It is with great sadness that we announce that Todd Nance, a founding member of Widespread Panic, passed away early this morning in Athens, GA from sudden and unexpectedly severe complications of a chronic illness. There are no services being planned at this time, but information will be shared as decisions are made regarding the best way to honor Todd’s extraordinary life and career. The Nance family appreciates the love and support of all and requests that their privacy be honored during this hard time.
Along with the Nance Family, the Widespread Panic Family shared these sentiments:
With heavy Hearts and Loving memories we say good bye to our Brother Todd Alton Nance. Widespread Panic was born the night of Todd’s first show. He and Mikey had played music together in High school (maybe Junior high) and with a lucky thought, Michael tracked him down and asked him to join us – because we had a gig, but needed a drummer. For thirty years Todd was the engine of the Widespread Panic. He wrote great songs, and was a giving and forgiving collaborator. T Man was the epitome of a “team player.” Drove the Band and drove the van.
Funny, adventurous, and a very kind Soul, we wish Todd and his family peace during this sad time after so many happy times.
Safe travels, Brother Todd.
With Love, the Boys and Girls of Widespread Panic
Todd Nance was born in Chattanooga, TN, where he received a drum kit for Christmas at age 13, and then formed a high school band with Michael Houser, with whom he would go on to found Widespread Panic, along with John Bell and Dave Schools. The band formed in 1986 and grew quickly, performing at Red Rocks only five years later, opening for Blues Traveler.
Nance was the steady beat from the early years in Athens, GA, setting the tone alongside Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz. Nance briefly left the band in 2014, returned, and officially departed the band in 2016. He also played drums in the Vic Chestnutt/Widespread Panic hybrid brute. from 1995 to 2002, and in recent years, with groups known as Todd Nance & Friends, the Interstellar Boys and the Todd Nance Experiment.
So sad to learn of the passing of Todd Nance. I met Todd backstage at the Georgia Theater in Athens 1990, our first southern Phish show. He was kind and welcoming, a powerhouse drummer and a truly nice guy. My heart goes out to Todd’s Family today. Photo via WSP pic.twitter.com/KE9QI9lXGk
In a 2017 interview with Larson Sutton for Jambands.com, Nance looked back on his time with Widespread Panic with no regrets.
Basically, I had 31 great years touring with (Widespread Panic). I wouldn’t trade that for anything. But, things do change as time goes on. I had to address those issues and put my professional life on the sideline. So now that I’ve gotten that stuff out of the way, I’ve tried to get back to work. That’s pretty much it.
After a long hiatus from live performance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vermont jam quartet Twiddle returned to the stage this weekend for three socially distanced Drive-In shows. Taking place in Essex Junction, VT, the three sold-out shows were a welcome return to live performance for the band, with over 250 car passes sold for each night.
We can’t thank our fans enough for making our first live shows back such an incredible and safe experience. It felt amazing playing live again with the boys and having our brother Taz join us, elevating the band as he always does.
Mihali Savoulidis (Guitar, Vocals)
Twiddle kicked off a stellar weekend of music with a fantastic first set on Friday, August 14, during which the band seamlessly segued through their first set without a break between songs.
After sunset, the band took the stage for an improvisation-heavy three-song second set, featuring “Gatsby the Great,” “Doinkinbonk” and “Cabbage Face.” The show closed with fan-favorite sing-along “Orlando’s.”
Saturday presented material from various phases of the band’s 15-year career. Highlights from set one include “Zazu’s Flight” > “Bronze Fingers” > “Zazu’s Flight,” as well as a tender rendition of “The Machine,” featuring drummer Brook Jordan on vocals. Twiddle closed the first set with a raging rendition of “Every Soul,” with special guest 16-year-old guitar phenom Brandon “Taz” Niederauer.
Saturday’s second set was rife with deep jams and segues, including the introspective ballad “River Drift” sandwiched between “Dr. Remidi’s Melodium” and “Nicodemus Portulay.” Taz sat in on “Tom’s Song” during set two and returned for a “Comfortably Numb” encore, played for the first time in over nine years.
Wrapping up the weekend, Sunday’s first set showcased a healthy mix of Twiddle’s bluegrass influences and improvisational acumen, with twangy acoustic takes on “Hattibagen McRat” and “Fat Country Baby.”
Twiddle rounded out the weekend in Vermont with a trip down memory lane, with set two featuring throwback favorites “Invisible Ink” and “Tiberius,” before closing out the show with an epic “Beethoven and Greene.”
Night One – 8/14/2020 – Drive In – Essex Junction, VT
Ed. note – we made every attempt to find photo or video footage of moe.s performances on Last Call with Carson Daly, but the only footage we could locate is owned by NBCUniversal.
In the Jam Band scene, fans are aware of a few things about their favorite bands, one; your favorite bands have the best live shows, two; it’s a community that is incredibly accepting even if someone doesn’t get it, and three; you’re going to spend your whole life trying to show people this band and they may have never heard of them, and you know they are not on any popular TV shows they like.
You’re not going to turn on Saturday Night Live this week and see Phish playing “Wilson,” or catch a Umphrey’s McGee song on Fallon anytime soon. Sure the occasional Dead & Company pop up or even Dave Matthews on Kimmel, but for the most part you won’t be able to answer, “Oh, they were on Colbert the other night.”
Not even bands like the Grateful Dead or the Allman Brothers garnered that commercial success that so many bands saw in the 70’s and throughout the rest of their career. We’ve all seen the occasional interviews with Weir and Garcia on Letterman back in the 80’s but for the most part, you had to go out and find that band or you were told about from a friend or heard the show was amazing.
But for one week in television history Upstate New York’s own moe. was “ Call with Carson Daly’s” house band.
That’s right not just a blip in the radar of a one night appearance but an entire week of television exposure for a jam band.
On the heels of announcing their forthcoming album, This is Not, We Are, NYS Music spoke with moe. guitarist and vocalist Al Schnier and drummer Vinnie Amico about their time 15 years-ago as house band for Carson Daly.
For those who don’t remember, Daly was the host of the popular MTV show Total Request Live, a show that ran from 1998 to 2003 and was affectionately known as TRL. The show was born from Daly’s other two show’s Total Request, and MTV Live.
