By William O’Donnell
March 20, at 7 p.m.—KILLINGTON— The jam scene, notorious for featuring 20-minute guitar solos dripping with psychedelia, sees 10-year touring veteran Yam Yam taking a much different approach. Hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, this primarily instrumental quintet’s signature sound is upbeat, playful funk music bursting at the seams with youthful exuberance. Yam Yam is Michael Dempsey (piano/organ), Xander Moppin (bass), Jason Mescia (saxophone), and brothers Tom Fuller (guitar) and Tyler Fuller (drums). With high-energy poppy hooks plentiful, the Yam Yam show at the Pickle Barrel in Killington on Thursday, March 20 will heat up the early spring.
With the Killington show kicking off a string of dates taking the band as far as the Carolinas, veteran saxophonist Jason Mescia discussed how the band got their start, the eclectic background of influences that go into the band’s unique sound, and crossing boundaries to make a first impression on new fans.
“I’ve been playing in the Harrisburg scene and in Philly for a very long time,” Mescia said. “I would just take gigs with all kinds of different bands. When I first joined Yam Yam; I was probably playing in about 30 different bands. I was just trying to gig as much as possible”.
With influences ranging from Lotus, Soulive, and Spafford to jazz legends like John Coltrane, Yam Yam made a significant impact right out of the gate.
“When we all got together, it just sounded like something special. It really just took off really quickly,” Mescia said when discussing the band’s self-titled debut, which rose to #17 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
The band’s rehearsal space/underground music venue, The Lingerie Room, where the band recorded their fan-favorite live album, “The Yam Yam Telethon (The Lingerie Room Sessions)”, saw an opportunity for Yam Yam to play with one of their musical heroes, Lettuce, when the funk legends made a stop in Harrisburg. The venue, known for its rare and impromptu after parties, saw the two bands playing for an intimate crowd until the wee hours of the morning.
“It was nuts,” Mescia said about the life-changing experience of meeting one of his musical idols.
Yam Yam is known for their catchy melodies and for pushing the boundaries of fans’ expectations by bringing a rare approach toward funk music that is as experimental as it is approachable.
When asked how he takes his jazz background and applies it to the band’s vigorous live performances, Mescia offered some words of wisdom.
“I feel like that’s the jazz spirit, honestly. The kind of thing that makes you want to stay up until 7 in the morning. When I’m playing music, I want to be breaking a sweat. For me, it’s like a sport. When a show starts for me, you’ve gotta be in the mentality of sports, like the ball is in play. Where you’re really engaged to a level where it makes you break a sweat. That’s what I like in (our) music.”
Yam Yam brings their genre-bending styles to the Pickle Barrel Nightclub on Thursday, March 20.
For more information, visit: yamyamband.com or picklebarrelnightclub.com.
