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Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites...5/27/21

By Danny Coleman

originally published: 05/27/2021

There are various schools of thought when releasing a record, one could be every couple of years, another immediately on the heels of the previous but rarely does a band wait nearly three decades to release a follow up; especially after a successful debut album. 

"Slammin' Gladys" is the band and their self-titled debut (Also known as "One") was released in 1992; their long anticipated second effort "Two" features Jani Lane as executive producer who has worked with Warrant and the chosen singles which they have dropped are getting exceptional reviews. So; what's the background story and why 30 years?

"We spent a lot of time at the Jersey shore years ago; very cool place and we had a lot of fun there," began guitarist JJ Farris enthusiastically. "We had friends down there and there was a band there back in the 80's called Mr. Reality and they were produced by Danny Kortchmar who did the Eagles and a really great songwriter named Gordon Brown and we used to go check them out because we were all buddies. I've played The Saint many times; first with Slammin' Gladys and I was in a band called The Tories who also played The Saint and the other place we played was The Stone Pony."

"I grew up in Cleveland and moved out here to L.A when I was 18 and all of the guys in Slammin' Gladys were originally from the  Cleveland area until we got a drummer from Pennsylvania. Cleveland was such a commercial radio type of city; they played all of the commercial songs. So, Bruce was on the radio every second and so was J. Geils along with Boston, Journey; I could just go on down the list. I mean, all of those really popular things from the greatest time of music the 70's and 80's; those great songs were just pumped into our brains. Springsteen just blew me away; every time I see the dude he just blows me away, he's outta control; he's amazing."

OK, now we know that "The Boss" had some influence back then, so; how do they come up with a name like Slammin' Gladys? 

 

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"We were looking for a name and we had this guy Brian who went on the road with us doing our tech stuff and we were in a room and Gladys kind of came about because our drummer was a huge Elvis fan and that was Elvis's mother's name and I think Brian was the one who said, "Slammin' Gladys" and we all just kind of looked at him and said, wow. We thought it was kind of cool and the label liked it so we kind of went with it and the cover of the first album gives the name a lot of clarity."

Thirty years is a long time for a band to be together let alone decide to put out a sophomore recording; why now and what prompted the decision? 

"This is the follow up to our first album which we did in 1992 and it was called "One" or "Slammin' Gladys" and we were signed to Priority Records who had NWA, Ice Cube and all that really cool stuff that was happening at the time and they decided to take on a rock band and a few other bands and it was a good experience, we got to make an album."

"We formed in '89 and did the album in '92 so, we've known each other for gosh, 30 years. In between the first album and the second album everyone kept in touch and has done their own musical journeys. We decided that we wanted to get together and do a couple of songs just for fun and a good time to see what we come up with and we ended up doing nine (laughs); we didn't realize that we were doing it until we started. We recorded the drums and the bass in a great room out here in North Hollywood called Analog and Digital Recording with a guy named Doug Messenger. The Foo Fighters, Incubus, No Doubt; a lot of really cool bands have gone through the doors there and done some kind of work. So, we went there because it has great gear, really good mic pre-amps and a guy named Nick Rutger was the engineer; a great engineer; we have a great team over there so we did all of the drums and bass there.  After that we took it back to my place because I have a studio here  and we finished all of the guitars and vocals and mixed everything here and finished it here."

It has been said that music makes the world smaller, however, in this instance Farris is the producer; how did Lane get involved?

"Our bass player Al Collins played with Jani Lane back before Slammin' Gladys in a band called Plain Jane who were playing on The Sunset Strip before Warrant and they had a couple of the Warrant songs that they had been playing in Plain Jane and from what I understand they are in the process of taking the demos of some of those Plain Jane songs and are going to be re-releasing them as an album; so, that's something to look out for."

When putting your first recording together in literally decades there's bound to be some creative differences but couple that with a year-long quarantine and it had to be interesting to say the least; not so says Farris. 

