Shoeless Revolution Bares Their Feet (and a New CD) in Fargo
Shoeless Revolution
Those jazzy funk rockers from Minneapolis, Shoeless Revolution, will bring their high energy show to the HoDo in Fargo this Thursday, August 27. A no cover show that starts at 8 pm, the barefoot gig will offer up cuts from Shoeless Revolution’s debut CD, Speak Up, which will be available at the show and on their website (www.shoelessrevolution.com). And, yes, all of the band members will be baring their tooties for the show.
Formed in 2005 at the University of Wisconsin—La Crosse, Shoeless Revolution was the brainchild of drummer and lead singer, Reed Grimm. “I knew some people through the campus activities board, and we got a bunch of the guys together I knew through the music department, through Jazz Band especially. We put together a group. At that point, it wasn’t Shoeless Revolution,” Grimm said in a recent interview.
Reed Grimm
“Because the gig was booked under my name before I had any of the guys together, it was being advertised as Reed Grimm and Friends originally. But we changed it to Reed Grimm and the Bumblers. We practiced a bunch for the show and then played that one show. Then we asked each other if we wanted to keep playing so we decided to keep going. And now it’s four years later and we’re Shoeless Revolution.”
Ben Peterson who plays bass and Jack Sabol-Williams, the keyboard player, were part of the original Bumblers. The soon added a fourth, Eric Streske, on guitar. But until recently, Streske was still in La Crosse finishing his degree and was only able to rehearse about once a month. They still managed to write new songs and tour within the region.
Tri-Tone Army
But it was the addition of horns that really expanded the repertoire of the band. “The horns that we have really help,” Grimm said. “The band ranges from just a 4-piece to sometimes a 9-piece with five horns. That really allows us to go in multiple directions as far as different genres. We have a lot of different styles. We go anywhere from hard-hitting funk to sometimes laid-back reggae or slower tunes like ballads with horns. It’s nice because it gives us lots of options.”
Tri-Tone Army
Their horn section, called the Tri-Tone Army, most often consists of a three-piece section but can expand to a monster band. Some of those players have been Sten Johnson (trumpet), Nick Carlson (baritone sax, tenor sax, clarinet), Jeremy Duresky (trumpet), Kevin Klemme (trumpet), and Jim Piela (alto sax, tenor sax, and soprano sax). This gig will see Will Nissen keyboardist and sax player from the band Down Lo, who often step in to play tenor sax with Shoeless.
Members of the rhythm section, the four-piece group, all sing, though Grimm handles most of those honors. “We all have our own tunes that we sing lead on,” Grimm said. “But for the majority of the tunes, I’m the lead singer. It’s really nice to have multiple members who can sing so we can really lock in some harmonies.” And that is one other thing this band has really nailed.
Writing for Shoeless Revolution, like many new multi-genre bands, is collective. “We bring in ideas, and we work them out together. There is not really a principle songwriter,” Grimm said. “I definitely bring in a lot of ideas, that’s true. Sometimes, someone will bring in a song that’s pretty much all done; the form is done and they just need to explain it to the guys. But sometimes it just needs a little musical melody or a little riff or something like that. We build off of that together.”
One thing that has really injected new freshness into the band is the fact that Eric Streske has graduated and moved up to Minneapolis. “For the first time ever, the four of us rhythm section members have been able to rehearse on a regular basis. Now, we’re having weekly rehearsals. We’re able to write and work out stuff. It’s so much easier. Things get done some much faster. That’s an exciting, new development in Shoeless Revolution.”
So, come on down to Fargo and check out Shoeless Revolution at the Hotel Donaldson Thursday, August 27. You can also get their new album at the show or at www.shoelessrevolution.com or on iTunes.
