Sugar & Ames promotional picture (1969)	Gary Krajicek: The most commercially successful musician in the band, Gary started and led a number of groups before joining the psychedelic folk band Daisyheads in 1966. Gary's run-in with Rebecca Adams led to the founding of Sugar & Ames in November of 1967 and his departure from Daisyheads shortly thereafter. Gary was lead vocalist and the de-facto leader throughout Sugar & Ames existence. After their break up in 1970, Gary pursued several different projects before landing as lead singer and guitarist for Cousin It. He toured with the rock band on the East Coast until June 1972 when he left to pursue a solo career. Gary achieved a good bit of success touring the East Coast, Canada, and the UK with his fusion of folk and hard rock styles. He opened for acts such as Argent, The Sweet, and Traffic, usually playing a set comprised of Sugar & Ames, Cousin It, and his own original songs. By 1974, Gary tired of the touring schedule and retired to Vermont. He had a brief musical comeback from 1978-1980 with the Boston area group Papa Zitt, including a single forgettable album. Gary now teaches music at a high school in Manchester, NH where he lives with his wife Karen and 3 children. Rebecca Adams: The enigmatic creative force behind Sugar & Ames earthy yet prophetic sound, Rebecca experimented in poetry and songwriting throughout her youth before founding Sugar & Ames with Gary Krajicek in 1967. A wife and mother at the time, Rebecca adapted to the grueling band schedule and quickly developed into a solid backup guitarist and singer, harmonizing perfectly with the bass voice of Gary Krajicek and the near-soprano of Greta Erlanger. Mostly, though, Rebecca was the inspiration for the songs. A prolific writer, Rebecca wrote over 400 songs from 1966 until her untimely death in 1978, including Sugar & Ames favorites "Dime Store Candy" and "Forest Glen". Although Rebecca left the music scene after the breakup of Sugar & Ames, her biggest success was yet to come when her catchy "Love, Rain, or Me" was rewritten by Pete Townshend into The Who's rock anthem "Love Reign O'er Me". Callie Young: Callie was the source of the magic rhythms which pounded through so many of Sugar & Ames songs. Callie joined the band in 1969, shortly after the departure of Big Daddy Grant, leaving an Albany band named simply Frog. Callie immediately contributed with a lighter, deeper rhythm and a quiet yet unforgettable voice. With Callie on drums, Sugar & Ames were able to take on a new sound that led to their breakout in 1969. After the group split up, Callie moved on to play behind George Jackson, then for The Scrunge. Callie disappeared from the scene in 1973 and was last known to be living in Colorado. Aaron "Big Daddy" Grant: Big Daddy brought a heavy and exciting blues and rock drumming style to the early years of Sugar & Ames. Originally in Daisyheads with Gary Krajicek, he was recruited into the first Sugar & Ames sessions in 1967. As the group continued to explore a lighter, folkier sound, Big Daddy found himself at odds with Sugar & Ames destiny. He left the group in 1969 and moved to Los Angeles in 1970 where he played with several blues and rock groups. Greta Erlanger: The woman who never met a woodwind she couldn't play, Greta was the diverse background player needed by a growing band like Sugar & Ames. Greta played seven different instruments at various points in the band's evolution and contributed a soprano voice to the group's harmony. Sugar & Ames was Greta's only musical experience, as she left the scene shortly after the 1970 breakup. Greta still lives in Schenectady with her life partner.
Sugar & Ames was: Gary Krajicek: Guitar, Lead Vocals, Music Rebecca Adams: Guitar, Backing Vocals, Lyrics Callie Young: Drums, Backing Vocals (1969-) Aaron "Big Daddy" Grant: Drums (1967-1969) Greta Erlanger: Harmonica, Flute, Vocals
ugar & Ames was formed by a chance 1967 partnership between folk singer Gary Krajicek (then with "Daisyheads") and songwriter Rebecca Adams. From 1968 to their eventual breakup in 1970, Sugar & Ames played a variety of shows and festivals in the Schenectady, NY area. Although their commercial success was limited, their songs and their shows inspired a revolution in the upstate New York music scene in the 1970s. The creative energy of Sugar & Ames shines through in their biggest songs: "Dime Store Candy", "Love, Rain, or Me", "Forest Glen", and "Blue Jean Lady". Though the deep and poetic meaning of their songs never changed, the ever-growing sound of the band mirrored their development as musicians, from an exciting but loose coupling of voices, to a rich melodic and infectious single sound. Sugar & Ames first appeared at the Riverside Park Summer Festival in July, 1968, a mere 6 months after shaking out their musical line-up. The group, hastily assembled during the winter of 1967-1968, showcased Gary Krajicek as lead vocalist, Rebecca Adams as backing guitar & vocals, Greta Erlanger on a variety of instruments, and "Big Daddy" Grant on the drums. Reaction and reviews were mixed and the band spent the following 4 months practicing and retooling before making another appearance. Their second show, in November of 1968 at The Cellar, was a much larger success. By this point, they had changed from mostly a cover band to playing many of their own songs. This trend would continue as the band grew in stature over the next year. Despite losing "Big Daddy" to creative differences in spring of 1969, the band's following and reputation caught on around the Schenectady area, leading up to the headline role in an all day music and poetry festival in that renowned summer of love. All good things must come to an end, however. And it seemed for Sugar & Ames, just as things started taking off for the band, things started falling apart internally. Although the band headlined several more shows in the fall and winter of 1969-70, by the spring of 1970 the band had stopped performing. Almost eerily synchronized with the announced breakup of The Beatles, the same fate seemed to bear down upon Sugar & Ames. Their hiatus lasted most of spring and summer, ending with a Labor Day 1970 performance at Riverside Park, back where they began. Although the magic of the sound was still intact and the new songs that had been written over the hiatus showed promise, something was missing. The heart of the band was no longer there. The Labor Day fest was to be their last show, and the only Sugar & Ames live performance of "Blue Jean Lady". The band members each moved individually on to other things, but the group itself had come full circle: from 4 unsteady new musicians walking out onto a Riverside Park stage, to 4 tired, proud, and mature musicians walking off the same stage years later.
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