by Mike Ayers

Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors are just some of the bands that are a part of this oral history. This book covers a lot of bands – many of which had good sized local or regional followings. Interesting to read.

My main complaint was the breadth of the experience. “90’s Jam Bands” has a wide variety of sounds and bands – some of whom don’t consider themselves “jam bands”. Bands and members are introduced, focused on for one chapter or part of a chapter, disappear for pages and then reappear – sometimes without enough context to remember who they are with (I mean Dave Matthews, John Popper, Trey Anastasio, Darius Rucker [Hootie! not] are probably known by casual fans who would by the book; but there are a ton of names, some bands have lineup changes, etc.). Good overview if you are wanting to learn more about the subject.

416 Pages

3/5