Back in the days of yore, when I was a wee adolescent and Jerry still walked the earth, I spent hours listening to the Grateful Dead in my bedroom. That was the era of vinyl. My dad had bought me a Thorens turntable. The jams it produced out of the Infinity speakers that held pride of place transfixed me.
Years later as a fifty something, I again fell in love with the jam band sound. Green Sky Bluegrass was the first post-pandemic show I saw out at a fairway in Fredrick. Nothing trumps listening to musicians the lead back and forth.
On April 28, a new favorite arrives to play the Lincoln Theatre, The Kitchen Dwellers. Hailing from Montana, this quartet composed of mandolinist Shawn Swain, banjoist Torrin Daniels, Upright bassist Joe Funk and and acoustic guitarist Max Davies is known for Galaxy Grass, a fast, psychedelic, bluegrass-based style that is almost jazz like in its execution.
The Kitchen Dwellers are touring in of Seven Dials, their concept album, a departure for the four. It opens with a moody prelude and then follows a narrative arc inspired by Dante’s Inferno.
Do not expect the quartet to simply regurgitate their album. Their playlist changes nightly and can reach deep into their earlier three albums. Expect a surprise cover be it the Allman Brother’s In Memory of Elizabeth Reed or Gaslight Anthem’s The 59 Sound.
No matter what, the songs will come fast and furious with lots of change ups and surprising segway. Jerry would be proud.
The Kitchen Dwellers will be a the Lincoln Theater on March 28. Doors open at 7 p.m.
