"Theatrical, folk-influenced chamber pop that slots in somewhere between Belle and Sebastian's delicacy and the robust classicism of the Chills, Glad Hearts debut album, The Oak and the Acorn, drips with enough romanticism to rival Jeff Buckley's Grace."
-Alex Dawson, The Raconteur
"On the surface, they're disarming and quaint but beneath, sturdy and not without power."
-Chris Jordan, Home News Tribune
"Catchy acoustic melodies entwined with an eclectic assortment of instruments...Their lyrics are frank and poetic."
-Sarah Lamming, The Quad
"Your songs have hope in them"
–Ryan's Grandma
We hope all those things are true, but it's hard to tell from inside the band. For us, Glad Hearts is like the family car when your older brother first gets his license. We're out to see what we can see and pick up some friends along the way. Through the motion blurs and cracked windshields, we've been lucky enough to see and hear a lot of beauty. The songs are meant to be a token in tribute to all that's come our way. Thanks for listening!
Just the facts?
Glad Hearts is Cassidy McGrath, Mallory Leonard, John Valencia, and Ryan Bing joined by a rotating cast of very kind friends. We got together in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 2007. An EP, an LP, and several tours later, we're having a great time making music together.
Pleased to meet you
Cassidy McGrath: Cassidy plays drums, trumpet, and mandolin in Glad Hearts. Cass is a multi-instrumentalist who also plays drums in The Lowdown and sings in Rapid Cities.
Mallory Leonard: Mallory plays keyboard, acordion, sings, and does percussion in Glad Hearts. When she's not tickling the ivories, she's also a visual artist.
John Valencia: Multi-instrumentalist and producer for Glad Hearts, John also works as a recording engineer. On top of all that, John plays singing saw and, as part of The Chorus of The Saws, helped set the Guinness World Record in 2009 for largest singing saw ensemble (for real, look it up if you don't believe).
Ryan Bing: Songwriter, guitarist, and singer for the band. When Ryan's not writing or playing music, he's probably reading, hiking, or camping. He once lived in a van for six weeks while driving from New Jersey to Alaska and back. One of his favorite band memories is a house show in Providence, where the band played in one of the bedrooms while their hosts shot Roman candles out the window behind them.
Mike Erla: Mike keeps Glad Hearts pumping by beefing up the low end with the bass guitar. He also is secretly a heavy metal guitarist and designer.
Our Record: The Oak and the Acorn
On The Oak and the Acorn promises are made, bottles are drained, fists are raised, seasons change, and a pair of would-be revolutionaries bike across town. In addition to the usual suspects, mandolin, banjo, trumpet, organ, ebowed bass, and more are all in there helping tell those stories. We were also lucky to have a bunch of our friends sing and play on the record. This is our first full length record, and it came out the first day of spring in 2009.
Some very kind people who helped us out on the record
Chris Soprano (Designer)
Matt Shane (Grammy winner, Flight of the Conchords)
Chris Moore (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yeasayer)
Michael White (Talking Heads, David Bowie)
John Schmersal (Enon, Brainiac)
Jimmy Valentine (Tape and Wire)
Bethany Spiers (The Feverfew)
Marcellus Hall (Solo artist and former Railroad Jerk)
Sarah Kuwik (Solo artist)
Craig Mileski (Hunchback)
John Terry (Rapid Cities)
Pat Hannon (Giant Explosion, Half Brother)
Jay Legaspi (Solo artist)
Izzy Lugo (Guitar tech)
Case Asperilla
Paul Terwedow
Sharon Shaked
Kevin Bing (Awesome brother)
Tours
August 2009 Tour: Brooklyn to Raleigh
June 2009 Tour: New Brunswick to Boston
The Oak and the Acorn Tour Spring 2009: Brooklyn to Washington, DC
Winter Tour 2008: New Jersey and New York City
Summer Tour 2008: Providence, RI to Frederick, MD
Selected Radio Play
Selected for free play on Jango.com
WRSU, New Brunswick, NJ
The Core, New Brunswick, NJ
WKDU, Philadelphia, PA
WMCC Blue Colt Radio (Break Through Artist), Edison, NJ
G Rock Rising
AltRok
All Access Radio
Selected Press
"New Brunswick's Glad Hearts show a sharp wit at New Brunswick festival" Home News Tribune (2009)
Record Review The Raconteur (2009)
T.O. Snobs Music (2009)
WMCC Radio Break Through Artist (2009)
"Local Bands Making It Big" by Sarah Lamming; The Quad (2009)
One Sweet Song - Featured Artist (2008)
Jersey Beat (2008)
Discography
The Oak and the Acorn LP (2009)
Rutgers Review Best of New Brunswick Compilation CD (2008; out of print)
A Year in a Circle EP (2007; out of print)
Our Blog
glad-hearts.blogspot.com
OurSpace
myspace.com/gladhearts
Contact
Glad Hearts
Ryan Bing
Ryan@Glad-Hearts.com
973-747-8998
