WEBVTT 00:00:18.609 --> 00:00:21.609 Welcome back to Shecky's Jam Bands. I'm Shecky 00:00:21.609 --> 00:00:24.670 and today we've got a story that I love because 00:00:24.670 --> 00:00:28.089 it starts in a basement. Not a famous basement, 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:32.390 not a legendary club, just a basement in Wilton, 00:00:32.390 --> 00:00:35.270 Connecticut where four high school friends started 00:00:35.270 --> 00:00:37.829 playing music together because they had nothing 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:41.310 better to do and everything to prove. In that 00:00:41.310 --> 00:00:44.850 basement something started that is still going 00:00:44.850 --> 00:00:48.530 and still growing. and still capable of stopping 00:00:48.530 --> 00:00:53.170 a room cold. Today, we're talking about Great 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:57.429 Blue, the band that Peter Anspach helped build 00:00:57.429 --> 00:01:00.270 before he became one of the half of the Guitar 00:01:00.270 --> 00:01:02.810 and Keys partnership at the center of one of 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:06.269 the most talked about jam bands in the last decade. 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:10.629 The band he keeps coming back to, the band that 00:01:10.629 --> 00:01:13.829 when you see them live for the first time, makes 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:16.290 you wonder how they aren't in every festival 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:19.629 stage in the country. I personally had a chance 00:01:19.629 --> 00:01:22.489 to see them at the CAP in Portchester, New York. 00:01:22.870 --> 00:01:26.069 They were playing in the bar area before the 00:01:26.069 --> 00:01:28.930 Spafford Pigeons Playing Ping Pong concert last 00:01:28.930 --> 00:01:32.329 year. I loved them so much, I decided to include 00:01:32.329 --> 00:01:34.890 an episode dedicated to them. And I promise, 00:01:35.250 --> 00:01:37.969 this story has a golden retriever in it. Stay 00:01:37.969 --> 00:01:40.709 with me. Great Blue was formed in Wilton, Connecticut, 00:01:40.890 --> 00:01:44.359 a small town in Fairfield County. The kind of 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:47.099 place where the trees go right to the edge of 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:49.340 the road and nothing happens unless you make 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:52.780 it happen. Peter Anspach, Ethan Michael, Seth 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:56.299 Zucker and Nick Hanna were friends in high school. 00:01:56.739 --> 00:01:59.200 And like a lot of bands that last, they didn't 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.019 really start as a band. They started as friends 00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:05.000 who played music together because the music was 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.159 good and the company was better. Anspach on guitar 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:11.319 and vocals, Ethan Michael on guitar and keyboards, 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.500 Seth Zucker on bass and vocals, Nick Hanna on 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:19.719 drums and vocals, and as you'll learn, saxophone 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:23.180 on occasion. Because Great Blue is not a band 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:26.159 that limits itself. Together they built the sound 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:29.379 rooted in progressive rock, funk, and psychedelic 00:02:29.379 --> 00:02:32.139 improvisation, and they've been doing it together 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:35.740 for well over a decade since those early basement 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:38.580 sessions. Their first album, Great Blue Vol. 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:44.020 1, came out in 2013, produced by Anspach and 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:48.180 Hanna themselves, and they were off. Four studio 00:02:48.180 --> 00:02:51.939 albums followed, consistent gigging in the Northeast, 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:55.699 a dedicated fan base that grew quietly and loyally. 00:02:55.979 --> 00:03:00.860 Then, in 2017, something changed. Peter Anspach 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:04.960 joined Goose. the Wilton -based jam band fronted 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.340 by guitarist Rick Mitteratanda, and they would 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:11.580 go on to become one of the breakout acts of the 00:03:11.580 --> 00:03:15.259 early 2020s, playing at Radio City Music Hall, 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:18.919 Red Rocks, headlining arenas, and eventually 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:22.419 sharing the stage with Trey Anastasio himself. 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:26.020 Suddenly, one of Great Blue's founding members 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:29.379 was in the fastest -rising band in the jam world. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:33.879 Great Blue went into a kind of a hiatus, still 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.599 alive, still relevant, but quiet. That is, until 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.979 Goose fans started doing their homework. First, 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:44.740 the name. Great Blue is a reference to the Great 00:03:44.740 --> 00:03:47.639 Blue Heron. If you spent any time around the 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:50.000 rivers and wetlands of New England, you know 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:53.340 this bird. Tall, elegant, patient beyond belief, 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:57.680 standing perfectly still in shallow water before 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.479 striking at exactly the right moment, with surgical 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.080 precision. It's a Connecticut bird, a New England 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.539 bird, and it perfectly captures the energy Great 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:11.419 Blue brings to the stage. A long patient build 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:14.120 and then a strike that leaves you breathless. