What does a Nevada barber shop and good ol’ fashioned gospel music have in common?
One great band named Jelly Bread. The divergent musicians began jamming and rehearsing in the back of Reno’s Top Notch Barber Shop. Two of the members, drummer/singer Cliff Porter and bass player Brady Carthen, were seasoned gospel band members since youth. Cliff played the drums since the age of 5 and Kevin Stewart (on keys) studied jazz his whole life. The band is also made up of Dave Berry and Michael Grayson, both handling vocals and guitar.
So some of these guys obviously had quite a musical background, but what made you (Dave) decide to start playing music?
“Eddie Vedder made me want to write songs, & Ben Harper is who influenced me to pick up the guitar & learn to play some lap steel & dobro. I was an art student in college, but just never felt like it was fulfilling enough. But the first time I put a couple notes ( & I mean literally 2 notes) together on my roommates guitar, I knew there was nothing else I wanted to do in life besides make music.”
Who writes most of the songs?
“I (Dave) write most of the songs. But on our new record is really a collaboration of different songwriters in the band; myself, cliff & mike our other guitarist wrote a couple with us.”
What is the song TOP NOTCH about?
“It's about trying to convince someone to take a leap of faith with you. In our case it was me convincing the guys to quit all the other bands & projects they were in to pursue Jelly Bread full time, & do something that we all considered to be a "top notch" project. It's a love song. Leave what doesn't make you happy & focus on something that can!”
So are you guys able to do this for a living?
“Four of the five of us do this for a living. But it ain't quite paying the bills yet. The fifth guy is just finishing school with a degree in engineering, so he doesn't do road trips with us yet. We're trying to build it so this is ALL we do, as of now I still do solo gigs, paint houses here and there for extra $, cliff DJs & produces other musicians, Brady umpires high school & city league softball, & our keyboard player Kevin does a lot of jazz gigs on the side. But we're in a good position as far as no one has a real 9-5 so we can gig & tour whenever the opportunity arises.”
Touring is fun, where’s your favorite place to play? Where do you want play that you have not yet?
“Our favorite places to play so far have been Crystal Bay Club in N. Tahoe, always great crowds there, and the Boom Boom room in SF, legendary spot. We really want & NEED to break into the festival scene. Got our sights set on High Sierra Music Festival, Harmony Fest, & a few others.”
Why are music festivals important to you guys?
“Festivals are important because we think that's where our niche is. People go to festivals expecting a wide variety of music, wanting to dance. We cover a lot of ground musically, not intentionally, that's just the way it happens. And we always lay down the groove. I mean we've play with bands from Jonny Lang, Ivan Nevilles, Dumpstaphunk, G Love, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, to Snoop dogg, Soulive, Zion Roots & The Young Dubliners.”
Zion Roots to Snoop Dogg? That’s quite a range. Where does your music fit in best?
“We're called a funk band but don’t really think we fit completely in there. Everything we do is at least a lil’ funky, but we're songwriters who love to jam. Like we say on our upcoming CD, "funk ain't got no dresscode.” We tour quite a bit as a trio, bass/guitar/drums. Not always enough $ for the other guitar & keys, but we bring it all when we can. Cliff and myself do the singing, people are always blown away that a drummer with his chops can blow like he does. This is where our true love lies.”
What are most of your songs about? Do you still sing about God?
“I'd say most of our songs are about life, dealing with struggles, relationships, being musicians, & love. We're not much for being fictional writers, everything comes from something real in our various lives. As far as singing about God, God is love & yes we sing about love. Cliff & Brady still play at their church every Sunday we're not on tour or gigging, but gospel is "the good news" & the good news for us is being blessed with the opportunity and ability to make music, so it still is gospel music, we just save the praising for Sundays :)”
I listened to change, what kinds of things do you guys do to make the kind of changes you want to see in the world?
“I think change comes at home, within yourself first and foremost. That's what change is about... Not sitting around bitchin’ about the world but making positive changes in your own world, which encompasses our own heads, homes, hearts, families & expanding from there.”
Well I certaintly want to follow this band, not mention the path of the impressive recent college grad! This is some feel-good, sound-good music folks. Come feel the love when Jelly Bread hits the San Diego scene and plays at the House of Blues this Sunday, May 1st. And you heard em, “funk aint got no dresscode” so you don’t even need to dress up! No excuses this time. Tracy Petrucci
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