Jam-grass deluxe
The Recipe play "hillbilly disco" for "porch people"
By Noah Schaffer
As the Phish-bred generation of jam band fans look for a new
act to follow around, it seems that many of the most likely candidates are
either basing their sound in futuristic urban
techno (Disco Biscuits), or in rootsy rural bluegrass (String Cheese Incident).
You can plant The Recipe firmly in the latter camp. Fiddler Hannah Ross and her
banjo/mandolin-picking brother Amos bring the influence of having played in
their family's West Virginia bluegrass band. Co-vocalists and songwriters Joe
Prichard and Kristen Wolverton have a penchant for lyrics about moon-lit
Appalachian nights and Cajun queens. The fans of this self-described "hillbilly
disco band" call themselves "porch people," flocking en masse to the
band's yearly "Family Cookout" festival.
But there are some things that set the Recipe apart from most of their
jam-grass counterparts: they can write a real nice pop, country or folk tune,
sing and play it just as well, and they've got a studio recording that can
stand up astonishingly well on its own merits. Combining their bounty of
melodic, folky songs with a funky, danceable rhythm section, the Recipe stand
out with a sound all their own. "We tread lightly between being a pop band and
a jam band," says percussionist Tom Whelan from an Ohio tour stop. "What we do
are actual songs, they aren't necessarily twenty minute jams. The vocals and
the strong structures are the primary point."
Whelan is quick to point out that while most of the songs on the Recipe's most
recent album, Geode (on the coincidentally named Phoenix Media Group
label) stay in the five minute range, those same tunes can last twenty minutes
in the group's concerts. "We definitely want to keep people dancing at our
shows, so we can stretch out the tunes from night to night."
The origins of the Recipe hark back to the college town of Morgantown, West
Virginia. In the mid-'90s, buddies Whelan and Prichard joined with a violinist
to form a trio called Party People in a Can. Wanting to move up from the open
mic circuit, they added a bassist and drummer and changed their name to the
Recipe. "Party People in a Can really wasn't a good name for a band," laughs
Whelan. "The Recipe was the name of one of our songs, plus it has its own West
Virginia innuendo, what with moonshine and such."
Eventually New Orleans vocalist Wolverton entered the mix. An unusually
versatile singer, she can be graceful one moment and a bluesy shouter the next.
Most of the songs feature her singing in tandem with Prichard, offering a
funky, modern take on the classic country duets. The addition of violinist Ross
really pushed the Recipe into another orbit musically. An endlessly creative
player, Ross transcends her bluegrass roots on Geode. "One Day Away From
the Cusp" features a string quartet playing a chamber-pop arrangement by Ross.
Another, "The Seed", finds her fiddling into psychedelic territory. "We just
added Hannah's brother, Amos, as a full time member playing mandolin and
banjo," notes Whelan. "He sat in as a guest on two of the tracks on
Geode, and we found he added so much we decided to bring him on the road
with us."
Like most acts on the jam band circuit, the Recipe tour constantly. This marks
the fourth year of non-stop touring by the band, and their efforts have paid
off handsomely in areas like Washington, DC area where the band headlines large
festivals. Fans in the northeast have been a bit slower to catch on than
mid-Atlantic and Southern audiences, but the Recipe have carved out areas of
solid support, including Worcester. The band has hit the Tammany Club several
times in the past. One time it opened for the Disco Biscuits, a once-frequent
visitor to Tammany who have since graduated to the large theaters the Recipe
might soon find itself playing.
Geode is the band's third effort, following two self-released albums.
"With those first two CDs, we were really just taking our live sound and
putting it on disc. This time, it was more produced and arranged," says Whelan.
"We heard the songs having different sounds, so we added things that we
couldn't do in our live show, like the string quartet, or a Rhodes piano on
another song." With the new album, the Recipe have managed to escape a syndrome
that seems to infect a large percentage of jam bands. You'll never hear their
fans utter the words, "Dude, the album isn't anything compared to their live
show."
The Recipe play this Friday, March 16 at the Tammany Club, 43 Pleasant
Street, Worcester, with special guest Mori Stylz. Call (508) 791-6550.