{"id":25510,"date":"2022-03-10T09:58:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T14:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=25510"},"modified":"2022-03-10T10:00:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T15:00:54","slug":"on-stage-slambovian-circus-of-dreams-finally-returns-to-local-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=25510","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Slambovian\u00a0Circus of Dreams finally returns to local stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

It is said that good things come to those that wait.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Slambovian\u00a0Circus of Dreams<\/p><\/div>\n

Fans of the\u00a0Slambovian\u00a0Circus of Dreams have been waiting for a long time to hear the band perform a live show in the area \u2013 waiting since December 2019.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 wiped out all shows in 2020 and in most of 2021. Then, there was a long-awaited Slambovian\u00a0Circus of Dreams New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show on the World Caf\u00e9 Live schedule. But COVID snuck in the side door and that show got postponed.<\/p>\n

Now, the wait is over and good things are about to be delivered.<\/p>\n

On March 13, the World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>) will host a show by the Slambovian Circus of Dreams \u2013 a rescheduled date for the cancelled December show. <\/p>\n

The \u201cgood things\u201d for which fans have been waiting are, obviously, the live show along with the release of a new album by the Slambovians.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Very Unusual Head,\u201d which\u00a0is the band\u2019s sixth studio album, was released January 21, 2022, on their new label, Storm King Records.<\/p>\n

The Slambovian Circus of Dreams has been together since 1998 and still features a trio of founding members\u00a0— Joziah Longo\u00a0(songwriter, lead singer, guitarist),\u00a0Tink Lloyd\u00a0(accordion, cello, flute, ukulele, theremin, keyboards),\u00a0and Sharkey McEwen\u00a0(guitar, mandolin). They will be joined for this show by RJ MacCarthaigh (bass, keys, sax), Bob Torsello (bass), and Matthew Abourezk (drums).<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show, the club just gave us a couple days\u2019 notice,\u201d said Lloyd, during a phone interview Monday afternoon from their home in the Hudson Highlands in New York State. \u201cWith such short notice, we couldn\u2019t really warn people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems a band that just played there had COVID and then a few of the staff members at World Caf\u00e9 got COVID. So, the club has decided to postpone some of the upcoming shows just to be safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to reschedule our show for March 3, but we didn\u2019t want a Thursday night. A lot of our fans travel far for the shows and others have to get up for work the next morning. So, the club moved the show to Sunday March 13.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be our official album release show in Philly \u2013 and only our third show of the year. We played The Kate in Connecticut in February, and we have a show on March 11 at The Cooperage in Honesdale (PA).\u201d<\/p>\n

Recorded over the last four years in five studios and two countries, the album is a step away from the\u00a0guitar-based Americana vibe heard on their previous albums.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Very Unusual Head\u201d is a real\u00a0Slambovian\u00a0tribal project with contributions from many friends and a few \u201cspecial guests\u201d such as Dar Williams,\u00a0Anthony Thistlethwaite (The Waterboys),\u00a0Kolson Pickard (Tall Heights, Pico Romanesque), drummer\u00a0Felipe Torres\u00a0(protege of Carmine Appice and sideman for Davey Jones), drummer\u00a0Matt Abourezk\u00a0(Thin White Rope) and Tristan Tadin\u00a0(keyboards).<\/p>\n

Canadian engineer\u00a0Dio Tadin\u00a0(Tristan\u2019s father) recorded the bulk of the album on a former reindeer farm near Peterborough, Ontario and at Big Blue in Cornwall, New York. Tadin\u2019s resume includes work at Daniel Lanois\u2019 studio in Hamilton, Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recorded two-thirds of the album in 2018,\u201d said Lloyd. \u201cWe got half of it mixed and then COVID hit. \u201cWe released \u2018Beez\u2019 as a single and made an EP that was only sold at our U.K. tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast spring, we pulled together all the tracks recorded over the last five years. We did a lot of work with Dio Tadin in Peterborough, Ontario. Then, the Tadins moved their studio (Big Blue) to Cornwall, New York \u2013 which is near us. We finished making the album there.\u201d
\nInspired by the Surrealists and early British Psychedelia and the paths they pioneered, the songs on the album deal with topics ranging from the pseudo-scientific to the pseudo-religious realms and other forms of hob-nobbery for fun and profit.<\/p>\n

