The Jam Rave was a two-day Philadelphia festival located in an unassuming warehouse downtown. This city festival featured some of the best popularly underground jam bands, like Juggling Suns, Buzzuniverse, and Jim Weider’s Project Percolator. It was unfortunate that it was poorly attended, as the company that put the event together was forced to make a last minute venue change. But in the dimly lit, smoker friendly venue, a new super jam collaboration emerged.
Heavy Road, hailing from New York City, gave a stellar and graceful performance amidst the black hole. They entertained the committed crowd with tunes ranging from country and jam-rock with delicate piano overtones.
Their members are Greg Merritt on guitar/vocals, Ron Thaler on drums, Arthur Sadowsky on bass, and Peter Remm on keyboards. Each member brings to the table both years of experience and musicianship but also a wide range of musical styles and influences from previous projects, ranging from R&B and jazz to jam band and psychedelic. Collectively they have played with members of Buzzuniverse, DJ Logic, Al DiMeola, Dweezil Zappa and many more. Their musical versatility lends itself to being one of the best jam bands to emerge in a long time.
The reason? They have strong songwriting, the ability to jam any of their songs in almost any direction, but they can also be completely improvisational. Greg Merritt calls it ‘true improv’ where nothing is planned from start to finish and everything in between. Key, tempo, vibe, into and ending are all fair game where not even the members of the band are really sure what road the music will go, or where they will end up. And they do this live on stage.
The members however also believe in keeping their music accessible to all, gauging audiences’ reactions by a trance-like dance state, and through that, know that their vibes and sounds are in the direction they desire to go. “We want to connect with people through the music, but we also want to take them on a ride” says Greg. Their core extends a message to musicians old and new: no matter how talented one is, no matter how many gigs are notched on one’s belt, no matter what technical ability you have, music is about making those connections with each member of the audience.
So it isn’t an easy road, especially when festivals can be hit or miss. “I thought that there would be more than a few people there, as last year there were over 1,000 at Endless Summer Jam,” said Greg. But, it doesn’t deter them, as they know as seasoned veterans that there are no real guarantees. Regardless, the band always has a great time performing together, and they put on a tremendous performance to the folks lucky enough to be there to experience it.
In any respect, the most important aspect of starting a new band, especially with experienced musicians, is to join a niche where you know success has the best chance. And Heavy Road’s heart is clearly in the jam band scene.
Ironically, it is a rarity nowadays to find a traditional jam band in the scene. More and more “jam bands” incorporate electronic elements, fusing all styles of music that creates a futuristic appeal. But, Heavy Road is refreshing in their ‘back to basics’ style, opting for classic guitar riffs over otherworldly electronic drum beats. Yet the songwriting is also new and refreshing. They seem to have allowed their influences to shine through, but in a way that feels relevant to what is happening today. Their uncanny and innate ESP jamming ability with their eccentric and diverse personalities only adds to their charm.
“We are very big on interplaying sound,” says Ron, as Greg chimes in to say that the crucial element is to get the sound right, which is something they seem to have a natural feel for. Their first show at Sullivan Hall was in fact only the fourth time they played together. This alone demonstrates how talented the band is. And they are only getting better. Following the continued development of Heavy Road is going to be fun to watch.
Heavy Road shies away from the electronic elements, acknowledging the “jamtronica” bands, but preferring to stick to tradition, recognizing that a retro jam band with live drums can still move an audience.
The members of the band are an international conglomeration of talent as Greg is from New Jersey, Ron is from Canada, Arthur is from Russia and Peter is a mid-western sweetheart. So where else would this band make more sense than in New York City?
Their next step is to record an album, where Ron’s analogy, as a producer for almost a decade (so he knows what it takes), is simple: creating an album is like finding a girl to create a life with. First a man and woman meet online (in today’s internet era), which is the preliminary meetings in discussing what kind of album will be recorded (live, produced, live studio). Then, the pre-production meeting is meeting in person, and getting to know each other. Production itself, is, ahem, well you know, which creates the wondrous sounds for the world to acclimate to (and possibly slipping a symbolic gesture on the left ring finger). Then post-production is setting the little bugger off into the world to hear reactions.
They plan on recording a live album, either at a venue or in the studio, since that is a staple of jam band music. They know that playing live is the only way to prove what you have it in an era where too many bands do not sound remotely the same live the way they sound in the studio through the magic wands of auto tuning and digital editing. There is no doubt that Heavy Road will continue to impress audiences, not only through their effortless perfection on stage, but offstage as well.
