by Eduardo Rivadavia
Although hopelessly overshadowed by the seemingly endless British onslaught flowing from across the Atlantic throughout the 1970s, America's heartland produced an impressive number of quite worthy guitar heroes all its own; and for every Ted Nugent or Ronnie Montrose who attained a certain level of success in their day and are now regarded as true legends, countless dozens of additional candidates would remain forever lost under the radar. Such is the case of Chicago's highly deserving Jordan Macarus, whose primary work with local scene favorites Winterhawk went largely unheard outside the scope of die-hard collectors despite several decades of existence.
First formed in 1977 by Macarus, vocalist/bassist Doug Brown, rhythm guitarist Dan Searight, and drummer Steve Tsoukatos, Winterhawk gradually built a healthy regional following thanks to frequent live performances in places as prestigious as the 5,000-seat Aragon Ballroom, while opening for the likes of Steppenwolf, Budgie, and Black Oak Arkansas. But subsequent lineup difficulties wound up slowing the band's momentum, and after working for a spell as a trio with no recording contract in sight, Winterhawk was put on ice at the start of the 1980s, when Macarus decided to go to college.
But restlessness soon got the best of him, and after getting back in touch with Brown and finding drummer Scott Benes, the newly revived Winterhawk recorded their debut album -- titled, what else but Revival -- in December of 1981, releasing it themselves the following year. Needless to say, this achieved only moderate exposure with no real label to promote it, but at least it satisfied the needs of the band's small loyal following and went on to become a favorite among hard rock collectors.
Macarus soon resumed his studies and continued to perform and record on occasion with several different bands, temporarily returning to the Winterhawk name with 1992's cassette-only Wind from the Sun set, and then issuing his first solo work, Balancing Act, a decade later. This initiated a fruitful relationship with Monster Records, which subsequently reissued Revival and Wind from the Sun on CD for the first time, as well as the brand-new There and Back Again, comprising a complete Winterhawk live performance from 1978.X