When the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995 following the death of leader Jerry Garcia, they left millions of followers scrambling to find a plausible substitute. Although the lion's share flocked to Dead disciples such as Phish and Widespread Panic, there were plenty left over to cultivate an entirely new culture of jam bands.
The Emma Gibbs Band almost unwittingly found its way onto that late ‘90s scene. A jam band that recognizes the importance of the song, EGB appeals to those who require at least three minutes of real music for every ten minutes of jamming. Indeed, the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based outfit never really set out to be a card-carrying member of the genre. “We simply wound up on the kinds of bills where the audiences come out to listen to the music,” says acoustic guitarist Richard Upchurch. Upchurch, lead guitarist Drew Cannon, bassist Jeff Remsburg, mandolinist Will Straughan, drummer Andrew LaVasseur, and harp man Brent Buckner make up EGB. “It just so happens that the ‘jam’ fans fit that definition,” Upchurch says.
Born in 1996 in the collegiate environment of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, EGB (named for Remsburg's grandmother, the owner of the band's first rehearsal space) gravitated toward the acoustic-based style that made stars out of Southern faves like the Dave Matthews Band and Widespread Panic. Before long, EGB was following a similar path, which led to an appearance at the highly influential H.O.R.D.E. Festival in 1998. “It's music that's rooted in country, where the core of the song is the most important element,” says Upchurch, whose Taylor 410 acoustic with Fishman transducer helps him stay suitably audible while on tour. “Thanks to Drew, we've really been able to find a nice balance — a tradition-based music with electric coloring. Like Garcia always did for the Dead: he never overplayed, he just let it breathe. And that's kind of how we like to be.”
A third effort, Out to the Country (which, like 1999's SevenEven, was produced by mix-master John Keane of Athens, Georgia), finds EGB stretching out a bit more but never straying too far from the body of the song. According to Upchurch, that's the element that separates the serious jam bands from the generic noodlers.
“You listen to some groups, and you think, ‘What are they bringing new to the table?’ Don't get me wrong, I love to hear good improvising — someone like Trey [Anastasio] is one of the true innovators of our time. But I think the problem within the jam circuit is that there are a lot of bands who are only in it for the jamming. And after 20 minutes, you're bored — and that's when you need something more.”
Upchurch believes the word-of-mouth phenomenon that was the backbone of the Dead's success is still intact in the jam genre. “What the Dead and Phish created was unique, and, admittedly, hard to duplicate,” says Upchurch. “But you do see small spin-offs in bands like Leftover Salmon and others. That's why I think there's nothing wrong with trading tapes — in the end, you want something tangible, so you're going to buy the product eventually. But more than anything else, it all comes down to your core fans. Without building a solid base of true fans who believe and faithfully support you, you can't do anything.”
With its mysterious moniker, EGB joins the list of infamous music makers like Alice Cooper, Molly Hatchet, and others sporting a feminine name with no female personnel. “A guy in Raleigh hired us once thinking there was actually an Emma Gibbs out front,” laughs Upchurch. “To him, it was like false advertising! He was pretty uptight about it until we got up there and started to play — and then he changed his mind pretty quickly.”
