What a cool behind the scenes look at a time that was just so dang fun! This book was reminiscent & I thoroughly enjoyed it. Would make a great read for anyone who loves music and especially this time of music :)

A very well researched and striking narrated examination of the 1990s jam band movement, a cultural that reshaped music.
A wild, untold oral history of the unlikely rise of Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, and numerous other bands that helped define the 1990s Jam band scene.
I had the best reading this one.

Thank you to Mike Ayers, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you're into Jam Bands, you will love this book. It is actual stories from members of these bands. I liked how lesser-known bands are featured as well. A great gift for an music lover.

No Rating

I picked up this arc from NetGalley because I'm interested in the banda being discussed here. Quite a few favorites from my heyday.

Unfortunately, I'm not into the interview format. It's why I couldn't love TJR's Daisy Jones & the Six, and I was a serious outlier. But once I saw that this book was basically a transcript of a very long interview, I just completely checked out. Since this is a me thing, I won't rate this book (wherever possible) as I think other readers would not care about this element.

Thank you to the author Mike Ayers, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of SHARING IN THE GROOVE. All views are mine.

Big thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of Mike Ayers’s fun and insightful book Sharing in the Groove: The Untold Story of the ‘90s Jam Band Explosion and the Scene that Followed. Admittedly, I’m not a jam band enthusiast. I never really got into the scene, went to any shows, nor owned any of the music. It was all around me in college, but I never really got the happy sounds or extended guitar solos. Yet, I found Ayers’s book to be a fascinating read not necessarily into the music, but rather the scene and the ways that record companies may commodify a trend to try to monetize it. Furthermore, I found that I learned a lot more about this scene, its origins, and how it expanded over the course of the 90s, frequently resisting the attempts to corporatize the music to produce radio-friendly singles. Ayers’s book serves as an additional perspective on the 90s touring/festival movement that Bienstock and Beaujour wrote about in their excellent oral history of Lollapalooza (Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival), also published by St. Martin’s Press. Both books take the oral history approach and feature interviews with not only band members, but also managers, producers, and others involved in the touring and recording process. It’s interesting to consider how these music movements both germinated and grew in the pre-internet days of the 90s. While Lollapalooza and “alternative music” grew out of 80s punk and college radio, eventually absorbed into the MTV heavy rotation, the jam band scene was like an alternative to alternative music, also growing out of colleges and the remnants of the hippie touring from 70s bands like the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. In fact, many of the subjects of interviews in the book mention how alternative music was growing in popularity and MTV required videos to break big, but many of the bands in the book just kept moving ahead with their own styles, appealing more to their fans’ desire for a show, as opposed to radio-friendly singles. Yet, the tension between art and commerce, where bands often require financial support from record companies to produce more records and tour, seemed to play a part in many of the bands decisions about making records and deciding whether to play the game or maintain their artistic goals and values. I didn’t necessarily realize this about many of the bands, but it makes sense why I’ve seen the popularity of bands like moe., String Cheese Incident, and Disco Biscuits for concerts, but I never really see their records in stores or hear them on the radio.
I learned a lot from this book, and I was really surprised to learn that some of the early 90s players in the Jam Band scene started Princeton, NJ, which is like in my backyard. I also didn’t realize that bands like The Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler were considered Jam Bands, since I don’t really think of them as having longer jams. Both bands experienced commercial success in the early to mid ‘90s, but their popularity grew out of playing live shows in NYC and NJ clubs in the late ‘80s. Ayers traces other regional bands that shared a similar ethos and appreciation for 70s rock music like the Allman Brothers and The Dead, as well as some of the chemicals that fueled their music and touring. College towns in Virginia (Dave Matthews Band), Georgia (Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit, Widespread Panic), and Vermont (Phish) also helped to birth musical acts that eventually began expanding their touring and connected with other bands who shared a similar ethos. I loved reading about these connections, since it showed how tape trading and touring engaged a core audience and allowed for the discovery of new bands. I kept thinking about Stephen Blush’s book American Hardcore, which documents how bands like Black Flag and Bad Brains toured North America and helped to create hardcore and alternative bands throughout the country. The interviewees discuss how exposure to shows and shared musical interests often led to new bands, often in college towns, and that following tour routes from bands like Phish and Dave Matthews Band allowed later bands to build the momentum that these earlier bands established.
