First bowing in Nashville in 2017 to headline Mercy Lounge, then returning last fall at The Basement East, eclectic Arizona jam rock outfit Spafford are set to make the trek to Music City once more, again at The Basement East this weekend on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4 & 5, a two-night affair which only speaks to how much buzz the group have attracted in the jam scene over the past couple of years. Renowned for their highly improvised, genre-bending, dance-primed live show, the group have been going strong for nearly a decade now, and touring relentlessly for the past few years, regularly self-releasing impressive live recordings along the way. You’ll want to catch them live to see what Spafford truly have to offer, however, and we encourage you to do so while they’re still rocking a more intimate venue! General admission tickets for both nights are available while they last, and VIP packages are also available, which include a general admission ticket, early entry, access to an intimate soundcheck, an exclusive MP3 download of the soundcheck audio, a Q&A and hang with the band, a signed and limited collectable tour poster, and a commemorative laminate- a pretty solid haul for the price by concert VIP standards. Get both right here (10/4) and here (10/5), then read on for more about the shows!
SPAFFORD
After first meeting while regularly playing the same open mic shows, guitarist Brian Moss and bassist Jordan Fairless formally came together to form genre-bending Arizona jam rock outfit Spafford at the end of 2009, making their first-ever live appearance at a New Year’s Eve show to ring in the new decade. Eventually filling out their lineup with keyboard player Andrew “Red” Johnson and drummer and percussionist Nick Tkachyk (as well as lightning designer and co-lyricist and namesake Chuck “Spafford” Johnson, who was instrumental in helping shaping the band’s vibe and aesthetic in the early days), Spafford spent several years honing their impressive live show and become a fixture of the jam circuit in the southwest, forging a sound that fuses rock, funk, jazz, reggae, ska, bluegrass, gospel, and electropop, propelled by highly improvisational, off the cuff, extended jam live shows, which largely change each and every night, and can span a wide breadth of genres, though always rooted in jammed out tunes and covers that’ll make you want to dance. Like most bands in their scene, Spafford have released a handful of more formal records and tracks, but largely thrive on self-released live recordings, captured over the course of more than a hundred shows over the years. After first beginning to tour regionally, Spafford embarked on a more broad run of North America a few years ago in support of Umprhey’s McGee, and have since become an ever-growing fixture on the club circuit, as well as a staple of the festival scene, appearing at events like Bonnaroo, Sweetwater 420 Fest, Summer Camp, Firefly, Lockn’, and numerous other events over the past couple of years. Like any proper jam band, the only way to truly experience Spafford is to see them in concert, and with two chances to do so upon their Basement East return, you could even get double the dose, sure to be a uniquely different and captivating show each time!
Spafford will perform Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5 at The Basement East. The shows are 18+, begin at 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), and general admission tickets are available to purchase for $20-23 and VIP for $84.46 here (10/4) and here (10/5).
