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One kid playing the drums is enough. In the Gallagher household, there very well could have been seven.
“I have six brothers and they’re all musicians. It was pretty amazing growing up in that house. I’m sure our neighbors didn’t like it too much,” Kevin Gallagher, of Front and Fitzgerald streets, said. “We all went off in different directions.”
Recently, however, three of their paths re-intersected as Kevin, older brother Michael and younger brother Chris formed the Christopher Grand Quartet. The foursome, rounded out by pianist (and non-relative) Julian Horner, features Kevin on bass, Michael on drums and Christopher on vocals.
“It’s great. It’s interesting. We’re very candid with one another,” Chris, who lives a stone’s throw from his kin at Front and Ritner streets, said of playing with his family. “One second we’re kissing and hugging, the next there is a fistfight in the living room. It’s very reminiscent of childhood, as well.”
The Quartet that covers the American Songbook classics has been together for a little more than a year. As the band continues to fine-tune its sound, the quartet has been treating locals to some live tastes at Penn’s Landing’s La Veranda Ristorante, The Italian eatery hosted the group’s first gig in November and will feature the band for the third time 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
“We had no idea what to expect and it was packed and everyone loved it,” Kevin, 43, said of the first show. “Ever since then we’ve being doing [about] one show a month there. It’s become our home base now. People hear about it and want to come check us out.”
The brothers, who have spent nearly 30 years cutting their teeth in various bands, have found their stride with the Quartet. Former rock ‘n’ roll musicians, the group imbues classics with a little punk-rock swagger.
“People see us and think, ‘What are these guys gunna do?’ We’re swinging Sinatra songs, but in our own style. We’re bringing it to this century and giving it our own flavor,” Kevin said. “We notice we’re getting a lot of the younger crowd in to it now. We’re punk rock going up there and completely swinging out this kind of old music they’ve heard before. But not like this.”
In the same vein, the group is making its show at La Veranda a night out reminiscent of South Philly’s former supper clubs. The vibe is old world, but in a hip, modern way.
“It’s great to see people go out on a Saturday night. You don’t have to get dressed up, but it’s nice to see beautiful women putting on fancy dresses and jewelry and men in suits,” Chris, 37, said. “We’re bringing some cool back to the city.”
The Gallagher family has roots in South Philly, with their mother, MaryAnn, a Tasker Homes resident and their father, Frank, a native of Grays Ferry’s South Hollywood Street.
“They both will be in attendance [Saturday]. My mother is like my biggest fan,” Chris said of his parents who always kept music playing in the family home.
The Gallagher boys grew up in Southwest Philly, but when it was time to move out on their own, South Philly had a strong pull.
“Basically, once I turned 17, I started moving all around South Philly. I finally bought this home six years ago,” Kevin said. “It seemed — it reminds me of where I grew up in Southwest — the close-knit neighborhoods. People still talk to their neighbors. People still look out for each other. It really, really impresses me.
“I could be traveling with the music, gone for a month or two at a time. If there are any problems, anything happens, my neighbors call me.”
Following the music is second nature to Kevin and Chris, though they are happy it has led them back to their hometown and playing with the same people it all started with.
“We’ve had an extremely [positive response] and the best part is, because we rehearse at my brother’s place at Front and Ritner, I see my neighbors everyday and I’m walking back and forth carrying this huge bass and they are all hanging on the corner of the bar right there. And they are like, ‘We can hear you guys from down here. It sounds great!’ And it’s important and special to us that we are playing in South Philly.”
As the members make their way slightly north along the river for the third show Saturday, they are thankful to play the music they love among friends and family.
“Absolutely, it was terribly important for us [to perform near home]. For so many years people have been asking me … ‘When are you are going to do this?’ ‘Stop doing the rock-and-roll nonsense.’ and ‘when are you going to do the American Songbook and the standards?’ and so forth.” Chris, who studied opera and jazz with local mentor Harold Singer, said. “My family and all my friends [are here]. It was natural, perfect positioning and the venue couldn’t be better.”
The group is continuing to gain momentum, although the brothers know they are still nursing the beginnings of “organic, cool, infantile stages,” Chris said. Now that they have begun finding their voice, they plan to lay down a record in the coming month to use for promotion.
“This is what I want to do,” Chris said. “I’m going to continue to sink my teeth in to singing and this is what I want to do, so we are steaming ahead and everything looks bright and fantastic.” SPR
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