Furthermore, I was excited and somewhat surprised to see that Medeski, Martin, and Wood were considered part of the Jam Band scene. I usually think of them as more of a jazz or funk band, but I remember some friends in college who were into Phish were also into Shackman, the 1996 album from MMW. As the book explains, Phish began playing MMW’s music in between sets, which led to their fans becoming more interested in their work. I actually remember seeing MMW in Philly in the late 90s, and it was an eclectic scene, with a lot of big, expensive winter coats. The music was awesome, and for me, it was an experimental kind of show, where the musicians explored sounds and tones on their instruments. I still remember how Chris Wood played his bass with a slide and how cool it sounded at the time. The chapters that focused on MMW were some of my favorite as they were kind of working outside of the jam band scene, traveling to Hawaii to make Shackman in a shack with only solar power, something that I never even knew. There were also some great chapters about other jazz/funk bands that were associated with the jam band scene, and this expanded my playlist to include bands I’ve heard of but never really listened to like Greyboy Allstars and Galactic. I love it when I’m able to discover bands and artists from reading.
The chapters are relatively short and are primarily composed of interview snippets from the band members as well as managers and others who contributed to the jam band scene. Some of the chapters focus on particular bands, like Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, moe., and Medeski Martin Wood. However, other chapters focus on aspects of the bands’ lives and their intersections with record companies. Again, this was a fascinating look at how the record companies tried to capitalize on these bands’ popularity, but also struggled to categorize and market them in a business that often relies on fitting bands into specific genres for marketing purposes. Throughout the latter half of the book, this seemed to be a theme as bands either struggled with success (Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler), or struggled to meet the rigid expectations of record companies (Phish, moe., God Street Wine). This was a fascinating look at how music scenes develop organically, but also how record companies try to manufacture and reshape bands to fit a mold, which can sometimes bring about the demise of the band.
I also appreciated that Ayers provided an extensive list of the participants in the interviews at the beginning of the book since there are many people to keep track of throughout the book. This helped me better understand which musicians or participants were associated with which bands or record labels. One aspect of the book that I wish was slightly different was that some of the chapters included a brief introduction or contextualization that helped to frame the topic for the chapter. This was really helpful, but it was not included with every chapter. Furthermore, many of the chapter titles were taken from quotes from that chapter, but didn’t always frame the chapter well enough. While nearly all of the chapters were organized according to either a specific band or a theme, for a few chapters, it was challenging to figure out the theme. Having more of these contextualizing paragraphs or sentences would help frame the chapter’s focus. However, with 68 chapters, I can understand why every chapter might not have this kind of contextualization. The book primarily moves chronologically, so the book ends with the turn of the century and the emergence of digital technology, briefly mentioning how websites and file sharing like Napster a new way for bands to share their music and live shows to a broader audience. It also explores the emergence of the 90s festival scene and how many of these bands developed their own festivals, often outside of record labels’ support. This was also fascinating and somewhat humorous to read about- especially Phish’s various ideas of how to celebrate Y2K. Reading about the influence of technology was also fascinating, especially to consider how digitizing music reshaped record companies and the ways that people consume music, eventually leading to downsizing much of the music industry. It would have also been interesting to learn more about what some of these bands continued to do or whether some of these festivals continued. However, I realize that Ayers’s book is expansive and follows many different bands, so it probably would have been challenging to follow up with all of the bands and their members. Nevertheless, some kind of afterword or epilogue about the jam band scene and where it has gone in the subsequent 25 years would have been an interesting coda to this fascinating documentary journey of the scene. Nevertheless, this is a great book that is full of fun and interesting stories, even for someone who is not too familiar with or interested in the jam band scene. I learned so much from reading this book, and I added to my playlist, finding some new bands to listen to. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of music and enjoy reading about how music scenes and genres develop and evolve.

