Any day with Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams in it is a good day. And when the Circus comes to Morristown, well, that is a very good day.
And so your correspondent is indebted to his new best friends, Nancy and Jersey Joe, for a heads-up that this strange and wonderful band was playing a morning set yesterday at the Starlight Room of the Mayo Center for the Arts. You can hear the whole show on Jim Monaghan’s “All Mixed Up Live” on WDHA at 8 a.m. Sunday.
My first encounter with the Slambovians came a couple of summers ago at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. At first it appeared that these scruffy-looking, raspy-voiced characters with the loud electric guitars had made a wrong turn somewhere and gotten their gigs confused.
By the time they hit their first chorus, the entire hillside was dancing. The band features Joziah Longo on lead vocals and guitar, Sharkey McEwen on lead guitar, Tink Lloyd on too many instruments to count, Tony Zuzulo on drums and Orien Longo on bass.
Joziah describes the Slambovian sound as “country prison music meets British invasion” and “punk hillbilly.” Works for me.