All Jam Bands Episodes

Song List:

In March of 2018 we got word that two stalwarts in the Jam Band world, Tom Hamilton and Holly Bowling were joining forces with a few other musicians to create something new called Ghost Light. Of course we got Tom and Holly on the phone and talked at great length about the project, and where things were heading. Just over two years later, after an album release, and several tours, they are releasing their first ever official live album taken from their performance March 30th, 2019 at the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver Colorado. The album, like most Ghost Light shows is filled with original songs, covers, and exploratory jams that you just have to hear. Back when we chatted in March of 2018, Tom and Holly were both really excited about how the band came together in the process. Now some two years later, I wondered if that same excitement and cohesion still existed, and that's what I asked as I started my conversation with Tom Hamilton Jr.

Everyone in the Jam Band scene has some idea of who Mihali is. In case you don't, he's the front man for Vermont's Twiddle. Twiddle have been around since 2004, and since that time, Mihali has been the principal song-writer for the band. What you may not know is that Mihali has also spent a lot of time gigging as a solo act, but has never released his own album. As you'll soon hear, it's a project he's been thinking about for quite some time, and it really came together over the last few years. His music, as you'd probably expect, is rooted in reggae sounds and vibes. To produce the album he enlisted Eric Krasno, and invited a few friends to record as well. We caught up with Mihali fresh off his solo show at the Live from Out There virtual festival, to talk about Breathe and Let Go which he performed in its entirety and much more. 

Song List:

Over the 22 year span of Sound Tribe Sector 9, the Jamtronica outfit has produced studio albums, released live recordings, streamed concerts, made DVDs available of performances and shared incredible content with their fans. They are amongst the most prolific bands in terms of producing material so much so that it's incredibly staggering to even discuss. 2020 was to be a new year, filled with lots of live performances, giving back and making the world a better place with a relaunch of their non-profit The Just Thanks Organization and a release of a new series of live mashups in a volume called Visions Tapes. Save for the live performance agenda which of course was cut short because of Covid19, the band has already made a $25,000 pledge to Redwood League and they've released the first of the Visions Tapes project. So when I caught up with bassist Alana Rocklin I was curious to know what made the band decide to release these mash-ups as a mix-tape on Visions Tapes. For more on STS9 visit STS9.com.

I first heard Mike Mattison’s voice, like so man my of us did, listening to Derek Trucks Band records, but truly, the break through was a song called Sweet Inspiration. But Mike is more than just a singer as his now with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, he is a musician, a songwriter, an incredibly talented artist. He’s made records with a project called Scrapomatic, which is, as you’d expect rooted in blues, but After Glow a solo record,  shows his breadth as a songwriter, and the palette of sounds at his disposal. After Glow, his second solo record offers more than what you’d probably expect. It’s filled with Americana, Country and more, giving us some insight into the singer songwriter and artist Mike actually is.

Pacific Range are a new band out of Los Angeles that we are really digging. In fact, their new album High Upon the Mountain is one of our favorite records of the year so far, and for good reason. The band's sound is a throwback to stuff we really dig, like the Allman Brothers Band, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds, and Crosby Stills and Nash. The four piece uses harmonies, sweet grooves, and great guitar licks, to bring you into a very laid back west coast vibe. All kinds of people we have talked to in the past were involved in the project so we were stoked to learn more about the band. So we contacted Curation Records, a new label also out of LA and got in touch with Seamus Turner, the band's principle songwriter, vocalist and lead guitar player.For more on Pacific Range visit pacificrangeband.com. 

We’ve been in the Goose hunt for quite some time. In fact, back in 2018 both Peter and Rick joined us to talk about the band and their opening slot on Spafford’s spring tour. Ever since then, we’ve been heaping tons of praise on them and scurrying around to find their music, buy their music and share their music with you. Today, the guys release their first live record, a collection of tunes from the past year, a really important time in the bands evolution.  “Alive and Well” is more than just a compilation. It’s a really solid collection if you’re a fan, but also extremely accessible for people new to Goose. We caught up with Peter, Rick, Trevor and Ben to talk about a bunch of topics, and as you’ll hear, they were candid and somewhat humbled by their current circumstance as being one of THE bands on the scene right now.

We’ve had John Lovero of The Higgs on before and in the time since, their prominence as more than just an LA jam band has certainly grown. They’ve added new management and have opened for Twiddle and other well known Jam Bands on the scene. Rose Will Fall is an unbelievable mix of live music from The Higgs. Exciting stuff ahead for The Higgs and you know we’ll be following their story and bringing you updates as we hear or get them. For more info visit thehiggsmusic.com.

I’ve been a fan of keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth of The String Cheese Incident for well over two decades, and he’s always been on my list as someone I wanted to talk with about not only his music but also that of String Cheese. With a new EP out for about a month now, I decided it was a good time to catch up and learn more about his solo working while pruning some insights on String Cheese as well. I can tell you, our conversation was very enlightening and he was very engaging for longer than I had anticipated. 

For the uninitiated, The Garcia Project is the brainchild of Mik Bondy. The band, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary is a tribute to the Jerry Garcia Band and perform live versions of the JGB show from 1976 through 1995. They recently put out Spirit a collection of inspirational and spiritual songs the Jerry Garcia Band performed. We caught up with Mik to talk about the project and our conversation started when I asked what inspired the record and it’s packaging. For more visit thegarciaproject.com

It’s an interesting time for Circles Around the Sun having tragically lost one of the founding members Neal Casal this past summer. I was curious how the band and long time friend Adam MacDougall was coping with what must be a series of emotions ahead of the release of this third record, which naturally has guitar player Casal’s work all over it. We caught up with Adam just before the Circles Around the Sun gig at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While our heart felt conversation covered several different topics including the release of this very peppy record, it started sadly with Casal’s passing. You can pre-order the record and check out more tour dates at circlesaroundthesun.com

The Green Leaf Rustlers are an all-star group of musicians fronted by Chris Robinson that includes Barry Sless on pedal steel, Greg Loiacono on guitar, Pete Sears on bass and John Molo on drums. These should all be household names and together in the Rustlers they make this hippified country music, that needs to be heard. Typically the band plays covers of outlaw and classic country plus music thats been influenced by that scene. With a double live record coming out March 6th, From within Marin, we wanted to catch up with someone involved in the project, and were giddy with anticipation when we heard we'd get to chat with Barry Sless. 

Silver Moon marks the 10th solo record for Jono Manson, and while you may not know exactly who he is, you should. In fact Jono should be credited with helping re-start the neo-jam band scene in New York. That is to say, his band The Worms, an eclectic dive bar rock band playing out of Nightingale’s in New York paved the way for bands like Blues Traveler, The Spin Doctors and Joan Osborne.  They were all big fans of his work, and continue to lend a hand today. So when we got the absolute privilege to talk with Jono, that’s where our conversation started when I asked if he thought his eclectic sonic pot pourri of sound was indeed responsible for the neo jam band movement of the early 90s and since.

Truth is, we've become really good friends with Reid over the years and are in awe of how he's able to bring musicians together, to share in the love of the jam, the songs and good times. First I was a fan of Strangefolk, Assembly of Dust and his solo work and continue to be, but he is a really solid dude, who has on several occasions taken time out in his life to offer some solid advice. So it's with great pleasure that we welcomed him in to chat about Reid Genauer and Folks - Extended Release and his upcoming tour if for no other reason than to get the pronunciation of his name correct. For more visit reidgenauer.com and please see him on the road, in fact when you do, tell him "Ira says hi".