THE GREEN UNDERGROUND BRINGS RICH HISTORY TO LEGGETTS IN MANASQUAN
By DONNIE G. • THE RAG Correspondent • OCTOBER 2008

WHEN I FIRST CONTACTED MIKE GALLAGHER OF THE GREEN UNDERGROUND, I HAD NO IDEA THAT I WAS GOING TO BE EXPOSED TO A VERY INFLUENTIAL FAMILY TREE OF JERSEY SHORE MUSICIANS. BASED OUT OF BRICK, THE CURRENT LINEUP OF THE GREEN UNDERGROUND IS MIKE GALLAGHER (GUITAR, HARMONICA AND VOCALS), JIMMY COYNE (DRUMS), TOM FLANNELLY (LEAD GUITAR AND BACKING VOCALS), KEVIN KOPACK (BASS GUITAR AND VOCALS), JEN GALLAGHER (LEAD, BACKING VOCALS AND MANDOLIN) AND DAN TEPPER (TRUMPET AND SOUND ENGINEER). WITH THE GREEN UNDERGROUND ONLY IN EXISTENCE FOR TWO YEARS, THEY HAVE BEEN RECORDING WITH JASON CROSBY OF THE ROBERT RANDOLPH BAND. PLAYING A MEAN VIOLION, CROSBY PERFORMED ON STAGE WITH THE GREEN UNDERGROUND AND THE NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE AT THE STONE PONY ON AUGUST 8TH. THE NEXT TIME HE JOINED THE TWO BANDS ON STAGE ON THE SAME EVENING WAS WITH BLUE HIGHWAYS AND THE GREEN UNDERGROUND AT A BENEFIT. GREEN UNDERGROUNDS FIRST CD WAS ENTITLED "THE JASON CROSBY SESSIONS," CONTAINING FOLK JAM STANDOUTS AS "SITE FOR SORE EYES" AND OLD COUNTRY ROAD."

THE RUM RUNNERS

MIKE GALLAGHER, JIMMY COYNE AND KEVIN KOPACK WERE ALL EX-MEMBERS OF THE RUM RUNNERS. DON STOLL AND CHRIS FAY OF BLUE HIGHWAYS WERE ONCE RUM RUNNER MEMBERS. SPLINTERED SUNLIGHT ALSO SWINGS FROM THE RUM RUNNER'S FAMILY TREE IN THE FORM OF TOM DONOVAN AND BUTCH SOCHOROW. AT ONE TIME, LOCAL LUMINARY JACK PYRAH PLAYED KEYBOARDS FOR THE RUM RUNNERS. JOHNNY ANAN, WHO USED TO BE IN GREEN UNDERGROUND AND NOW PERFORMS WITH CUTLASS, WAS ALSO A PAST MEMBER OF THE RUM RUNNERS. ANAN STILL WRITES SONGS WITH GALLAGHER. CHECK OUT "MOONSHINE" WWW.MYSPACE.COM/GREENUNDERGROUNDBAND. ANAN IS ALSO PLAYING ON THE TRACK. THE RUM RUNNERS HAD OPENED UP FOR ACTS THAT INCLUDED BLIND MELON, WIDESPREAD PANIC AND THE SPIN DOCTORS. THE RUM RUNNERS BROKE UP IN 1993, A FEW MONTHS AFTER MIKE GALLAGHER CALLED IT QUITS WITH THE BAND. IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT GALLAGHER ALSO QUIT DRINKING. HE STAYED AWAY FROM THE CLUBS FOR 14 YEARS. HIS WIFE OF 12 YEARS, JEN, STARTED PLAYING BASS AND RECORDING WITH HIM. SHE PLAYED BASS ON "THE JASON CROSBY SESSIONS." JEN GALLAGHER ALSO PLAYS GUITAR, KEYBOARDS AND VIOLINS. IN ADDITION, SHE CO-WRITES SONGS WITH HER HUSBAND.

WITH KOPACK ENTERING THE BAND AND BEING THE MORE EXPERIENCD BASS PLAYER, JEN SWITCHED TO MANDOLIN. KOPACK SPENT HIS POST RUM RUNNER DAYS AS A MEMBER OF SOLAR CIRCUS AND JUGGLING SUNS. HE APPEARED IN THE MOVIE "RUNAWAY BRIDE," AS A MEMBER OF JUGGLING SUNS. WITH MIKE GALLAGHER POSSESSING A DEEP BACKLOG OF MATERIAL, JUGGLINS SUNS COVERED HIS "SHELTER," "WICKED HISTORY" AND "SITE FOR SORE EYES." THE RUM RUNNERS, BLUE HIGHWAYS, SOLAR CIRCUS, JUGGLING SUNS, SPLINTERED SUNLIGHT AND THE GREEN UNDERGROUND ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY, WITH EACH UNIT ALWAYS BEING THERE FOR THE OTHER.

FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY, THE GREEN UNDERGROUND IS BRINGING THEIR SHOW TO LEGGETTS, LOCATED AT 217 FIRST AVENUE IN MANASQUAN. IT IS SORT OF A COMING HOME FOR MIKE GALLAGHER BECAUSE HE ATTENDED MANASQUAN HIGH SCHOOL. HE KNEW THAT THIS WOULD BE A GOOD VENUE TO SHOWCASE HIS BAND HAVING SEEN THAT BLUE HIGHWAYS AND MATT O'REE WERE ACCEPTED THERE. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS SHOW, LEGGETTS COULD BE REACHED AT 732.223.3951. THE EVENT IS EXPECTED TO BE A FULL PRODUCTION.

