was a 10 piece horn band from Greenway and Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Greenway members resided in Bovey, Coleraine, Lawrence Lake, La Prairie, and Marble. I'm not sure if any members or roadies were from Taconite, Calumet, or Cloverdale. Ray Lang had a cabin up at Wabana. (He could really make that Marshall stack sing over the lake.) Loadstone existed from 1972 to 1974.

The earliest band I remember performing with was in 1968 (Jr.High). Lyndon Zable, Mark Muotka and myself. We got our first gig at the town hall in Mt. Iron, MN. The rather funky instrumentation was 2 trumpets, piano, and drums. I don't remember the drummer.

The next band was called Quidity and included, Dan Gleesing, Bill Perry, Jeff Bolz, Mark Muotka, and John Frank. We rehearsed in the Tubby Foods part of the Bovey Merk. Sometimes we rehearsed at the Bolz residence.

These were all Greenway people, but around 1971 I met Bob (Booka) Michels, Bill Zahr, Tony Miltich and Rick Kernan at a church gig in Grand Rapids. Their band was called Stoned.

From these bands, Loadstone was created around 1972.

LOADSTONE was 10 members from Greenway and Grand Rapids High Schools.  Tim Wick, Jeff Bolz, Mark Muotka, Darin Flinck, Al  Adams and Sharon Gleesing were from Greenway.  Tony Miltich,  Ray Lang,  John Lehtinen, and Greg Rauker were from Grand Rapids.

Mark Muotka and his family's business, The Bovey Merk, provided LOADSTONE with a rehearsal studio that was basically available 24x7.  Mark also purchased our first PA (sound) systems.  I remember Mark and I mail ordering the first PA  from Radio Shack, made by Bogen, around 1969.   When it arrived and we anxiously set it up in Mark's garage.  We talked in the mic, crank up the volume, and the thing started screeming like a banshee.  This was our first education about the causes of feedback.

For our second PA, Mark and I built two cabinet columns.  Mark order eight 12" Utah speakers, of we arranged 4 vertically in each cabinet.  The Bogen amplifier couldn't push these larger speakers, so Mark traded the thing in to Crippa  for a Kustom PA amp.   We didn't really have a good PA until Mark started talking to Bob Schroeder, of ShowCo (Sound Inc.) of Duluth.  Bob turn us on to proffessional gear.  Bob Schroeder booked many of  LOADSTONE's gigs.

From 1973 to 1974, LOADSTONE,  played numberous engagements in Grand Rapids, Greenway, Hibbing, Mt. Iron, Virginia, Duluth and Superior.  
The 10 member roster was as follows:
 

Some of the bands friends were as follows:  Janis White, Dan Gleesing, Bill Perry, Dave Miller, Killer Riehle, Tim Whalen, Greg Foss, Mark and Pop Lewin,  Butch Schmidt, Matt Miltich, Paul Miltich, Joe Militch, and Tommy Miltch.
The pictures included on this site were taken by Mark Muotka and I scanned them around May 2002.  Eventually, I will include recordings from a gig at Mt. Iron, MN in the late Fall of 1974.  This is the only known recording of LOADSTONE made by Larry Goode of Chisholm.
Tim Wick ..... Email: pnoblu@yahoo.com