New documentary screening to celebrate local band From Good Homes

On Thursday, September 15 the Lake Mohawk Country Club in Sparta will be a screening the feature documentary, “Charlie Loves Our Band, The Story of From Good Homes.” This event will not only give audiences a first look at this artfully crafted documentary, but it will also be a celebration of this local band, and the roots they’ve formed here. Then, two days later, on September 17, From Good Homes will play its annual reunion concert at The Fields at Waterloo in Hackettstown, NJ. Tickets to the movie screening are $40 and include dinner, the film screening and a meet and greet with the band.

“Charlie Loves Our Band” tells the story of the band From Good Homes, which was formed in the 1980s in Sparta when three childhood friends (Patrick Fitzsimmons, Brady Rymer and Todd Sheaffer) crafted a style of music, “influenced by rock and roll of the 60s and70s, energized by the culture and energy of the 80s and rooted in American storytelling and folk music,” a press release for the screening explained. With the addition of Jamie Coan and Dan Myers in the early 1990s, From Good Homes created a unique musical style originally identified as hick-pop, and produced several albums, two with RCA Records.

Through their music and annual reunions concerts, From Good Homes continues to build a community fanbase. Beyond the story of the elusive record deal is the story of the fans. “Devoted fans who don’t just see an occasional show, but see every show possible, and become friendly with other diehards, and basically live for the music in a way that goes way beyond traditional fandom, ” added Jay Lustig, of njarts.net.

Told by filmmaker, friend and former tour manager Vic Guadagno, this film showcases the songwriting of From Good Homes. Guadagno shot approximately 300 hours of footage of the band as they were making their run, and combined that with recent concert footage and interviews with the band, friends of the band and music-industry professionals to tell the story of one of NJ’s most notable bands of the 1990s. Since their break-up in 1999, Sheaffer went on to form Railroad Earth and Brady Rymer has received three Grammy nominations for family music. Fitzsimmons recorded seven solo albums and Myers has become a producer in northern New Jersey. Jamie Coan moved to South Carolina and continues to perform, including the two to three reunion shows with From Good Homes per year. The band released its sixth album, Time and the River, in 2019.

Tickets for the documentary screening can be purchased on Eventbrite at the following link: bit.ly/FromGoodHomesdoc. More information can be found at the film website: charlielovesourband.com. Tickets to the September 17 From Good Homes concert can be found on etix via the following link: bit.ly/3pTyF51.