Three-fifths of Grand Rapids’ Glean Infusion jam band reunite to form a rootsier trio, with a new studio album already in the works. The group plays Rockford Brewing on Thursday.
Acoustic Infusion: Brothers Still is more rootsy in approach than its Glean Infusion predecessor. (Photo/Anna Sink)
Brothers Still boasts the sort of tight-knit, sibling-like camaraderie that’s obvious within minutes of watching the band run through tunes during a rehearsal – a comfortably upbeat, joke-splashed attitude and an innate understanding of which direction its organic performances might be headed.
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Green Room Jam: From left, Jason Wheeler, Adam Balcer and Paul Geoghan of Brothers Still.
Consequently, what started as a trio of pals from a former Grand Rapids jam band just getting together for kicks and a few gigs is quickly morphing into “more of a permanent thing.”
Brothers Still, featuring three members of Glean Infusion, already has laid down tracks in the recording studio for a full-length debut album and hit the road for shows stretching from Chicago to Bellaire, Mich. – and, remarkably, they’ve done all this while having only been together for about a week.
“We’ve just been having a blast playing as a three-piece acoustic instead of going into the electric world. For the most part, we’re keeping it all in the traditional arrangements with our instruments,” says mandolinist Jason Wheeler of playing with standup bassist Paul Geoghan and acoustic guitarist Adam Balcer. “We’ve made a ton of headway in just a couple days.”
Of course, the roots of Brothers Still can actually be traced back to 2007 when the musicians formed Glean Infusion with drummer Dan Robinson and percussionist Steve Wheeler, cultivating a solid, jam-band audience in the region before members went their separate ways.
Official Sponsor of the Local Spins Artist Spotlight
Geoghan, for his part, moved to California. But when he decided to return to Grand Rapids for a brief visit around Thanksgiving, Wheeler and Balcer used the opportunity to dive back into the studio with their former bandmate and start recording a new album as the Brothers Still, a more acoustic and bluegrass/folk-driven affair than Glean Infusion.
BACK IN THE RECORDING STUDIO JUST 10 MINUTES AFTER REUNITING
“We hadn’t even seen each other in three years before we started playing together,” Wheeler explains. “We saw Paul for about 10 minutes and said, ‘Hi,’ and went into the studio with Greg Baxter here in Grand Rapids at Academic Audio and decided to start cutting a studio album.”
The new trio’s live performances have just fanned the flames. “We’re having fun and we’ve had some great shows,” gushes Wheeler.
On Wednesday, the boys slid into the studios of News Talk 1340 AM (WJRW) for a Local Spins Live exclusive: a first-time, on-air performance by Brothers Still of “Lonesome and Dry as a Bone” (written by Shawn Camp, Matt Lindsey and Mel Tillis Jr.). Check out the video below, with a podcast of the entire show here.
Although the musical vibe may be different and less electronic than Glean Infusion, the foundation of the trio’s approach is still “picking together” and stripping away the pre-conceived notions that any particular genre should be limited to a “certain form.”
INTO THE ACOUSTIC REALM AND EMBRACING THE TRADITIONAL, WITH A TWIST
“Obviously, we’re going to follow somewhat of the acoustic realm, but we’re still trying to leave everything open,” Balcer insists. “The stuff that we’re writing is going to have a lot of open spaces and whatnot for each one of us to do the same thing we were doing in Glean Infusion.”
Balcer and Wheeler also perform in Fauxgrass, a progressive bluegrass band that’s carved out a local and national following the past few years. Balcer insists the musicians are determined to keep Brothers Still a distinct and separate project as the trio moves forward.
Brothers Still on Local Spins Live (Photo/Anna Sink)
So far, Brothers Still has performed at Billy’s Lounge in Grand Rapids and venues in the Chicago area. Tonight, they head north to Short’s Brewing Co. in Bellaire before returning for a free-admission show at 8 p.m. Thursday at Rockford Brewing in downtown Rockford. They finish up their whirlwind tour with a Friday night appearance at Odd Side Ales in downtown Grand Haven.
Ultimately, once the studio album is completed, Brothers Still intends to mount another Midwest tour in 2014, along with a swing out to Geoghan’s stomping ground in California.
“I think we’re going to be playing a lot of Glean material eventually, but looking at it from a completely different perspective,” suggests Wheeler.
“A lot of what we’re doing is taking a look into the traditional world – things that have kind of influenced the last couple years of our musicianship. That’s how the acoustic aspect of things is going to change what we’re doing with each other.”
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
