Today we’d like to introduce you to Grape, a jam band from Memphis. We sat down with drummer and vocalist, Chad Huey, to answer a few questions and shed some light on the band.
Hi Chad, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We started when lead guitarist, Corbin Miles, and myself (drummer/vocalist, Chad Huey,) met in 2015 and struck up a conversation centered around our favorite musicians like John Bonham and Jimi Hendrix. We clicked on a lot of classic rock and other various older styles of music.
After several conversations about the freedom jam bands like Phish and the widespread panic had with their playing we decided we wanted to start one. A jam band takes every styling of music and incorporates it into their playing. We really dug the idea of that.
I knew Bill from previous bands so brought him into the band and Corbin knew Frank, our current bassist, from years of playing music together and that was the birth of Grape in late 2015.
After a few variations. Our current lineup includes all the original members with the addition of a keyboardist, Brad Dickerson who was a longtime musician friend of Bill.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’m not sure smooth is the way to put it but it’s been a consistent and fun journey. There have been highs and lows in our career as a band.
Since the beginning, we have always tried our very best to be professional, take the high road, and never turn down opportunities. These simple principles have kept us in the gigging circuit and allowed us to play some really cool shows and play with some really cool people.
Of course, you take the good with the bad so there have been some doozies along the way. But for the most part, we embrace the struggles and use them as learning experiences.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Well… we are a band. Called Grape. and yes we use a period at the end of it. Ha
We play a lot of Memphis venues and have done some mini-festivals and a few regional shows. We are most proud of our ability to communicate as a band whether that be to the audience, to each other musically, or to hash out any off-stage issues within the band.
We have a good thing going and just the right mix of personalities creates a really good balance.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
We have had some faithful followers from the beginning and we really really appreciate those that were there then and are still at the shows now! Keg, Liz, Mark, Lee, and Robert just to name a few.
We’ve had support from a couple of studios in town. Thank you to them!
Binghampton Audio and Easley McCain Recording.
And… we have a few amazing sponsors that helped us get our new record off the ground! Big thank you to these companies below!
The Arcade Restaurant, Hotel Indigo Memphis, Southern Blue Construction, and Moe’s Southwest Grill.
Contact Info:
- Email: TheGrapeBand@gmail.com
- Website: www.bandcalledgrape.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bandcalledgrape
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/bandcalledgrape
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCGbGLLaaUnSd8J8te6AVBsQ
- Other: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/grape/feel-free
Image Credits
Michael Kartaltepe @presspauseimages
