‘Funkalicious’
Colorado’s Elder Grown plays ‘a bunch of genres smooshed together’
Sam Kelly is gearing up for the winter season of touring.
It’s going to slow down quite a bit, which will make time for some new music.
Kelly plays saxophone for the Coloradobased rock band Elder Grown.
He describes the genre as “funkalicious” rock and roots.
“It’s a bunch of genres smooshed together,” he says with a laugh. “That’s the best thing about this band. It think a lot of our influence stems from this reggae rock. But I would say our sound is more rock and funk with sprinkles of reggae.”
Joining Kelly in the band are Brandon Clark and the Hoffman brothers — Josh, John and Paul. The band has been together more than 10 years.
Kelly says the band has grown closer over the years.
“We’re so in sync that we switch instruments during our sets,” he says. “There’s also an advantage to having brothers in the band. They helped create this bond that includes all of us.”
Elder Grown is also readying its new single, “Subconscious Beast.”
The band hopes to have an album out in early 2018; the working title is “Beast.”
Kelly says the band has been working on the album for a couple of years and the members are self-producing the album in the home studio.
“We’re taking the time to do it right,” he says. “Having a studio at home is nice, because it’s at our home. We have the convenience to just pop into the studio. It also takes away the sense of urgency we’ve had in the past with albums. We can get more takes for each song. The downside is that it draws out the process a little bit more. But we get to make sure that we are getting what we want.”
Because Elder Grown is based in Colorado, Kelly says, gigs in New Mexico often pop up.
“I think we’ve played New Mexico more than any other state,” he says with a laugh. “We always look forward to get back because the community has been so supportive of what we are doing.”