The Breakfast have scored awards and a record deal. But are they the next Phish?
ARTIST IN TOWN
When a certain Vermont
jam band wrote its own
obituary last summer, so
began the mad scramble to
find a new torchbearer.
East Haven, Conn.’s The
Breakfast is one of several
up-and-comers aiming to
gobble up the scene’s hungry
phans.
“A lot of bands are looking
to capitalize on the
audience,” says guitarist
Tim Palmieri. “We’re hoping
this is our year.”
Once known as The Psychedelic
Breakfast — a nod
to an early Pink Floyd progrock
cycle — the quintet
ditched the adjective last
year and soon followed suit
with its management. In
between, they garnered the
“New Groove” award at the
2004 Jammys — an accolade
worth its weight in PR gold.
They also revamped their
Web site, signed a new
record deal and landed a
high-profile spread in
Relix, the bimonthly bible
of the jam band world.
“2004 was the year of
change for us,” Palmieri says.
“It was a big breather after
two years of touring. It’s what
we needed.”
The Breakfast is a studious
(if derivative) sponge
of a jam band — Dead/Allmans
boogie, Phishy playfulness
and a strong dose
of hard funk all find their
way into compositions that
usually give way to strong
solo runs.
The band’s fourth disc,
the dense, spit-shined “Real
Radio,” drops nationwide in
early March. Condensing
The Breakfast spread to fourand
five-minute tracks, “Real
Radio” reveals an asset too
often overlooked amongst
noodlers — discipline.
“We weren’t trying to do
too much of the live thing
— we tried to tone it
down,” Palmieri says. “We
got to treat it like a studio
album. We never got to do
that before. It was definitely
a fresh approach. It’s certainly
an art form that
musicians need to pay
attention to.”
CHAD DRYDEN
➔ The Breakfast play tonight at
at the Middle East ( Mass. Ave,
Cambridge). MBTA: Red Line to Central
Square. Tickets are $. For more
information call () -.
