User:Rainbase/Desert Rain band

Desert Rain is a jam band that formed in northeastern Connecticut in mid-1986. Despite numerous personnel changes over the years, since 2010 the band has performed steadily with the lineup of Jan Goldstein (bass and vocals), John Kneeland (guitar and vocals), Steve Cutler (guitar and vocals), and Chris Andrews (drums).

Desert Rain has a reputation for playing unpredictable shows, drawing from a huge pool of both original and cover songs, often mixing musical styles and genres. The band has also built its reputation on being accommodating to guest musicians and can often be seen joined on stage with various players.

In September 2015, at the Wormtown Music Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts, the band performed with mallet and electronic percussionist Ed Mann (of the Frank Zappa Band). This performance was well received by the group's fans and has led to an ongoing series of concerts continuing into 2016.

Other notable guest musicians who have performed with Desert Rain include keyboardist Mark Mercier of the band Max Creek, Scott Guberman (Phil Lesh and Friends), guitarist Michael Falzarano (Hot Tuna and New Riders of the Purple Sage), and pedal steel guitarist Buddy Cage (also of NRPS).

History
The band's beginnings go back to 1986, when founders Goldstein and Kneeland, along with percussionist Dana Maguire, took up residency in a large 18th Century house in Thompson, Ct. Initially there was a revolving cast of musicians coming to jam in this house, with a permanent lineup becoming the aformentioned three people plus Marc Mandler on guitar and vocals and Jeff Stankoweitz, then Randall Harris handling the drumming duties.

The band's first steady gig was playing Friday and Saturday nights at the local clubhouse of an outlaw motorcycle club. Around this time their sets consisted of classic rock covers by bands such as The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Santana, Bob Dylan and others as well as their early original songs, including "The Dope Song", "Ethiopian Dinner Guest" and the politically charged "Hail To The Bonzo King". This proved to be a good time for the developing group, as the audience was not too demanding and the band was afforded the opportunity to experiment with styles and arrangements.

There is much folklore concerning the early days of Desert Rain and the Thompson House. As the band began branching out and working in more and more venues around the region, its early base of friends and fans would take on a family-like quality that would come to be known as "The Tribe". The band went on to operate from the Thompson House for three years, which remained at the center of their music and social life. Towards the end of its tenure at this location, the band added keyboardist/singer H. Douglas Chaphe to the lineup. He would remain a full time member of the group through 2009 and still occasionally appears with the band on stage.

The first half of the 1990s found Desert Rain working as much as they could, performing at venues throughout Southern New England and occasionally outside of that area. In the late Spring of 1994 the band conducted a month long tour of Denmark, returning home to a busy touring schedule of shows. Highlights of this season included a free parking lot concert the group played before the Grateful Dead's famous first show in Highgate, Vermont and a series of shows at Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island.

1995 saw some lineup changes with co-founder John Kneeland taking a hiatus to relocate to North Carolina while drummer Randy Harris moved on. The band returned to Denmark for a second month-long tour with the new lineup of Goldstein and Chaphe joined by guitarist Mark Guglielmo and drummer Rodney St. Onge.

In 1996, during the making of their fourth album, the band was joined by Steve Cutler on guitar and vocals. Cutler would give Desert Rain its strongest vocals yet. The remainder of the decade saw the band still playing shows around the region, but with several lineup changes, notably an extended stint with drummer David Pontbriand. In 1999 co-founder Kneeland returned to both New England the band, where he has remained ever since.

Operations changed significantly for the band in 2001 when Goldstein and then-partner Darlene Fuller opened The Rain Desert in Danielson, Ct. a restaurant and music house designed to function as a home venue for the band. For the next five years Desert Rain would play approximately 100 shows per year on their own stage. Notable band inclusions during this era were drummer/singer Jay Parker, a second keyboardist named Michael Dell, guitarists Paul Toracinta and Brian Wade and long time colleague Warren "Jelly Belly" Bachman on Harmonica. It was during this period that Desert Rain became adept at accommodating guest musicians into their performances. Never a group to use pre-planned set lists, the band played widely varied shows, often letting the audience decide what they would try, whether they had ever played it before or not. When the Goldstein/Fuller partnership ended in 2006, The Rain Desert closed and Goldstein next opened The Desert Cafe, also in Danielson, Ct. Desert Rain continued to play weekends here until it closed two years later and they resumed regional touring.

By 2010 Desert Rain had more-or-less settled into its current lineup of musicians, although sometimes adding various keyboard players.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Desert Rain: Vacation|Vacation (1993)
 * The Right Side of the Brain (1995)
 * The Wrong Side of the Brain (1995)
 * ''Desert Rain's American Dream]' (1996)
 * Clovis of Nazareth (1996)
 * Elvis Pinate' (1996)
 * Pseudoacoustic (1997)
 * Out of the Rain (Desert Rain comedy and music)
 * Television (1993)
 * Radio (1995)
 * The Next One (1996)