# General Mandolin Topics > General Mandolin Discussions >  Mando player in Geico ad w/Gallagher smashing watermelons

## bluegrasshack

Who is the tall mando player in the Geico commercial with Gallagher smashing watermelons at a Farmer's Market?

----------


## allenhopkins

This is it:



Don't recognize him.  Googled the commercial, found a lot about Gallagher (apparently recovering from heart problems), nothing about the duo.  However, the guitarist calls the mandolin player "Ronnie," which may be a clue...?

----------


## AlanN

Whoever it is, got the good chord.

----------


## Marty Henrickson

Ah, yes.  The Sledge-O-Matic.  Good clean fun!

Another clue: the guitarist's name is Jimmy.

----------


## OldSausage

I tracked down the casting call for the 2 characters from O'Connor Casting in Chicago:




> LOOKING FOR FUN, FOLKSY MUSICIANS!
> 
> O’Connor Casting Company is searching for fun, musically inclined individuals for a national commercial campaign for GEICO!
> 
> Are you a folksy musician with a modern quirk?  Do you know how to keep an audience entertained in the Buck Owens and Roy Clark pickin’ and grinnin’ tradition of “Hee-Haw”?  We’re looking for duo acts, or solo musicians who play well with others, for an opportunity to add fun and laughter to a national commercial campaign!  If you are already part of a strummin’ musical duo or musically inclined comedy duo, we’d love to see you two together!
> 
> Ron & Jimmy Male, 30-45 years old. These guys are a folksy, likeable duo with a real charm about them.  Looking for guy(s) who have a witty chemistry between them or can make it work in a fun paring that feels natural, fun and spontaneous.   Completely devoid of cynicism, these guys are contemporary rather than country, but still have a very FOLKSY way about them.  They need to play an instrument, like the banjo, acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle or any other folk instrument.

----------


## Jim Garber

Wow, Mr. Sausage!! You are some detective. Great impressive work. Now how do we find out who played Ron and Jimmy?

----------


## Marty Henrickson

Well, they _are_ fun and folksy, but I find it hard to believe that they're really "...completely devoid of cynicism."

----------


## OldSausage

> Wow, Mr. Sausage!! You are some detective. Great impressive work. Now how do we find out who played Ron and Jimmy?


Well, I sent a facebook message to the casting guy at O'Connor who put up the ad. You never know...

----------


## sgarrity

There was a casting call up in the classifieds recently for a mandolin player for a filming in Santa Barbara.

----------


## bluegrasshack

Thanks, y'all! I found the same stuff when I googled about the mandolin player. The Google info was all about Gallagher and the other actor behind the counter...nothing about Ronnie and Jimmy. Still wondering who they are! Keep this going 'til we get to the bottom of it!

I did find out who was playing the music in "Charlie and the Casserole" in the Farmers Insurance ad. The musicians were just a collection of guys from the Knoxville, TN, area...not a band.

Keep researching!

Pick away!
Bluegrasshack

Blog:http://talkinbluegrassmusic.blogspot.com

----------


## BourbonSamurai

How funny! I was watching the Olympics, saw an ad with my old friend playing the Mandolin, and had to try to find the youtube clip! I googled it and this came up. He's Alex Harvey, a theatre director who also is a wonderful musician. He used to live in Chicago, is now based out of New York. He had a band for awhile called REO Chuckwagon

----------

bluegrasshack, 

Ed Goist, 

hank, 

Marty Henrickson, 

Rob Fowler

----------


## mandopete

> He had a band for awhile called REO Chuckwagon


 :Laughing:

----------


## Djangology

http://www.byaaronhoward.com/index.p...ls&record=262m

----------


## journeybear

Yeppers! Posted this a couple weeks ago here. If you like that there's plenty more goofiness to enjoy.  :Smile:

----------


## Cron-Z

> He had a band for awhile called REO Chuckwagon


My day has been made!

----------


## MikeEdgerton

Happier than a body builder directing traffic....

----------


## Andy Miller

Keep an eye out for these, there should be a whole slew of them.  Me and one of my bandmates auditioned for this campaign. . . .twice.  Guess I need to work on my biceps.

----------


## Fred G

Here is REO Chuckwagon's album
http://www.allmusic.com/album/reinve...l-mw0002058985

----------


## Fred G

Here is REO Chuckwagon's album
http://www.allmusic.com/album/reinve...l-mw0002058985

----------

Geordie

----------


## Mandolin Mick

So what kind of mandolin is he playing? It's a fern.  :Confused:

----------


## rb3868

What kind of mando is he playing?

----------


## barry

Just a guess, but to me it looks like a Stan Miller.

