It’s Go Time for Showtime
I was out at Sharkey’s a few weeks ago enjoying a warm Wednesday summer evening with some friends and some rock and roll. I almost didn’t go. Wasn’t feeling so hot. But my pals encouraged me to come along, anyway, and I’m glad they did.
I arrived during a Dave Matthews song. As I was strolling across the lot to where the music was I couldn’t believe how closely the singer’s voice was to ole Dave’s. Enough to wonder…? What’s going on here…? And the rest of the groovy take was pretty darned spot-on. I found myself impressed before I actually got there. And that was the first thing that hit me.
The next thing that hit me, the entirety of their remaining performance. In a word: Stellar. From their very fresh song list (YAY! I did not hear “Moondance,” or other obvious selections like a lot of the other bands play!) No. These fellas play the other songs… something of which I am a huge fan. Some of the songs are deep cuts. Some of the songs are B-side-ish. Some of them are very popular, but, require more than the average chops of the going musicianship rate. Take McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed,” for instance. This is a song for true musicians. You can’t get away with doing this one right as a mediocre musician. 
These guys played this so well, that I’d be willing to bet a hundred bucks that if Sir Paul himse lf was in the audience, he’d not only nod in approval, but he’d also spit on the ground that he’s no longer the only fellow who can do this one “right.” Kudos and big hats off to Jerry Crimmins who effortlessly delivered this tune to us all on a silver platter. All I could say was “wow” with a generous dose of expletives to support the impact of the wow feeling. One after another the cool takes kept coming. All with superb proficiency, musical prowess respect to the original popular versions, while taking a few stylistic liberties of their own.
Each of the players in this group are knock out heavyweights in the chops department. They make it look easy. I sat there wondering, “how come this band isn’t out there backing up some superstar?” and “Why don’t they write their own stuff and just go hit-it, already?” Their sound would be tremendous on the big arena stage setting, as they already have this quality about them in a very polished way.
I pulled aside bass player Jose Lopez, introduced myself, and asked him to take part in this column to tell us more about this group.
CS: Thanks for doing this interview, Jose.
JL: Thanks for reaching out and giving us this opportunity, Chuck.
CS: I really enjoy and appreciate your group and the musicianship you all possess. What a treat!
JL: Thank you.
CS: Ok, let’s get started. How long has Showtime been together?
JL: Showtime started in 1997, so 18 years.
CS: Based out of Utica, right?
JL: We say Utica, but the band started in Ilion, NY. The five current members live in Frankfort, Ilion and Herkimer. The Mohawk Valley.
CS: Who’s in it?
JL: Jerry Crimmins/Percussion and Vocals
Joe Rossi/Drums
Justin Smithson/Guitar and Vocals
Mike Marro/Keyboards and Vocals
Jose Lopez/Bass and Vocals
CS: The first thing that struck me about your group is the great big chops. The second thing that struck me was your unique and somewhat eclectic song selection. How do you select your play list?
JL: First or all, thank you. Second, we play what we want to play. Whether it’s a new song that catches our ear, and is blowing up the radio now, or an older tune that we’ve just always wanted to jam. We feel that bands can play anything they want, and it will be well received as long as they play it well.
CS: How did you get started in music?
JL: Joe and I are first cousins, and we come from a very musical family, so we grew up in it. Jerry came from a similar background. Justin has been playing guitar since he was around 4. Mike has played multiple instruments for many years.
CS: What are your thoughts on the Central New York music scene?
JL: The music scene here in CNY is alive and well! There are so many great musicians, bands and fans! There definitely aren’t as many venues as there used to be, which makes finding gigs a lot harder, but people still want to hear live music, and we still want to give it to them.
CS: Do you guys ever write?
JL: Yes, we recorded an albums worth of original tunes around 12 years ago. We played a few original shows, and got a pretty good response.
CS: Please share a highlight story.
JL: I’m proud to say that this is a tough question. We’ve had so many great things happen to this band through the years, it’s difficult to choose just one. Around five years ago, we were playing an outdoor venue on Varick Street in Utica. It was a Saranac Thursday and the place was jammin! The lead singer/guitarist of Rusted Root (Mike Glabicki) was in Utica. (He had played a local college that evening) A friend of ours (Lenny Milano Jr) told him that we played a couple of his tunes, and that we were playing just down the street. He came down and joined us on stage for two of his songs, and the place went crazy! He told us the band sounded great, and he was honored to have us play his songs.
CS: How about some healthy advice for an up and coming musician?
JL: The hard work is not what goes on while you’re on stage, it’s everything else. Individual practice, band practice, finding gigs, moving gear, advertising, leg work, networking, making connections, getting recognized, getting your foot in the door. That is where the hard work is. The playing, the on stage time, the people dancing, singing, smiling and cheering, that’s your reward. Work for it!
CS: I like that. What kind of plans does Showtime have for the future?
JL: Well, we started this band in high school. If you had told me then that almost 20 years later we’d still be playing this much, in front of so many people, I probably would’ve said, “yeah, right,” but, here we are. We’re gonna ride this wave as long as we can. We’re going to keep working hard at what we do, and hope that people keep enjoying what we do.
CS:Where can we find more about you? Online?
JL: We have two pages on Facebook. One is a fan page that is just Showtime. The other is actually a friend page just like everyone else has, and that one is Show Time. You can like our fan page, and friend request us on our friend page. Our gigs are listed under Events on our fan page. There are pictures, videos and posts on both.
CS: Thanks, again, Jose for taking time to chat with us.
See you August 5th at Sharkey’s.
JL: Thank you, Chuck. My pleasure. Looking forward to seeing you.
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