WEBVTT 00:00:21.589 --> 00:00:25.510 Welcome back to Shecky's Jam Bands. I'm Shecky 00:00:25.510 --> 00:00:28.210 and today I want to tell you about a man named 00:00:28.210 --> 00:00:32.469 Lon. Lon Gellman, known to everyone in the Long 00:00:32.469 --> 00:00:36.329 Island Jam scene as Conscious, was the kind of 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:39.369 fan that every young band dreams about having. 00:00:39.929 --> 00:00:43.109 He showed up early and stayed late. He bought 00:00:43.109 --> 00:00:46.880 merch and then couldn't give it away. He posted 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.520 set lists and recording links online so other 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.759 people could find them. He told everyone he knew 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:58.079 He was not just a fan He was an ambassador the 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.979 kind of person who believed in a band before 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:04.379 the world had gotten around to agreeing with 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:08.659 him Lon passed away and the young band he had 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:12.620 believed in from the very beginning a high octane 00:01:12.620 --> 00:01:16.349 funk rock trio from Long Island called Baked 00:01:16.349 --> 00:01:19.670 Shrimp did what artists do when they've lost 00:01:19.670 --> 00:01:23.170 someone who mattered. They honored him. They 00:01:23.170 --> 00:01:26.790 created a festival in his name. They named an 00:01:26.790 --> 00:01:29.930 album after his nickname. They built a community 00:01:29.930 --> 00:01:33.510 around everything he stood for. That story is 00:01:33.510 --> 00:01:36.489 at the center of today's episode. Today we're 00:01:36.489 --> 00:01:39.530 talking about Baked Shrimp. And as their own 00:01:39.530 --> 00:01:43.450 bio says, once described as Long Island's best 00:01:43.450 --> 00:01:47.739 kept secret, Baked Shrimp is a secret that simply 00:01:47.739 --> 00:01:52.379 no longer can be kept. January 2017, Long Island, 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:57.939 New York, Jared Cowan is 19 years old, born April 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:02.439 29th, 1998, which means he started building his 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:05.700 band while he was literally a teenager. He's 00:02:05.700 --> 00:02:09.039 been playing music since he was four. Not just 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.439 noodling around, actually composing, he has described 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:15.960 himself as a songwriter, from a very early age, 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:19.639 and the catalog he would eventually build bears 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.620 that out. Jared has a project. He needs a bass 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:27.759 player for a one night show. Through mutual friends, 00:02:28.060 --> 00:02:32.000 he meets Scott Ryle. Scott shows up for the one 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.860 night gig and something happens that night that 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:38.219 could not have been planned. Scott's playing 00:02:38.219 --> 00:02:41.939 so far exceeds what Jared expected, his talent 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.759 so immediately apparent His connection to the 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.419 music so complete that the one -night gig becomes 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:53.280 a permanent invitation. Scott Ryle joins Baked 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.620 Shrimp as the permanent bassist. Drummer Jaeger 00:02:56.620 --> 00:03:00.580 Zoss is a Long Island native who describes picking 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:02.800 up drumsticks for the first time and knowing 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.560 immediately, and I'm paraphrasing his own words 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.759 here, that he has found his lifelong pursuit. 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:13.620 At 22 years old, he has the kind of certainty 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:17.080 about his instrument that most musicians take 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:20.900 a decade to develop. He lives and breathes drumming. 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:23.659 Three people all from Long Island, all young, 00:03:24.099 --> 00:03:27.000 all bringing every ounce of what they have to 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.379 every show. And from January 2017 onward, they 00:03:31.379 --> 00:03:33.960 start playing. They play everywhere. They play 00:03:33.960 --> 00:03:37.080 constantly. They build something night by night, 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:41.520 show by show. that eventually adds up to over 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.560 200 concerts before most bands their age have 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:49.979 figured out how to write a proper set list. Okay, 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.400 we have to talk about the name because baked 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.599 shrimp is a band name that that does something 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.580 specific to the human brain. You hear it and 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:02.680 you immediately think that is either a terrible 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:06.520 name or a perfect name and you're not sure which. 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:10.400 And you need to hear the music to find out. The 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.819 publicly available record on where the name Baked 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:16.139 Shrimp comes from is, and I mean this generally, 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:21.279 almost completely blank. Jared Cowan has not 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:24.079 given a widely documented origin story for the 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.199 name. The band's own website doesn't explain 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:31.019 it. Festival bio pages don't explain it. It's 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:34.839 simply Baked Shrimp, as if the name arrived fully 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.879 formed and required no justification. I respect 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.740 this. In an era where every band name has a three 00:04:42.740 --> 00:04:45.819 paragraph origin story attached to it, Baked 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:49.199 Shrimp has chosen to simply be Baked Shrimp. 