Schecky's Jam Bands

What do you get when a Burlington, Vermont jam quartet names themselves after a biblical man thrown into a fiery furnace, records their best album at Trey Anastasio's personal studio, and describes their own band as "an app running in the background of your phone that never fully closes"? You get RAQ — one of the most technically ferocious and consistently surprising acts the Northeast jam scene h...

What happens when a Long Island funk-rock trio plays over 200 shows a year, releases five albums in five years, headlines Woodstock's own Yasgur Farm, and builds their own festival as a tribute to the fan who believed in them before anyone else did? You get Baked Shrimp — the hardest-working band in the jam scene and Long Island's best kept secret that simply can no longer be kept. In this episode...

: How does a band from Louisville, Kentucky become famous in the Netherlands before anyone in America knows their name — and how does a burned-down bar, a stripper's robe, and an abandoned grain silo on a soybean farm produce one of the most distinctive vocal sounds in modern rock? That's the My Morning Jacket origin story, and it only gets wilder from there. In this episode, Schecky traces how Ji...

What do you get when a piano prodigy from suburban Chicago absorbs Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and the Meters as a kid, tours Europe with Muddy Waters' son at eighteen, survives addiction, records a debut album in a potentially haunted Chicago church — and then has Bob Lefsetz declare in all capital letters "THIS IS THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS"? You get Neal Francis, the most exciting piano-dr...

What do you get when a kid learns harmonica from watching John Belushi in The Blues Brothers, names his band after a Ghostbusters villain, gets a sign from a black cat after a three-hour jam session, and goes on to play Woodstock for 350,000 people and win a Grammy? You get Blues Traveler — one of the founding pillars of the entire jam band revival, and one of the most unlikely success stories in...

What if the side project of the frontman of Phish wasn't really a side project at all — but the laboratory where Phish's best songs were invented, road-tested, and perfected before Phish ever heard them? That's the Trey Anastasio Band story, and it starts with actual eight-foot glowing fluorescent tubes being waved by dancers on stage at a benefit concert for a brother-in-law's nightclub in Burlin...

What do you call a band that invented an entire genre called Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass, named themselves on a car ride to a ski town gig because half their band didn't want to make the drive — and then inspired so many artists that Billy Strings himself told founding mandolinist Drew Emmitt "you're my other son"? You call them Leftover Salmon, the Rolling Stones of jamgrass and the accidental arc...

What do you call a band that describes themselves as "a slow, hard-working, non-glorious animal" — and then responds to the death of their founding bassist by calling in Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, Flea, Les Claypool, Phil Lesh, and Jason Newsted to record a tribute so massive it took two albums to contain? You call them Gov't Mule, and this is the story of the most extraordinary act of collective...

What do you call a kid from Cheyenne, Wyoming who finds the blues at sixteen, gets called up to tour with Otis Taylor at eighteen, ends up on stage with Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers — and then goes home to Denver and invents a genre called Mountain Funk? You call him Taylor Scott, and this episode is long overdue. In this episode, Schecky traces how Taylor Scott Band built one of the most...

What do you call a band that named themselves after a taco shop inside joke, recorded their debut album in a barn in New Hampshire, and eleven years later headlined Madison Square Garden for four hours — with Trey Anastasio staying for the entire third set at Radio City Music Hall along the way? You call them Goose, Connecticut's most improbable world conquest, and this is the episode where we bre...

What do you call a band whose debut album didn't show up to its own release party, whose record label went bankrupt and took their records with them, and whose guitarist eventually left to form a band called God Johnson — and who somehow kept playing through all of it with humor, grace, and one of the best dual-guitar grooves in Midwest jam history? You call them The Big Wu, Minnesota's most lovab...

What do you do when your band goes on hiatus, three members graduate college and scatter — and then your EP starts racking up streaming plays all on its own, with nobody pushing it, because the music is just that good? You come back. And that's exactly what Jacoozy did, returning from the mountains of Boone and Asheville with a stronger lineup, a debut album called Still Afloat , and a Halloween n...