"It's all different now; some of the songs initially started like "Dragon Eye Girl" and "Toxic Lover;" when I went back to my parent's house in the summer of 2018, Dave our singer came over and we decided we were going to write some songs and we hung out in my mom's den. "Toxic Lover" I had already kind of started, I had a good road map for that one but "Dragon Eye Girl" was spawned that day as well and it was cool because those two songs kind of really got the momentum going and then we kind of filled in the gaps with a couple of songs that were older songs we had done that we never thought would see the light of day so, we brought a couple of the archives back. We have a video for "Dragon Eyed Girl," it is up online on YouTube and we have a second video for a song called "Hold Up My Blue Sky" is just finishing up and should be out soon. We reconnected with our video director and producer who we worked with back in the 90's because we had done a couple of videos from our first album; his name is Eric Middleman and we got a chance to work with him. We basically went on a roof in downtown Los Angeles and we shot both videos for the live performance stuff on top of this roof; one with the city of Los Angeles as the backdrop and the other just a different type of space but it was great! We were real efficient, we got up there one day and spent four hours and got two videos worth of stuff; we're finishing all of that now. So, we have a video for "Toxic Lover" planned and another one for a song called "Durango;" we're gonna round it out with four or at least that's our plan at the moment. So, we're going to release these videos and keep that going to help people learn about Slammin' Gladys. We want to eventually get some shows going and we've already started working on the next album; we already have a handful of songs that we've been tossing around and we are eventually going to get to the point where we'll look at starting recording; we're gonna keep this train going because it's a lot of fun." 

Videos, singles and according to Farris an, "Album out now on Merchbucket.com or on our site at SlamminGladys.com" and with all of that going on; what's next? 

"Lead vocals is Dave Brooks, on bass is Al Collins, on drums is Steve DeBoard and myself, JJ Farris on guitar and we are starting to get a couple of offers for the summer in the mid-west from clubs that we know of or that are aware of us and are aware of our album. There's starting to be a little bit of a buzz on shows and we're starting to get offers and we have to now find out what will be feasible because two of us are in Los Angeles and two of us are in Ohio at the moment. So, we're going to figure all of that out but yeah, we're looking forward to playing shows; no tour planned at the moment but we're looking forward to getting this thing started." 

 

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That's it for this week! Please continue to support live and original music and until next week....ROCK ON!

 

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This week's event listings

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Arts Council of Princeton     
102 Witherspoon Street Princeton     
(609) 924-8777  
Fri. 6:30 p.m. Story & Verse: A Storytelling and Poetic Open Mic "I'm Coming Out." (Sign up 6:15 p.m.) 

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Bill's Olde Tavern     
2694 Nottingham Way Hamilton     
(609) 586-0192     
Tues./Wed. 8 p.m. Karaoke w/ DJ "Super" Dave Curtis
Ages 21+    

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Bowman's Tavern     
1600 River Road New Hope, PA     
(215) 862-2972     
Thurs. 6 p.m. Matt Gordeuk

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Broken Goblet Brewing   
2500 State Road Bensalem, PA   
(267) 812-5653   
Thurs. 7 p.m. Mike Estabrook 
Fri. 8:30 p.m. Castles In The Sky Trio
Sat. 1 p.m. Juniper Bonsai 
Wed. 8 p.m. Open Mic w/ Cara Cartney 
All Shows 21+

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Cadwalder Park
299 Parkside Avenue Trenton
(408) 335-4400
Sat. 4 p.m. New Jersey Capital Philharmonic Orchestra (FREE event / Rain date Sunday) 

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Championship Bar   
931 Chambers street Trenton   
(609) 396-5457  
Tuesday 8 p.m. "Jam Night" Hosted by Nikki & Caleb   
Ages 21+

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Clubhouse at Mountain View
 (The Patio)
850 Bear Tavern Road Ewing  
(609) 771-0400  
Fri. 6 p.m. Bridge Beat Duo