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.899 And here's what I know. That name has stuck in 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.740 people's heads. When you see it on a festival 00:04:55.740 --> 00:05:00.399 lineup, you do not forget it. When someone tells 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:03.259 you Baked Shrimp is playing tonight, you do not 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:06.110 ask them to repeat it. The name is memorable. 00:05:06.490 --> 00:05:09.990 The name works. What I can also tell you is that 00:05:09.990 --> 00:05:13.629 baked shrimp occupies a beautifully absurd position 00:05:13.629 --> 00:05:17.529 in a genre full of aquatic themed band names. 00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:21.129 They have shared bills with acts in the ecosystem 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:25.250 that includes fish, leftover salmon, ominous 00:05:25.250 --> 00:05:29.110 sea pods, and oyster heads. In that context, 00:05:29.310 --> 00:05:32.420 baked shrimp is not just a name it's a statement 00:05:32.420 --> 00:05:35.920 of membership the ocean is well represented in 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:39.160 this genre and baked shrimp has brought long 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:43.399 island's crustacean energy to the party my one 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:47.079 song for baked shrimp is chop suey from their 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:51.680 2024 self -titled album and i want to be clear 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:55.879 this is not the system of a down song this is 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:58.639 a baked shrimp original that happened to find 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:02.670 its way on to the Spotify editorial list, Modern 00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:07.410 Jam Band, alongside track Can't Cut the Mustard, 00:06:07.750 --> 00:06:09.990 putting them in front of listeners who might 00:06:09.990 --> 00:06:13.110 never have found them through festival word of 00:06:13.110 --> 00:06:16.610 mouth alone. Chop Suey does everything Baked 00:06:16.610 --> 00:06:20.910 Shrimp does best in concentrated form. The guitar 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:24.370 work from Jared Cowan has that particular quality 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:28.589 that distinguishes his songwriting from his age. 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:32.500 It is melodic first, technical second. The hook 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:35.699 lands before you've processed. It's a hook. The 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:39.160 groove from Scott Rall's bass and Jaeger Zoss's 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:44.180 drum is kind of tight, locked in rhythm section 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:47.980 sound that suggests musicians who have played 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:51.000 together long enough to stop thinking separately 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:54.060 and start moving as one thing. Some things worth 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:57.860 noting about Baked Shrimp. There were 215 shows 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:02.360 between 2022 and 2023. Break Shrimp performed 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:07.060 over 215 concerts between 2022 and 2023 alone. 00:07:07.579 --> 00:07:10.920 This is not a touring pace. This is a way of 00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:16.459 life. In a year with 365 days, playing 215 shows 00:07:16.459 --> 00:07:19.180 mean you're on stage more than half of them. 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:21.740 They've been called the hardest working band 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:24.819 in the business. The math supports that claim. 00:07:26.089 --> 00:07:30.089 Five albums in five years while touring constantly. 00:07:30.829 --> 00:07:35.050 Feast of the Light in 2018, Conscious in 2021, 00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:40.189 The Pronotapes Volume 1, which was live 2021, 00:07:41.050 --> 00:07:44.870 Pork Etiquette 2022, and the self -titled Baked 00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:49.569 Shrimp in 2024. Five releases, 200 plus shows 00:07:49.569 --> 00:07:54.939 per year, no corner cut, no shortcut taken, Pork 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:59.360 Etiquette was on Jam Bass's release day picks 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:03.720 alongside Vulfpeck, The Weeknd, Lotus, and Corey 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.220 Wong, which is an extremely eclectic playlist 00:08:07.220 --> 00:08:11.459 and a real credential. Here's where I land on 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:14.980 with Baked Shrimp. Jared Cowan started playing 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:20.649 music at four. He formed this band at 19. Scott 00:08:20.649 --> 00:08:24.910 Ryle showed up for one night gig and never left. 00:08:25.870 --> 00:08:29.490 Jaeger Zoss picked up drumsticks and knew immediately. 00:08:29.910 --> 00:08:31.910 Three people from Long Island who spent their 00:08:31.910 --> 00:08:36.330 early years playing the five -night special and 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:40.490 theme residencies and building a catalog of over 00:08:40.490 --> 00:08:43.830 a hundred original songs and then went out and 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:47.409 played 200 shows a year because that was the 00:08:47.409 --> 00:08:50.899 only pace that made sense to them. And through 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:55.179 all of it, Lon, Conscious Gelman, was there, 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.600 showing up early, staying late, telling people, 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:02.080 believing. And when Lon was gone, Baked Shrimp 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:06.059 built a festival on the same land where Woodstock 00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:09.919 happened, and headlined it twice, and called 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:14.000 it Lon Con, because the name was the right name, 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:18.230 because he had earned it. because that is what 00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:21.389 you do when someone believed in you before you 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:26.730 were famous enough for belief to be easy. Find 00:09:26.730 --> 00:09:31.669 Chop Suey, find Conscious, find the Prono Tapes 00:09:31.669 --> 00:09:35.629 live album and if Big Shrimp or their successor 00:09:35.629 --> 00:09:40.009 Big Shrimp is playing anywhere near you, you 00:09:40.009 --> 00:09:43.090 will be at a show that is different from every 00:09:43.090 --> 00:09:46.299 other show they've played. because that is the 00:09:46.299 --> 00:09:50.340 only kind of show they know how to give. This 00:09:50.340 --> 00:09:53.919 one's for Lon, that's baked shrimp, that's Shecky's 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.960 Jam Bands. Thank you for listening and I'll see 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:57.799 you next time.