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:17.720 Now, the Goose connection. When Ann Spatch joined 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:21.660 Goose, they didn't leave his old catalog at the 00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:24.759 door. Songs from Great Blue's repertoire started 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:30.160 surfacing in Goose's set lists. Doc Brown, Butterflies, 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:34.040 Yeti, songs written by Great Blue that founded 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:36.959 new audiences through Goose's rapidly expanding 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.680 fan base. For many Goose fans, hearing one of 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.839 these songs dropped into a Goose set was the 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.199 first introduction to Great Blue. The Curious 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:50.079 fans did what Curious fans do, they went looking 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:53.300 for the source. What they found was a band that 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:56.300 had been quietly doing extraordinary work for 00:04:56.300 --> 00:05:00.100 years. a band with four albums, a thick catalog 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:03.660 of original songs, and a live reputation built 00:05:03.660 --> 00:05:07.040 night after night in basements, clubs, and small 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.399 theaters without the benefit of a breakout co 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:13.220 -pilot. Now, the Golden Retriever. I promised 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:15.959 you a Golden Retriever and I'm going to deliver. 00:05:17.139 --> 00:05:19.439 In the early days of Great Blue, back in those 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:22.120 Connecticut basement sessions, the band had a 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:25.560 mascot. His name was Leo, a Golden Retriever. 00:05:25.860 --> 00:05:29.180 He would sit on every practice session no matter 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:33.019 how loud the PA got turned up. He just stayed 00:05:33.019 --> 00:05:35.899 right there patient and loyal and happy to be 00:05:35.899 --> 00:05:38.420 in the room while the music happened around him. 00:05:38.660 --> 00:05:42.800 Leo has since passed and at a 2022 show in Saratoga 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:46.500 Springs, Anspach paused before playing a song 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:49.079 called Line in the Grass and he took a moment 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:52.060 to reflect on their old bandmate and mascot. 00:05:52.220 --> 00:05:54.800 Then they played the song in Leo's memory. That 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.759 is the kind of band Great Blue is. The kind that 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.079 names a song for a dog, remembers him on stage 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:04.199 years later, and plays it with everything they've 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:06.579 got. My one song for Great Blue is Doc Brown. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:10.000 Yes, as in Back to the Future, Great Blue wrote 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.779 this song, a bass -heavy, reggae -tinged, absolute, 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:17.259 irresistible groove, and it has taken on its 00:06:17.259 --> 00:06:20.439 own life far beyond the band that created it. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.660 Goose plays it regularly. Goose fans know it 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:27.459 like a standard. But it started here in Wilton, 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:29.819 Connecticut and these four friends who wanted 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:32.379 to write something that made a room want to move. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:36.500 And it works every single time. Here's what makes 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:39.439 Doc Brown special as an entry point into Great 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:43.399 Blue. It has an immediate recognizable feel and 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:45.439 you know within 10 seconds whether this song 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.519 is going to live in your body. The reggae rhythm 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:51.639 is patient and deep and the melody comes in and 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.000 it's playful and warm, with just enough quirkiness 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.980 to keep it interesting. You can dance to it, 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.620 you can drive to it, you can play at a party 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:03.019 and watch half the room look up and ask, what 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:07.620 is this? Find Doc Brown on live recording. The 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:11.360 live 2024 album on Bandcamp has a great version. 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.720 Press play, let the bass hit, you'll understand. 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:17.959 Now, for an unforgettable night in Saratoga Springs, 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:22.279 May 19th, 2022, at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs, 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:25.740 New York, Great Blue's first tour in five years, 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:29.139 Goose fans who had found the band through the 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:32.600 connection to Anspach were showing up alongside 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.779 longtime Great Blue diehards, and the band came 00:07:36.779 --> 00:07:39.560 in ready. The review that came out of that night 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:41.899 described Great Blue as setting their controls 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:44.720 for the sun and lifting off like a rocket ship 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.540 from hell. That is a beautiful sentence and I 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:50.220 believe it completely. They opened with Lily's 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:54.079 Tiger, then Willie, old Great Blue songs played 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:56.480 with the confidence of a band that has never 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:59.459 stopped believing in its own material. Then together 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:02.579 not the same which features what the reviewer 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:05.680 calls an insane guitar solo from Antspatch who 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.480 completely lost himself in the music, smiling 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.379 ear to ear while thrashing about the stage in 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:15.959 pure punk rock fury. He was not in goose mode, 00:08:16.060 --> 00:08:19.000 he was fully completely himself, the version 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:22.100 of Peter Antspatch that existed before the fame, 00:08:22.660 --> 00:08:26.199 before the arenas, before Radio City Music Hall. 