Do you know William John Kostiak?

A few years ago, I took a chance on a completely-unknown-to-me but interesting-seeming lp without a cover on EBAY by someone named 'William John Kostiak' on a private press label out of New Jersey called 'OneSimus'.  The auction started and ended with just one bid (mine) for $10.  The dealer described the 1977 lp 'Do You Know?' as 'Rare Xian Folkrock', which I've been collecting for a little while now.  That part of the description turned out to be accurate.  What he did NOT describe was that both sides of the lp I received looked as if the vinyl had been clawed by a very large and determined mountain lion (or perhaps several dozen slightly-less determined domestic cats).  And it played like it looked.  Still what I could actually  hear during the occasional moments when the record didn't happen to be skipping was excellent: primitive non-pro acoustic guitar playing by an earnest, emotive singer with an honest, rough-edged voice.  Christian and spiritual concerns run through the album.  From what I COULD hear and salvage digitally, I knew I would love the lp--Kostiak's got such a fantastic voice that even the by-far-worst-condition record I'd ever tried to play couldn't stop me from ripping a very spotty digital version I could at least listen to without destroying my record player.  Of course I looked for another copy for a while, but could find absolutely no mention of the lp on the web at the time, despite the googleable name.  That googleable name did lead me, though, to a 'William Kostiak' who turned out to be his grandson.  The grandson passed on that I was looking for a playable copy of his album, and WIlliam himself was actually kind enough to send a great cd-r rip of the lp to me at WFMU; unfortunately, the cd-r never reached me until almost a year after I no longer had a regular show.  So, hey, William, if you see this, I thank you very much!  And here's my two favorite songs from 'Do You Know?'

05-05 Bitter Sweet

10-10 A Prayer

Comments

[Chuck Sylvester]

Hi, Jason. I just ran across your post while searching William John Kostiak. I played some music with Bill in the 70s. He was a real nice guy and a very sincere Chriatian. He gave me the LP, which I still have. I agree that the LP has an earthy, primitive quality. Thanks for your post.