When you think of jam bands, we always look back to The Dead or Phish or The Allman Brothers. Those are the easy, no-brainer answers. However, when you look at the blueprint of the modern day jam band, you’ll find that God Street Wine is one of the most influential bands out there.
The band met in college in New York City in the late-80s and became firmly entrenched in a scene that would explode in the ’90s with the likes of The Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler and Dave Matthews Band at the forefront. Their melodic sound combined multiple spheres of influence including jazz, rock, soul, funk and Americana. This blend created an infectiously groove-laden and danceable sound that captivated diehard fans known as “winos.” The band was a touring machine and were staples at famed jam-friendly clubs like NYC’s Wetlands. They were early adopters of the internet to keep its fanbase connected and their influence can be seen and heard on fans till this very day.
This week the band returns with their first full-length in six-years — Mantoloking and Other Stories — which drops on Friday March 7.
Recently, we caught up with Tom Osander (drums, percussion, vocals), Lo Faber (guitar, vocals) and Aaron Maxwell (guitar, vocals) of God Street Wine to discuss the new album, their upcoming tour, being a jam band before it was cool to be a jam band, the band’s relationship with technology and recording a live album on the final night of their run at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, NY.
This year you’ve dropped three new songs — “New Eyes,” “Weird Dream” and “One and One.” Will these be part of a new album dropping in the near future?
Tom Osander: Yes, there’s a full length LP coming that contains these and several other tunes. The vinyl release will only be available at our shows this month — so come one, come all.
Lo Faber: As Tom said, yes, the full album Mantoloking and Other Songs comes out this Friday March 7, to coincide with our first run of shows this year.
Aaron Maxwell: The vinyl album experience coming at you on March 7. I’m really excited about this record and looking forward to playing with my good time buddies!
How do you feel these songs stand out sonically and lyrically from the album you released in 2019, This Fine Town?
Tom Osander: We recorded these tunes pretty much the same way we did This Fine Town. A rough version of each tune set to a click track was prepared by Lo and then I threw drums on top and everyone else followed with their parts. The pluses to this sort of method are that everyone has as much time as they like or need to get their bits done. I usually put a whole bunch of ideas down — kitchen sink style recording if you will — and then I sift through it all and find the stuff I like best. Sometimes a lot of what I recorded doesn’t even get used but it’s enjoyable trying loads of different things. Other times, like on the title track Mantoloking, much of it stays and more of an orchestral percussion thing happens in addition to just the drum kit.
These songs have been around for decades so they’re not new ideas- other than “One & One: which is a recent tune by Aaron. Either way, you’d have to ask the writers for their lyrical insights. I just hit things.
Lo Faber: I think these tracks and this album have a lot of commonality with This Fine Town, both albums consisting largely of original material from the early 1990s that we’ve resuscitated and rearranged. If anything, Mantoloking and Other Songs goes further in the direction of the Steely Dan and jazz influences, which were a big part, though not the only part, of our musical identity in the early years.
Lyrically, I think there’s a geographic specificity to most of these songs. Mantoloking (a New Jersey beach town), Westchester, New Jersey and New York in our college years — these places are very much the setting and for me, having grown up in that area and now living fourteen years down here in New Orleans, I have a new perspective and new appreciation and a bit of nostalgia for my native land.
In 2024, you released an album Hot! Sweet! & Juicy that you originally recorded in 1998(ish) but it was never released. Tell us about how it felt to finally get this music out to your fans after years of not being able to.
Lo Faber: Well, it felt good. It had always been one of the big disappointments of our career that Mercury decided not to release that album after we’d worked so hard on it. For our second record deal in a row, our band was basically victim to power struggles and court intrigues among record label executives. [We were] signed by someone who liked and appreciated us, then that person gets pushed out of power and the new person is determined to shelve all the artists they signed. It totally sucked but that’s the sort of thing that used to happen routinely in the major label world. So, yeah, it feels not only satisfying but also just, that people can finally hear this music. It has nothing to do with money, obviously, especially at this point. We just want people to hear and enjoy the songs.
Aaron Maxwell: There’s something sonically about this record that I find really enjoyable. Nice job, Lo! I also really enjoy everyone’s playing on these tracks. It was fun to have time to try different approaches to solos and parts
God Street Wine has been in the jam scene since the late ’80s. Can you talk about the evolution of the scene — the good, the bad, and what you miss?
Tom Osander: When GSW formed (autumn of 1988) the term “jam band” didn’t exist but several of us were fans of the Dead, Allmans, etc so we knew those scenes and I suppose when we found ourselves a part of those formative early years of the NYC jam band scene we took some of what we’d seen in the Dead’s world and adapted it to our own. I loved the Dead but I really wanted GSW to be its own thing and I was always a bit wary of not wanting to follow or imitate too closely.