TRL for those who remember was not where you would really find bands like moe. on. the show featured the top 10 videos of the day and Daly interviewed popular celebrities and guests.
But in 2002, Daly was given the final slot of late night that went on after Conan O’Brien. The time slot that was for those up way too late at night or just getting back from a long night out.
“It was the late late show,” says Schnier. “It was the one that came on after Conan. So whoevers watching that show, is probably our demographic anyways.”
In 2005, moe. was at the height of their success, they had been touring for 15 years at this point. Playing shows at venues like the Fillmore in San Francisco, to Red Rocks, to opening for bands like the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers.
“We were probably at the top of where we have been (in our career),” said Amico. “We had just released Wormwood and we had just done Conan O’Brien”
“At that point we have 15 years of being a touring band under our belt, we’ve played with bands like the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead, you know, played a bunch of festivals and toured all over the place, really had gotten to experience a lot and had been all over the world at this point but to do television is a totally different thing.”
Al Schnier
Daly was going for a completely new spin on what music could be on late night television.
“It was a great concept for his show. They didn’t have a house band,” said Schnier.
Each week would have a completely new band featured for the entire week, playing their own original songs as well as some covers as the ins and outs of guests and into breaks. The idea had never been done before in Late Night and was the launching pad for many bands like the Killers, to Ed Sheeran.
Last Call’s first studio borrowed the set from SNL’s studio 8H, where Daly came out with no monologue, no jokes, just straight into the show with guests interviewed and each week featuring a new house band.
An idea that seemed simple enough, it would give bands a large platform, bigger than just one night on a talk show, exposing them to a new audience. Many of these bands were just cutting their teeth, while moe. were the seasoned vets.
But as any jam fan knows, there is a difference when you bring on a band like moe. something will always follow.
The fans, or in this case the moe.rons followed. For probably the first time in the show’s short history, the audience wasn’t there for the guests or Carson, most of them were solely there to see moe. in the most intimate setting they had been in, in years.
“What I do remember is how loud and into it our fans were. I think the crowd was mostly our fans to see us in that TV setting. It seemed to be shocking even to Carson, like “Holy shit, these guys have a cult following.” I think even Carson was cracking up about it, I mean our fans were pretty rabid.
Vinnie Amico
“The thing was there was a ton of moe. fans in the crowd,” said Schnier “Carson Daly got a kick out of the crowd. Because mostly every show was full of moe.rons. So they got the joke or got a kick out every song we would play.”
The band would often center their sets around which guest was coming out at that time. Schnier remembers the time, a specific guest the band found attractive, was coming out and centered a song around their entrance.
“We specifically chose to play “She Sends Me” for this celebrity as her walk on music”
Schnier couldn’t recall who the guest was but remembers the band and the audience enjoying the poignant song choice. That guest was character actor Aisha Tyler.
In just three days of shooting, moe. would perform as the house band for five different shows. Each time performing sets of their own originals, some more popular tunes like, “Rebubula” for Eva Mendes entrance; to performing the “The Pit,” for Wu-Tang-Clan’s RZA’s entrance.
Even doing a cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla,” for a very humorous entrance of NBA Champion Dennis Rodman.
But the guests on the show weren’t the only memorable experiences for moe. that week, Schnier recalls the time as a surreal moment in their career.
“Wow.. there’s a surreal quality to it.” said Schnier, “The thing that I remember, it’s kind of like when you’re a kid and memory of going to the State Fair or your memory of a graduation, an event, it’s really just one picture in your head. And my memory of being on Carson Daly is from our vantage point, where we are standing on the stage… you look across the sound stage and there’s Carson and where his guest would sit and to the right is where our fans were. The whole experience is just kind of surreal, because it’s like nothing else we have ever done.”
The day to day of working on a show like that can make the average celebrity sighting commonplace, and for Schnier he found that out first hand in an elevator going up 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
I remember riding in the elevator with Sigourney Weaver. I was beside myself that I was in the same elevator as her. It was just wild, I’m just there with my guitar and going to do my thing and she’s just gorgeous going to do whatever she was doing. I was like, “Ok, this is awesome, this probably happens all the time here to everybody but people like me!”
Al Schnier
One of the most appealing aspects of the Jam scene is that working man’s mentality of its artists, the humility of the everyday man or woman that other artists lose along the way to commercial fame. But even now 15 years later, hundreds of shows since, Schnier still looks back on the time with fond memories and feeling lucky to have gotten to do the show.
“It was cool being part of the staff,” said Schnier. “You know you had your name tag and you got to check in everyday, ride up the elevator and then see all of these random people. People who were shuffling through the building, people doing Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, and you were going to work doing your thing.”
That humility came in when asked if they thought they received a boost in fandom or recognition. Both Amico and Schnier saying they weren’t sure if they really ever noticed a growth in crowds, but nearly two years later on New Years Eve of 2006 moe. entered the New Year by playing Radio City Music Hall.
Today, moe. looks back on that time fondly, as they, like the rest of us quarantine and cope with the lost summer of live music. But both Amico and Schnier are staying positive and using this time to hone their crafts.
“I’m playing everyday and practicing on a pad, not even hitting my drums, getting my fundamentals together. I’m not a big woodshedder like a lot of musicians, which means my fundamentals suck, I can go out and play a million songs and play them very well, but my chops aren’t the best. So I’m actually going back to a beginning, getting myself to be a better drummer.”
Vinnie Amico
“To be honest, I’m doing fine. I feel like there are a lot of silver linings to this, in many ways I’m actually taking advantage of the found time,” says Schnier. “I’ve been playing so much music, learning a bunch of songs and teaching. The irony is that I told my wife after New Years, that I am going to make a concerted effort to play music everyday this year and not so much as a resolution but as a sort of lifestyle change. You know, I thought I kind of owed it to myself and my bandmates to be playing music everyday… I never anticipated it to be like this for hours and hours everyday but it’s been amazing.”
The two are even picking up new gigs, Amico as an internet home chef and Schnier playing private house parties over Zoom.
“I’ve been doing some cooking on Instagram live,” says Amico. “So I’ll keep doing those… people seem to like my cooking more than my drumming.”
