VILLAGE JAMMERS

“Til It Happens To You”

Loco Dare Music

The Village Jammers have been in existence for nearly 20 years. Comprised of old friends who happen to all be seasoned musicians thanks to a deep-rooted love of honest music, the Jammers have been gathering to play their unique blend of “bluegrass/country/jazz/rock/blues/folk/rockabilly/insert any style of music here” since the their early Village Pub (now known as One South Restaurant) jam sessions during the mid 1980’s. Bandmates Geoff Corkhill (guitars), Mike Palazzolo (bass), Dan Ravanelle (banjo/dobro), and Curtiss Thompson (mandolin) have recently released “Til It Happens To You” on Loco Dare Music, a 14 track effort of American music (for lack of a better musical label) that displays the Jammers musical diversity, technical abilities, and creativity.

It’s been said that a Village Jammers practice session is much more than just chords and tunings; you get a healthy dose of political debate, blue-collar beer bottles, beef jerky, ball-busting, and oh yeah, some pretty good music too. The band’s knack for encouraging their growing circle of musician friends to join them for jam sessions and gigs; talented musicians like Jay Dempsey, Jim Carpenter, Tommy Giarratano, Vince Thompson, Bill Light, and Steve Jakebelski, makes the Village Jammers as much a family as they are a band. Founding member and harmonica extraordinaire Rene Brisson, who sadly passed away in 2000, still retains an honorary seat in the jam circle each session.

As of recent, the Village Jammers have regrouped with a renewed vigor, supported by the same structure that held their prior sessions together: good, honest music. The band has been on a creative roll since Thompson stumbled onto a bull-riding documentary and offered a few of his band’s tunes that hadn’t quite existed at the time. The Jammers stepped up to the plate, cranked out some cowboy songs, and now have several tunes featured in a documentary about bull riding. That type of approach brought a logical next step; a new disc of new material. “Til It Happens To You” has a bit of everything the Jammers represent: Thompson’s signature mandolin and sincere vocals, Corkhill’s Doc Watson influence and traditional flat picking guitar work, Palazzolo’s creativity and musical vision, and Ravanelle’s southern rock-influences solos and musical diversity. The formula works; “Til It Happens to You” is the long overdue offering of music that Jammers fans have been waiting for.

The Village Jammers were born from an open invite of friends gathering to play any style of music they knew, and the result was a long-term friendship and a lot of terrific music. Whether it’s the friendship bond that makes the music sound so good or the great musicianship that makes the friendships so strong, the bottom line is each musician brings a variety of influences to the table, comprising the Village Jammers’ family signature sound.

- Don Sikorski

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