Creative Loafing is the top entertainment magazine in Tampa.  At times I’ve heard us musicians scoff, snivel, and complain about Creative Loafing.  But after all is said in done don’t we always rush to read our reviews, don’t we always hope for a Best Of The Bay win, and don’t we all get butt-hurt the most when they who don’t feature our event?  I’m still wishing for my cover story someday *wink*

Since I moved to Tampa in 1998 Creative Loafing has loved me, hated me, ignored me, celebrated me, and at times thought I could do better.  Many times they were right.  My friends and I took a few digs at Creative Loafing (and everyone else in Tampa) when we did a satirical gossip blog.  Word trickled down from the main office that they got the joke, which makes me happy.  It was all out of love.  I even wrote a column for Creative Loafing’s CLGBT blog called CYNICAL AND SOUTHERN.  They were great to write for.

I will never forget when I moved to Tampa in 1998 and released my first album here, SPIN GIRL SPIN, it was a music critic named Stefanie Kalem who believed in me.  Stefanie did a full page article about me, and eventually awarded me a BEST OF THE BAY award in 2000 – Best Singer/Songwriter.  Creative Loafing (then Weekly Planet’s) warm embrace of me and my music certainly played apart in the long and lovely love affair I had with Tampa.

Here’s what Kalem said about me in Creative Loafing back in 2000:

-courtesy of The Weekly Planet
-published September 21, 2000
-Best Singer/Songwriter: Jeremy Gloff

Shades of Big Star, Tim Buckley, R.E.M., The Beatles, The Smiths, and emocore all help to subtly color the 11th album from former Buffalo N.Y. native Jeremy Gloff, Spin Girl Spin, out this October on local imprint Unshared Worldwide. A far cry from the acoustic troubadour singer-songwriter types who haunt the coffeehouses or corporate bookstore chains, the 25 year old Gloff has been releasing material since high school, mostly on cassette and always changing up his sound from album to album. The music on Spin Girl Spin reflects a trend that’s lately taken hold in the solo artist sphere – the tortured ex-punk with the hooky heart of gold. With guitar, drums, bass, and backing vocal contribution, Spin Girl Spin is nonetheless Gloff’s baby, and each side of this kid’s story is different, but consistently sincere. “Tornado” starts off twangy and kicks into — I kid you not — a melody lifted out of “Mm-bop;” but tear stained poetics like “The circumcision of royalty/ Five years down/ Mama come and see the mess I’ve found” ensure that the Hanson boys won’t come knocking to claim this joint as theirs any time soon. And the stripped-down gay-friendly “Letter to Evan” is a lovely, gothic showcase for Gloff’s distinctive, high-pitched tenor.

The next album I did after SPIN GIRL SPIN was AMERICA IS LONELY TONIGHT.  The release of the album got off to a slow start – released during the month of the September 11th attacks.  America was in turmoil and local music was the last thing on people’s minds.   In 2002, I went for a visit back to my hometown in Western, New York.  It was a very bittersweet and emotional trip, and I remember getting off the plane and being so happy to be back in Tampa.  After getting picked up from the airport I believe my roommate and I went to New World Brewery.  It was there I picked up Creative Loafing’s 2002 Best Of The Bay issue.  I was so happy when AMERICA IS LONELY TONIGHT was selected as one of the ten best local releases of 2002.  This is what Creative Loafing had to say:

Edgy songwriter Gloff’s 11th(!) release puts the right elements together more often than on previous outings. At 17 tracks and about a million different styles, the disc isn’t consistently excellent, and his voice is still a love-it-or-hate-it proposition. But when it hits (as on “The Sound Of My Crashing,” One Inch Deep,” “Mother Mary,” and “Feeling Of Faded,” among others), it hits hard, and resonates as well as anything you’ll hear. Anywhere.

By 2002 Stefanie Kalem had moved onto Oakland, California and was replaced by Scott Harrell – who turned out to be another good friend and great supporter.   The first album I released during the Harrell-era was ROMANTICO in 2003 and this is what he had to say:

-by Scott Harrell
-courtesy of The Weekly Planet

Like most of his 20-something releases (seriously), the pop singer/songwriter’s new one contains a few misses, but is mostly made up of excellent tunes that would sound instantly familiar, were it not for his, um, unique voice and inimitable lyrical perspective. Lots of folks can write strong pop tunes by following the rulebook. So why does Gloff rule? Because he combines those classic elements with so much of himself that they couldn’t be written by anyone else. This is the guy who lays lines like “I wasted five minutes wishing I had a pussy so I could hold you” and “Cause in a world of ABCD people/ Sometimes it takes years to find your Z” over gorgeous piano cascades, and makes them sound meaningful, instead of funny or pretentious. Sometimes his songs’ heart-on-the-sleeve vibe can become overbearing, but mostly you love ‘em even if you want to call ‘em cheesy. Highlights include “Overthinking,” “Silence is the Perfect Calm,” “Thinking of You,” “Iodine” and a whole bunch more — 17 tracks in all. ****

Scott was less impressed with my 2006 release NOW’S THE RIGHT TIME TO FEEL GOOD.

