For local faves Glass Harp, tradition is carried on

One band member’s son has followed in his father’s
footsteps and will open up for the group.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

For a band that is supposedly no longer together, Youngstown’s cherished Glass Harp sure plays out a lot.

“The last time Glass Harp played was just about a year ago, and then [singer-guitarist] Phil [Keaggy] was in Youngstown several months ago and we joined him for a set,” said Glass Harp bassist Dan Pecchio, calling from his Chagrin Falls home.

“We did sort of an unplugged thing, which turned out to be nice.

“We really had a nice run this last basically seven years since we got back together. We did a lot more gigs in the last five years than I think we did in the last 20 years and had a lot of fun doing them.” 

Up next for Pecchio, Keaggy and drummer John Sferra is yet another Northeast Ohio show Sunday at Nelson Ledges Park.

Pecchio said he’s excited about this show for many reasons.

“When the three of us get together, it’s not like any one of us doing any project,” Pecchio said. “When we write together, it’s the three kids who grew up together and saw the other one picking his nose in religion class.

“We don’t look at each other as players, we look at each other as friends who always played together. That’s what comes out. It’s just fun to do.”

Like father, like son

The other exciting factor about the upcoming Glass Harp show involves the opening act The Codetalkers, which features Pecchio’s son Ted, who followed in his dad’s bass-playing footsteps.

“At first when he came to me at 16 and told me he wanted to play bass, I thought, ‘OK, let’s do this and get it out of the way,’” Pecchio said. “So I told him to go get a garage band together, stay in college and find something to do besides this because it’s a very difficult life. I just happened to be very lucky.”

After Glass Harp broke up in the early ’70s, Pecchio spent the next few years as part of the Michael Stanley Band.

As for Ted, who played with Bruce Hampton and the Codetalkers for the past few years, the talented bassist recently got a gig playing with critically acclaimed blues artist Susan Tedeschi.

However, he’s performing with The Codetalkers for this upcoming Glass Harp gig. 

“He’s been in the business for a long time,” Pecchio said. “When I first heard him play I realized he is really gifted. I mean, he is a bass player 10 times what I am and a real musician’s musician.”

What’s next?

Invariably, emotions will be running high for Pecchio at the upcoming Nelson Ledge show. Not only will he be sharing the stage with his son, but Glass Harp’s future always remains up in the air. 

“With Glass Harp, every show could be the last show,” Pecchio said. “We never really plan any of these things, and this is the first time we planned around not playing anytime soon. So this could be the last show.”

Considering the band hopes to record new material later this year for a possible future release, we’re not going to hold our breath that the upcoming Glass Harp date will be the last Glass Harp show ever.