Interview With Glossary

J.D. Reager remembers the first gig he ever played as a drummer. He was fourteen and he sat in with his dad John Reager's band Spit Shine when they opened for The Grifters. Growing up the son of the sound man for legendary punk venue The Antenna Club often put him in the vicinity of both locally and nationally renowned musicians.

"I remember when R.E.M. played and Peter Buck stole the tubes out of one of my dad's amps" says Reager. "If I saw him today, I might have to ask him if he's in the position to replace them yet."

After growing up in Memphis and playing in a slew of bands like Pez, The Great Depression, The Passport Again, and Johnny Romania, it wasn’t until he moved with his girlfriend in 2002 to Murfreesboro while she attended MTSU that he found his place musically. Home to one of the nation's top recording programs, it was no surprise that the city, just a stone's throw from Nashville, was a hotbed of musical talent.

"There's a real small town vibe and the scene is very tight knit -there's an emo scene, hardcore and alt-country" says Reager. "There's no shortage of music."

Reager had barely been in town a month when he was asked to join local favorite Glossary, which currently includes Joey Kneiser on guitar and vocals, Bingham Barnes on bass, Greg Jacks also on guitar and vocals, Kelly Kneiser on vocals and percussion, and Todd Beene on guitar and pedal steel. At the time the band was in deep touring mode, getting ready to release their Undertow Records debut How We Handle Our Midnights.

While Reager likens the group's sound as influenced by The Rolling Stones, Pavement, Dinosaur JR and The Band, Glossary is no stranger to the ya'llternative label.

"I think that we're about as country as - I hate to bring this up because its such a ridiculous comparison, but John Melloncamp – I don't want to be lassoed to just the alt-country crowd because I think that we're so much more than that" explains Reager. "We actually have quite an R&B influence, Bingham and I really try to model ourselves after a Stax rhythm section."

The album was well received, garnering favorable reviews from not only regional press but The Onion. Riding high on that wave of acclaim, in November 2004 the band entered a Denton, TX studio with Centro-matics drummer Matt Pence on board to produce their second Undertow release. That's when the former music reviewer for The Memphis Flyer and MTV Local found a new passion.

"I fell in love completely with the recording process when we made our last record" says Reager. "It was just a phenomenal experience living in the studio for two weeks making (Glossary’s latest album) For What I Don't Become."

The record sat on a shelf for over a year while Undertow Records dealt with distribution problems, so Reager decided to move back to Memphis and set up his own makeshift studio, Unclaimed Recordings. He's spent the last few months engineering music with everyone from Cory Branan, Brad Postlethwaite, Noise Choir, Blair Combest, and The Coach and Four. Reager has also found a new musical outlet by playing live regularly with Postlethwaite and other local musicians including members of Snowglobe, a group jokingly referred to as "Postglobe."

However, the new Glossary record was finally released over the summer and the band has begun touring to promote it. But while the band have become road veterans over the past few years, sharing the stage with everyone from Lucero, Violent Femmes, Old 97's, Built to Spill, and Andrew Bird, it's still not something they especially look forward to.

"There's one song in particular (on the new album) that's about being on tour and how you're always waiting and bored and not getting enough sleep, you're tired and dirty cause you haven't showered in three days, and it takes a lot away from your life, so you got to really know what you're doing and be committed to it" says Reager. "There's sort of a running theme of optimism in the face of not having a huge tangible return, that's what lot of the songs are about, being in a rock band."

With an past showcases at SXSW and a ton of live dates on the horizon, Glossary will continue to try and make the best of it.

"When we toured with Lucero we learned that we are exactly the opposite of them, we couldn't be any more different, we don't like to hang out, after the show we like to go to bed, we're not really the kind the guys that girls like to talk to" laughs Reager. "Especially on tour, we'll be unshaven, wearing the same thing since Tuesday. Luckily, we're all taken."





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