Our sound was more jazz influenced than they had been and our tunes were often complex and orchestrated as much as they were open to big jams. This was one of the things that kept us from being more mainstream and perhaps more successful but for a few years we played an awful lot of sweaty bar gigs in and around Manhattan trying to make a name for ourselves. We had a strong group of very loyal fans who went off to college and spread the word of GSW. There was a strong feeling of community in our little world.
As the bands we’d formed alongside like Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors got record deals we watched with both envy and expectation, figuring we’d soon be next. At the same time we also started playing more gigs outside of NYC — doing colleges and prep schools, expanding our fan base and really just busting our asses. That’s one thing that scene really had: a lot of bands working really hard to survive and grow their audiences.
Looking back at those early days it all seems so small and simple and I guess, in a way it was. But to us at the time the band and our success really meant everything. I certainly remember thinking that GSW would be my life for many decades to follow.
In time the scene grew, more bands came and went, GSW eventually got signed and then toured even more doing bigger venues on our own and in support to larger acts.
There was certainly a camaraderie in those early days both with the other bands and with the audiences. I think we always felt a fair bit of competition as well. We were never super, super close with most of the bands and it often felt like we were kind of outsiders.
I kind of miss some of those really early days when we first started playing, even before we had an audience. It was just the five of us, rehearsing late at night, trying to get our songs together and book gigs. There was an incredible hunger to make it, whatever that meant. Those were special times, even if we didn’t know it then. As a matter of fact, now I look forward to our rehearsals and hangs almost more than the gigs. I know today I’m able to recognize and appreciate what the five of us share and how lucky we are to still be able to come together and do this.
Lo Faber: I think Tom covered it pretty well. I’ll just add that I don’t think any “scene” in music exists without the audience. In fact I’ll go further, the scene really is the audience, the listeners, the supporters. We’re very grateful for them
Aaron Maxwell: I can’t speak for other bands, but I can say that our fans are amazing, and dare I say a bit fanatical. I am so grateful for the support and it really is what keeps us going!
The band has a reputation for being tech savvy — as you had email lists and websites before most bands did. How do you feel about the evolution of technology (e.g. streaming) with music?
Tom Osander: Yeah, we were tech savvy before we knew what tech savvy was. (laughs)
At some point we had these long distance GSW calling cards. I don’t remember how exactly they worked but I guess they allowed for cheaper calls.
And we did have a website pretty early in the game. I recall sitting in a meeting and having this World Wide Web thing explained. Too funny. This was all several years before I even got my first laptop. I was definitely not the savvy tech guy back then!
I go back and forth on the streaming thing, but you know what? It doesn’t really matter what I think because it’s the reality today and we’re certainly not going back to the old model of record sales and split points. As much as I love the ability to pick any record or tune I want to listen to at a moment’s notice, I also really miss the quest of tracking down something hard to find. My kids will never know that search. And liner notes too. They’ve really become a thing of the past, haven’t they?
Lo Faber: I’m in the minority here among independent musicians, but I think streaming has been great in many ways. Of course you don’t make as much money from your recordings as you used to, but you can also distribute music, more or less instantly, across the globe, for basically no cost. I’ll take that trade-off. In any case streaming only affects recordings. Live music still requires physical people to physically show up and play a show. And as the years have gone by I feel more and more that live music is where the real magic is anyway.
Aaron Maxwell: My feelings on music and technology are very mixed. While I appreciate the ability to do things that may have taken quite a bit of money and resources in the past, you can now do them on your own computer in your bedroom. There’s a kind of democratization that has taken place in music and It’s cool to see my son and his friends making music and putting it out there in a way that I was not able to do at their age.
That being said, streaming services, while convenient to say the least, have sort of devalued music in some ways. Do people listen to full albums anymore? Do artists make records as a piece of art, from beginning to end anymore? Do people care about listening to music in the best sound quality possible anymore? All I can say is, I guess life is always a cycle. Maybe it’s up to my kids to create something new. Don’t get me started!
You’ve got a tour next week hitting Philly, Boston, Vermont and a few other cities — what can your fans expect, setlist-wise, from this run?
Tom Osander: For these shows we reached out to the fans asking for song requests, much as we’ve done before most tours in recent years. We then combine that list with our own picks of GSW standards as well as some lesser played numbers. That gave us about 75 tunes to shed on our own before we gather for rehearsals next week. We’ll hone the lists and possibly add a few more tunes while also planning not to repeat too much over the course of the shows.
Lo Faber: Yeah it’s like Tom said, a mix of fan requests on social media, our usual “greatest hits,” and band members’ ideas for more offbeat selections. Also ,in recent years we’ve been leaning more and more towards only playing our originals. Not that we won’t ever do covers but it’s much rarer. Part of that for me is the growth of many great tribute and cover bands who dedicate themselves to that. And for me we feel more unique when we are playing our own material.
