I’ve known Chad Hollister for about 25 years now. I’ve seen him solo, duo, trio, quartet; I’ve even seen him when he was in Entrain. Needless to say I’m a big fan of his music, but I’ve never seen the big band. I’ve always wanted to so I’m excited I finally get to see it, Friday Oct. 11 at the Woodstock Town Hall Theater at 7 p.m. After reading this article, I think you’ll be excited too. Please visit chadmusic.com for more info. You can also find him and his music on all the social media and music platforms.
Chad said you can expect to experience extreme joy at the show. He added, “It’s a vision of community, family and amazing live music. It’s extreme passion to play music that we love. Two favorite compliments I get are when people tell me how inspired they are at the shows, and we look like we’re having so much fun. We are, we live for these shows. There aren’t that many of them, it takes a lot to get us all together. I’m just really excited to have people get to see this full-band because they’re something special.”
This will be a nine-piece band, who Chad couldn’t praise enough. Drummer Tommy Diehl, who I know from Spookie Daly Pride, among others, Chad said, “It’s like a piece of yours and mine history up in the band. Fresh off the Talking Heads tour is percussionist Yahuba Garcia, who was with Ryan Montbleau for 15 years. Chad said, “He’s an amazing percussionist, and an amazing human. The thing is these guys are all family, almost all of them have spent time at my house, eaten meals with us, the kids know them. The band membership is not just a job, it’s being part of the family.” Speaking of “like family”, there’s no band member like best friend/like a brother Jeff “Primo” Poremski on lead guitar and vocals. Chad said, “He’s the keyest member of the band.” Chad and Jeff have been “Boys” for decades. They tour together and truly are best-friends. Rudy Dauth is on bass. Chad said, “He’s incredible.” Chris Peterman, on sax, leads the horn section. He’s the co-writer of all the horn parts, and been in the band for 10 years, something Chad was very excited about. Jake Whitesell is on baritone sax. Chad said, “He plays with everybody; Kat Wright, his own band. He’s a beautiful human.” Kevin Avery, of the Avery Twins, is on trumpet. Chad said, “He’s an amazing part of our horn section, and always delivers killer parts and tasty solos. Chad just met Mike Zsoldos, who’s on sax, a few weeks ago at the Imagine Zero Festival. Chad said, “As soon as this dude played 2 notes, I was like holy s—. As soon as I met him, we became immediate bros. I told him we just had to play together. He’s a brilliant player. Imagine Zero was put on by Ben Kogan, who will be playing upright bass in the band, as a special guest. Chad said, “He’s become a really good friend, an amazing player, and an amazing human.” Chad is part of “Musicians for Sustainability” which is Ben’s project. Chad added, “That’s everyone, all 9 of us, and I’ll be there too (laughing).”
“The energy that’s in that room is what I live for. I’ve always wanted to do the Woodstock Town Hall Theater. I never look at any gig as being better than any other but when we get a chance to play these beautiful theaters, we take it.”
Chad is bringing his lighting team for this show. That’s Kyle Rose who does all of Chad’s big shows, like the 7 years in-a-row of sold-out shows they played at Spruce Peak in Stowe, pre-covid. He’s partnered with Jason Liggett, who’s now a lighting guy for Saturday Night Live.
Since they live all over the place, sound check will be key since getting together to practice will be tough. Chad said, “I’m bringing some old tracks into the mix. I like every show to be different, even though we don’t get to play together that much. The beauty about the horn parts is, with the exception of Zsoldos, they’ve all done the gig. The charts are so good, thanks to Chris Peterman, that I can hire any Cat in the world that’s a good reader, and they can torch it. That’s also part of being a pro. Not ever to say we don’t practice, because we practice. The core band will get together on occasion, and Rudy, Primo and I work on our harmonies often, and in warm-ups. There’s a lot of rehearsal that goes on, away from the show. Then it’s the magic of these pros, these family members, that when we get together, it’s kind of this big party of camaraderie, family, and love. I’m just so excited you’re going to be there. You’ll see these smiles, of s— that’s never happened before. Every solo is always different. Just the other night Primo played these tones I’ve never heard him do. I looked over and just smiled. At the end he said, “That was fun.” There’s always magic in so many different ways. It’s so cool.”
You can definitely say Chad prides himself on having a great band, and it’s very important to him. He said, “I’ve had a bunch of lineups but there’s nothing that can touch this nine-piece band. What I look at my job is to float on top of this masterful cloud/rainbow/unicorn. Nobody would have any idea that we don’t do this 5 nights a week.”
Chad really appreciates the show sponsors. He said, “These shows are really made possible through our sponsors plus we love to give back to the community. We’re doing a silent auction that night and all the money raised will go to “Love your Brain.” For more details on that charity, go to loveyourbrain.org. The sponsors are: Woody’s Mercantile, Blizzard Skis (A pair in the silent auction), Rose Capital Advisors, The Tea House Dispensary, Barr Hill and Lawson’s Finest. Chad added, “They’ll be running the bar that night and there will be Barr Hill cocktails named after our songs, which is cool.” Minute Man Press is doing the posters, and the Village Butcher is feeding them that night.
Chad’s music is a blend of his many musical influences. He said, “I’m a big melting pot of everything I listen to. It all meshes together into a style that’s really all our own.” I agree with that. If you want to know who he sounds like? He sounds like Chad. It’s a unique sound, it’s upbeat. I like music that moves you and you can’t help but be moved by Chad’s music, both mentally and physically.
Chad is working on a new album. He said, “It’s a slower process now. I wish I had more time to write but there’s always something going on. I try and do it as much as I can. I’d love to be doing it more and make more time for writing. I love it.” Chad likes his music to tell a message or a story.
Chad emphasized how important it is to support artists. Just because you can stream it for free, doesn’t mean you’re helping the artist. He said, “Go buy their music. It’s really important for people to know if somehow I was to get a million streams, it’s maybe $1500. Nobody makes any money through streaming. If you really love an artist, go to their website and buy a CD, a t shirt, vinyl. That’s a big thing for me.”
Chad loves to inspire. He said, “If I can inspire one person, then I’m good. Our world is so f—ed right now that we’re in dire need to regroup as a country, and I feel that music can heal. I feel that when people are at that show on October 11th, they will forget about everything for a couple of hours. If I can take people away from their world and inspire them to take that energy out into the world, the next day, month, year, decade, then I’ve done it. If we can do, what we do, I feel it makes a difference.”