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COARadio.com     
125 South Main Street Hightstown     
(609) 241-7103
Sun. 7 p.m. "Rock On Radio" feat. Janine Verduci & Maria Bevins, Jocelyn Garrett, Mike Squillace, "Theresa," Dave Caponetto 

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Cooper's Riverview 
50 Riverview Plaza Trenton 
(609) 393-7300
Thurs. 7 p.m. Time Peace
Fri. (5 p.m.) "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere Happy Hour" feat. (TBA)  (8 p.m.) No Way Out
Sat. 7 p.m. Full Moon Fever (Tom Petty Tribute) 
Sun. 11 a.m. " Sunday Latin Jazz Brunch" w/ Victor Tarassov 
Mon. 7 p.m. "Sunny Monday Blues Jam" 
Tues. 7 p.m. Karaoke w/ Karen and Mark
Wed. 12 p.m. "Wine Down Wednesdays'
All Events Ages 21+

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Cream Ridge Winery   
145 Route 539 Cream Ridge   
(609) 259-9797 
Sat. 1:30 p.m. Alex English 

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Dacey's Pub 
215 West Philadelphia Avenue Morrisville, PA 
(215) 295-4838 
Fri. 6 p.m. Acoustic Music Night 
Wed. 8 p.m. Quizzo 

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Dempster's Pub
437 Pine Street Mount Holly
(609) 261-0500
Fri. 6 p.m. Random Notes Duo

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Dog & Bull Brew House     
810 Bristol Pike (Rte. 13) Croydon, PA.     
(215) 788-2855     
Fri. 6 p.m. Ziggy
Sun. 4 p.m. Dana Collins

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Eddington House Bensalem
2813 Hulmeville Road, Bensalem, PA
(215) 639-1220
Fri. 8 p.m. The Zone Duo
Sat. 8 p.m. Jack Kidd

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Gleason's Bar
6700 Mill Creek Road Levittown, PA
(215) 943-4781
Thurs. 7 p.m. Weekly Corn Hole Tournament
Fri. "Happy Hour" w/ (TBA)
Sat. 8 p.m. Karaoke
Wed. 5:30 p.m. Family Fun Night w/ "Gina the Balloon Girl" 

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Greenhouse  
90 South Main Street New Hope, PA  
(215) 693-1657  
Thurs. 8 p.m. "Musicians Night Out" Hosted by Lovelight 
Tues. 8 p.m. Open Mic Hosted by Sam Ryan
Wed. 8 p.m. Trivia Hosted by Dwayne Dunlevy

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Grounds For Sculpture   
80 Sculptors way Hamilton   
(609) 586-0616    
Sat. 10 a.m. "Member Mornings" 

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Havana New Hope 

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105 S. Main Street New Hope, PA.     
(215) 862-9897    
Sun. 6 p.m. Joe & Marc "The Music of The Eagles." (Doors open at 4 p.m., $20)

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HG New Hope Pizza
6510 Lower York Road New Hope, PA
(215) 862-1740
Sat. 6 p.m. Stranger Things

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Hopewell Valley Vineyards     
46 Yard Avenue Pennington     
(609) 737-4465     
Thurs. 5 p.m. "Kick Off to Summer" w/ Brian Erickson
Fri. 4 p.m. "Music & Merlot" feat. (5:30 p.m.) Winery Catz
Sat. (1 p.m.) DJ Darius The 1st  (2 p.m.)  (5:30 p.m.) "Music & Merlot" feat. Living The Dream
Sun. 1 p.m. "Jazzy Sundays" feat. Oliver Dagum

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Iron Plow Vineyards     
26750 Mount Pleasant Road Columbus     
(732) 306-9111  
Fri. 6:30 p.m. Melissa Wegfahrt
Sat. 6 p.m. Mixtape Mojo Duo
Sun. 2 p.m. Wayne Palmer Trio

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Ivy Tavern     
3108 S. Broad Street, Hamilton     
(609) 888-1435     
Thurs. 9:30 p.m. "Thursday Night Dance Party" 
Fri. 9 p.m. Cover Up
All shows 21+  

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Killarney's Publick House     
1644 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road Hamilton    
(609) 586-1166    
Thurs. 5 p.m. "Girls Night Out" w/ Radio Fiction
Sat. 5 p.m. Mario & Frank

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Langhorne Summer Concert Series
115 West Richardson Avenue Langhorne, PA
Wed. 7 p.m. Mikey Jr.

