The Cartells at 30: ‘Great music and great friends’
Groton — Karin Barth, Joe Grieco and Bill Holloman started The Cartells when bands still played at most weddings and corporations flew musicians across the country to entertain their employees.
A lot has changed in the 30 years since they started the group.
But the three original members of the six-member band are still together, booking gigs and earning a living with their music, even as they enter their 60s.
“You put principles before personality,” said Barth, of Mystic, explaining the band’s long-lasting success. “It’s our business. You don’t see Aetna breaking up because the CEOs don’t get along. Thirty years is a long time, so you hit a few bumps in the road. You have a few knock-down drag-outs and you hope that you survive. We’re incredibly lucky.”
Holloman of Avon chalks it up to “great music and great friends. That’s how it’s always been.”
After so long together, he can turn to Barth, say “sing,” and instantly find that perfect harmony. “She just sings and it comes out beautifully,” he says.
Today, fans of the band will gather from 5 to 8 p.m. in the parking lot of The Bridge Market at 118 Fort Hill Road for “Cars and Cartells” to help mark the band’s 30-year anniversary.
The event will offer food from the market and live performances by High Times, James Harris and The Cartells.
Fans are invited to bring their classic cars to show off, as well.
“I just think it’s such a significant milestone and they do so much for
the community,” market owner Karen Dole said. “I wanted to make sure that somebody rewarded them.”
The band’s trademark is four-part harmony and it plays hundreds of songs; from mainstream rock and ’60s pop to funk, rhythm and blues and swing.
Barth, Holloman and the band’s original drummer played with Eight to the Bar together when they decided to create The Cartells.
They needed a fourth player and knew about Grieco, who sang, played keyboard and bass. He agreed to join.
The idea was to create a band that would play private parties, weddings and corporate events rather than focusing on the bar scene. They chose The Cartells as the name for its doo-wop sound; they wanted a name that sounded like the Shondells, a rock ’n’ roll band popular in the 1960s. The plan worked. For years, the group played weddings, sometimes four a weekend. They flew to the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel for gigs, played in Los Vegas, Atlantic City and corporate events in New York. One year, they played at John McCain’s birthday party.
But as the years went on, disc jockeys became more prominent than bands at weddings. The economic downturn in 2008 undermined the band’s ability to play at corporate events.
“Then it looked bad for them to throw big parties if they were laying off” people, said Grieco, of Mystic.
The musicians adjusted. Today, they perform in smaller groups along with working as a full band.
Grieco, whose resume includes national television commercials like the spot for the Army National Guard, plays solo gigs and sometimes performs with one or two members of the band.
Holloman has continued his longtime other music-related business. He owns a recording studio and he records horn section tracks for clients and produces jingles for television shows and films.
“So what is gone are the days of being in one band and making a living,” he said. “Yes, we’re all in this band, but Joe has solo gigs, I play the sax with dozens of other bands.”
Still, he hopes some performances, like bands at weddings, will come back.
And as long as he’s able, he’ll be playing in 10 years, he said.
“I hope I’m alive in ten years,” he said. “But yeah, sure. As long as we’ve got some work.”