“Meanwhile, I’ve started doing live lessons online with Lesson Masters,” says Schnier. “Then started doing private house parties, via Zoom and Live Lesson Masters and that thing has exploded and taken off unexpectedly. So I’ve been really busy, I’ve been playing gigs still every weekend.”
Both Amico and Schnier acknowledge moe. has been fortunate to have had such an amazing career in the jam scene, but knows how hard it is to be starting out as a touring live band, especially during this time. NYS asked the two what fans can do, in the meantime while we quarantine, to support artists.
“Really by sending them money,” says Schnier. “There’s a number of ways they can support that, buy their merch, support their online shows… who knows, if there’s a way you can reach out and maybe invest in the band, to actually be a legitimate patron of the arts. It’s like supporting public radio, maybe you’re in a position to just buy a hat or a sticker, all of that really helps. But maybe you’re in a position with disposable income and you want to see a band survive and you can help in that way.”
Schnier went on to talk about the importance of staying connected to friends and fans.
“The thing about this scene and the thing I love about our fan base is if we have one purpose it’s about connection,”says Schnier. “Even more so than the music, it’s just about connecting people. So if I could provide a platform where we are still doing that and we’re staying connected and we’re doing it virtually, it feels pretty good. We can all spend a Friday night together in our own homes, you leave those things feeling pretty recharged much more so than just cruising instagram and Facebook or watching something on Netflix, because you’re seeing people and interacting with them.”
moe. released their long awaited follow up to 2014’s No Guts, No Glory, on June 26. The band will also be celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, and although they may not be touring this year, moe. fans can anticipate some of the best and tightest sounding moe. live shows and albums to come out of this quarantine.
Even now, 51 years to the day, the performance by Grateful Dead at the legendary Woodstock Music Festival still leaves a mark. Although, for a variety of reasons, it’s a mark that the band and any eyewitnesses that evening may not wish to remember fondly. Weather, electrical and all the other ever-sprouting issues that arose during Woodstock all played factors that resulted in what many deem a less than memorable performance put forth by the Western newcomers that many had heard of but few had seen before.
Due to scheduling issues and incessant rain, the band’s set on August 16, 1969 had already been pushed back from Saturday late afternoon to a 10:30 pm start time. By then, rain and the resulting mud had conquered the Bethel, NY festival grounds. The giant throng of spectators splayed across the hillside were getting soaked and restless waiting for the next act to start. Up until this point, the Grateful Dead were still only a band “on the rise” that was very much new to an East Coast crowd, by and large.
The inauspicious start began when the band’s notoriously heavy gear caused the rotating stage that was being used to sink completely into the mud – something they had warned the event staff about beforehand. Phil Lesh’s bass monitor was somehow picking up the on-site helicopter’s radio signal. And the Dead’s sound technician, Owsley “Bear” Stanley, was making alterations to what he considered an inadequate in-house PA system. It resulted in him improperly grounding the stage equipment and giving new meaning to the term “electric rock.”
Band members recall feeling a “light tingle” whenever they would touch their instruments. This all culminated with a now famous story about guitarist Bob Weir being thrown across the stage, supposedly during the “Saint Stephen” that began the show.
It was raining toads when we played. The rain was part of our nightmare. The other part was our sound man, who decided that the ground situation on the stage was all wrong. It took him about two hours to change it, which held up the show. He finally got it set the way he wanted it, but every time I touched my instrument, I got a shock. The stage was wet, and the electricity was coming through me. I was conducting! Touching my guitar and the microphone was nearly fatal. There was a great big blue spark about the size of a baseball, and I got lifted off my feet and sent back eight or 10 feet to my amplifier.
~ Bob Weir, Rolling Stone interview
Audio recordings only contain the first two minutes of the opening number, likely a result of this mishap. Things immediately lighten up a little afterwards with “Mama Tried,” a Merle Haggard song that the Dead had started covering earlier that year.
The awkward start-and-stop rhythm of the show then rears its ugly head again thanks to another ten minutes of delay in order to deal with the sound setup. A “spirited” Ken Babbs from the Merry Pranksters takes to the MC role during this part of the show as he tries his best to entertain a crowd of hippies growing increasingly damp and restless. This also gives Country Joe McDonald the chance to pop up onstage and warn everyone about the “green acid” that was going around.
After all the sound issues are resolved, the band launches into a moody “Dark Star” that serves as one of the musical highlights of the night. The near 20-minute rendition stretches out and descends into near ambience before rounding back into form. It features wonderful fills and textures provided by early keys player Tom Constanten who seems to be turned up abnormally high in this recording.
Once the “Dark Star” burned out, the band trotted out another new number with “High Time” – a sentiment that was no doubt shared by many this evening. Garcia’s vocals come through aptly but this isn’t exactly a song to get a crowd up and dancing. The slow, drab composition seemed to be reflective of the current atmosphere.
The band seems to cut their losses and ends theit set with a “Turn On Your Lovelight” that stretches out to almost 40 minutes. However,it starts with even more mayhem thanks to another “spirited” individual who jumps on stage and exclaims to everyone about “seeing the sun rise over the lake” and a “third Coast.” All this while the band is quietly playing the instrumental open to the song underneath it all.
While it does seem to finally inject some life into the set, not even a Pigpen rap would be enough to save this show. The extensive jam meanders and shifts from pscychedelia to blues and back with little direction in between. It marked the end of a set that had high hopes at first but falls flat in its delivery thanks to the weather, sound issues, lucid ramblings from MCs and stage crashers alike, and one of the guitarists getting visibly electrocuted on stage.
Grateful Dead Woodstock Music Festival Bethel, NY 8/16/69 St. Stephen (cut), Mama Tried -> High Time (false start), Dark Star ->High Time, Turn On Your Love Light
On August 14, 1997, Phish performed for the second time at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. Just one stop was left on Phish’s Summer Tour – The Great Went in Limestone, ME. And, as is bound to happen, some bozos and pranksters showed up in the parking lot before the show, leading to history being made and generations of jam bridged together.
photo via Kevin Shapiro
A fluid first set was chock full of jams, and an early “Fluffhead” was reportedly punctuated with a roller-coaster climbing to its peak just as “Fluffhead” was peaking. The first “Tela” since fall 1996 and a raging “Antelope” set closer are among the other highlights.
