This is not a blog I wanted to write but I felt I needed to.

Saturday morning while scrolling thru Facebook, I saw a post from my friend Tonya who fronts Nashville band, Lydias Castle, stating that drummer Jon Wysocki had been admitted into the ICU. By Saturday night, Jon was gone. I am still in just – shock.

Jon of course was the beat behind Staind. I have been a fan of Staind since they first broke with their Dysfunction album and that first track we all heard and went “whoooooa this is AWESOME! That track of course was “Mudshovel.” I remember seeing them for the first time in 2003 in Des Moines, IA at LazerFest.  The powerful, emotive voice of Aaron Lewis that went from anger to sadness from one track to the next, lyrics we could all relate to.

Jon departed Staind in 2011 and briefly joined my brothers in SOiL. After that, Jon found his way to Nashville.

About six years ago I was in Nashville for a friends’ birthday party and went to bar that was off Broadway called Famous as it was less crazy and crowded than Broadway. There was a cover band playing that I can’t remember the name of, but only that they were pretty good and the guy playing the drums looked REALLY familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was driving me crazy, to be honest. Finally after about an hour, the singer took pause to introduce the band, leaving the drummer for last. When she said “…and on drums, say hello to Jon Wysocki”, my jaw hit the floor.

In 2022, I caught wind of Lydias Castle and started playing them on Rock Around the Region. Tonya has one of those voices like Lzzy Hale, Amy Lee, Pat Benatar... POWERFUL. Like so many bands I play on the show, I bought Lydias Castle in for an interview. More of an hour long chat than a structured interview, but I prefer it that way because you learn so much more about people by just having a conversation.

I don’t “fan girl” often and though I really didn’t geek that hard, it was quite the honor to have Jon sitting across from me. Of all my years in radio and all the interviews I’ve done, somehow, Staind ever made the list. But here I was, with these amazing musicians from Nashville, one of them having been in “the show” sitting in my studio.

While the conversation rolled on, I save Jon for last. You see, I always ask each member how they got started; influences, what music was played in the house by parents etc., what you did before this band. So how do you approach the drummer of a platinum selling band without rehashing or tearing open scabs that he might not want torn open? It was like approaching an elephant in the room for me and I was actually nervous about it.

Jon was beyond gracious with all of it. Acknowledging his time in Staind, the success they had and how they “never wanted to become the band known for “It’s Been A While”, but here we are”.  We joked about him being the oldest of the band, dubbing him “Papasocki”.

Here are the two of the Rock Around the Region episodes with Lydias Castle and the part of my conversation with Jon. His part stars at 32:16 in Part 2 and 19:19 in Part 3.

Lydias Castle had a show that night, which I went to, and they were beyond amazing. I was even blessed enough to meet Jon’s fiancé, Shannon, who’s as beautiful and as sweet as they come. We all had a blast that night and I’m honored to call the entire band my friends.

I ran into Jon back in October at a Shinedown/Papa Roach show. My friend Mikaela was with me, essentially experiencing her first rock show. She had at least heard of Staind, so when I introduced her and asked Jon if he would mind taking a photo with her, he happily said “Yes!”. Not one to waste the opportunity, I asked for one too, just cuz. I’m so glad I did as this was the last time I saw Jon and got a hug from him.

I’m still trying to process Jon’s death. Like it was literal hours from entering the ICU to being…just…gone.  All I know is it was an issue with his liver, but I don’t know any specifics. The members of Lydias Castle will be issuing an official statement.

In the meantime, if you are the praying type or at the very least please send some good vibes to Shannon, Lydias Castle and everyone who was blessed to know Jon. He was one hell of a drummer and one of the nicest, coolest, realest, down to earth people I have ever known and I’m going to miss him.

You can check out his work with Lydias Castle here along with a tribute video that was made with Staind’s song “Let It Out.”