It was inevitable. After reuniting for shows with former band mate Chris Laughrey and brother Mark Connolly, could a reunion with other-brother John Connolly be far behind? After a couple of house concerts in Hawaii and Denver, we’re going to bring the original Connolly Brothers sound back home for a big show under the big top at Riley’s Pour House. The show is set for this Saturday, September 6, where we’ll be joined by long-time collaborator Duane Davis and special guests Lauren Moore, and Audrie Kuntz.
John and I started playing professionally as The Other Brothers in the mid-70s, debuting at Stubby’s in Ambridge and soon landing steady gigs at Frankie Gustine’s in Oakland, The Skylark in Moon Township, and The Oaks in Castle Shannon (where we performed regularly with Dennis Miller).
Along the way attracted the attention of a local agent who got us some lucrative bookings on the college circuit. Those were good times to be in music.
We spent our days writing and arranging in a basement studio that John had patched together with equipment purchased while in the army. Brother Mark joined us whenever he was in town (he lived in New York City back then), and some of the songs that came out of those basement sessions are still among my favorites.
“Leaves and Dust” was one of those. John eventually rerecorded it on one of his solo albums a few years later, but I’ve always been fond of this basement recording. It features all three of us on guitar, bass, and vocals.
One of the more eccentric songs we worked on was “The Rock Hound Rag” (vt: “The Ballad of Cope and Marsh”). It’s a novelty tune about (of all things) the Bone Wars of the late 19th century. Never heard of the Bone Wars? You’re not alone. It’s a fairly esoteric footnote in history involving a rivalry between paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Charles Marsh. You can read about those guys here, or you can just listen to the song, which more or less tells the highlights of the tale.
“Rock Hound” never got past the demo stages, but it’s fun to play. Maybe we’ll do it Saturday, but if we don’t, you can still hear it by clicking the player at the bottom of this post.
The big show at Riley’s starts at 8:00PM. If you’re anywhere in the Pittsburgh area, we’ll hope to see you there.
Rock on!
Photos:
John and Lawrence Connolly 1977.
Lawrence and Mark Connolly 1975.
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