Fans reported seeing the famous Furthur bus in the parking lots that day, which had a Grateful Dead feel to them with Furthur Fest on tour that summer as well. Not many would expect Trey to bring out the head Prankster himself, Ken Kesey, later that night. Following an often overlooked segue out of “Harry Hood” in the second set, just as Anastasio started the narration part of “Col. Forbin’s Ascent,” their special guest came to the stage.
So here we are again, standing at the base of the mountain, and this is a very different and interesting time for Col. Forbin here. Col. Forbin realizes on this particular day, he is not going to find the great and knowledagble Icculus at all, but instead he is going to find (laughs) Ken, Uncle Sam, Bozo, E-Z-Kesey standing there.
Trey Anastasio, introducing Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, August 14, 1997
Out walked Kesey dressed as Uncle Sam, and the crowd erupted.
Ken Kesey with Phish
Kesey – author, LSD advocate, founder of the acid tests and a key figurehead of sixties counter-culture – took hold of the moment and in a rambling, hilarious and surreal art performance, referenced the loss of Jerry Garcia, the Bozos, and the Wizard of Oz. Kesey spoke and sang to the beat of his own drum:
My heart is sorely beset because from out amongst the tidbits of these vehicles moving through the nation we have lost an important part of us. For two years no one has seen high nor heard of the bozos. For two years the bozos have been missing. Where are the bozos? Well, what we heard was they were gonna try to make it hear to the Phish concert. We couldn’t catch them up at the Furthur Festival so we decided to come to the Phish concert.
Ken Kesey
Around the stage and audience were costumed Pranksters in key roles, making for one of the most infamous sit-ins in Phish history. Two years after Jerry Garcia’s death, Kesey had symbolically passed the torch to Phish
Kesey began a “Wizard of Oz” narration, mentioning that his brother in Oz usually handles finding the bozos. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” begins and out walks a helper, dress as the Scarecrow, to give a “Bozo Report.” At that moment, the band switched to an instrumental version of “If Only I Had a Brain”, ahead of The Scarecrow saying “We know they were at the Grateful Dead concert and the rumor was they went Phishing.”
The Tin Man followed, reporting that he has a ‘foolish heart,’ with Kesey and Fishman singing “Has anyone seen the Bozos?” Instead of the Cowardly Lion following next, Frankenstein walks out with his master, and naturally, Phish breaks into Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” with the volume a little lower for Kesey to continue his narration.
The Cowardly Lion was leading a paramilitary group in Northern Idaho and you brought me this? Wonderful!
Ken Kesey
Then, as Kesey and four other pranksters began to come up with lyrics for the Bozos, about 20 Bozo Clowns came running through the pavilion and found their way to the stage. Meanwhile, Kesey and the Pranksters continued to sing while Phish improvised over a funk groove. To close this collective hallucination, Kesey attempted a segue of his own:
I see a bird. Out comes a bird. Could that possible be Mockingbird? What kind of bird can it possibly be in the nest when the Pranksters sing? I know it. I see it. I hear it. It’s a Mockingbird.
Ken Kesey
Alas, as Kesey and the Pranksters exited the stage, Trey remarked “See what happens if you take too much acid? 30 years later…” much to the audience’s approval. Trey then declared that because “the funk was too deep,” and they couldn’t stop the funk, the typical “Fly Famous Mockingbird” that follows “Col. Forbin’s Ascent” was passed over for “Camel Walk,” an early funk-filled Phish song, and a rarity at the time. Tune into the show via Phishtracks, and don’t sleep on the set closing “Taste.” At Superball IX, Phish shared a pro-shot clip of the show, footage of which can be seen above.
Soundcheck: Buffalo Bill, The Old Home Place, Funky Bitch, Crosseyed and Painless
Set 1: Ya Mar, Funky Bitch > Fluffhead, Limb By Limb, Free, Cars Trucks Buses, Tela > Train Song > Billy Breathes, Run Like an Antelope
Set 2: Chalk Dust Torture, Love Me, Sparkle > Harry Hood -> Jam > Colonel Forbin’s Ascent -> Merry Pranksters Jam[1] -> Camel Walk, Taste
Encore: Bouncing Around the Room, Rocky Top
[1] Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
The second set featured a remarkable jam after Harry Hood ended and before Forbin’s began, as well as an appearance by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. The Merry Pranksters Jam contained a Somewhere Over the Rainbow tease from Trey, an If I Only Had a Brain tease, a Spam Song quote, and a Frankenstein jam.
Nyack duo ShwizZ slams you against the blackboard in awe that all your basic math skills have fleeted. Not only does ShwizZ explore a multi-level, mixed-meter halfway house of genres, but also bulldoze your ear to the other end of the record collection with their latest Big Things. No algorithm can compute this formula. Not from two people.
It’s hard to believe Big Things can lead you through all eight compositions without losing sight of what’s ahead. Something doesn’t add up. The duo – Ryan Liatsis and Andy Boxer – stab you with the sharp pain of “Splinter,” opening with an off the cuff funk tag. The tune walks on with staccato chunks of its bassline before Liatsis shoots out jarring guitar pads.
These guys look bored amid a musical Mortal Kombat where nobody breaks a sweat. Boxer is collected behind the kit, unleashing cool six-stroke rolls and collapsing tom fills in-between Liatsis’ ever-changing soundscape. Liatsis begins to crack a smile as he waves through his solo, far beyond the musical speed-limit. Boxer listens and instigates. The strings are not phased.
The albums second track “Khoi Khoi,” aides to more textured side of the duo. They explore a more mysterious side of scale that is oddly cathartic. That is until you’re stunned unexpectedly from your dream.
ShwizZ gets creative with “Your Call is Very Important Us,” in a meter that seemingly races ahead of the ear. Boxer’s cymbal work is airy and effortlessly hangs with Liatsis on Guitar. The meter does not exist.
There is no explaining how ironically calming this journey is. It’s the movie you can’t watch but inch closer to the screen. Liatsis has you on the hook with these roaring solos never loosing sight of the songs motif.