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:29.560 The band worked through Banana Jam, and a cover 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:32.840 of Vampire Weekend, Sunflower, and then the Doc 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.620 Brown moment. The bass -heavy reggae groove settled 00:08:35.620 --> 00:08:38.940 into the room and Goose fans audibly responded. 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:42.440 Then mid -jam, the band pivoted to Whale's another 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:46.379 Goose song with great blue DNA before seamlessly 00:08:46.379 --> 00:08:49.419 returning to Doc Brown's reggae roots. The two 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:52.700 songs from two different bands braided together 00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:57.370 live with no seams showing. Then came the Lion 00:08:57.370 --> 00:09:00.389 in the Grass tribute to Leo. Then Ant Spatch 00:09:00.389 --> 00:09:03.049 and the guitarist Ethan Michael played a portion 00:09:03.049 --> 00:09:05.850 of the song while both of them were lying down 00:09:05.850 --> 00:09:09.090 on the stage floor, on their backs playing guitar, 00:09:09.649 --> 00:09:12.370 on the floor because they could, and because 00:09:12.370 --> 00:09:15.090 Great Blue is a band where that kind of thing 00:09:15.090 --> 00:09:17.789 happens without warning and feels completely 00:09:17.789 --> 00:09:21.070 right. As the house lights came down that night, 00:09:21.250 --> 00:09:23.529 multiple people in the crowd were heard calling 00:09:23.529 --> 00:09:26.080 it the best show they'd ever seen in years. The 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.539 best $15 they've ever spent, that's Great Blue. 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:32.580 That's what happens when four lifelong friends 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:35.679 who have nothing to prove and everything to enjoy 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:40.100 get on the stage and just play. All right, things 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:42.220 you should know about Great Blue. They played 00:09:42.220 --> 00:09:46.039 at the Capitol Theater. In December 2024, Great 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.159 Blue played at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, 00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:50.919 New York, one of the most storied small venues 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:53.940 in the Northeast, a room that has hosted everyone 00:09:53.940 --> 00:09:57.990 from Grateful Dead to Fish. to Goose's own landmark 00:09:57.990 --> 00:10:01.350 five -night stand. For a band that started in 00:10:01.350 --> 00:10:03.669 a Connecticut basement playing at the Cap feels 00:10:03.669 --> 00:10:07.110 like a particular kind of homecoming. Last fact 00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:09.690 that you should know, the band covered Weezer 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:14.590 at the Saratoga show. At the 2022 Saratoga Springs 00:10:14.590 --> 00:10:18.049 show, they played Weezer's Undone, the sweater 00:10:18.049 --> 00:10:22.529 song, as part of the set and then covered Red 00:10:22.529 --> 00:10:25.990 Hot Chili Peppers later that night. This is a 00:10:25.990 --> 00:10:29.070 band that plays music it loves with zero genre 00:10:29.070 --> 00:10:33.269 anxiety. Reggae, funk, psych rock, Weezer, it's 00:10:33.269 --> 00:10:36.049 all in the same night. Here's what I want to 00:10:36.049 --> 00:10:39.230 leave you with about Great Blue. There's something 00:10:39.230 --> 00:10:41.669 genuinely rare about a band that started in a 00:10:41.669 --> 00:10:45.889 basement as teenagers, has outlasted lineup pressures 00:10:45.889 --> 00:10:49.490 and hiatuses and competing band commitments, 00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:52.549 and still plays with the same energy and joy 00:10:52.750 --> 00:10:55.350 they had when Leo the Golden Retriever was sitting 00:10:55.350 --> 00:10:58.590 in on their practice. Great Blue is not trying 00:10:58.590 --> 00:11:02.090 to be anything other than what it is. Four friends 00:11:02.090 --> 00:11:04.830 from Connecticut who love playing music together, 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:07.649 have an incredible catalog of original songs, 00:11:08.289 --> 00:11:11.230 and bring every ounce of themselves to every 00:11:11.230 --> 00:11:14.769 stage they walk onto. One of those friends happens 00:11:14.769 --> 00:11:17.950 to also be in one of the biggest jam bands working 00:11:17.950 --> 00:11:21.259 today. that visibly has brought new listeners 00:11:21.259 --> 00:11:24.480 to Great Blue's door, and every one of those 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.419 new listeners finds the same thing, a band that 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:30.759 has been good for this long, without anyone making 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:35.179 a fuss about it. Start with Doc Brown, then Butterflies, 00:11:35.659 --> 00:11:38.720 then find the Saratoga Springs 2022 recording 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:41.879 on their band camp, and if Great Blue is playing 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:44.379 anywhere near you, and they have been touring 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:48.620 more frequently in recent years, please go. Bring 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:52.639 a friend, spend your $15, you'll walk out calling 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:55.879 it the best show you've ever seen in years. That's 00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:59.019 Great Blue and that's Shecky's Jam Bands. Thanks 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:00.940 for listening and I'll see you next time.