Oh man, I so wanted to love this.

Seeing the Grateful Dead in Boston back in the 90's when I was just a teen introduced me into the hippie culture world and touring.

I fell in love with the scene.

Then came Phish - my first show in '96 and I'm still following these dudes around the country to this day.

This book is hodgepodge of random info. The timeline is all over the place. Stories are mentioned but never discussed in detail. A lot of the bands they focused on were never big players in my touring scene. A lot of Spin Doctors and Blues Traveler - neither of which I was a big fan of.

Jam bands have been derided in the world of music snobbery for decades, but many of these bands have put out a lot of great music over the years and many of the criticisms are unfounded. From the Grateful Dead to Widespread Panic and Phish, there are several bands who were and are amazing musicians and talented songwriters. The complaints against these bands are usually that the songs are too long, don’t have enough “hooks” or that they’re just “endless noodling”. However, I challenge you to go to one of these shows, find a sweet sativa and NOT have fun. You’d have to be a special kind of grumpy, in my opinion. Panic, Phish, moe., String Cheese, DMB, Galactic, MMW, Gov’t Mule and Blues Traveler are all amazing live and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. However, there are those bands on the other side of the spectrum.

Unfortunately, a LOT of this book is dedicated to the latter. I’ve never been a huge fan of the “oral history” format, if I’m being honest. I much prefer a narrative format, but occasionally an oral history will interest me enough that I will give it a chance. Sharing in the Groove isn’t a bad book and it is a fun read with a lot of insight into the bands and jam band scene of the late 80’s and 90’s. The problem is that there is way too much whining from also-rans like Spin Doctors. I get that they were an integral part of the beginnings of the scene but listening to Chris Barron complain that they would have been bigger if Epic had promoted Spin Doctors as much as Pearl Jam is laughable. Spin Doctors were never going to be as big as Pearl Jam, because they just weren’t as good. Now, admittedly, I’ve never seen the Spin Doctors live, and maybe that’s my problem but the songs just were not good. Sure, they had a few pretty big hits off of that one record, but I don’t care how good they were live, they were not going to surpass most of these other bands. God Street Wine had some pretty good tunes, but they also weren’t going to have the same kind of careers as others in the genre. Panic, Phish, Blues Traveler...they were all just way better bands. I’m not saying these bands shouldn’t have been included, because they absolutely should be. But a large portion of the book is taken up by their musings, most of which are uninteresting and come across annoyingly whiny.

I’m honestly not sure why so much of Sharing in the Groove is taken up by Spin Doctors, but I suspect it’s because they were willing to do more interviews and not because they were integral to jam bands becoming popular. Maybe the author is a hug fan. I’ll admit to owning a copy of Pocketful of Kryptonite, but I was 12 years old, so what do you want from me? Widespread Panic and Blues Traveler are pretty fairly represented, as are later jam bands like moe. and String Cheese. However, there was surprisingly little discussion with Phish and Dave Matthews given that they were probably the biggest bands to come out of the scene.

Overall, there’s a lot of fun to be found in Sharing in the Groove, despite my complaining about the Spin Doctors (why are they here so much??!!). There are stories from the road and the book really does give you a good idea of how the scene developed. If you’re a fan of 90’s jam and were/are in that scene, you will probably find a lot to love here. If you’re only into Phish/DMB/and or Panic, you may find yourself bored during certain sections. The author clearly spent a lot of time researching and interviewing the people who were there, but I still would have preferred a narrative as opposed to an oral history. But, in the end, that’s my preference and I’m sure that a lot of fans are going to really enjoy this. I liked it, and give Sharing in the Groove 3/5 stars, but ultimately, there just wasn’t enough here to go any higher. A sincere thank you to Mike Ayers, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fine, but it is certainly geared towards hardcore jamband fans. I, personally, wanted to read this for the nostalgia as someone who was really into jambands in the late 90s. I still love Phish! I go see them for New Years Eve at the Garden every year. But this isn't a nostalgia book, or a book for casual fans. It seems as though the author put a ton of work into researching and pulling old interviews to compile them in a way that feels like an oral history, and I acknowledge what an effort that is. I also think really serious fans would love this, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm not leaving written external reviews just because I don't want to deter those fans who will really love this one.

