{"id":33520,"date":"2019-12-30T09:15:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T14:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=33520"},"modified":"2019-12-30T09:15:38","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T14:15:38","slug":"on-stage-slambovian-circus-of-dreams-enjoys-philly-nye-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=33520","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Slambovian Circus of Dreams enjoys Philly NYE tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Slambovian Circus of Dreams<\/p><\/div>\n

The Mummers Parade is a great Philadelphia tradition.<\/p>\n

It dates back more than a century, has its roots in South Philadelphia and is always held on January 1.<\/p>\n

There is another Mummers tradition in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

It dates back more than a decade, has its roots in South Philadelphia and is always held on December 30.<\/p>\n

Some bands have a tradition of performing a New Year\u2019s Eve show each year at the same venue. The Slambovian Circus of Dreams has a similar yet very different tradition.<\/p>\n

Each year, the band treats area fans to a New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show at the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, which has been making music since 1998, features a trio of founding members Joziah Longo (singer, songwriter, guitarist, leader of the band), his wife Tink Lloyd (accordion, cello, flute, ukulele, theremin, keyboards) and Sharkey McEwen (guitar,\u00a0mandolin, backing vocals) along with Bob Torsello (bass) and Felipe Torres (drums).<\/p>\n

Longo is a Philly native who went to St. John Neumann High which back then was called Bishop Neumann High. Both the school and Longo\u2019s childhood home are located in South Philadelphia \u2013 a hotbed for Mummers activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t do our annual show on New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d said Lloyd, during a phone interview last week from upstate New York where she and Longo reside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show at the World Caf\u00e9 live has become an annual reunion for Joziah\u2019s family and friends. They\u2019re part of Mummers groups so they spend New Year\u2019s Eve getting ready for the Mummers Parade the next day. Our New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show extends the holiday.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoziah is the son of Italian and Swedish immigrants. His grandfather sold fruit on the streets. His parents met at Gloria Dei Old Swede\u2019s Church in South Philly on New Year\u2019s Day when his father was wearing clown make-up for the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoziah always had costumes from back then. He\u2019s a real \u2018Two Streeter.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the large number of Mummers clubhouses there, South 2nd Street (Two Street<\/a>) often serves as a party location after the parade, with the center of activity being South 2nd Street and Mifflin Street. Local residents and others in the area for the parade crowd the local bars, clubhouses and sidewalks, sometimes joining in the unofficial parade.<\/p>\n

With the parade they spent months preparing for finished, the Mummers let loose and celebrate. This multi-block party continues well into the night or early morning — with some Mummers not sleeping for twenty-four hours straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Year\u2019s is always a good time to cleanse the palate for things to come,\u201d said Lloyd. \u201cAnd we try to use it as an encapsulation of the previous year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show is always a big tradition for Joziah. His childhood babysitter comes to the show. His family comes to the show. His friends from kindergarten come to the show. They all come to the show to connect with everybody.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Just as the Mummers Parade features dancers with decorated umbrellas and parasols, so does the Slambovian Circus of Dreams annual show on the year\u2019s penultimate night. The concert features a Mummers medley with banjos and unique renditions of songs such as \u201cOh, Dem Golden Slippers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe parasols combine the Mummers tradition with that of New Orleans and its Second Line,\u201d said Lloyd. \u201cThe umbrellas celebrate rebirth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival every summer. Our audiences there use umbrellas with lights — \u2018Immortal Jellyfish.\u2019 They live in the Hudson Valley and many of them come down to Philly for the New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show. Our fans want to be part of the show. They want to show their respect and their love for the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band always approaches its New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show in Philly as something special.<\/p>\n

According to Longo, \u201cI\u2019m a South Philly boy and all my South Philly people bring umbrellas and dance like jellyfish. Coming back to Philly means a lot to me because it\u2019s the place where I was born. It\u2019s a great way to end the year. We\u2019re all trying to find our best self.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Year\u2019s is an analysis of what we want to be \u2013 where are we going to go this year. Let\u2019s unravel everything we know and get back to feeling for each other. Let\u2019s get in a room and escape what other people call reality \u2013 even though it\u2019s not real reality. Real reality is love, unity and friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhilly is our hometown. It\u2019s like we come back and bring it to the elders. Being in Philly at this time of year just feels right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next time the Slambovians play a show in the area will most likely be early next year when the band tours in support of its yet-to-be-released album.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe album is all recorded and half of it is mixed,\u201d said Lloyd. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for a spring release for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, which is coming off another successful tour of the U.K., has its roots in another New York band.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in a group called The Ancestors in New York,\u201d said Longo. \u201cEddie Kramer, who was the Stones\u2019 engineer and producer, did an album with us. That brought everybody around to see us play. We were doing really well. One time, we played Carnegie Hall and CBGBs the same night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were ahead of the curve and then we disappeared \u2014 on purpose. We went to the hinterlands and hid out in the folk scene. We were playing folk music that was different with things like an electric slide mandolin. It was \u2018Floydian\u2019 folk. The folkies really took to it. We found our niche.\u201d<\/p>\n

