Why do jam bands fuel such passion among their audiences? Their fans follow them around, document their set lists and debate which live version of this song or that song is superior?
Cotter Ellis of the rising jam band Goose has a theory.
"The crowd knows that they're gonna be in it with the band, finding out what happens and riding that energy wave with the band," he says.
In today's session, you'll ride that wave with a live performance from Goose. Plus, the whole band joins us to talk about their surprise album, Chain Yer Dragon, their fans, and how they themselves grew up loving jam bands.
"When Umphrey's McGee would play at Nokia Theater in Manhattan, [our] whole high school would go," says Goose guitarist and vocalist Rick Mitarotonda.
Special thanks to our phenomenal World Cafe interns, Addison Rider and Danielle Gaynor, for their work interviewing fans as they lined up for Goose's sold-out "Free At Noon" show, hosted by WXPN in Philly. You can find the entire show on Goose's Bandcamp page. All proceeds will go to WXPN and World Cafe.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
Copyright 2025 XPN