You’ll be recording a live album at the historic Bearsville Theater in NY on March 15. Can you talk about why you chose this venue and maybe preview a little bit of what your fans can expect to hear?
Tom Osander: Since we started playing again post-pandemic we’ve done Woodstock a few times and really dug the energy up there. We’ve played three shows at Levon Helm’s and decided this time to do a gig for our old friend Pete Shapiro at Bearsville. They happen to be equipped with a recording studio right next door so the idea to tape the show seemed like a no-brainer. At some point we’d love to get the five of us in a studio all at one time to do some proper recording but for now, due to the fact that I’m based in Germany, Lo is in New Orleans and the other fellows are scattered around NY, taping a live show is the closest we’re gonna get. Other than our long-distance album making hijinks.
Lo Faber : Woodstock is Aaron’s home town now, so he doesn’t have to travel. It’s also a historic place with a lot of great music associations. We always seem to have a good time playing there
Aaron Maxwell:For me, it is an extra special show, as I live in Woodstock and I’ve always dreamed of God Street wine playing at this iconic theater. I’m excited we’re recording the show and I look forward to seeing a lot of friends and family.
What is it that you love about being in God Street Wine?
Tom Osander: Lo and I have played music together since the 7th grade. That’s like 45 years and some of his songs have been part of my life for that long too. The other fellows have been in my life for more than 37 years. The fact that we are still getting together, off and on, through ups and downs, swings and roundabouts is pretty amazing. I don’t take that lightly, especially with each passing year. These guys are my musical brothers and while we may not hang out other than a couple of times a year, when we do we instantly pick up right where we left off. It might even be the same joke or tune we were laughing or playing last year, or 20 years ago.
On top of that, we have this core of unbelievably dedicated fans and friends who continue to support us. They know all the songs, sometimes better than we do and they’ll arrange their lives around our little reunions each year. Some of them travel great distances to come sweat out the oldies with us for a few nights. That’s pretty incredible and we’re eternally grateful to them. So I love being in GSW because I get to play music with my brothers in front of the most appreciative audience out there.
Lo Faber : I love that it’s still the same five of us. So many bands have lost or replaced members. For us it’s the same five who showed up for that first rehearsal in midtown Manhattan in 1988. We all still get along, appreciate each other, and (knock on wood) have our health. We have had our difficulties over the years but we’ve managed to get past them. When we’re onstage or in the rehearsal room there’s a sense that we’re all in it together and all dedicated to a common goal. That’s a really healthy and rewarding feeling, in any field of human endeavor, I would say.
I should also include longtime manager, tour manager, lighting designer, guitar tech, and poker buddy Michael Weiss as more or less a 6th band member. He’s not on stage with us but he’s never far away.
Aaron Maxwell: What I love most about God Street Wine 2.0, is we have a lot of history that connects us and we have experienced many things together as a band, both good and bad. We’ve also had many years to figure out our own life priorities, etc. I guess I would say we have matured. And it’s really amazing to come together now and play music together, because the shared “baggage” of experience has provided us with a strong foundation for us to stand on. These guys are my musical brothers and I really enjoy making music with these guys. There’s something special that happens when we do.
What are five things you are excited for, for God Street Wine in 2025?
Tom Osander:
1. Our first time playing in Burlington, VT since the ’90s (unless I’m mistaken).
2. A project that we have in the works that I can’t really say anything more about right now.
3. The possibility of pushing a little further west later this year. No promises but I’m hopeful. I know we have a bunch of folks who want us to get off the east coast but it’s just not that simple. There’s a lot of scheduling, financial considerations and plotting to make it happen. Fingers crossed.
4. Two weeks of rehearsals, gigs, eats and hangs with Lo, Dan, Aaron, Jon, Michael and Matt.
5. Jetlag, jetlag, jetlag…
Lo Faber : I’m excited that maybe, just maybe, we can do just a little bit, to help both ourselves and our listeners deal with, process, and cope with the utter soul-crushing collapse of our once great country at the hands of a contemptible gang of criminal degenerates
Aaron Maxwell: I’m excited for any opportunity to make music with God Street Wine. It’s a crazy world out there and the only things I can figure out to do is, value human relationships, connections and be creative. Let’s do it GSW!
God Street Wine Tour Dates:
- 3/7: Ardmore Music Hall – Philadelphia, PA (Click here for tickets)
- 3/8: The Atlantis – Washington, DC (Click here for tickets)
- 3/13: The Sinclair – Boston, MA (Click here for tickets)
- 3/14: Nectar’s – Burlington, VA (Click here for tickets)
- 3/15: Bearsville Theater – Woodstock, NY (Live Taping – Click here for tickets)
