We had a funky good time when JACK RYAN and Co., aka THE SHADY RECRUITS did their thang at Horizon Records in The Bohemian Cafe, playing some of the groove-heavy jazz-rock tunes off their new self-titled album, and we’ve got said album in-stock on CD; drop by and pick one up!
Jack Ryan is not a man who likes to have time on his hands. The Upstate drummer has spent much of the last four years playing a 200-show-a-year schedule as part of The Marcus King Band, the fiery, fast-rising Greenville blues-rock band led by one of the best young guitarists in the country. But rather than relax when he’s back in his hometown and away from the grind, Ryan decided to form a side band called The Shady Recruits. Together, the band digs into deep funk grooves and jazzy improvisation, styles that Ryan doesn’t get to delve into too often with King.
“It’s still very much in its infancy, but the music is really ambitious,” Ryan says. “I want to leave it open to different genres and styles, with more improvisation. But it’s probably going to change the more we get to play.”
The Shady Recruits started in late 2016 when Charles Hedgepath asked Jack Ryan to be part of his Tuesday night residency at Smiley’s Acoustic Cafe on Augusta Street. “Charles wanted me to start my own thing so I could bring something different to his Tuesday night series at Smiley’s,” Ryan says. “It was a way for him to be able to bring guys from The Marcus King Band in without having to say, ‘Hey, it’s The Marcus King band!’ It was also a chance for me to play with David Katilius. He’s one of my best friends and one of my favorite bass players, and I don’t get to play with him much because Marcus King band is on the road so much. With the Shady Recruits I had an excuse to play with him, Justin Johnson and with Marcus White. Together, the band digs into deep funk grooves and jazzy improvisation.
The full cast of Recruits includes keyboardist Marcus White of Chattanooga’s Soul Mechanic, bassist David Katilius of Greenville’s Earsight and The Jordan Okrend Experience, guitarist Charles Hedgepath of Greenville’s The Bad Popes and The Work, and trumpeter and trombonist Justin Johnson of the Marcus King Band, and their just-released six-song EP, recorded at Echo Mountain studios in Asheville, is a blast of funk, rock n’ jam; it’s music that’s meant to be played live, and we’re gonna groove on Sunday, Oct. 20th!
