Glory Road

Glory Road was born in January 1975 when drummer Charlie Andaloro, pianist Joe Bocchetti, guitarist/vocalist Vince Farinaccio, bassist Jody Janetta and guitarist/vocalist Ernie Trionfo came together for the first time to play music in a church basement in Vineland, NJ. The collective was made up of players whose musical endeavors had intersected over the previous years: Ernie and Vince had performed as a duo and had been in another local band with Charlie, Joe and Jody had played together through high school and had jammed with Ernie and Charlie.

The group played its first gig shortly after their initial meeting at what was then known as the State School in Vineland. With only a handful of tunes prepared, the performance included solo acoustic performances to fill in the time. As the band's set lists grew, in later months, the acoustic portion remained a fairly consistent feature over the next year.

In April and May of 1975, Glory Road played a local high school coffeehouse and a concert in the church basement where they rehearsed. The sets had expanded to include songs by Jackson Browne, and Tom Rush, original material and jazz selections. Both shows were recorded and are in the archives.

The band continued to rehearse and occasionally gig through the summer. In the fall, Glory Road appeared on WGLS radio at Glassboro State College. The group, along with friend and roadie John Kee, were interviewed and Vince and Ernie performed several tunes from the band's rep acoustic as well as a one-off guitar-mandolin rendition of a Scottish jig. The group also performed at several other events at the college including an outdoor concert and coffeehouses over the next year.

Following the radio appearance, the band decided to expand the lineup by adding local folksinger Katie Schoch. Katie's vocals opened up the sound to three-part harmonies and gave the band three lead vocalists. Over the next year, the six-piece lineup played a series of gigs at various coffeehouses, colleges, clubs and benefits as well as self-produced concerts in the church auditorium.

In early summer 1976, with the future of Glory Road uncertain, Ernie, Vince and Katie formed a splinter group, an acoustic trio which used the same name as the full-band and which performed covers and original material at local clubs. Still referred to as "the trio" today, it differentiated itself from the full-band because of its acoustic nature and lack of drums.

In August 1976, with bassist Artie Mancini replacing Jody, the six-piece formation would perform for the last time at the second annual Farewell Folk Concert in the church basement (the first of these events, held to gather together friends who would be leaving for various colleges at the end of August, featured Vince, Joe, singer/harmonica player Rob Vanella and guitarist/singer Carl Casazza. Both Farewell Folk Concerts were recorded and are in the archives.) Plans for a follow-up show at Christmas were eventually scrapped even though a series of rehearsals had worked up about six songs including versions of Paul McCartney and Wings. Medicine Jar and a Chicago tune both of which were to feature trumpet and sax in the lineup.

In the fall of 1976, a stripped-down lineup of Charlie, Joe and Ernie formed a second splinter group. This collective performed a rep that leaned heavily on the jazz material (originals and covers) that were part of the earlier sets by the larger band.

In the winter of 1976/77, the three-piece jazz lineup, with Artie on bass, recorded several original selections at a local studio. During the same period, the six-piece lineup (with Artie) reconvened for an all-night recording session which produced eight tracks. These recordings, along with those of the three-piece lineup and the acoustic trio's spring 1977 sessions, were eventually released in Europe on vinyl.

Charlie, Joe and Ernie continued to rehearse through the early months of 1977. This lineup, billed as Glory Road and featuring Katie and Vince on some songs, performed the final Glory Road band gig in April 1977 at a KAR coffeehouse on the Glassboro State College campus. In July, the jazz trio played with Dennis Davilio for the first time and Timberlake was born.

In the fall of 1976, the acoustic trio played the Gold Bug Coffeehouse, an off-campus venue. Early the next year, Vince, Katie and Ernie picked up a series of steady gigs at clubs and bars. Throughout the next two years, they would become a mainstay at The Saloon in Buena, NJ, playing up to three nights a week there, and performing mostly covers of CSNY, the Eagles, Joni Mitchell and other singer-songwriters. In 1978, the trio performed at a festival in Millville, NJ (Timberlake was also on the bill) and a soundboard recording of the set, now in the archives, is the only audio representation of the group in concert. The following year, the trio became Further Down the Road for a year when Vince departed and was replaced with Timberlake keyboardist Dan Lynch.

In 1981, the original lineup reconvened to play a series of warm-up gigs at The Saloon and then a nine-week residency at the Ugly Mug in Cape May, NJ. Performing three nights a week were the original trio and two nights a week Katie was replaced by bassist/vocalist Dennis Davilio. (One of the songs Dennis introduced to the trio as well as to Timberlake was Jesse Winchester's Midnight Bus, a song recorded as a tribute to Dennis by the surviving members of Timberlake and the Glory Road trio after his passing in 2001.) On two evenings during the run, all four members played the entire night. The group was also joined on occasion by singer/guitarist and friend Fred Lambert. Upon returning home, the trio concluded the summer with a five-hour show at The Saloon with Dennis, Fred, Charlie, Joe and others joining in.

In 1982, the trio played a summer residency at The Driftwood in Vineland. The outdoor gigs took place in the same period as the informal sessions held that summer by former members of Glory Road and Timberlake. The sessions resulted in the recording of Traveler's Song, a tune penned by Vince and Ernie in their early duo days. The players included Joe, Dennis, Mike Spina, Ernie, Katie and Vince and both the rehearsals and the track are now preserved in the archives.

Late in 1982, Vince, Ernie, Charlie, Joe, Katie and Dennis gave a one-off, spontaneous performance for the music club at the high school where Vince was teaching. Relying mostly on the trio's rep, the musicians played a short set that included One Trick Pony, Come Together, Raised on Robbery, Midnight Bus and, from the Timberlake sets, Hot 'Lanta. The set was recorded by one of the students and is in the archives.

It wasn't until May 1984 that the Glory Road trio reunited at Studio 55 in Vineland to perform what would be its last official concert. The show was videotaped and included performances by Dennis and Fred. The set list was expanded to include material by Richard Thompson, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and an a cappella rendering of So In Love along with the standard material the trio had played over the years.

By the end of 1984, Ernie and Vince would rejoin Charlie and along with bassist/singer Bruce Pike, form Home At Last.