According to Longo, \u201c\u2018A Very Unusual Head\u2019\u00a0is dedicated to all the people who find themselves having to function in\u00a0spectrums outside the accepted norms. Here\u2019s to you… Good luck everybody!\u201d<\/p>\n

As always, the Slambovians\u2019 songs feature great instrumentals accompanied by lyrics that are intelligent, socially aware, witty and mindful. Longo is a modern-day troubadour bringing a message to the people of 2022.<\/p>\n

The new album displays many of the band\u2019s influences — Beatles, Bowie, Incredible String Band, Syd Barrett, Brahms and The Waterboys\u2026along with a good measure of Woodstock-era psychedelia.<\/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\u2019 activity.<\/p>\n

Each year, the band has treated area fans to a New Year\u2019s Eve Eve show at the World Caf\u00e9 Live \u2013 but not in 2020 or 2021. This show in 2022 will offer a little of that holiday vibe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show will tip the hat a little to New Year\u2019s Eve Eve \u2013 but not fully,\u201d said Lloyd. \u201cWe\u2019ll just do a little of \u2018Golden Slippers\u2019 and then go into \u2018Alice in Space.\u2019 It will kick off the new year for our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a prior interview, Longo said, \u201cI really appreciate this band. It brings down a certain realm. I feel like I\u2019m in the 70\u2019s. I particularly dig the vibe of this band. In addition to me, Tink and Sharkey, we have Bob Tomasello, a punk bass player, and Felipe Torres. He\u2019s been playing drums and percussion for us for a few years. He used to be the drummer for Davy Jones of the Monkees.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Slambovian\u00a0Circus of Dreams 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\u2019folk. 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\u00a0Slambovian\u00a0Circus 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 Slambovian Circus of Dreams \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/fe4VpB72FOE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show at the World Caf\u00e9 Live on March 13 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24 and $30.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tom Rush<\/p><\/div>\n

For Tom Rush, one of America\u2019s most revered folksingers, it has been either feast or famine regarding his schedule of live shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been getting whiplash,\u201d said Rush, during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon from his home in southern Maine.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy agent managed to pack all 18 months of cancelled shows into three months in the fall. It got crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend, Rush will play two shows in the area \u2013 March 11 at The Pour House at New Hope Winery, 6123 Lower York Road, New Hope, newhopewinery.com<\/a>) and March 13 at the Baby Grand (818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, )<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying again in front of live audiences is a treat,\u201d said Rush.<\/p>\n

Rush released his first album, \u201cTom Rush at the Unicorn,\u201d in 1962. His most recent album \u201cVoices\u201d will be released in April 2018 via West Chester-based Appleseed Records. His two prior records were also Appleseed releases \u2013 \u201cCelebrates 50 Years of Music\u201d in 2013 and \u201cWhat I Know\u201d in 2009.<\/p>\n

Altogether, Rush has put out 26 albums in 56 years \u2013 and just eight since the turn of the century.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been writing a lot,\u201d said Rush. \u201cI just introduced a brand-new song called \u2018I Quit.\u2019 It\u2019s a song about leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have enough new songs to make an album, but I\u2019d like to have more. I\u2019d like to go in the studio with 16 and pick 12.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, he is much more active when it comes to live performances. Rush is a consummate performer who always delivers an entertaining show when he takes the stage to perform his songs and choice songs by other artists.<\/p>\n

Rush stayed active during the pandemic via a project he calls \u201cRockport Sundays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI started \u2018Rockport Sundays\u2019 back in December,\u201d said Rush, during a recent phone interview from his home in southern Maine. \u201cIt\u2019s a subscription through Patreon. I was living in Rockport and posted a new episode every Sunday at midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he was first starting the series, he posted this message on his website \u2013<\/p>\n

\u201cI have something I really want to do, and I\u2019m going to need your help to do it. I\u2019m starting a weekly series of online offerings \u2014 old songs, new songs, stories, pages from a book I\u2019m working on. Since they\u2019ll be coming out of my studio in Rockport, Mass, I thought I\u2019d call the series \u201cRockport Sundays\u201d.<\/p>\n