They found a niche and they found a new name \u2014 Gandalf Murphy and The Slambovian Circus of Dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a name I made up,\u201d said Longo. \u201cEventually, we cut off the Gandalf part. It made it easier to fit the name on marquees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for the Slambovian Circus of Dreams \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/-kgjptPgbrc<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the World Caf\u00e9 Live will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24 in advance and $27 night of show.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a fan of blues-influenced rock and you\u2019re looking for a way to spend New Year\u2019s Eve, the Theatre of the Living Arts (334 South Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1011,http:\/\/www.lnphilly.com<\/a>) could be a very good option.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Record Company<\/p><\/div>\n

On the final night of the year, the TLA is hosting a concert by The Record Company \u2013 a band from Southern California featuring Chris Vos (guitar, lead vocals, harmonica), Alex Stiff (bass, guitar, vocals) and Marc Cazorla\u00a0(drums, piano, vocals).<\/p>\n

The rock\/roots trio has already been hailed by LA Weekly for \u201cmaking bluesy music that would sound more at home in a sweaty, backwoods Mississippi juke joint,\u201d while Time Out Los Angeles has described their sound as \u201creminiscent of some of the best acts of the \u201950s and \u201960s\u2014like if John Lee Hooker and the Stooges had a well-behaved love child.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trio started in late 2011, hanging up old microphones and recording live in the bass player’s living room in Los Feliz, California. The Record Company have since played concert halls across North America.<\/p>\n

The three musicians\u2019 first full-length album \u201cGive It Back to You\u201d was released on Concord Records on February 12, 2016. The album was written, recorded, and mixed by the band in the same living room in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles where The Record Company formed and did their first recordings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved from Wisconsin to L.A. in 2010 with my wife,\u201d said Vos, during a recent phone interview from his home in Los Angeles. \u201cI started playing around town \u2013 and looking for people to play with.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlex had heard some of my music and then came across my ad on Craig\u2019s List. I had never put ads up before and he usually never read ads. But he saw my \u2018bass player wanted\u2019 ad and liked it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe answered the ad and we became buddies. Mark was a friend of Alex\u2019s and he decided to join us. We decided to hang up some mics in Alex\u2019s living room. We ended up cutting our first album there \u2013 and some of our second album.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band released its sophomore album, \u201cAll This Life,\u201d on June 22, 2018 \u2013 also on Concord Records.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cut some of the second album in Alex\u2019s living room in Los Feliz,\u201d said Vos. \u201cEven with our third album, that\u2019s where we go to write. We know what the sound is like there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Record Company\u2019s sound has become very distinctive.<\/p>\n

According to Vos, \u201cWe have been influenced by early electric blues, so some of that influence certainly shows. But we\u2019re just as influenced by bands like the Stones and The Stooges as we are by blues legends like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sound has\u00a0a lot of early rock-and-roll but with a greater\u00a0emphasis on the drums and bass. We aim to make the speakers move with our recording.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s music has been featured in more than 30 commercial, film, and television placements\u00a0including the theatrical trailer for Last Vegas as well as ads for\u00a0Coors Light, Subaru, Miller Lite, Showtime\u2019s \u201cShameless,\u201d ABC\u2019s \u201cNashville,\u201d CBS\u2019s \u201cCSI: Crime Scene Investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vos describer The Record Company\u2019s influences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all fans of the Stooges, the Stones, Muddy Waters, Hendrix, the Dead and even the Beastie Boys,\u201d said Vos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just loved singers like Ray Charles and Sam Cooke while our guitar player listened to rock-and-roll like Creedence and Hendrix.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely try to center things around drums and bass \u2013 trying to find a good solid backbeat. But we don\u2019t want to sound like we\u2019re doing throwback.<\/p>\n

\u201cLyrically, we look at life and how to fix things. You\u2019ve got to look at yourself first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s second LP was another step forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second album had more studio that the first record,\u201d said Vos. \u201cWe did a lot of tracking at Boulevard Recording. It has a good tape machine and a big old board. It\u2019s funky in a great way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boulevard Recording is a recording studio in the center of Hollywood. Once home of the famed Producer\u2019s Workshop, Boulevard Recording is where Pink Floyd mixed, mastered and did all its overdubs on \u201cThe Wall.\u201d Steely Dan also tracked most of the basic tracks to \u201cAja\u201d and \u201cGaucho\u201d at the historic studio in the heart of L.A.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe record with tape as much as we can,\u201d said Vos. \u201cWe recorded a lot of live stuff at Boulevard Recording. It\u2019s got a great vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though the band is just a trio, its music reflects a lot of versatility. Each of The Record Company members play several instruments both live and on record.<\/p>\n

According to Vos, \u201cWe work hard to incorporate them into\u00a0the music as creatively as possible. So, besides the typical guitar, bass and drums, we also mix in harmonica, dobro slide, lap slide, pedal steel, piano, etc. It\u2019s about making the right choices for the songs and keeping things as engaging as possible throughout the album — without compromising the\u00a0integrity of the song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for The Record Company \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/gm2bM89I7YE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the TLA on December 31 will start at 9 p.m. Tickets are $35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times The Mummers Parade is a great Philadelphia tradition. It dates back more than a century, has its roots in South Philadelphia and is always held on January 1. There is another Mummers tradition in Philadelphia. It dates back more than a decade, has its roots in South Philadelphia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6518,7553,7728],"class_list":["post-33520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-featured","tag-slambovian-circus-of-dreams","tag-the-record-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33521,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33520\/revisions\/33521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}