Dogs in a Pile matures and grows on ‘Bloom’ Sept. 30 at State Theatre
Dogs in a Pile is natural talent emerging from the tides of musically significant, sunny and seaside Asbury Park, New Jersey. The sounds-of-summer favorite has performed for sold-out crowds up and down the coast and at shows in more than 40 cities. Its effect on boardwalk visitors has inspired an in-demand hazy IPA and a rabid fanbase. Fans of Frank Zappa, prog rock, earworm showtunes and jam-band staples should take note.
- Dogs in a Pile is, from left, Joe Babick, Jeremy Kaplan, Jimmy Law, Brian Murray and Sam Lucid.
- Photo courtesy of Nick Codina
The State Theatre will host feel-good, original jams with the Happy Valley debut of Dogs in a Pile at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, with opening band The Roof.
Dogs in a Pile is guitarist Jimmy Law (of Philadelphia’s University of the Arts); drummer Joe Babick (of the Count Basie Theater program in Red Bank, New Jersey); and bassist Sam Lucid, keyboardist Jeremy Kaplan and guitarist Brian Murray (all of Berklee School of Music in Boston).
Most of the young band is closing in on a decade of performing together, but the still-younger quintet version started in 2019 with the addition of Murray. The musicians’ overall prodigious talent has led them to improv-music festivals and on years of tours, sharing billing with established names in the improv funk and jam scene like Twiddle, Goose and Disco Biscuits.
Murray said the band hears its share of age-related comments, but he added that the biggest misconception is that they are a Grateful Dead cover band, “and we’re not.”
"We’re super psyched for the State College show. It’s going to be our first time there, and we’ve heard great things"
- Dogs in a Pile guitarist Brian Murray
The general expectation of a seasoned band is that the musicians can work together to weave a colorful aural tapestry. Boasting a well-rounded experiential sound, the Dogs are literally ever-evolving students of jazz, bluegrass and rock techniques, and each artist brings his own musical choices and influences.
“People think we’re older than we are, but we’re like 20 to 25,” Murray said. “It’s a compliment that people think we’ve been going at it longer, but we’ve only been around for four years.”
Dogs in a Pile shows forward-thinking maturity on “Bloom,” the second studio album. Murray said the band collaborated with veteran Nashville producer Chris Pappas, “so there’s more of a contemporary vibe than our first album.”
The band’s prodigious and varied talent takes shape. Swooning layers build to aural highs on the beach-dusted Southern blues-rocker “Fenway”; weave between alt-country and anthemic rock in “All the Same”; conjure ’80s funk-rock riffs in “Hesitate”; and wander into Bruces Springsteen and Hornsby territory with “Rum and Roses.” By the end of blues-fueled, piano-driven “Say Something,” the album’s closing track, you’re looking to Dogs in a Pile as the adults in the room.
- Dogs in a Pile have performed at festivals all summer, including Peach Fest.
- Photo courtesy of Nick Codina
“We cut down on some of the hamming and focused on the getting the songs as prepped as we could for the studio,” Murray said.
It’s a grown-up take for a band with the freedom and the chops to run musically with abandon. Is there a such thing as too much improvisational jam?
“We’ve been talking a lot about improv and working on listening exercises, and listening to other bands that do that sort of thing. We’re learning a lot,” he said. “If we hit a roadblock, we go into the next song and start over, or use a new technique that we we’re working on trying to keep it as interesting as we can.”
This year’s schedule has been nonstop for the band, including appearances on Jam Cruise 19; and at Summer Camp Music Festival, Tranceatlantic event in Iceland; Adirondack Independence Music Festival, Flood City Music Festival, Peach Fest, and two nights at the Capitol Theatre with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. The fall tour includes more touring gigs with Andy Frasco & The U.N. and Pigeons; and festival dates including The Ramble Festival featuring the Del McCoury Band. The band will cap off the year with a two-night New Year’s Eve headlining run in Saratoga Springs, New York.
- The Roof is Francis Musaraca (vocals), Jake Finkbiner (lead guitar), Ivan Zvorsky (guitar and bass) and Skyler Scholl (drums).
- Photo courtesy of The Roof
Pittsburgh-based band The Roof will open for Dogs in a Pile.
“Those guys can play,” The Roof drummer Skyler Scholl said of Dogs. “We spent a lot of time crafting our live show, and it’s always great to be in the company of great musicians.”
Scholl said The Roof—its members 2019 Penn State graduates—learned all about sacrifice and hard work toiling in the State College bar scene, so returning to perform is like self-care.
“It’s nice to be reminded of the effort we put in to get where we are,” he said. “It feels like we’re watering our roots a little more when we come back.”
Heather Longley is an arts writer living in Centre County.
