The all-star, ’90s Kalamazoo band released two singles this year and plays Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe this weekend in one of its rare reunion romps. The back story at Local Spins.
Heading Back to Bell’s: Knee Deep Shag plays Kalamazoo on Friday night. (Courtesy Photo)
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During its 1990s heyday, Kalamazoo’s Knee Deep Shag super-group delivered its funky rock ‘n’ roll in a manner described humorously as “the sound of a check being cashed.”
Dated idioms aside, the group that informally disbanded 20 years ago to dive into other projects has reunited from time to time for Southwest Michigan shows and continued to lay down the unique musical carpet that’s distinguished their sound since 1999’s “Good Disguise” album.
On the heels of releasing two 2024 singles, “Everyone is Nowhere” and “Come Back to Me,” Knee Deep Shag returns for a special reunion show Friday (Dec. 20) at Bell’s Brewery Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo, with the Grace Theisen Band opening the 18-and-older show at 8 p.m. (Tickets are $25 in advance here; $30 day of show.)
On Stage in February: Knee Deep Shag (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
“We have some fun covers planned for the show at Bell’s. We may even have some surprise guests as well. We’re really looking forward to it,” said drummer and singer Jeff Moehle of the band that also features lead singer Matt Gross, guitarist/singer Phil Barry, keyboardist/singer Rob Cookman and bassist/singer Mike Fuerst.
The band also plans to record new songs at Kalamazoo’s La Luna Recording and Sound, “maybe some brand new material. Maybe some fan faves that were never properly recorded back in the day? We’ll see,” Moehle said.
“No solid plans for shows in 2025, but I’m sure we’ll try to put something together. We’re having way too much fun not to.”
Fun being the operative word for the band that Gross and Barry formed in the early ’90s, Knee Deep Shag’s rock-, funk- and jazz-hued music has been inspired by the likes of Prince, Queen, The Meters, Paul Simon and Parliament Funkadelic with five songwriters contributing to its music.
The genesis of the group’s newest song, Barry’s “Come Back to Me,” came during the COVID pandemic. Barry and Moehle recorded a version of it in their home studios, and the band eventually recorded the final track with Ian Gorman at La Luna earlier this year.
VIDEO: Knee Deep Shag, “Come Back to Me”
“We’re very comfortable with Ian there,” Moehle said of the La Luna studio. “It was really fun and special to get back in the studio together again after 20 plus years.”
The other 2024 single release was penned by Cookman — who now resides in New York City — and was actually recorded at a Galesburg studio more than two decades ago. “It sat around until this year when I remastered it. We always liked how it turned out and were happy to finally get it out there,” Moehle said. (Scroll down to listen to the track.)
Beyond the ties to Knee Deep Shag, various band members also perform with other Michigan groups and artists, including The Red Sea Pedestrian, The Insiders, May Erlewine, Kait Rose & The Thorns, Max Lockwood, Eric O’Daly and Abe Savas & The Standards of Beauty. Cookman, meanwhile, works as a sub on Broadway shows along with music directing.
They started reuniting for occasional Knee Deep Shag shows in 2006.
“Since then, we’ve played with Domestic Problems quite a few times which is always super fun. We’ve also done a few of our own shows, “Moehle noted. “I think we’re settling in to about one or two gigs per year since 2021.”
LISTEN: Knee Deep Shag, “Everyone is Nowhere”
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