The North Penn VFW Post 676 in Glenside has three rooms, and sometimes the other parties there on Sundays get the wrong idea about the crowd in the bar.
“People ask us if we’re wearing costumes,” said Denise Rementer.
They’re not.
“It’s a lifestyle, not a costume,” she continued. “The clothes are vintage.”
And, so is the music.
For a little over a year now, the Glenside VFW has been host to Rockabilly at the V every Sunday night, where a different band plays every week from 6 to 10 p.m.
Rockabilly, an early version of rock and roll with country twang and often a little jazz swing, originated and was most popular in the ’50s. Pioneered by the likes of Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnette and Buddy Holly, it’s since spawned stylistic variations incorporating punk and metal, and modern rock and country.
But at the V, the bands that come in stick to the music’s roots.
“We’re more traditional rockabilly: early rock, sometimes a little bit of country, because people do dance. We’re a big swing dance crowd,” said Rementer.
The bands vary from local groups like the Ultra Kings or Dibbs Preston, or someone like Sean K. Preston, who comes from Baltimore, or Lara Hope and the Arktones from upstate New York. But the people on stage are just one small part of what makes each Sunday night special.
“It’s people anywhere from 21 up to their 70s or 80s. That’s what’s amazing about it. Nobody thinks of an age, everybody’s there having a good time,” said Rementer. “It’s special. Every Sunday night is wonderful.”
It’s a big family, she explained: a combination and mixing of people into hot rods — Rementer is also involved with area car shows — and people in the local rockabilly scene. It’s a thriving, if under-the-radar group of people who have been listening to, or playing in, bands like these and coming out to shows for years.
Before Rockabilly at the V, rockabilly shows were held every Sunday night for years at a bar in Glenside. Rementer, among many other VFW regulars, went there often, and when that bar decided to stop booking the bands, she worked out a deal to keep them coming to Glenside.
The VFW is great to work with, said Rementer. The group doesn’t charge to rent the room, allows for all-ages shows with no cover charge and gives her a budget to pay the bands. The patrons like the new location, too: there’s more space than in the narrow old bar, giving them all more room to move around and dance.
And, yes, many of them dress the part: polka-dot skirts and dresses on women; slacks and white shoes or greased-up hairdos for men.
“The dress, the hairstyles, it’s nice to be able to get dressed up and go somewhere,” said Rementer. “The world has become so casual, it’s great to have those values again.”
The bands, the style, the dancing and friendly crowd, she continued, all add up to a great night every week.
“It’s nice,” said Rementer. “You just smile. It’s nice to smile.”
Rockabilly at the V takes place at the North Penn VFW Post 676, 2519 Jenkintown Road in Glenside, from 6 to 10 p.m. For information, visit www.facebook.com/Rockabillyatthev.
