Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams at Roots on the River Festival, Bellows Falls, VT. June 9, 2007
Background information
Origin	Sleepy Hollow, NY
Genres	folk-rock
Instruments	Guitar, harmonica, mandolin, accordion, flute, piccolo, theremin, cello, bass, percussion
Years active	1998 - present
Labels	High Noon Records (Independent)
Website	www.slambovia.com
Members
Joziah Longo, Sharkey McEwen, Tink Lloyd, Tony Zuzulo, Chen Longo, Orien Longo
Notable instruments
theremin, slide mandolin

Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is a Hudson Valley New York based band,^[1] which was founded in Sleepy Hollow in 1998. The band's music is a form of Folk rock and is sometimes described as "Hillbilly Pink Floyd,"^[2] or "Punk Classical Hillbilly Floyd." Their latest album, The Great Unravel, was released nationally in the United States on August 5, 2008, and internationally on August 8, 2008.^[3]

The band regularly plays the major folk music venues, coffeehouses and music festivals in the Northeastern, and East North Central United States often to sold out crowds. They also tour in other regions of the United States, including California and Florida. In August 2008 they made their first appearance outside of North America, at the Rhythm Festival in England. Their reception there was so enthusiastic that they were invited back for the 2009 festival, as well as several other UK festivals in the summer of 2009.^[4]

The flavor of the band is best captured by a live concert, or by one of their live recordings. The band is noted for the dedication and support shown by their fans.^[5] Some fans travel hundreds of miles to attend concerts.^[6] A high point of the year for many fans is the Grand Slambovian Hillbilly Pirate Ball, an annual costumed event held near Halloween.

Members

The band's current lineup is:

• Joziah Longo - lead vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Sharkey McEwen - lead guitar, backing vocals, mandolin
• Tink Lloyd - accordion, cello, flute, piccolo, theremin, backing vocals.
• Tony Zuzulo - percussion
• Orien Longo - bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals, cowbell,

Chen Longo (Orien's twin brother) played bass with the band until September 2009, when he matriculated at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Musical Influences

The Band's MySpace page lists a variety of musical influences, many of which are evident in the music they perform.

• The original song Flapjacks From the Sky^[7] is reminiscent of Pink Floyd and includes references to The Dark Side of the Moon. The original song Syd is a tribute to Syd Barrett.
• The original song Circus of Dreams^[8] is usually introduced as "a hat-tip to those early Folk Pioneers - The Who".
• The original song Talking to the Buddha^[9] is usually introduced as being "reminiscent of King Crimson, on the album Court of the Crimson King.
• The original song End of the World is reminiscent of Jethro Tull.
• A Circus concert often includes a Bob Dylan cover, usually either Gates of Eden^[10] or Subterranean Homesick Blues.^[11]
• Occasionally a Circus concert will include a cover of a Beatles song.
• Occasionally a Circus concert will include the The Waterboys' song Fisherman's Blues.^[12]
• Occasionally a Circus concert will include Hank Williams' song Long Gone Lonesome Blues.
• The 2007 Pirate Hillbilly Ball concert included a song derived from the Incredible String Band's Black Jack Davy.
• A number of songs show the influence of Joziah's upbringing in Philadelphia PA, including Alice in Space,^[13] which is usually described as a Mummers song, and The Yodel Song^[14] which is based on yodelling that Joziah heard at weekly song sessions in his parent's basement.^[4]

Band History

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Joziah, Tink, and Sharkey were members of a progressive rock band called The Ancestors, which released 3 albums.

• The Ancestors (1988)
• The Enemies Dance (1991)
• Brigadoon (1994)

Tracks on Brigadoon were produced by Eddie Kramer.

Other members of The Ancestors included Bob Muller (of the Trey Gunn Band), Brian Hardgroove (currently of Public Enemy), and Alistair Farrant.^[15]

The Ancestors had some degree of success but the band broke up in 1995, and they took a hiatus from the music industry. During that hiatus Joziah and Tink took courses in computer graphic design and video production at the Westchester Arts Workshop^[16] and met Tony, who was one of their instructors. In 1998 they formed The Circus and added Tony when they discovered that he had been a bar band drummer.^[17]

Discography

Year	Title	Comments
1999	A Good Thief Tips His Hat
2000	Live from WDST - Acoustic Breakfast	Live recording. Out of print.
2000	Suddenly It's Christmas	CD single.
2001	Live at the Towne Crier	Live recording. Out of print, but available from iTunes.
2004	Flapjacks from the Sky
2005	A Night at the Puppet House	Live recording.
2005	The Christmas Show 2004	Live recording.
2005	Flapjacks from the Sky 12" vinyl
2006	"Flapjacks from the Sky" Concert DVD - Live at The Depot Theatre
2007	Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Hillsdale NY - July 21st, 2006	Live recording.
2007	Roots on the River, Bellows Falls, VT - June 9th, 2007	Live recording.
2007	Ancient Murphy Greatest Hits of the 20th Century	A collection of tracks by a previous incarnation of the band as The Ancestors.
2008	The Great Unravel	Released August 8, 2008
2008	A Very Slambovian Christmas	Live Recording

Band Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2008)

• The band's song My Girl was featured on the CBS television show Joan of Arcadia episode number 20.^[18]
• Tink's name is derived from 'Tinkerbell'.^[19]
• Tink and Joziah are married to each other and have 5 children.
• Chen and Orien are twins, and are Tink and Joziah's sons.
• In the early years of the band Tony split his time between gigs and working on video games as Art Director and Animator.^[20]
• The band has their own coffee brand 'Slambovian Coffee'.

References

External links

• The band's official webpage is http://www.slambovia.com. A collection of downloadable tracks, including a number of bootleg concert recordings, can be found on the Radio Free Slambovia page.
• The band's official Facebook Fan Page and MySpace page.
• Band Tour Dates from the band's calendar page and from Pollstar.com.
• The unofficial CircusFans fan discussion group on Google Groups and the associated page on MySpace
• Reviews of Flapjacks from the Sky on Chronogram.com and Allmusic.com.
• Article in New Haven, CT's Play magazine.