----------


## jmagill

Does it appear that the instrumental track doesn't sound quite in sync with the hand movements in either video? Of course, the audio was recorded in a studio and not in a farmer's market or in traffic, but sheesh, you'd think they could take the trouble to get it right... even if it is 'folk music'.

----------


## rb3868

What if it's Ron Gallagher and not the real (Leo) Gallagher in the ad?  Last time I saw Gallagher he was totally gray, and I can't see him getting a dye job

----------


## MikeEdgerton

I think he'd do the dye job to get the job these days. This was pretty easy money for him.

----------


## Wesley

What I want to know is - is it really bluegrass........?

I've seen two or three commercials with these guys. How refreshing.

----------


## Dan Voight

The mystery is solved! Elio Schiavo, mandolin player and band leader of the Six Deadly Venoms, informed me that he recorded the mandolin tracks for the commercial on Voight #3. The guy on camera (his name is Alex Harvey I think) is a musician and an actor from NY. Pretty cool huh?

----------


## Dan Voight

And I just found out that the mando on camera is a San Juan

----------


## Mandolin Mick

Cool! It's bothered me everytime I see one of those commercials!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## FodForThoought

could somebody tab out that riff at the end, it would make my friends, who "saw some guy on a geico commercial playing your ukulele thing", so happy

----------


## journeybear

> Pretty cool huh?


Very cool! And a nice score for you, too. One mystery remains ... the name of the tune. I don't think anyone has identified it. Or is it just something he whipped up?

----------


## Dan Voight

> Very cool! And a nice score for you, too. One mystery remains ... the name of the tune. I don't think anyone has identified it. Or is it just something he whipped up?


From what I was told, my understanding is that the music was composed and worked up on the spot in the studio.

----------


## journeybear

Figured as much. So I guess my jocular title, "The GEICO Commercial Happiness Stomp" (or whatever it was - can't find it, of course) is as good as any.  :Smile: 

Ah - found it. "GEICO Commercial Bluegrass Theme." A bit generic, per my usual style.  :Wink:

----------


## Trip

always bugged me that the playing motion is not even close to in sync with the music....but it is nice to see a mando in mainstream.......

----------


## journeybear

There's a new one! A couple of antelopes wth night vision glasses, watching a lion futilely searching for them. "Happier than an antelope wth night vision glasses." Keep 'em coming, guys!




Trip -  I know. But I like how often these get aired, hence how often people see them; how humorous and well-presented they are; and how upbeat, positive, and generally pleasant the overall impression of the mandolin is in them. These factors all contribute to furthering mandolin consciousness, IMHO, possibly even more so than occasional instances of musical performances  of mandolins in TV appearances. Funny and sad how these things work sometimes. But I'm glad for these spots. I think they help familiarize the general public with the instrument. And as I said, leave a favorable impression as well. All the more better!  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## rr34672

> How funny! I was watching the Olympics, saw an ad with my old friend playing the Mandolin, and had to try to find the youtube clip! I googled it and this came up. He's Alex Harvey, a theatre director who also is a wonderful musician. He used to live in Chicago, is now based out of New York. He had a band for awhile called REO Chuckwagon


I was watching this documentary called "Botany of Desire" and in the special features of the DVD, there was this UC berkeley panel with this kinda of crazy theatre director who was making a musical based on a documentary about plants. I then saw the bodybuilder commercial with him playing mandolin, and I thought no way that's the same guy, that's too much of a coincidence, but sure enough, its him.


http://video.pbs.org/video/1283853952/

----------


## Jeffrey Sawyer

It's a Voight Mandolin

----------


## TheArimathean

New Commercial out, just saw it tonight, about a basketball player who likes blocking shots, pretty funny  :Laughing: 
Note: Throwing out there another request for the tab for the song they play at the end  :Mandosmiley:

----------


## azflyman

> New Commercial out, just saw it tonight, about a basketball player who likes blocking shots, pretty funny


Dikembe Mutombo, NBA MVP defensive player 4 times, greatest shot blocker of all time (in my time anyway), speaks nine languages.  Dude is a 7'2" monster.

----------


## journeybear

Yessirree! I didn't see this during the Super Bowl (it probably ran during the first half, and I still have been unable to make myself watch that ...  :Frown:  ) but saw it a day or two later. Great series - keep 'em coming!



BTW, all these are available for viewing at the Mandolins In Commercials thread. Not willing to reproduce my efforts and post them here.

Looks like you're going to have to learn that tune the old-fashioned way - listen and play what you hear. It's not that hard! It literally would take more time to tab it out than figure it out.  :Disbelief:  Hint: It's in D, the chord pattern is G D A A, it starts on a B note.

----------


## TheArimathean

Paul Revere with a cell phone!  :Laughing:

----------

