Troy Gregorino and The Jarts
By Liz Pahl (intro by Matthew Toledo) - 1/18/2007
Troy Gregorino is a huge champion of the local folk scene. As a singer and songwriter, Troy's stake in the local folk scene is personal. As a journalist, Troy has the ability to get the word out about his favorite genre. A vast majority of the stories Troy wrote for local newspapers in years past cover the local coffee house scene and all the inspiring talent contained within. A few years back, he left our city of Athens, Ohio to seek greener pastures in the warmer and larger city of Athens, Georgia. Since then Troy has been diagnosed with cancer, recovered, and is now once again back in Athens, Ohio.
Troy is returning to the local music scene this Saturday January 20th at the Donkey with a new project. The vehicle for his return isn't a solo project, but instead a new band called "The Jarts." It's a band comprised of well known members of the coffee house scene. A folk super-group, if you will.
Athens Musician Network correspondent and talented singer-songwriter Liz Pahl recently interviewed Troy to find out more about the band, his recovery, and plans for the future.
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LP: Let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell me a little bit about where you were born and what it was like being young Troy Gregorino?
TG: I was born in Salem, Ohio, and lived in a few small working class towns in northeastern Ohio. Much of my upbringing was in Nashville, Tennessee. Things were modest, and I loved it. Most of my time was spent playing basketball, studying ant hills, or talking to buffaloes in the field. Still not sure whether the buffaloes actually existed.
LP: How were you first exposed to music as a child?
TG: My parents have never really been avid music listeners. They managed to pay for me to take a few classical guitar lessons when I was seven. Mom and Dad would listen through the door to my instructor and me. They claim that, after my couple of months there, they couldn't tell which of us was playing. Probably just made that up to give me some confidence, but it worked.
LP: Do you remember writing your first song?
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TG: I'd rather not.
LP: Who are your major musical influences?
TG: Lots of old scratchy albums, the primitive forms of most things.
LP: Was there a particular record that drew you to
start playing delta blues?
TG: Mississippi John Hurt, Rediscovered and Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings. I also like Jack Dialessandro. But I'm no bluesman, just an admirer.
LP: While at Kent State University, you received a journalism degree and also helped with planning the annual commemorations of the 1970 shootings of anti-war protestors at Kent State. What was it like to plan those major events, how many
years did you help plan, and who are some of the most memorable people you met during that time?
TG: I helped with the event throughout college. The commemorations serve to help in the ongoing healing process for survivors, as well as to address and combat present-day injustices. Greed, brutality, and empire meet dissent, subversion, and resistance, followed by more greed, brutality, and empire. Such an old story, overdue for new victors. Some of my most memorable encounters were with the wounded victims and the families of those killed by the National Guard. My interactions with musical guests there included Fugazi, Richie Havens, Peter, Paul & Mary, and Crosby, Stills & Nash. It kind of brought to life for me the significance of songs in the context of mass movements.
LP: You performed Pete Seeger's "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" at the 2006 commemoration. What was that like?
TG: Such an honor. I found myself making the piece much more aggressive than the original. It was as though all of the song's softness and sentimental charm had given way to my own frustration that we're still singing songs to reconcile the horrific misdeeds of those in power. And we're still sanctioning the deaths of innocents the world over. We're still gathering, still agitating, still being moved, but for what?
LP: Speaking of Pete Seeger, as an aspiring journalist, Pete once said that Woody Guthrie taught him that he could still collect facts like a journalist but could give those facts more power by putting them into song. How do you feel about your relationship between being a journalist and songwriter?
TG: I don't know. I suppose some of the really straightforward topical songs have still got their place. Both reporting and songwriting, by their nature, seem to be an exercise in collecting, synthesizing, and blurring personal experiences with events. In any case, the more real a song or story, the more I tend to care about it.
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LP: When do most of your creative ideas happen?
TG: Driving past little shops out in the country, names like Mike's Video-N-Gun Store.
LP: If you've ever gotten into a songwriting rut, what have you done to dig yourself out of writers’ block hell?
TG: I think the notion of writers' block can be a bit overplayed. But for inspiration, I like little towns whose names intrigue me. Great big tragedies are also said to do the trick.
LP: You also have reviewed many records for Athens Insider. Do you have any tips for aspiring critics, or any pet peeves as you read others’ reviews?
TG: Listen. And spell things correctly, always. Two major pitfalls for critics are self-righteous snobbery and perpetual cheerleading. Those approaches are quite easy and don't tend to be very enlightening.
LP: You moved from Athens, Ohio to Athens, Georgia back to Athens, Ohio. What are the big differences between the two cities’ music scenes.
TG: Well, my time in Georgia was short and rather distracted. My sense of things, though, is that Athens, Georgia's scene is bigger but not stronger than that of Athens, Ohio, in terms of overall depth and quality. I'd put the best of Athens, Ohio's music up against that of any city that comes to mind.
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LP: What ultimately lured you back to THE Athens (OH)?
TG: I really missed this place. And it's such an ideally soft and forgiving place to land after the events of the past two years.
LP: As collective musicians and friends, Athens has been so thrilled to have you back and most importantly, have you in good health. What role has music had on your recent triumph over lung cancer?
TG: Despite some initial confusion and some very rare circumstances, my diagnosis was testicular cancer that had metastasized into my lungs. But all of my symptoms were in my lungs, and my surgery over a year ago was to remove tumors that remained in the lungs after some heavy chemotherapy cycles. I've never been so humbled as by the love sent to me in so many forms, from hospitals in different states to loved ones everywhere, to the trip back home again. I was bed-ridden for several months at my folks' place up north, unable to eat or lift the weight of my guitar, much less sing songs of my own. For hours and hours, I'd play the songs written for me by my friends from Athens. So, yeah, music and the love of others get immeasurable credit for the success of my ongoing healing process. Immensely powerful, borrowing from the strength of others during times of such physical and emotional frailty. It's all been a tremendous lesson in patience, and, in retrospect, such a fortunate exercise in embracing limitations, and accepting even the most taxing sicknesses as part of healing.
LP: Have you created new songs as a result of this recent experience?
TG: That's a safe bet.
LP: Speaking of new songs, let’s talk about The Jarts. The Jarts is your new band comprised of Bryan Gibson on drums, Chris Pyle on bass, Michael Rinaldi-Eichenberg on keyboards, Ashley Ford on cello and yourself playing guitar and singing. How did this new band get together?
TG: When I felt confident that my recovery would be enough to allow me to return to Athens, I sort of had this vision of a dream band. To my amazement, all of the prospective mates from this vision turned out to be available and interested in my proposed experiment. I feel ridiculously fortunate.
LP: Is it difficult to arrange your solo songs with a full band? Did you have the different instrumental parts mapped out, or did everyone just kind of run with their own ideas?
TG: I've certainly got some ideas in mind for the band, but I hardly ever recognize my songs once the group gets done debating and installing their contributions to the arrangements. The Jarts are in no way a Troy-and-his-band kind of thing. The creative process is very much shared among the group. With so many different backgrounds and musical leanings among us, I really enjoy sometimes just listening to the unexpected places the band will end up taking a song.
LP: How has the evolution of this new band changed you as a musician?
TG: I'm expected to count now, like to four and stuff.
LP: Your first gig will be on January 20th, 2007 at the Donkey, right? What should we expect from such a fine gaggle of talented musicians?
TG: Yeah, we've just started together as a band. But my long absence from music, and nearly losing the opportunity to ever do this again, makes this feel like a really long time coming. Expect to hear a bunch of my favorite musicians, and a singer likely to explode with adrenaline while singing often melancholy folk-rock kind of things.