An album favorite for the die hard rocker is “The Shwizzard.” A chunky lead and solid back beat make the track stand out gritty. Liatsis shoves the lead right in your face. The track embarks on short epics with classic rock feel.
New York State’s theme of a “hearing aide” is unmasked by ShwizZ and their June release of Big Things. The album tunes the ears of the most complex listener and holds them to a higher standard.
Back in 2015 I took a closer look at Twiddle, who I had seen previously as a small-font band at music festivals around the Northeast. Nothing had stuck out just yet, beyond a surprise version of the “Duck Tales” theme song at The Big Up in 2010. But after seeing them in small rooms and grow to perform at The Palace in Albany and as far away as Lockn‘, my perspective of the band changed, for the better.
The recent Roots Tour was a rousing success, where Twiddle made stops at venues that served as notable points in Twiddle’s history in Vermont. The Roots Tour – featuring archival and recently recorded streams, band interviews, plus two live streams from Higher Ground – brought out the best of the band, collectively and individually.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDB5S_ahEx2/
The band interviews were the hidden gem of the Roots Tour, and worth the price of admission alone. Each band member spoke individually, and later collectively, providing insight into each of the venues they performed at during the tour, and how that little corner of Vermont (of which there are many) affected Twiddle’s growth over the last 15 years, especially those important formative years.
With three shows at Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT taking place this weekend, NYS Music caught up with keyboardist Ryan Dempsey to talk about Roots Tour, how he has spent time during quarantine and where he would be had he not been a musician.
photo by Dave Decrescente
Behind the keys for 15 years, Ryan Dempsey doesn’t wonder where the time has gone.
“The time was well spent, and I really have no regrets. I’ve been having fun along the way. So sometimes it seems like a long time but other times I feel like it was just yesterday.“
Twiddle started out at Castleton State College and almost immediately met Mihali Savoulidis and would form Twiddle. And it does surprise him how this all got started.
The universe has a way of working itself out. I wouldn’t have imagined myself ever being a professional musician when I met Mihali. I was studying to go to L.A. and be a film director but I’m happy it worked out the way it did. I trusted Mihali’s leadership and his confidence in the fact that we would be a band one day and it would all work out.
photo by Dave Decrescente
The concept for Roots Tour, taking the viewer and band through the roots of Twiddle in Vermont, could have worked in a non-COVID-19 world. A tour, with exclusive tickets and chances to see the band at old haunts (The Perfect Wife, Nectar’s, and The Pickle Barrel, among others), would have been as well received as anything Twiddle has done in the last five years. But given the circumstances of no live music, the Roots Tour would be presented as a wholly online experience.
I think it was a collective and unanimous vote between the full band that it would be a good time to bring up old footage and a bunch of material that we’ve been collecting for 15 years and releasing it in a documentary kind of style. I think it was just the right time to do it. We have been talking about it for years and we always said, “Just hold off, let’s hold off, let’s hold off,” and then, when COVID became prevalent, we thought it was just the perfect time to get down and look at all of our material we had over the years and compile it all together and see what we had. And I think it was a successful venture.
There was of course the nostalgia that will evoke and tap emotions in the unexpected places. For Dempsey, that place was the Eaglerock Estate, also known as the ’Twiddle House’ where Mihali, Ryan and Brook Jordan lived, wrote, rehearsed and played shows, and later met Zdenek Gubb who officially joined the band.
Going there was very nostalgic and seeing my band there as adults and looking back and thinking back to when we were children or you know just out-in-the-world young adults and not having a clue what we were doing and scared to death on what we were doing, but always following our intuition. It was cool to go back to Eagle Rock and be with my brothers and have our own moment and go up to our rooms and have stories of years that we were there and how the music shaped itself in those early times. That was very cool.
Now with Roots Tour behind them, and three Drive-In shows in Vermont this weekend, Dempsey was asked what he was missing the most about playing live right now.
I miss the gathering of people. I’m a very social person, so playing live is important for me because obviously it’s great to see fans interacting and showing their love for the music as we play on stage, but I also miss going out after and before shows talking to every fan I can, in the front or the back, and shooting the shit with them. A lot of good family with our fan base that I have come to know and learn to love over the years and I miss being able to interact with those people personally.
photo by Dave Decrescente
One would suspect that musicians of any ilk are spending their time in quarantine these past five months staying productive and writing songs. That is true for Dempsey as well, but with the distractions that come from not having a typical routine to fall into.
So, my duck and my raccoon poop on me while I play so that’s affected my concentration; when I’m on the piano, I like to have one of the animals up there. But actually it hasn’t really affected it because I’ve been busy doing Cameos and we still practice with Twiddle, but it’s hard. It’s like when you work out, you get used to working out every day and then, when you stop, you kind of get out of your original routine. So I guess I’m not playing as much anymore even though I can still practice, but being able to be with Twiddle every day on the road, every day you wake up and you immediately go to soundcheck and you practice for hours. So without having that daily routine it’s kind of throwing me off. I still am trying to stay creative, but as far as practice, I should probably be a little bit more disciplined about practice.
Now with 15 years of Twiddle under his belt, when asked to look back and give Ryan Dempsey in 2010 advice, he turned to the last five years of his life with his wife for words of wisdom.
Watch out for that Alexandra girl, she’s coming for you. To relax a little bit more and not be so stressed out. To trust your intuition and just not listen to anyone, not family, friends or even haters – just do you and believe in your passion and your dream and not take shit from from anyone.
And what advice would he give his 2015 self? He thought of that Alexandra girl, simply saying “You’re about to meet the love of your life.”
Now, with Drive-In shows this weekend in Essex, Twiddle will hold their first public performance since their Winter Tour in March. What does Dempsey expect from the show?
“I expect us to be so nervous that we fall on our faces and make fools of ourselves. We will be so scared that we will start playing a song and we’re all gonna just forget the song! It is going to blow and the audience will say “you suck, I hate you Twiddle” and then I don’t know… I’d like to see people in bubbles… big plastic bubbles just rolling around while we play.”
Ed. Note – this private, socially distanced event in Central New Jersey is an example of how small scale live music can be done safely, for now. The property owner shares his experience putting together a second private event for a small crowd of friends, featuring Dogs in a Pile and Black Dog.
