Bozeman group sneaks area stops into bicoastal tour with fellow neo-bluegrassers
Montana-bred bluegrass outfit Kitchen Dwellers are captivating fans across the country with their high energy live performances and unique approach to traditional music fans have dubbed “Galaxy Grass.” Formed while attending Montana State University, the group has since burst onto the national bluegrass scene. Kitchen Dwellers have shared the stage with acts such as Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Twiddle. The band has taken the stage at notable venues and festivals including Brooklyn Bowl, the Fox Theatre, DelFest, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Northwest String Summit, and the Frendly Gathering. The band continues to push the boundaries of their genre in 2017.
Kitchen Dwellers is comprised of Joe Funk (bass), Shawn Swain (mandolin), Torrin Daniels (banjo), and Max Davies (guitar). The band released their eponymous debut in 2013, followed by Ghost In the Bottle, their latest, last spring. In anticipation of their upcoming Missoula and Bozeman performances, The Rolling Zone had a quick chat with Davies about making music and the band’s co-headlining tour with five string-lovin’ Wisconsinites.
RZ: You’re gearing up for a fall tour with Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, bringing two shows to Montana on Oct. 31st and Nov. 1st. How did that pairing come about? Can fans plan on some stage collaborations?
MD: Absolutely. There’ll be collaborations the whole fall tour, leading up to those. I’m sure by then we will have concocted and schemed for a very fun and interesting couple of nights in Montana. We consider those guys to be great friends. The two bands met at Telluride something like five years ago. We’ve done shows with them all over the country, and seen them at a bunch of festivals — and we’re around the same age range so we’re having a ball.
RZ: At least in the broad “Americana” genre, it seems like more and more artists are teaming up for nationwide outings like this. This is obviously cost-effective, but I would think it would also open up a new fan base for the respective bands and give audiences a pretty killer show.
MD: Yeah. To co-headline a tour, we’ll get people out West and from other places that’ll come and see us and they’ll get turned on to Horseshoes. Then we’re going to places where they’re huge and not many people have heard us. So we’ll get a lot more ears listening to each respective band.
RZ: “Americana” is a blanket term, but this group has been known to fuse genres and revitalize conventions. For those unfamiliar with Kitchen Dwellers’ music, who is this band and what can they expect to experience at a live show? 
MD: We probably do fall into the Americana genre. We do some songwriting, try to have songs that have verses and choruses and hooks and all that, but we also like to experiment a lot. We have a lot influence from experimental and improvisational music. At a show, you can expect we’ll go places with the music and won’t necessarily know where we’re going. We just kind of play it by ear.
RZ: It’s so awesome to see a Bozeman group doing so well on the national circuit. It’s got to be pretty surreal to now work a few Montana shows into a bicoastal tour.
MD: It’s great. I’ve been playing The Filler, forever. To go back there and play The Filler on our tour, seeing that on all the dates — it’s just so cool. It’s awesome. We’re pumped to be able to come back and play here.
RZ: Considering Kitchen Dwellers’ experience thus far, what are your thoughts on the Montana music scene as a jumping-off point for aspiring musicians?
MD: I think it’s great because, for one, the community really rallies around local musicians and bands. Seeing it with all the other bands in Bozeman and Missoula, everyone supports each other. As they say, it’s better to go to be any sized fish in a small pond as opposed to in LA or New York where everyone’s trying to do it.
RZ: Let’s talk albums. Ghost In the Bottle released in April following the self-titled debut back in 2013. Would you say there was a noticeable tonal shift between the first and second collections?
MD: Yeah, absolutely. For one, I wasn’t even in the band for the first one. [laughs] The band’s been together for seven years, and things have changed throughout. The old guitar player was the primary songwriter on the first album, and on this one we kind of all collaborated. It sounds like a completely different band. This album was more produced. We spent a lot more time with how it sounds, and making sure the whole thing was something really worthy of listening to from start to finish. I’d say [the albums] sound quite a bit different.
RZ: So on the flip side, have you noticed what the Kitchen Dwellers have managed to retain while still being able to evolve as a band of performers?
MD: I was in a separate band that used to play shows with [Kitchen Dwellers], and people definitely came looking to have an awesome time. Our shows are a giant party — a lot of dancing. I think that’s been retained, along with just playing our butts off. That’s always been a mainstay. We’re gonna play as hard as we can.
RZ: If you could choose an anecdote from the creation and/or performing of these albums, which would you select that might best represent this band’s intentions?
MD: So Andy Thorn produced the second album. Working with him was absolutely surreal. We basically holed up in the mountains of Colorado for like a week, spent day and night working on it. It was hilarious. We had so much fun. The reason we got to work with Andy was because he saw that we’re just trying to have fun with it. And that’s where we see ourselves going in the future, not taking it too seriously. We’re making music. It should be fun.
RZ: What off-genre artists might we be surprised to hear Kitchen Dwellers bust out at a show?
MD: Well we just played a Bruno Mars song last weekend, so we definitely do a random array of covers. We’ll do a Genesis cover, a Bad Company cover — it’s fun doing bluegrass because you can play covers and they won’t sound like the original. They’re fresh to people’s ears.
RZ: So “Kitchen Dwellers.” What’s the story behind the name?
MD: The name came from the very first house Shawn lived in. The only place in the house that was big enough to practice and play was in the kitchen.
RZ: Although Ghost just came out in the spring, are there any intriguing ideas or immediate plans for new material that might end up on a future release?
MD: Yeah. We’re planning on going back in the studio in January because we have so much new material. When you play as much as we do, it’s easy to get burnt out on songs, so you kind of make a concerted effort to come up with new material. We’ve been trying to do that lately. We just played some new songs at Groovin’ On. We’re going to put out a new [album] as soon as possible.
RZ: Looking forward to that for sure. Thanks for chatting with us, Max. Any last words?
MD: We’re pumped for the tour. We’ll have some fun stuff planned for the Halloween shows. Even though the Filler show is the day after, we’ll probably still be celebrating.
While strongly rooted in bluegrass, old-time, and folk music, Kitchen Dwellers’ tour mates Horseshoes & Hand Grenades produce a sound drawing on the vaults of music collectively and individually enjoyed throughout the course of the band members’ lives. The music doesn’t lend itself well to categories or boundaries. Inspired by rivers, valleys, good friends, and good drink, this five-piece is as sturdy as any Midwest riverbed and will make your toes tap from sundown to sunrise.
Wisconsin-based, the band is comprised of David C. Lynch, (harmonica, accordion, spoons) Russell Pedersen (banjo, fiddle), Adam Greuel (guitar, dobro), Sam Odin (bass, vocals), and Collin Mettelka (fiddle, mandolin). Horseshoes & Hand Grenades have released three original albums — Another Round, This Old Town, and Middle Western — as well as a live compilation. Their new single, “The Ode,” comes ahead of the band’s to be released fourth effort and is available now.
Kitchen Dwellers will perform alongside Horseshoes & Hand Grenades on Wednesday, November 1st at The Filling Station beginning at 8pm. The evening will also feature Cascade Crescendo. Advance tickets to this 21+ show are $18 in store at Cactus Records or www.cactusrecords.
A little further west? The tour hits Missoula’s Top Hat Lounge the evening prior, Tuesday, October 31st, at 9pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and available at www.tophatlounge.c
