THE HISTORY OF SECONDHAND JIVE
Secondhand Jive as we know it today was originally conceived as the Russell Ferguson Orchestra in 1994. The RFO was first meant to be a one-time conglomeration experiment between members of two popular bands on campus at the University of Alabama. After having a sort of “music sex”, the members from the two bands realized it was much better than what they had been doing in their respective projects. The participants of the RFO quickly “trimmed the fat” from their other groups and reassembled as one stronger and more cohesive unit. Thus, from the adulterous mingling of two bands, one band came to be – Secondhand Jive.
The major creative catalyst for Secondhand Jive’s early days was a local club at the time called the Purple Fish. “The Fish”, became known as the south’s bastard child of Studio 54 and CBGB’s. To this day, the club remains indescribable to those who never attended. The 24 hour environment of music and debauchery the club provided is what allowed the members to meet and later flourish as Secondhand Jive. The band enjoyed a successful residency at the club during the entire span of its operation, and took the party to another venue called Pounders when the Purple Fish closed its doors in 1996.
The Jive was blowing it out at home and knew that it was time to take the buzz on the road. The road for Secondhand Jive was always an interesting place. A near death traffic accident on the way to the band’s first road gig in Nashville was somewhat of an omen for the years to come. Nevertheless, (and as always), the band managed to arrive to the venue late, but in one piece, and proceeded to melt the paint of the walls with their music. The Jive toured extensively throughout the east from 1995-1999. While building substantial audiences at each stop, the band was also exposed to several more road “adventures” which included nearly hitting a bull in the road, running over a man on a bike, flipping the equipment van upside down and later leaving a van in flames in the middle of an interstate just a few miles from the crash site of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s airplane some years before.
After two years of touring, the band had written and developed its sound to the point where it was time to record an album. Secondhand Jive’s Eponymous debut was recorded over the course of a year in 1996. The band’s first studio tracks were created on all vintage equipment in the house of a very strange man who lived in the woods outside Montgomery, Alabama. While the music was sounding great, the experience of having an engineer insisting on directing the band’s music, as well as telling them what time to go to bed at night was too much for the young lads. When paired with the fact that the whole house smelled like cat urine and old cereal, it became clear to the band that it was time to move.
In the spring, the Jive relocated their recording efforts to a much more comfortable and accessible location at Pyramid Studios in Tuscaloosa. Here the band, along with the help and experimental insight of engineer Jacob Thompson, worked around the clock to complete what would become the band’s honest documentation of their collective songwriting skills giving homage to where the band came from. To this day the album (since remastered and re-released) sells thousands of copies a year and has become a coveted musical window into the past for those that experienced the excitement of the band’s shows on the college campuses around the south in the late nineties. Tracks from the album have since been featured on soundtracks for shows on MTV and have been imbedded on every new Dell computer’s hard drive since 2002.
Between the years 1999 and 2002, members of the band parted ways to explore other musical venues. Guitarist Dave Yoke went on to spend two years on the road with keyboardist Dr. Dan Matrazzo, formerly of Col. Bruce Hampton and the Fiji Mariners. In this time he also lent his guitar work to other projects such as Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Carlos Washington’s Giant People and various side projects with drummer Jeff Sipe (aka AptQ258). After a show during Jazz Fest in 2004, Yoke was summoned by the funk royalty of George Clinton for a late night recording session that has yet to surface.
Singer/songwriter Justin Johnson returned to his roots on the bass guitar and hit the road with TVT artists Wayne for several national tours, as well as recording and album with the band. He also performed alongside recording artist Adam Hood and continued to write and perform with Billy on occasion.
Bassist Stacy Morris explored the country side of music as the bassist for the Wayne Mills Band as well as several bluegrass projects. Singer/songwriter
Billy Gant developed his own entertainment booking agency Gant Entertainment which services the entire southeast. Along with this he continued to write, record and perform music with Justin during the bands hiatus.
Drummer/ Percussionist Zack Littlefield relocated to Boulder, Colorado in 1999 where he first worked at a radio station while playing percussion with his own drum troupe Batucada, the salsa group La Candela and the Brazilian group Sambadende. He later went on to tour nationally and internationally with Boulder artists Chupacabra, the art-rock group Sonar and R&B trio the Greyhounds .
Despite how busy everyone managed to keep themselves, it was only a matter of time before the fellows started to get the itch to play together again. The group planned their first reunion show in 2001. The chemistry that night was great and the band quickly remembered what it was they had been sitting on all along. Since then, the band has continued to write music together and perform on occasion. With a much more scaled back performance schedule, each show becomes a treat not only for fans, but also for the band members themselves. While the old outdated album continues to sell, the boys have been busy in their home studios putting together new music for what will most likely be a double album that they will begin recording later this year.
The band’s original lineup consisted of:
Justin Johnson – vocals, guitar
Stacy Morris – bass
Tommy Jones – keyboards
Billy Gant – vocals, drums, harmonica
Dave Yoke – lead guitar
Zack Littlefield – drums, percussion
Dave Hampton – percussion
Today’s lineup features all of the original members except for Tommy Jones and Dave Hampton who both left permanently after the first van explosion.
