The John Sally Ride: Press Release

 

 

The timeworn tale has always been about "the difficult second album," but The John Sally Ride's sophomore release "Nothing Doing" did not suffer from any hitches or unexpected turmoil. It seems like the difficulties decided to wait it out until their brand new third album, "Now Is Not A Great Time."

The band went into the studio hot on the heels of the success of "Nothing Doing" to record the follow-up. Growing from a trio to a quartet by adding guitarist extraordinaire Joe Pampel, the band was keyed-up to get the new, richer sound into the ears of listeners lickety-split. A John Sally Ride Mark Two, if you will? Things were moving along at a quick and steady pace and things were sounding phenomenal. They released two singles, "Far From Eaten Out" and "Putting It Off," as they were finishing the rest of the album. When they were about halfway through, the world pulled the emergency brake, the studio and the band were shutdown, locked down, let down and put down. The band's first album is titled "A New Set Of Downs," but these weren't the new set of downs they were looking for.

The members of the John Sally Ride did not sit around idly while waiting to get back to work. Bassist Sal Maida released his second book, "The White Label Promo Preservation Society" on Hozac Books (featuring pieces written by members of the band), new guitarist Joe Pampel had a song on a Jeff Tweedy tribute album, drummer Sal Nunziato expanded the readership of his beloved music blog Burning Wood and John Dunbar released a solo album, "Oh Wellness" on Kool Kat Records.

Once the guys were all vaccinated and Soundtronics studio reopened, they reconvened and got to work completing what they started. Songs considered pre-pandemic were tossed aside for new ones. The band sounds reenergized and inspired like never before. The addition of Joe Pampel has propelled the band to new heights. Sal Maida, already a highly regarded, legendary bass player, plays some of the best bass lines of his illustrious career. Listen to the end of "I Never Understood (Where I Stood With You)" and keep your hand below your jaw to save it from dropping too far. Drummer and background vocalist Sal Nunziato continues to show how you can be a noticeable drummer without stepping all over the song, while adding sweet harmony vocals to the festivities. Songwriter John Dunbar offers his usual curious view of the world while trying to keep the hooks hooked up.

It took some time to get here, but now is the right time for "Now Is Not A Great Time."

On Bandcamp, Wednesday, November 10th and all other digital platforms, Friday, November 12th.