Our favorite jam band, Kendall Street Company, just started a co-headlining tour with The Dirty Grass Players, a bluegrass quartet out of Baltimore. The two groups will perform an intimate set of shows between December 4th- 12th, each performing a set before concluding the shows with a collaborative superjam as The Dirty Street Grass Company. Tickets for all the tour dates are on sale now and can be purchased via https://tourlink.to/kscdgp. The collaboration series will also be available to fans worldwide via the live-streamed performance on Friday, December 10th. Access to the livestream can be purchased for $5 at https://caffelena.tv/categories/live-streams.
There is still time to snag tickets for the following five shows!
12/8 – Newmarket, NH – The Stone Church Music Club
12/9 – Cambridge, MA – Sonia Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub
12/10 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Caffe Lena
12/11 – Burlington, VT – Nectar’s
12/12 – New Haven, CT at Stella Blues LLC
Kendall Street Company
The first co-headliner, Kendall Street Company, is a unique jam/alt-rock group we have been following here at LTFL for awhile. We even got to help with the premiere of their single Strollin‘ earlier this year.
About a year ago we had the opportunity to check out KSC’s fifth annual Thanksgiving Extravaganza – our first taste of live music after the height of the pandemic. The show was a blast and I still haven’t stopped singing the lyrics to their turkey themed cover of Wonderwall (yes this is a thing). KSC hails from Charlottesville, Virginia and is made up of Louis Smith [Acoustic guitar, vocals], Brian Roy [Bass, vocals], Ryan Wood [Drums], Ben Laderberg [Electric guitar], and Jake Vanaman [Saxophone]. The group is normally known for its prolific touring, often performing more than 100 shows a year. That slowed down with the pandemic, but KSC has made up for it by releasing a ton of new music and being creative in their efforts to keep things rolling, safely staying connected with fans in spite of Covid-19.
You can check out our past coverage of KSC here and here. And our most recent album review too.
The Dirty Grass Players
Next up, is a new to us band, called The Dirty Grass Players. The group is made up of Connor Murray on bass, Alex Berman on vocals & banjo, Ben Kolakowski with the guitar & vocals, and Ryan Rogers on mandolin and will bring a down and dirty bluegrass vibe to the shared tour with KSC. We got the opportunity to virtually meet with Ryan Rogers to ask a few questions before the tour and we are excited to share that here.
How did the pandemic impact Dirty Grass Players (musically, personally, creatively)? Have you found any silver linings through Covid-19?
The band was dramatically impacted the day the news hit. The band’s lineup actually changed as a result, but it ended up being for the best. We now have Connor Murray on electric bass and vocals. This changed the entire trajectory of the band’s sound, and we can’t wait to go into the studio in January to record all these new songs we made with the current lineup.
I would say we experienced two silver linings:
1. With our new member Connor, we’ve been able to reach new heights with our music. In fact, we now cover a bluegrass version of “Dean Town” by Vulpeck thanks to Connor ripping the electric bass! 2. When the band switched agencies to Blue Sun Entertainment over the pandemic, we started working with our new agent, Jesse Dunn. We’re very happy with the work Jesse has done to help kick this band to the next level. Lots of great changes, and we are extremely thankful.
How will the touring experience be different with Covid still part of the landscape? Was that the primary inspiration for making the show on Dec 10th available via livestream?
Our fans’ safety is extremely important to us, so we wanted to provide anyone who may not feel comfortable attending the show physically with another option to tune in (via the Livestream). Not to mention… we’re also concerned for our personal safety and risk of jeopardizing the ability to tour.
What are you most looking forward to/think will be different about the experience for The Dirty Grass Players doing a co-headlining tour with KSC?
We are really looking forward to performing with a band we believe in from head to toe. These guys push us to put on a better set, and they push us to do insane super jams! Kendall Street Company’s sound and style is very fitting for The Dirty Grass Players. We are less of a peanut butter and jelly combo, and more of a peanut butter and banana combo with Nutella mixed in. If you want to put some jam in there, we won’t mind:)
What inspired you all to collaborate with KSC on this tour other than just crossing paths in the music community? Have you faced any challenges along the way?
This all started when our manager (Dustin Pet) linked these bands together after discovering Kendall Street Company at Gypsy Sally’s in DC (RIP). Dustin insisted we link up. Next thing you know, we got a gig in Kendall Street’s home market, Charlottesville, VA!
Can you give us a sneak peak into what fans can expect from the show ending Super Jam?
Except for an explosion of sounds motivated by the past and present songs the jam community will really enjoy. “Provocative” is a great word to use for the experience we are about to create on the stage together!
From what we understand, KSC has been working on remixing some of their tunes with a more bluegrassy feel? Have The Dirty Grass Players been making any similar changes or remixes to adapt and mesh with Kendall Street Company?
We have! Who knows…there might be a live album coming from this tour!
For those who may not be familiar with The Dirty Grass Players, what would you most like our readers to know about the band or about the upcoming tour?
We like to consider ourselves in the vein and spirit of Billy Strings. We are the tuxedo t-shirt of the bluegrass and jam scene. We are serious, but here to party without robbing the bank.
We are still in the midst of brand new baby-ness here at LTFL, so we are bummed to miss out on what will definitely be an amazing jammy (and grassy) show. But hope some of our readers will head to check out this one of a kind co-headlining experience and let us know how it goes. Use the links above to snag tickets and feel free to shoot us any questions you may have as we are happy to help get you all headed out to this one.
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