THE GREEN UNDERGROUND HAD BEEN KNOWN FOR HAVING SEVERAL MUSICIANS JOIN THE BAND ON STAGE. DESCRIBING THEIR MUSIC AS "FOLK ROCK/COUNTRY BLUES," GALLAGHER STATES THAT HIS PRIMARY INFLUENCE IS NEIL YOUNG. HE DESCRIBES HIS WIFE'S VOCALS AS A CROSS BETWEEN TAYLOR SWIFT AND STEVIE NICKS. MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE IS VERY HAPPY WITH THE CURRENT LINE-UP. THEY PLAN ON RECORDING IN NEW YORK CITY WITH A PRODUCER WHO HAS WORKED WITH PHISH AND THE SPIN DOCTORS. THEY WILL ALSO BE DOING SOME RECORDINGS AT DAN TEPPER'S PLACE IN WALL. KEVIN FRITZ HAS BEEN HANDLING THEIR WEB DESIGN AND PHOTOGRAPHY. TO FIND OUT MORE INFO ABOUT THE GREEN UNDERGROUND, CONTACT THEIR MANAGER, LARRY DELPLATO, AT 732.299.8843. WHAT DOES THEIR FUTURE HOLD? HOPEFULLY, MORE SHOWS WITH MEMBERS OF THE RUM RUNNERS FAMILY!

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CLEAN AND GREEN
Sobriety suits ex-Rumrunner in new project
By RICHARD SKELLY • APP Correspondent • July 11, 2008

For guitarist, singer and songwriter Mike Gallagher of Brick Township, getting sober had an added benefit: He found he had a surge of creativity and the fire in his belly to write meaningful songs again.

In spite of the fact that Gallagher and his wife, Jen, have many strong original songs, they're relegated much of the time to playing covers, because that's what bar managers and club owners insist on in many places at the Shore. So, they typically sneak their originals into their sets. One place where there are no restrictions on their choice of material is the Union Landing in Brielle, where the band, ranging from three to seven members, can be heard twice a month.

"You want to give people the original stuff until it sinks in, and once they get it, they want to hear more," Gallagher said at a recent meeting on the Asbury boardwalk.

Their sound is a rootsy blend of blend of acoustic and electric, that has elements of folk-rock, country and blues music. While they will play the familiar cover songs he's done hundreds of times with his former group, the Rumrunners, "I've been so influenced by the new country sound in the last two years, I call what we do folk-rock-country-blues," he says.

Gallagher, raised in Spring Lake, now lives in Brick with his wife, Jen, who plays bass, mandolin and sings back up and lead vocals with him in his new group, Green Underground. The group expects to release their debut album by Christmas and Gallagher hopes to have another two releases out by midwinter.

Gallagher is a veteran of the Shore-area club scene, having played with the Rumrunners since 1987. Highlights of his time with the Rumrunners included opening for Widespread Panic, Jorma Kaukonen, Rick Danko, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Loudon Wainwright III.

"The Rumrunners started as a Grateful Dead-type cover band that quickly turned into an original band," he said, noting he wrote or co-wrote many of the band's original songs.

Aside from Mike and Jen Gallagher, who began performing in Green Underground as a duo, the band often includes Kevin Kopack on bass, Dan Tepper on trumpet, John Anan on guitar and Jimmy Coyne on drums.

"I left the Rumrunners in 1994, when I realized I had to address my drinking problem, so I stayed out of the bar scene and began writing songs, and it really is the best thing I ever did."

"Jen and I have been married now for 14 years, and it took another couple of years of messing around with music at home before we were ready to play out in bars again," he explained.

Jen acknowledged the trio had the chance to open for New Riders of the Purple Sage last summer at The Stone Pony, "but I was nervous about playing there before I had played out anywhere else, so we began playing out at Union Landing first."

"The Green is for the environmental issues we want people to get involved with," Jen said, "and the underground refers to a constantly changing lineup of musicians."

Since debuting in their friend Tom Donovan's backyard on Memorial Day, 2007, Green Underground has recorded two mini-CD's in their home studio with Jason Crosby, the organist with Robert Randolph's band, who is on tour this summer with Eric Clapton.

"We hope to have a complete album out before Christmas, and since I don't like going out to gigs empty handed, we may release another two albums shortly after the New Year," Gallagher said.

He added the band has found a loyal, local audience at Union Landing and via their MySpace website, as well as their Web site, www.greenundergroundband.com.

"We're all about getting heard right now," Gallagher said, noting they'll be back at Union Landing on July 25 and at the Saint in Asbury Park on July 18.

Green Underground has been making progress in terms of attracting a crowd, and through their MySpace site, "one of our songs "These Days,' got picked up and we hashed out a record deal; we're on a compilation called "Chill Out: The East Coast Edition,' and the CD is distributed through Wal-Mart, Best Buy and iTunes. It's a good distribution deal and a good record deal, because for every record sold, we get a dollar and split that 50-50 with the record company. It's very fair, as opposed to nine or 10 cents royalty on every CD sold."

As for future plans to continue developing an audience, Gallagher added, "We'd rather not go out there and tour our butts off. We'll get to Nashville and Virginia and maybe as far north as Vermont."

"We have some plans to go to Nashville and shop our songs and do some recording there as well," he said.

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