-by Scott Harrell
-courtesy of The Weekly Planet

Tampa’s most prolific melancholy-pop specialist returns with his 14th (!) album, an 18-song opus. Now’s the right time is Gloff’s most lush, eclectic and uneven effort in a while. We get more than enough of his piano-driven, intensely personal vignettes; shades of hope, heartbreak and self-realization are delivered with loads of emotional melody, and lyrics that should sound hokey (“Spent years worried I was losing my hair/ I didn’t care that I’ve been losing my mind”) but somehow don’t in Gloff’s earnest, reaching tenor. There are plenty of great tunes (and guest appearances by local peers) here, but this time I’ve gotta agree with those who say Gloff tries to pack too many songs and ideas into his releases. 3 stars.

By 2008 I decided to put my acoustic guitar into storage and put my inner Natalie Merchant into hiding and finally give some attention to my inner-Taylor Dayne.  By this point Creative Loafing music critic Scott Harrell had moved onto freelance work and great short stories.  I never really got to meet Wade Tangelo while he was writing for Loafing, but this is what he had to say about my album 1987:

-by Wade Tangelo
-courtesy of Creative Loafing

If lo-fi synths and high-drama lyrics turn you on, then 30-something singer/songwriter/keyboardist Jeremy Gloff is your man. For his umpteenth DIY solo release (he started issuing discs at a rate of about one per year in ’93), Gloff goes into Boy George mode with a collection of gloomy club thumpers featuring titles like “Mistakes,” “All These Killers” and “Armageddon Sex.”

“This new album is a tribute to the music I loved growing up,” Gloff writes in the liner notes. And to his credit, every lyric is sold with the passion of a true believer, even when relating a tale about a bad boy dubbed “drama panties.” 3 stars.

My 2009 album 21st CENTURY LOVE SONGS missed the desk of Loafing, but my 2011 album THIS caught the attention of the now-current music critic Leilani Polk.  She had this to say about my album:

-by Leilani Polk
-courtesy of Creative Loafing

“My name’s Jeremy Gloff, bitch!” the local pop staple declares scornfully, introducing himself, the first song, and title track off his 17th and latest album, THIS, before guest singer Anye’ Cole launches into the hook with throaty vivacity: “Got style, you know I’m independent / Got cash, you know I’m gonna spend it / Glamorous – I am this.” The organic melodic warmth of her vocals is a nice foil to the sing-song/spoken-word robo-monotone Gloff adopts in “This,” its message a confident affirmation of self-worth.

Gloff serves generous doses of his frank sincerity, impudent charm, and wry outlook in the 10-track LP. Rainbow-hued or midnight-dramatic sonicsapes are brightened with bursts of glittery effects, intermittent guitar and hand claps, carried on machine drum beats, and fleshed out with backing vocals and additional instrumentation by a range of guest musicians. Songs jump from the Dark Wave dissonance and hilariously morbid commentary of “Junkie Love” (“Show me the money, I need some blow”), to fluffy-fun club-bumpers like “Back and Forth” with its fickle hot-and-cold narrator, to the rambling dirt rock groove of “Small City,” about making the best of where you land with femme guest singer-rapper Shunda K, who lends the song a bit of soulful hip hop appeal.

Not every song works; “Outsiders” and “Short Fuse” are a little too New Wave dreary-dramatic and the candy-coated “Never Grow Old” is almost painful to sit through. But THIS closes on a high note with the chorus-backed “World Won’t Do It,” a take-control-of-your-own-destiny call-to-action pop anthem. (Crunks Not Dead Records, jeremygloff.com). 3 and 1/2 Stars

It was Ms. Polk who awarded me my third Best Of The Bay nod – and this time I was truly caught off guard.  When we are young artists we are smug and think we DESERVE the world to love our music.  By 2011 I was 37 and just happy to still be writing songs.  I was so sure I wasn’t going to win an award I skipped the ceremony and watched “Law And Order” in my pajamas.  When the texts starting coming in from the event asking where I was, I was shocked.  And elated.  This is what Polk had to say about me:

-Best Of The Bay 2011
-by Leilani Polk

Jeremy Gloff – Most Underrated Local Pop Star

Love him or hate him, you have to give eclectic local pop singer-songwriter Jeremy Gloff credit; he’s been working the Tampa scene for 13 years and despite his outspoken unhappiness with, hasn’t moved on like so many other disgruntled musicians. He’s relentlessly creative, and in addition to being a prolific recording artist with 17 albums to his credit (the most recent this year’s terrific THIS), he’s an openly gay artist who’s also an active blogger and columnist in the LGBT community. He has the confidence, impudent humor, and take-no-prisoners attitude you’d expect from a pop star, and his efforts deserve recognition. www.jeremygloff.com.

I once again crossed paths with Creative Loafing in 2011, when they included one of my songs “Christmas Alone” on a holiday mix tape they released.  It was so freakin rad going to the photo session at the Creative Loafing Space – seeing all my peers that I’ve spent so many years with on the same scene.  I love our scene.  Fuck what anyone else says.

It is now 2013.  I have a new album coming out called INSIDE OF BLUE BUILDINGS marking 20 years of music.   I almost released it in May so I could make it in time for Best Of The Bay consideration.  Kind of like movies are released in time for the Academy Awards.  Aren’t I dorky for admitting that out loud?  I decided instead to wait until September, but like any musician in Tampa I hope Creative Loafing doesn’t hate it.  Because they matter.

Happy 25th Birthday Creative Loafing.  Thank you for everything through all the years.  I am so happy to live in Tampa, and I am happy you are still around.  Here’s to 25  more years together.  Can’t freaking wait.

Creative Loafing’s 25th Birthday Bash is this Saturday at the Ritz, Ybor.