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Plugging In Is Rock Guitarist’s Outlet

Family law attorney spends weekends jamming with band

By CHRISTIAN NOLAN

While some young lawyers may play Guitar Hero in the privacy of their own home to unwind, Greenwich family law attorney Peter M. Bryniczka is living a more realistic version of the video game, playing real gigs in a real rock band.

Bryniczka, 30, is lead guitarist for the Terryl Lee Band, which plays an eclectic brand of music. Their web site describes it as “smooth R&B jams, full-on funk workouts, blazin’ hip-hop bangers, rootsy reggae trips, or, more often than not, some combination of all.”

“We basically consider each other family,” said Bryniczka. “It’s like a mini-family reunion when we’re playing out.”

The group formed two summers ago after the bass player, Jeff Wasserman, answered an ad on Craigslist posted by the vocalist, Terryl Lee, who was looking for musicians behind his singing and rapping. Wasserman already knew Bryniczka and the drummer, Clark Thiemann. They all had been in other bands that never got off the ground.

As time has gone on, the group has built up a solid song list comprised mostly of originals, playing clubs in places like New York City, New Haven and Stamford.

Throughout the spring and summer, the group has been using the money they make from their gigs to pay for studio time in Brooklyn, where they are recording an album that may be out by the end of the summer.

Playing the guitar is nothing new for Bryniczka. He first picked one up in the sixth grade while he was studying the violin. But quickly the guitar won his heart.

“I’d never make time to pick it up and play,” he said of the violin. “But I’d avoid other stuff to want to play the guitar. I knew that was the instrument for me.”

Bryniczka earned a degree from Wesleyan University and a law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. But guitar was an outlet for him from the stresses of studying.

Now, nearly five years in as a family law attorney at Schoonmaker, George & Colin P.C. in Greenwich, it’s his outlet from a busy career.

“Everyone [at the law firm] seems to understand work and career is very important but also a means to an end. It allows you to go and do other things you like to do when you’re not here,” said Bryniczka. “Life wouldn’t be as interesting.”

‘New Perspective’

Bryniczka said the band typically plays weekend gigs once or twice a month. He said it’s like “going into some other world.”

“When we have a Saturday gig in some tiny club in the City, I’m not a divorce lawyer anymore, just a guitar player in the band that’s up next,” Bryniczka said. “When I come back into work Monday morning, whatever issue or case was front and center driving me crazy on Friday, I have a new perspective. Let’s go back to the well and see if we can push this one along a little more.”

Bryniczka explained that all the band members have different careers – one is an English teacher, another is in the hedge fund industry and a third is a corrections officer – and are respectful of each other’s busy work schedules. The full-band rehearsals in the basement of Bryniczka’s Stamford home don’t normally start until at least 7:30 in the evening.

“We all have some days tougher than others. It’s always nice to have something to look forward to, to think about anything else but the day at work,” Bryniczka said.

Is he sometimes so tired from his law practice that he wonders how he’s going to make it through the nightly practice? Yes, he acknowledges. “But when there’s a week you don’t have that, you miss it immediately,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Terryl Lee Band will keep plugging away at recording its debut album and try to keep people dancing at the clubs. The fun part about the live gigs for Bryniczka, who enjoys the improvisation, is he gets to jam out on his guitar. “If we’re playing live, there’s absolutely no reason to shut a song down if people are diggin’ it.” •

For more information about the Terryl Lee Band, and to download songs, visit the band’s web site at http://terryllee.com.