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Laurita Winery     
85 Archertown Road New Egypt     
(609) 752-0200   
Fri. (5 p.m.) "Cornhole Tournament" (6 p.m.) Pasta Night "All You Can Eat." $29  
Sat. 12 p.m. "Memorial Day Weekend in The Grove" w/ Strolling Accordion by "Kristopher"

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McGuinn's Place     
1781 Brunswick Avenue Lawrence     
(609) 392-0599    
Tues. 9 p.m. Karaoke     
Ages 21+     

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More Than Q 
13 Klines Court Lambertville 
(609) 773-0072
Sun. 11 a.m. "Gospel Brunch" Open Stage

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Music Mountain Theater
1483 Route 179 Lambertville
(609)397-3337
Fri. 8 p.m. "The Fantasticks" 
Sat./Sun. 3 p.m. "The Fantasticks" 

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New Egypt Flea Market Village
933 Monmouth County Road Cream Ridge
(609) 758-2082
Thurs. 5 p.m. Full Moon Market feat. Michael Jaskewicz at "Tye Dye Amy's"

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New Hope Winery    
6123 Lower York Road New Hope, PA   
(215) 794-2331  
Sun. 1 p.m. Stranger Things

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Newtown Brewing Company
103 Penns Trail Newtown, PA
(215) 944-8609 
Thurs. 7:30 p.m. Trivia Night
Fri. 7 p.m. Bob Tomlinson
Sat. 7 p.m. Oliver Dagum
Sun. 1 p.m. "1st Annual Memorial Day Chili Cook-off" 

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Nick's Roast Beef
4501 Woodhaven Road West Philadelphia, PA
(215) 637-5151
Thurs. 6 p.m. Natalie & Tim
Fri. 6 p.m. The Flying Circus (Led Zeppelin Tribute) 
Sat. 6 p.m. Old School Electric Tent Show
Sun. 4 p.m. AJ Slick Band

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O'Fowley's Tavern & Grill
200 State Road Croydon, PA
(215) 785-6998
Fri. 8 p.m. DJ Entertainment

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Palmer Square
40 Nassau Street Princeton
Thurs. 4 p.m. "Locals Night" w/ Live "Strolling" Musician
Sat.12 p.m.The Outcrops

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Pasquale's Sports Bar
9078 Mill Creek Road Levittown, PA
(267) 202-6268
Fri. 5 p.m. Happy Hour feat. (TBA)
Sat. 7 p.m. DJ or Live Band Entertainment 
Tues. 7:30 p.m. Quizzo
Wed. 7 p.m. Open Mic

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Patriots Crossing     
1339 River Road Titusville     
(609) 737-2780    
Thurs. 8 p.m. Open Mic Night
Wed. 7 p.m. "Quizzo"   

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Recklesstown Farm Distillery
2800 Route 206 North Columbus
(609) 784-8046
Thurs. 6 p.m. The Fourth Son 

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Revere Restaurant
802 River Road Ewing
(609) 882-6365
Fri. 6 p.m. Brian Elliot

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Rosedale Mills
101 Route 31 North Pennington
(609) 737-2008
Sat. 1 p.m. Outdoor Line Dancing. $10 (Rain date Sundays 12 p.m.)