People like to gather. It’s part of the human condition, ingrained in the very core of our existence as social animals. Not to minimize death, sickness, financial devastation and/or uncertainty, but being unable to check the boxes next to our social desires has been perhaps the hardest part of these last five pandemic ridden months. As such, along with our inability to congregate, we’ve also, for the most part, sacrificed live music, comedy, theater, et al. This isn’t a piece about the pandemic, but it does point to the creativity and passion that have inspired whatever few events have sprung up in recent history.
I’ll switch to the first person now as I acknowledge the fire that has been burning in my belly, sparked by love and passion for live music and all that surrounds it, that has been the catalyst for a series of music festivals in my backyard. As I mourned the loss of live events (and the tangential camaraderie that is livemusic’s partner in crime), my brain was firing synapses that unleashed a business acumen and creativity that I didn’t know I possessed. Music unites in a way that little — dare I say, nothing — else, can or does. Share a show with a new friend and on the basis of that shared experience, you’ve got a friend for life. I missed that, so I set out to create it on my own. Enter #Marckomitoville. And, for what it’s worth, a host of new friends.
This past Saturday was the second of three (or more??? — #mywifesasaint) such events, an unintentional double bill of canine goodness, with Dogs In a Pile and Black Dog, an up and coming jam band and a seasoned Led Zeppelin tribute act, respectively. In full confession mode, Black Dog was an easy hire as their lead singer and I teach in the same high school, I’ve seen them numerous times, and am intimately familiar with how accurately they honor the best catalog in rock and roll history. Dogs In A Pile, on the other hand, was hired sight unseen (note unheard???) based on a direct message recommendation delivered via Instagram with the uncanniest of timing. I listened to about fifteen seconds of their stuff before reaching out to ask if they’d like to play a party in my backyard. Just to round out a nice small world story, their booking manager and I hit off, he having graduated from the same high school where Black Dog’s lead singer and I both teach. I explained what I was trying to do with social distance gatherings and live music and he, in turn, promised that Dogs In A Pile would “vaporize my backyard.” ‘Nuff said. Contract signed.
TL;DR: Hiroshima.
Dogs In A Pile
The day finally arrived and, with a trailer full of equipment and a mini-entourage taboot, so did Dogs In A Pile. I have to say this right up front (while also reserving the right to come back and repeat it every few paragraphs), these are good humans. Every person associated with Dogs is utterly kind and professional to a fault; the band, the crew, their families and friends, these are A+ folks and I’m so grateful for the friendships that were born this past weekend. Their equipment was a force all its own and there were times I couldn’t believe I was in my own backyard and not the Stone Pony Summer Stage. That being said, they forgot their rug (comfort first) and were about to drive home and back to get it. Fear you not, marckomitoville provides, so as my wife and I were literally days from replacing our bedroom rug, we saved them the trip and all the day’s sets were played from the comfort of the shag that was under our bed literally just moments before.
This is a jam band, make no mistake about it, and let’s cut the bullshit right now if there are any negative connotations associated with that moniker. Jam bands improvise and listen to each other as they play, revamping their organized structures on the fly and adapting not just to each other but the crowd and its vibe. But just as obvious as their jam band status is the classical training and musical education of these (three of five, actually) Berklee schooled musicians, their propensity for jazz on display just as much as the other musical influences for whom we share a love. On a related topic, let’s recognize the good parenting that made the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead and Phish part of these kids’ musical DNA and enabled them to effortlessly dangle teases and covers throughout their set, a display that spoke volumes about the musical homes in which they were raised. Speaking of which, enjoying this show alongside a couple of their dads was pretty damn cool, the musical version of a soccer sideline full of proud parents.
Jimmy Law, lead guitar and vocals, is the front man that every band needs. A local wunderkind, he’s the face of the band and with damn good reason. Though humble to a fault, he’s got it and plays with the confidence of someone who knows it. While it’s hard to take your eyes off Jimmy, let that not detract from the rest of this highly talented quintet. Stage right from Jimmy is guitarist and singer Brian Murray, probably the first member of the band to be overlooked, even if the Phred (Languedoc replica) that he plays is hard to miss. I implore you to give this kid the attention he deserves — Bob Weir stood next to Jerry Garcia his whole life, no easy task I’m sure, but he did it with grace and humility and along the way became the best number two of all time (don’t get caught up in the loftiness of the metaphor, just take it for what it is).
Sam Lucid, bass and vocals, stands stage left. His bass is funk and jazz in turn, exactly what I’d expect from a guy who lists Jaco Pastorius among his biggest influences. Joe Babick, drums, himself a four-year veteran of the Count Basie program for gifted young musicians, is a seasoned performer playing live shows since he’s nine years old — the rhythm section of he and Sam is a force to be reckoned with. I’m a teacher and a father so, as you know, I have no favorites. With that being said, allow me to introduce Jeremy Kaplan, keyboards, playing a red Nord with his right hand and a Hammond XK-3 that’s a dead ringer for the B3 with his left. Enrolled at Berklee on a scholarship from the Piano Man himself, Jeremy blew my mind time and again and again and again. And again. And then some more. Jazz, funk, rock, he checks all the boxes, not to mention running the band’s sound while he plays. Bravo, sir!
Saving the best for last, the love that these kids (the oldest among them is twenty-two) have for each other and the music they play is tangible. Having had a chance to chat and hang and spend the day with them (and hoping they read this!), I’m reminded of a quote I just read from (Sir) Joe Russo, “Ninety-eight percent of being in a band is hanging out, not playing.” I hope they continue to love and accept each other and weather the storm that is this global pandemic, because people need to see them. To a man, they had as much fun playing for me as I did listening and dancing with them. If you know me, that’s saying a lot. I shared every ounce of myself with them and they gave it all right back and then some. All the love.
Perhaps taking a cue from the bestselling book How To Win Friends and Influence People, Dogs In A Pile opened their first set with a cover of Phish’s “Free.” Just as I was thinking that they certainly nailed the formula to win over a crowd of Phish loving Deadheads, a buddy shouted from the pool, “They had me at hello.” No truer words had been spoken and they applied equally to all in attendance, from my dog Charlie (who had two songs played in her honor) to my sixty-nine year-old mother who doesn’t even like music.