What does cbdb stand for? Nobody knows — and after thirteen-plus years, the self-proclaimed purveyors of Joyfunk from Tuscaloosa, Alabama still aren't telling. But what they will tell you is that Joyfunk is the state of being when everybody's dancing, everybody's in the moment, and the back-and-forth between the band and the room becomes something you can't quite put into words — and this episode...

What do you get when four college kids in Alabama spend a pandemic winter stewing in a basement — and the name their band after the exact feeling of going nowhere fast? You get The Stews, the Auburn-born Southern rock force who went from SEC frat parties to Bonnaroo, the Bowery Ballroom, and a 2024 album called Chicken Fight that proves they're just getting started. In this episode, Schecky traces...

What if one of Pittsburgh's most prolific and genre-defying musical projects was born the night a college freshman pitched a band name to his ninth-grade brother — who had just come home from teenage shenanigans on a neighborhood golf course? That's the Chalk Dinosaur origin story, and it's every bit as wonderfully strange as the 28 albums, two completely different live formats, and one famously a...

What if the band that the Allman Brothers' own manager compared to the Grateful Dead got their start playing Sunday night residencies at a beach bar on the same island where George Gershwin wrote "Summertime, and the livin' is easy"? That's the Dangermuffin origin story — and it's as warm, deep, and surprising as every song they've ever written. In this episode, Schecky traces how Dan Lotti, Mike...

What do you get when five University of Virginia students turn late-night dorm room jams into a festival main stage set — while drawing comparisons to Umphrey's McGee, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Ween, and John Prine all at once? You get Kendall Street Company, Virginia's most gloriously unpredictable jam band, and the only act whose official bio warns you to stay hydrated before you even walk throug...

What happens when a bartender in Charlotte stops mid-pour to listen to a solo musician playing a Tuesday night gig — and realizes they need to start a band together? You get Simplified, the island rock duo turned full band that built one of the most quietly remarkable careers in American independent music, one beach-soaked groove at a time. In this episode, Schecky traces how Chris Sheridan and Cl...

What does it mean when a band names themselves after the full journey — not just getting there, but coming back changed? Round Trip, Boston's rising progressive jam band, has built their entire identity around that promise, and in this episode Schecky makes the case for why this four-piece is one of the most exciting young acts in the modern jam scene right now. In this episode, Schecky breaks dow...

What if the secret origin story of one of the hottest jam bands in America starts with four high school kids in a Connecticut basement — and a golden retriever who never missed a practice? That's the Great Blue story, and it's every bit as warm, wild, and musically jaw-dropping as it sounds. In this episode, Schecky traces how Great Blue formed in Wilton, Connecticut long before Peter Anspach beca...

What happens when a Trey Anastasio Band rhythm section that plays together like one organism invites a Grateful Dead-inspired guitar ace to join them on stage at the same legendary Burlington club where Phish played their very first shows? You get LaMP — the Vermont supergroup that was born on a single magical night at Nectar's in December 2018 and has been quietly stunning jam fans ever since. In...

What do you get when a car full of Penn students headed to a Jersey Shore party accidentally names their band after a drug slang term — and then spends the next 30 years inventing an entirely new genre of live music? You get the Disco Biscuits, Philadelphia's trance-fusion pioneers, and one of the most intellectually wild bands in jam band history. In this episode, Schecky breaks down how a Roland...

What if the greatest jamgrass band in America was born at a backyard picking party — just weeks after their frontman said goodbye to another legendary band? That's exactly how Railroad Earth came to life, and the story of how a New Jersey porch session became a Telluride record deal is one of the most remarkable origin stories in jam band history. In this episode, Schecky picks up right where the...

What kind of band breaks into a bar in the middle of the night just to finish playing a song — and then gets their name from the judge who let them off easy? Only From Good Homes, New Jersey's most beloved underdog jam band, and their story is every bit as wild and warm as their music. In this episode, Schecky traces the full arc of FGH — from childhood friends in rural Sussex County to headlining...

What if the name of one of the greatest funk bands alive came from a bunch of teenagers crashing other people's gigs and begging to play? That's exactly how Lettuce was born — and thirty years later, they're still showing up and earning it every single night. In this episode, Schecky tells the full story: how a group of sixteen-year-olds bonded over James Brown and Tower of Power in the dorm rooms...