{"id":11,"date":"2013-06-22T20:11:55","date_gmt":"2013-06-23T00:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2026-03-27T17:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T21:50:44","slug":"meet-the-band","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thejovialcrew.com\/?page_id=11","title":{"rendered":"Come Meet\/Contact The Band"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press Release Page<\/a><\/p>\n

The Jovial Crew (\u2122):\u00a0 “Home port” of Essex, Connecticut, USA.\u00a0 We are a group of guys who present historical, traditional, and some contemporary songs “in the tradition”; Sea songs, old English songs, early American songs, Irish, Scots, ballads and songs of love and consequences, drinking, songs of the working classes…<\/p>\n

Thank you Kari! <\/strong>We are now\u00a0on Facebook<\/a>!<\/p>\n

If you wish to contact the band, you may either post a comment or contact:<\/p>\n

Joseph Morneault
\nJosMorn@aol.com<\/p>\n

Hiring the band<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The Jovial Crew was put together by Cliff Haslam in the mid-1980s to augment his usually solo act that he had been performing at the Griswold Inn since 1972.<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/a>

Early to mid 1970s – Cliff tells me that the Gris would have this sitting on an art tri-pod stand in the front foyer to promote him on Mondays for when he was solo on Sea Chantey Night.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the first few years it consisted of the man himself along with Paul Elliott (guitar, vocals), Howard Hornstein (concertina), and Joseph Morneault (whistles, fifes, bodhran); Joseph distinctly recalls bragging to his friends about being a part of this\u00a0during his 19th birthday, and subsequently his closest friend began to attend regularly, bringing her friends\u00a0that eventually develop into the “center table group”, which puts it at 1986.\u00a0 That year, Cliff had been hired to play St-Pat’s Day at the Seamen’s Inn in Mystic; the establishment\u00a0had hung out a placard announcing “Cliffy O’Haslam and His Irish Boys”!\u00a0 So on the drive home, we four discussed what name we should adopt, “The Beatles” having already been taken, the bastards!\u00a0 The following Monday, Cliff announced us as The Jovial Crew, taken from the chorus of one of the songs we often sang<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0As the years passed, crewmembers would come and go and so the music\/songs would be enhanced by new voices and instrumentation.\u00a0 In today\u2019s incarnation, Cliff Haslam still walks his quarterdeck, playing his 12-string Appolonio guitar and singing his robust bass-baritone accompanied by Tim Marth on vocals, Rick Spencer with vocals, guitar, banjo, and concertina, and Joseph Morneault on vocals and pretty much any instrument he can play and reasonably fit in the limited space allotted him for the performance.\u00a0 We take pains to keep to the style and tradition of this early music with instruments and presentation \u2013 not turn it into rock n\u2019 roll like so many imitations do in order to \u201cbring it into the modern age\u201d; a definite miss on the integrity and point of this music.\u00a0 But we also get that we need to present appropriately to the venue we’re in; while we each perform in a more “coffee-house” setting from time to time which allows for more story-telling of the music and less noise to sing over, when we’re in a pub we perform just like any pub in history would have us.<\/p>\n

Below is a list with photos of current usual members, our part-timers, our past members, and those who have gone on to Fiddler’s Green.<\/p>\n

\"Cliff<\/a><\/p>\n