In a set that, for the most part, alternated original material with well chosen covers, “Look Johnny” gave us the first taste of the Dogs catalog. Having already put them in a jam band box myself, I was so impressed with the range showcased by their originals … jazzy intros to rock and roll songs within psychedelic frameworks and funky-ass rhythms. They move in and out of genres and structures with an ease that not only illustrates the cohesion of their unit, but creates its own synergy from the roots of their varied influences. They’re a jam band to be sure, although that classification limits the scope of what they truly offer.
As DIAP were perhaps still feeling out their audience’s collective appetite for their originals, the Rascal’s pop hit that became a Grateful Dead staple, “Good Lovin’” was a safe choice for the three-hole. Their interpretation of these songs does them great service and dancing to Dead tunes is a tried and true formula. However, even in the early going, I just found the band to take more chances and showcase more of their musicality with their original work.
As if reading my mind, a friend yelled, “More originals” from the pool at that very moment. As such, “Blues for Brian” with its seriously sexy bass lines and “I Can’t Wait For Tonight” followed. I do love the covers, too, though — they are, after all, the soundtrack to my life. So even as our collective yen for more originals deepened, I was thrilled with the jubilant “The Music Never Stopped” that followed. Two more originals, “Snow Day” and “Go Set” preceded the set closing cover of “Mr. Charlie”, the first of two songs with my dog’s name in the title. Coincidence??? I think not.
“Rinky Dink Rag” opened the second set, a Nord-heavy tune that really foresaw the keyboard mastery that Jeremy Kaplan put on display for the duration. The name of the song kind of tells exactly what it sounded like, maybe except for the fake sneezes, “Bless you, Brians”, and “Thank you, Jeremys” that showed the bands’ propensity for silliness. Endearing in the very best way, I couldn’t help but think of a young Page McConnell and his silly little VT quartet as Jeremy tickled the black and whites. An original-ish cover of “Boogie On Reggae Woman” that really let that Hammon XK-3 shine melded with a Charlie Brown jam called “Linus and Lucy” that had shadows of the Allman Brother’s “Jessica”.
Hot damn that was some fun stuff! “Thomas Duncan Part 2” followed with teases of both “Shakedown St.” and “Character Zero” before segueing into “Bugle On the Shelf”, another Dogs original, though I was really hoping for the prequel to Thomas Duncan, ya know, Part 1. {I have no clue if this really exists but it was funny when I thought it since I have no clue what their catalog looks like!} “Untitled Bathroom Break for Sam” gave a little more insight into the fun that these guys have just being on stage together just as it showed their ability to keep it light and loose while playing. “Craig & Pat” was the penultimate number before the band thanked my poor wife for letting them play at our house and dedicated the final song to my dog, both named, “Charlie”. It was her birthday party, after all, as turend five {I remember holding her in one hand} the previous day.
Seven songs and an untitled improv filled the ninety minute set, the band never once straying or losing a danceable beat. To that end, it’s worth noting that I danced 23,571 steps, the rough equivalent of between 11.134 – 12.221 miles depending on the stride length of a six-foot male. I think everyone present can attest to every one of those, just as I’m thankful for the Moon Mat™ that saved me from feeling each one as I write this two days later (I only feel a third of them).
I truly believe that in a few years time, those of us here will look back on this afternoon and laugh at the “remember when” of seeing this incredibly tight and talented band in my backyard. Prove me wrong.
Andrew Rich
Music and comedy are a match made in heaven. I first experienced this magical pairing with Yo La Tengo and their annual Eight Nights of Hannukah at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, so in that spirit, Andrew Rich was called upon to perform standup between sets. Truth be told, he called upon me but who’s counting? An idea born when a close friend jokingly asked if a big promoter like me (tongue in cheek, I hope) would give a comic a chance to perform, Andy Rich gave a great set with his first live performance in five months. Tres cool, well done, and thanks for the laughs.
Black Dog
I love watching musicians watch other musicians. There’s something about it that I can’t quite put my finger on but just makes me really happy. Watching Black Dog arrive and seeing them take in their younger canine predecessors was a sight to behold. With lines of joy etched into their faces, it was easy to see their appreciation for the younger generation of talent. Equally enjoyable was the reverse, as Dogs In A Pile all stuck around for the master class in Led Zeppelin that is Black Dog.
Enjoying a run of great success over the months leading up to the pandemic, Black Dog was arguably at the high point of a long and successful career, recently playing on hallowed stages from Port Chester’s Capitol Theatre to the Fillmore Philly. A veteran tribute band, their homage to Led Zeppelin is authentic and awe inspiring. Getting your live Zep fix is no easy task, especially now, and I’m blessed to call these guys friends, even more so to have had them crush my backyard. Rob Malave, with an uncanny ability to match Robert Plant’s pitch, sings and plays harmonica as the band’s front man.
A coworker of mine who teaches language arts in high school english, I’d love to sit in his class and see him dig into Beowulf. Dan Toto, guitarist, honors Jimmy Page with his play, his look, and his impressive guitar rack. Whoa. Jeff Mott, a la John Paul Jones, plays bass, keyboards, mandolin, and 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars. Ted Gori, drums, has the difficult task of rising to the challenge of Bonzo’s beats and fills, and he makes it look easy. Christ, he even had a gong which drew the occasional ire of his elbow. These are skilled and practiced musicians, channeling the skill and catalog of their musical heroes with aplomb.
Playing a setlist straight out of my dreams (no, really, I kind of wrote it with the help of a good friend), they gave us two hours of the very best. Picking up on cues from the crowd response to the previous Dogs, they knew they had the audience to take a few tunes deep and they really went for it with “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” and “Lemon Song” being perhaps my two favorite tunes that they took the furthest. Black Dog really gave their all in addition to giving us a little bit of everything, from the keyboard songs to the acoustics and everything in between. The acoustic set was perfectly placed, the peaks and valleys expertly coordinated, and these pro’s pros took us on an almost two and a half hour ride through rock and roll’s finest playbook. Whoop.