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Rossi's Bar & Grill     
2110 Whitehorse-Mercerville Road Hamilton     
(609) 890-2004     
Thurs. 5:30 p.m. Ernie White

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Sherman Theater/Penn Community Bank Amphitheater
2400 Byberry Road Bensalem, PA
Wed. 7 p.m. 70's Flashback. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m., Tickets available online) 

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Tara's Tavern    
1 Cookstown-New Egypt Road, Wrightstown     
(609) 286-2300     
Sat. 9 p.m. Karaoke w/ Big Daddy G

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Temperance House     
5 South State Street Newtown, PA     
(215) 944-8050     
Tues. 8 p.m. Trivia w/ Righteous Jolly 
Wed. 7 p.m. Open Mic Night w/ Cara Cartney 

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Terhune Orchards  
330 Cold Soil Road Princeton  
(609) 924-2310  
Sat. 1 p.m.  "Weekend Music Series" feat. Maggs & Bud
Sun.1 p.m. "Weekend Music Series" feat. Kingston Ridge

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TGI Fridays
3535 U.S. Route 1 North #275 Princeton
(609) 520-0378
Fri. 5 p.m. Joe J and Kim Yarson

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The Bog (Cranbury Golf Club)
49 Southfield Road West Windsor
(609) 799-0341
Sat. 7 p.m. Guns 4 Hire

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The Buck Hotel
1200 Buck Road Feasterville, PA
(215) 396-2002
Fri. 7 p.m. Love Junk

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The Cool Cricket     
216 Burlington Street Fieldsboro     
(609) 291-9110     
Fri. 9 p.m. Karaoke  
Sat. 8:30 p.m. (TBA)

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The Irish Horne Bar & Restaurant
882 2nd Street Pike Richboro, PA
(215) 942-4000
Fri. 9 p.m. The Kickbax Trio

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The Morrisville Tavern
376 West Trenton Avenue Morrisville, PA
(215) 295-5310
Fri. 7 p.m. Dan Ward
Mon. 7 p.m. "Country Night" 

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The Sycamore Grill     
255 North Sycamore Street Newtown, PA     
(215) 908-6326     
Fri. (4 p.m.) "Patrick & Renee are Getting Married" Party (8 p.m.) Lisa Bouchelle
Sat. 8 p.m. Christopher Hyns

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Trenton Buzz     
702 Pine Street Trenton     
(609) 392-6000     
Fri. 8 p.m. Live Band & Open Mic.     
Sat. 10 p.m. "Buzzed Saturdays" 

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Triumph Brewing Company (New Hope, Pa. Location)     
400 Union Square New Hope, Pa.     
(215) 862-8300     
Thurs. 8 p.m. Trivia   
Sun. 7 p.m. Open Stage 

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Vault Tap Room
19 West College Avenue Yardley, PA
(267) 907-8550
Thurs. 7 p.m. Comedy Night w/ Tommy Gooch
Fri. 6 p.m. Brick Acoustic Duo
Sat. 6 p.m. Easy Driver

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Water's Edge Gastropub and Lounge
1067 Totem Road Bensalem, PA
(267) 332-2095
Thurs. 7 p.m. Cornhole "Blind Draw." $10 
Sat. (11 a.m.) "Spring Into Summer" Vendor Event  (7 p.m.) "Comedy on the Crick" 
Sun. 12 p.m.  Drag Brunch
Wed.7 p.m. Drag Bingo & Karaoke
All shows 21+   

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West Windsor Farm Market 
877 Alexander Road West Windsor
Sat. 9 a.m. Anker

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Working Dog Winery     
610 Windsor Perrineville Road Hightstown     
(609) 371-6000 
Sat. 1 p.m. Kevin McGowan
Sun. 1 p.m. Nick Moccia

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WWFM 89.1 FM HD2 Radio
MCCC Old Trenton Road West Windsor
Jazzon2.org
Mon. 7 p.m. "Danny Coleman's Got The Blues" 
 

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Danny Coleman is a veteran musician and writer from central New Jersey. He hosts a weekly radio program entitled “Rock On Radio” airing Sunday evenings at 7:000pm EST on multiple internet radio outlets where he features indie/original bands and solo artists.

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