Toy Soldiers were an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The group's sound melds elements of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

History

Toy Soldiers formed in 2007 as a two-piece with

Ron Gallo Ron Gallo is an American people, American musician, singer, songwriter and artist. He began a solo career in 2014, after fronting various bands including Philadelphia-based band Toy Soldiers (band), Toy Soldiers and since then has released four ...

as the primary songwriter, alongside former drummer Mike Baurer. The name Toy Soldiers was taken from a

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

on display at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

."Philly's Toy Soldiers Play TLA Tomorrow" (interview). '' The Examiner'', May 14, 2010. Though the band's sound was initially

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

and sparse, they eventually expanded to as large as ten members, including keyboards, horns, and backing vocalists. The band's membership remained fluid at times, with some members occasionally meeting each other for the first time as they took the stage for shows. Their debut album, ''Whisper Down the Lane'', was initially self-released in the fall of 2009, but after signing with

MAD Dragon Records The Music Industry Program Entities, or the MAD Dragon Music Group (MDMG), is an umbrella company owned by Drexel University, run by university students and overseen by faculty and staff. The purpose of the company is to provide industry experienc ...

, the group re-recorded several songs for the re-release of the album. MAD Dragon reissued the record on May 18, 2010. Critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

noted the album's

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combinati ...

influences and likened Gallo's singing to that of

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

and

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

. The group accompanied the CD release with several live dates, including as a headliner and with

Midlake Midlake is an American folk rock band from Denton, Texas, formed in 1999. The band consists of Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Scott Lee, Eric Nichelson, Jesse Chandler, and Joey McClellan. In 2012, vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Tim ...

. The group played the

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows ...

Xponential Music Festival in July 2010. By October 2010, there was an entirely new and solidified lineup consisting of Gallo, Dominic Billett, Matt Kelly, Bill McCloskey and Luke Leidy. The new group recorded a new EP titled ''Get Through the Time'' released on

Ropeadope Records Ropeadope Records is an American record label known for recordings in a variety of genres including jazz, hip hop, gospel, and electronic music. The label, now led by Louis Marks, was founded in 1999 by Andy HurwitzAndy Hurwitz"Ropeadope carves i ...

on September 20, 2011. They also released a split EP, ''Midweek Mountain Getaway'' with Nashville Singer-Songwriter, Jordan Hull. The band won The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Blues Song category for their song "Throw Me Down". Toy Soldiers were also nominated for Alt. Country Album and College Label Release. They were also selected as the TriStateIndie Band of the Year in 2011 and 2012. They have made appearances at 2012–13 SXSW, 2008–2012 CMJ, XPoNential Music Festival 2010, Philadelphia Folk Fest 2013 and have shared the stage with Dr. Dog, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, Jonny Fritz, The Walkmen, J. Roddy Walston and The Business and more. In late 2012, ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' named the band one of 5 "Bands to Watch" in 2013, saying "Toy Soldiers is a rowdy collection of five talented young musicians who have honed their sometimes soulful, often blues-y rock n roll with relentless touring during the last two years, growing into one of Philadelphia's best live bands." Seth Klinger made a documentary titled ''The Maybe Trails.'' It followed the band on their March 2012 and 2013 tours through Austin, Texas for SXSW and was premiered in April 2013 at Johnny Brenda's in Philadelphia. In April 2013, Toy Soldiers recorded four songs at Converse Rubber Tracks Studios in Brooklyn, New York and released them digitally and on 7" vinyl (entitled ''Converse Rubber Tracks Sessions'') on July 4, 2013, at their first annual 4 July BBQ in Philadelphia. In June 2013, the group was selected to record a live video session for Paste Magazine at the Aloft Washington Harbor Hotel. The video premiered on Paste.com on July 15, and a few days later, Paste also premiered "Tell The Teller," the first single from their upcoming album. Over the course of 15 sessions from January through August 2012, the group recorded what would become their second album (and first under the new configuration), entitled ''The Maybe Boys''. In February 2012, the band released a limited edition EP previewing three tracks from the sessions, called ''Tell The Teller EP''. The full-length record, including those three tracks from the preview, was released on September 10, 2013, and distributed by The Orchard. Some notable press for the album included a video premiere for the single "Red Dress" on Esquire.com, mp3 premiere of "Red Dress on The A.V. Club, premiere of "Forget How It Used To Be" on GuitarWorld.com, a "Key Session" on WXPN, a Huffington Post "A-Sides" Session and more.

Members

;Current *Ron Gallo – vocals, guitar, harmonica *Dominic Billett – drums, vocals *Matt Kelly – guitar, vocals *Luke Leidy – piano, organ *Bill McCloskey – bass ;Former *Bennett Daniels – bass *Dan King – guitar *Noah Skaroff – saxophone, banjo, lap steel guitar, organ, vocals *Tom Cladek – drums *Kate Foust – vocals *Tyler Beck – bass *Josiah Wise – vocals *Zach Poyatt – vocals, guitar, piano *Mike Baurer – drums *Vinchelle Woods – vocals *Garrett Smith – percussion

Discography

*''Whisper Down the Lane'' (May 2010) *''Get Through the Time'' EP (Sept 2011) * ''Midweek Mountain Getaway'' (Oct 2011) plit EP with Jordan Hull* ''Tell The Teller ''EP (Feb 2012) * ''Converse Rubber Tracks Sessions'' (July 2013) * ''The Maybe Boys ''(Sept 2013)

References

{{Authority control Rock music groups from Pennsylvania MAD Dragon Records artists Musical groups from Philadelphia Musical groups established in 2007