In the past two years “the circle” has expanded slightly to include some musical family that may be slightly outside of the New England home that I most frequently focus on. When folks from outside that area enter into the family, its for damn good reason.
Ron Gallo came to me by the way that many of my favorite new finds do…a friend said you have to hear this band. He was talking about the band Toy Soliders, and “he” was Joe Fletcher. In an interview for the Newport Folk Festival a couple years back, Fletcher said:
“I just got back from a tour with this band from Philadelphia called ‘Toy Soldiers’ (http://ohnotoysoldiers.com/). Not sure if you are familiar with them? They are actually playing in Newport on the Saturday night at a place called One Eighty with Andrew Combs (http://andrewcombs.net/) who is also on “Nashville to Newport”. We just figured out a way to get those guys into the festival during the day and they’re gonna get up and do some collaborating with me. We did a lot of that on the tour we were on. They are the band that I am just like, the most a band has moved me in a long time. They are about to put out a really fantastic record. It’s going to make a lot of waves and I think a lot of people are going to know who they are really, really soon. They are just out of this world.”
Some strong words from an artist I have a great deal of respect for, so I had to check them out. Since then, Ron has toured with a slew of different bands, solo, and with friends. His solo release ‘Ronny’ had its humorous points, but was affecting and serious in all the right ways. And that voice. Man…the dude has a unique voice like no other.
I am very pleased to announce that Ron will be joining us at Passim for our Summer Celebration as he snakes his way around the Northeast with Satellite Hearts. Video below from Allston Pudding sessions that were recently shot…I’ve been told by Ron that they will strip down the sound, just a bit, to better suit the room. I am super stoked to have these guys on board.
Get your tickets today!
https://tickets.passim.org/ordertickets.asp?p=4661&backurl=default.asp