As stated up front, music unites in a way like nothing else. I am truly humbled by the opportunity to have brought such good people together for an insanely fun (and safe!) time. Thanks for everything … dancing, singing, laughing, playing, eating, swimming, sharing in the joy, and reading these words. Thanks for being you! My heart is full.
Finally, for the woman who allows it all to happen, thank you, Diana! I love you. #mywifesasaint
44,942 steps. Whoop!
Dogs In A Pile
Set One: Free, Look Johnny*, Good Lovin’, Blues For Brian*, I Can’t Wait For Tonight*, The Music Never Stopped, Snow Day*, Go Set*, Mr. Charlie
Set Two: Rinky Dink Rag*, Boogie On Reggae Woman >Linus and Lucy, Thomas Duncan Part 2, Bugle On The Shelf, Untitled (bathroom break song for Sam), Craig & Pat, Charlie
Black Dog
Rock & Roll ->, Good Times, Wanton Song ->, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over the Hills and Far Away -> Gallows Pole -> Ramble On, Going to California, That’s The Way, Back Country, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, Kashmir, Dazed & Confused, Immigrant Song, Lemon Song, The Ocean, Black Dog
It felt good to see music performed live, on stage, once again. On Tuesday, August 11, host of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon, welcomed Phish’s Trey Anastasiointo the studio where he performed “I Never Needed You Like This Before” off his new quarantine-written and produced album Lonely Trip.
This was also the first time The Tonight Show house band The Roots had performed together since in-studio production was halted in March due to COVID-19. Anastasio spent that time writing in his Upper West Side apartment, where he recorded over a dozen songs which he shared on his Instagram. Among these would be the tracks that appeared on the raw, low-fi Lonely Trip, written with longtime collaborators Tom Marshall and Scott Herman.
According to Rolling Stone, Anastasio arrived at New York’s Rockefeller Center alone with just his amp and guitar. Once he took a COVID-19 test and tested negative, he took the elevator upstairs to play with The Roots in Studio 6A, Conan O’Brien’s old studio, where the band members and Anastasio could better socially distance.
A strange summer in a strange year has seen a dearth of entertainment options. No movies. No music. A small band of heroes, named Aqueous, sought to fill the void for at least two beautiful August nights at the Silver Lake Drive-In Theater, amongst the beautiful rolling hills of Western New York. In classic Drive-In fashion, it was a double-feature, rife with of edge-of-your-seat thrills, suspenseful popcorn-tossing excitement, and of course heart-touching drama.
photo by Paul Citone
Night one opened with the slinky grooves of “Phase III” and didn’t really let up from there, for what turned into a non-stop funk-out dance party, appeasing the live-music-starved audience. It wouldn’t be long before the band sunk it’s sharpening teeth into an epic 30-minute “Origami.” It explored multiple plot points before exploding in straight fire guitar shredding. Like donning 3-D glasses, fuzzy dissonance came into sharp jump-off-the-stage focus, throwing the crowd’s heads back in awe.
The fans weren’t the only one’s missing live music. The band was clearly feeling the emptiness of the summer concert schedule, in particular the jam-scene mainstay Phish. They sprinkled multiple teases throughout the weekend. “Origami” featured some “Bathtub Gin” riffing, and then “Reba” and “Down With Disease” were jokingly teased before kicking into a full-fledged cover of “Horn” complete with real live horn honking from the crowd. Later on it came as a “Tweezer Reprise” hint here or a “Maze” segment there, like a famous actor playing a winking cameo in a smaller film.
Having gotten the gang back and firing on all cylinders in night one, the story arc advanced in night two. The heroes intent on ousting the evil villain who had robbed the world of its live music energy source, called upon the Aquengers. And they wouldn’t disappoint. At least for a short time, the air would fill with sweet sounds, the audience would laugh, dance and smile, the world seemed to be right side up once again.
The night’s opener, “On the Edge” dispensed with the booty-shaking funk of part one, and dropped quickly into a dark groove. Guitarist Mike Gantzer added in some twisted slide work while bassist Evan McPhaden pushed out monster-crushing bass blasts. It was some of the finest playing of the weekend, the band was locked in from the get-go. The ensuing “Random Company” rose and fell again and again, producing bigger and bigger swells of energy, in what would set the tone for an evening full of brilliant slow-building jams.
photo by Paul Citone
Knowing it was as big an enemy they would ever be called upon to defeat, the team added the friendly neighborhood Spider Man to their roster, with a fun instrumental run through the classic cartoon theme. Would it be enough? Even when the sound system went down during “Be the Same,” the band persisted, blasting through the minor hiccup with a set-closing rock out.
The 3-song hour-plus final set featured even more suspense. The band was hyper-focused and patient, developing in-the-moment beauty time and again, with ever more revelatory peaks. David Loss’s multi-weapon attacks would reach a climax in the show-closing “Triangle” with rapid-fire guitar and an extended classic rock-out ending.
Ultimately though, after the dust cleared the future of music is no clearer. No one knows when normal live music gigging will resume. Though drummer Rob Houk cut that tension with some much appreciated comic relief. He provided some fantastic banter throughout the two-night run, and also hammed it up on quality covers in the encore slots. Night one saw him singing from the roof on Pearl Jam’s “Dissident” while night two had him crushing Van Halen’s “Jump” after having hilariously threatened some Bon Jovi earlier in the evening.
photo by Paul Citone
While a Drive-In concert is certainly not ideal, under the current circumstances, the promoters at Buffalo Iron Works and the venue Silver Lake Drive-In provided the band and fans a very safe environment to briefly enjoy some level of normalcy to what would usually be a summer full of long nights of live music in sheds, fields and anywhere you can fit a stage.
Setlists
Friday, August 7 Set 1: Phase III, How High You Fly, Origami, Horn (Phish cover, debut) Eon Don Set 2: Skyway > Calling Out, Marty, Come and Go > Don’t Do It Encore: Dissident (Pearl Jam cover, debut) w/ Ryan Nogle on drums
Saturday, August 8 Set 1: On the Edge > Random Company > Spider-Man > Random Company, Weight of the Word, Be the Same Set 2: Dave’s Song, Color Wheel, Triangle Encore: 6’s and 7’s (debut), Jump (Van Halen cover, debut) w/ Ryan Nogle on drums