My thanks to both NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this oral history look at a unique scene that was about music, motion, mood elevation, and merry hijinks, a scene that came together in different areas, but united a lot of people in many ways.

I worked in a music store from throughout the nineties, from the rise of CD's to the destruction wrought by Napster. Hip-hop, hair metal, grunge, even the beginnings of Britney. Oh and can't forget the Macarena. Most of these had label backing, articles in the trade magazines, but there was a lot of bands people asked for, and loved to talk about that seemed to exist in a strange world. A world with sold out concerts, tapes being passed, small label releases, and passionate fans. These were what is called jam bands, we called them noodle music. Known for extended jams, or musical exploration there were plenty of bands that fit this name, with various skill levels. Some liked the atmosphere, some liked the community. I was not one of those. I liked the music, and wasn't happy with the hippies that seemed drawn to the scene, rather than the tunes. Reading this book was like reading about a person from one hundred years ago. So many bands, so many shows, I can't imagine how I new all these bands. And how I remembered the music. And why I let myself forget. Sharing in the Groove:The Untold Story of the '90s Jam Band Explosion and the Scene That Followed by Mike Ayers is an oral history tracing the rise of jam bands from small parties to arenas, and how they changed music, and how music changed them.

The book is an oral history featuring many members of Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, Phish, moe., my favorite, and others. Also included are scenesters, backstage people, music professionals, and crew members. The book begins with many of these members meeting each other, and forming friendships based on a love of common music, of because another had access to drugs. The book traces many of the bands starting at small parties, finding out that jamming out was something they enjoyed, and finding others, such as Deadheads and the like who also enjoyed the music. Taping is discussed, something that broke many of these bands, something I can attest to, as I think I heard most of the bands I liked on tapes before they ever came to the area. A scene and a movement began, which was organic in many ways as this was before the Internet, with venues slowly coming on board, selling out shows to bands that record labels had no idea existed. Ayers looks at what happened when labels got involved, looking for radio hits, and not understanding what made jam bands work. Also how in many ways success ruined the scene in many ways.

A very good look at one of the last big things in music. I know from experience that we sold a lot of albums for what was considered jam bands, shirts, and many of their tour magazines. And bootlegs, I won't avoid that. This was a scene that was doing better for us then grunge in many ways. The problem was dealing with the smaller labels to get items, but even that was manageable. Ayers really looks at all this and more. The interviews cover quite a bit about the scene, the drugs, the shows. the music. However Ayers also gets in to the nitty gritty, what it was like to tour, the rates bands could charge, making albums, and how dealing with labels was more of a problem than it was worth. There is a lot of information, though the book never gets old or dull. I loved seeing the names of bands I have not listened to in years, and many a CD has been dug out, including a visit back home for my old tapes with shows. Ayers does a very good job of capturing what it was like to play, what is was like to listen, and what the music meant to so many.

A really great book for a particular kind of fan. I really enjoyed it, loved to look back the bands and of course the music. I know quite a few people who will feel the same. Get back on the bus, listen to some tasty tunes, and read this book. It's a wonderful trip, to look back on.

As someone who is interested in the world of jam bands, this was a fun and delightful read. It was great to travel back to the birth of this music and scene and hear directly from the creators involved. The interview, almost documentary style, took some time to get used to but once you did it became second nature and easy to follow. Jam on!