Veteran jam band moe. takes live approach to new album

PORTLAND – The phenomenon of jam bands comes down to this: devoted fans ever-eager to see them play live. Whether it’s an auditorium, an arena or even an old Air Force base, fans from all walks of life will turn out in droves, always excited to hear how a band’s songs will grow or change that night.

But the conundrum is always this: How can a band make an album in the cloistered space of a recording studio when it is so revered for its live performances, for the in-the-moment intensity and spiraling flights of musical whimsy that can make a solo two or three times the length of an average pop song?

For the band moe. (yep, that’s a little “m” and a period), when the time came to record a new album, the answer was simple: Try to combine the energy and spontaneity of a live show with the controlled creativity of a studio recording. Try, of course, was the operative word for the upstate New York-based band that played a free, outdoor show to more that 5,000 people in Portland’s Monument Square in July, and will return to kick out a new batch of jams at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at the State Theatre.

Surprisingly, the live-studio album hybrid isn’t a completely new idea. Jam band forefathers the Allman Brothers’ classic album “Eat a Peach” is composed of both live- and studio-recorded material. Both famed singer-songwriter Jackson Browne and monsters of jam the Grateful Dead tried it too.

But moe. took a slightly different approach to recording its album “Wormwood,” according to drummer Vinnie Amico, one half of the band’s percussion section.

“We played about 14 shows, so we had a pretty decent bank of music to work off of,” Amico explained. “And we went in and found the best tracks – the drum tracks, basically – then we kind of tore everything down from the drum tracks and rebuilt the album from there.”

And while guitarists Al Schnier and Chuck Garvey and bassist Rob Derhak were charged with cleaning up, adding or editing their parts, Amico said his work on the album was relatively easy. He, along with fellow percussionist and acoustic guitar player Jim Loughlin, provided the raw drum tracks which were taken the from the live recordings and form the organic, non-studio base for each of the songs on “Wormwood.”

“We kind of built an album around live drum tracks, which kind of made the whole album flow more like a live show and had a little more of a live show energy and vibe to it, but it was clear and concise and doesn’t have screw-ups like a live show,” Amico said with a laugh. “So, it was kind of like the best of both worlds.”

Amico isn’t sure if “Wormwood” will revolutionize the way bands of the genre will record albums, but he thinks others might follow suit now that moe. has successfully taken the concept a bit further than before.

But innovating in the studio aside, keeping things fun, fresh and entertaining for its live audiences is still key for moe. In addition to its usual free-form sets, the band is known for putting on elaborate themed performances annually on Halloween. Past themes include musical and visual recreations of the worlds of Willy Wonka and “The Simpsons.”

At this year’s show at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, audiences were trick-or-treated to a set of covers including songs by such heavy metal masters as Judas Priest, Motley Crue and Metallica, as well as metal-tweaked versions of moe. originals – with the band decked out in full metal cheese: big hair, heavy makeup and leather. “It was fun,” Amico enthused. “I think it ranks up there as one of the best ones we’ve done.”

George Bragdon is the Style Desk intern. He can be reached at gbragdon@bangordailynews.net. For tickets to see moe., call 775-3331, or visit www.LiveAtTheState.com.