1979 Linda Gendall & Rocky Hill Bluegrass Nassau Inn Princeton NJ 1-Page Article

Description

1979 Linda Gendall & Rocky Hill Bluegrass Nassau Inn Princeton NJ 1-Page Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm)
Condition: Good
Linda Goodall & Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill with Philadelphia TV personality Captain Noah, [inset] - Linda Gendall & her two children.
When Linda Gendall makes calls to
book her husband’s bluegrass band,
Rocky Hill, the person on the other end of
the line always asks, “Who are you and
what are you getting out of this?” Her
answer is refreshingly candid: "I’m a
mother, a potter, and I get 10 percent off
the top.”
Her honesty, coupled with the band’s
talent, has brought Rocky Hill many jobs
and enabled the band to be one of Central
Jersey’s most popular bluegrass band.
“There are two big problems in getting
band bookings,” Linda says. “The first is
that a lot of places don’t want bluegrass,
and the second is that those who do want
it often won’t pay enough to make it worth
anyone’s while to work. But if we can’t
handle a job we always refer it to
a band that can.”
The real plum in Rocky Hill’s career
came when it brought bluegrass to the
Nassau Inn, a staid restaurant and pub
in a conservative, Ivy League town,
where traditional British Isles music and
American folk songs had been preferable
to a bunch of pickers.
“When the Nassau Inn’s old manager
died about a year ago the Inn brought
in a much younger man, Tom Root, who
was seeking to enliven the Inn’s rather
quiet image,” Linda explains. “He gave
Rocky Hill eight Thursday night bookings
this winter and the crowd became hooked.
He sold more beer in a night than he had
in a week.”
After the band played its eight gigs, a
decision was made to retire for a couple of
months from the Inn so as not to burn
out its own audience, so Linda brought
in other groups — Hard Times, Late Nite
Garage, New Appalachia, Bucks County
Grass, the Katie Laur Band, and even the
Green Grass Cloggers. More than 300
local people turned out to learn to clog on
a Sunday afternoon and the enthused
manager immediately gave the group a
booking there for fall.
In addition to having a booking agent
who’s right up front, the band members
themselves - Doug Craig on bass, fiddler
Steve Hendershott, Rich Stillman on
banjo, and Greg Gendall on guitar -
admitted that it couldn’t go into hock pay-
ing for needed publicity materials
and household art luxuries, and decided
to barter its music for the band’s
collective needs.
For instance, Rocky Hill performed at a
wedding late last summer. The bride is
a graphic artist with connections with
printers so the band performed in
exchange for design and printing work,
and now has clever, snappy posters, busi-
ness cards and letterhead stationery.
The group also gave a benefit concert
and square dance for Linda’s clay co-op -
which was struggling to pay its utility
bills after the severe winter of ’78 - and
each member took his pay in clay pots
and other handmade goodies, luxuries
that many musicians are unable to afford
on a band’s salary. The fund-raiser was
successful - the hall was packed - and
another benefit (to buy materials) is
planned.
And yet another trade: one of the band’s
friends traded the writing talents of
publicity releases in exchange for a book-
ing for his own favorite, out-of-state band.
The possibilities for enterprising barter-
ers are endless... and while it’s easy
to find people willing to barter, the
frustrating part is the booking, Linda
admits.
“I enjoy booking, although the time in-
volved is tremendous and our phone bill
is astronomical,” Linda says. "We read all
the newspaper ads, particularly the night
spot sections, looking for work, and we’re
not afraid to ask a non-bluegrass bar to
give us an audition or a job.”
“Booking a band is the type of work
where you frequently have to pound
your fists on a table, but when I land
the band a job I find delight in the purpose
and the reason.”
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