Dogs in a pile Intro

Dogs in a Pile Introduction:

Quintessential shows with notes and a forward from Some Saxy Art

Forward:

Hello. If you are reading this you are a friend I care about deeply and want to share my love of a young new band with you.

Getting into new bands can be difficult without some direction or a push from a friend. I’ll say it now that if you’re not interested it’s no worries and don’t feel like you have to force anything.

If you’re still with me, here are 11 shows that I think could help you find your footing as a dogs fan. For what it’s worth, there are so many more shows a member of the band or more experienced dogs fan could add to this list. In fact I don’t even have any shows from 2021, of which there are 14 on Nugs at the moment.

In terms of attendance bias I’ve been to 5 out of 11 of these shows. Full transparency. Your favorite dogs show might be in this list, it might be on your own deep dive, it might be the first show you attend in person.

If you just care about the tunes feel free to dive in right now. Skip the story and go right down to a recommendation and throw it on. However if you want a bit of backstory on what you’re hearing, I’ll contextualize it semi-quickly right here for you.

Dogs in a pile rose out of the asbury park NJ music scene. Playing at small bars and clubs like the wonder bar and the stone pony. If you’re unfamiliar this is the where Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and a host of other world class musicians and rock stars have set their roots and sprouted.

The Jersey shore story is one of blue collar vacation towns. Former Meccas of family entertainment and yes sometimes conservative values, but are ultimately hard working and loving folks who have been through great economic struggles, natural disasters and cultural struggles of identity.

Where dogs comes into the equation is the intersection with the ever blossoming psychedelic music scene and general renaissance we’ve been experiencing as a society since the 60s and even beyond when you look deeper at the roots of any one idea. We’re currently experiencing a resurgence of this momentum and energy. Or maybe it’s been happening this whole time for those with eyes to see it.

Anyway, Dogs are a family band. And when I use the word family I mean it in the true Grateful Dead way. Literal family roots, parents of the band involved in the scene and its history combined with new found family coming together in the Dog Pound. Home is where you make it.

Jimmy Law, guitarist, grew up in a family of deadheads who went to shows and played in cover bands. My close friend Chris Fay’s father, Chris Fay sr, played in a dead cover band and would invite Jimmy on stage when Jimmy was a kid before he could even really play. Like almost to the point people are like that’s cute and all but get the kid off the stage let’s go already. But before they realized it, Jimmy could keep up. He’s a Jersey legend in the dead cover scene.

Brian Murray, guitarist, has been going to Phish shows since his early teen years and brings a unique picking style and brilliant songwriting to the fold. Brian studied at Berklee school of music. Jeremy Kaplan, keys and synth wizard, went to Berklee school of music on Billy Joel’s scholarship and is literally a wizard. He brings a wonderful combination of virtuosity and showmanship whether he’s playing a synthy sound, dabbling in ragtime roots, or imitating any number of comedic musical stylings. Sam Lucid studied bass at Berklee, and is a massive bicuits fan. He brings that influence and unbelievable coolness fused with hard rock/punk/edm melting pot of more modern genres into to the mix. And Joey Babick, drums, is 3-4 years younger than everyone else and is driving jams and carrying his weight with an intense ferocity. He just turned 21. The rest of the band is 25.

If you’re looking for a weak link in the chain here I promise you will not find it.

They started as a cover band, (We know how that one goes), playing backyard parties during the pandemic just for friends and family who were all having a tough time missing community and family and music. We can say what we want now about breaking quarantine and yadayadayada but the origin was one of family and connection and bringing people together through music. We’re really lucky to be around these guys. They’re a part of something larger than themselves and they’re also uniquely individual. That’s the yin and the yang. That two things can be the same and different and the beauty is recognizing the difference between. and if you’re still reading this and I’m losing you with the woo woo talk, just know that I love ya anyway. The horseshoe bends back around and it’s not you vs me, or conservative vs liberal. It’s love versus hate. That’s what the dogs are, they are love. So are contemporaries like Daniel Donato and Eggy Music and Sicard Hollow. It’s a community thing. It’s a family affair.

Without further ado…

1/15/22 Brooklyn Bowl Philly PA

My first dogs show. This is them as an opener for Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. A talented band that objectively gets too much flak. Er, flock?

Anyway I’m including this show/story for context where I got on the bus, joined the circus, flew with the flock… hopped into the dog pound.

The rest of the notes will be a lot shorter I promise.

I hadn’t started making art for bands yet. I got my iPad to try drawing professionally in 2020 during the pandemic. Since 2021 had been doing passion projects on deadlot and commissions for whatever weird trippy business the instagram algorithms led me to. It was during this show I realized my calling was to pair my art with music. Almost as if blessed by some universal timing, Jimmy was in the crowd for Pigeons after the the dogs’ opening performance and ended up grooving right next to me. Following suit of my favorite dead lot artists, I always had stickers at shows to hand out to people. Shoutout Helen/zazzcorp for being the very first person to believe in me and push me to actually go for it when I confronted her with these feelings towards a calling. She’s my art mom and showed me how to format my work for commercial screen printing.

Back to the stickers. One in particular was a sticker that said “eat ass” and it’s got a hot dog that’s also a wiener-dog eating its own ass. I had a couple others too but I knew in that moment I had to get these dog themed stickers to Jimmy. I turned and grabbed his shoulders and told him how amazing that set was and we need to work together and I shoved my stickers in his hand and he could not have been kinder and more welcoming to the idea. We were both fucked up from what I remember, I no longer drink at shows but I’m grateful both Jimmy was in a state of mind to receive what I was offering and I was in a state of mind to take the leap. 3-6 months later I did my first project for them. 2 years later I’ve worked with Trey Anastasio, Goose and have official project licensed by The Grateful Dead. It would not be so without my initial connection to Dogs in a pile and Jimmy Law believing in me. At least it wouldn’t have happened yet.

8/21/22 Union Craft Brewery, Baltimore MD

I wasn’t there but everyone who was tells me what a hallmark it was. One listen and you’ll get why. The Go Set and Bent Strange are particular favorites here. Note that Go Set is still being played as an instrumental, lyrics were not added until 2023. I love that we got to watch this song come together on stage.

12/2/22 The Foundry, Philly PA

Dogs first headlining show in Philadelphia. My first screenprinted poster for the Dogs and 2nd screenprinted poster ever. Phenomenal show that just kept going. Eagles were playing super hot and they played a Bird Song. To Jimmy Laws’s Giant Football loving chagrin I’m sure. My boy Sam Lucid rocked that eagles Jersey.

12/18/22 The Stone Pony, Asbury Park NJ

Dogs and Sicard Hallow jam together here for a holiday get down for the ages. Any dogs show at the Stone Pony is an automatic special one. The energy in the room is unmatched and it’s them playing for their family and their roots. Highlight is the “Helter Dust Skelter Torture.” If you’re not familiar, buckle up.

11/19/22 Mercury Lounge, NYC

Dogs showcase an impressive variety of sound here. From Greta, to Clint Eastwood, to EDM song to After Midnight. Just god damn.

3/17/23 Putnam Place, Saratoga Springs NY

Brian Murray recommended this show to me so I thought it would be nice to recommend it to you.

It’s also the show with the debut Go Set lyrics written by Brian Murray.

4/5/23 Lost Lake Lounge, Denver CO

Here’s the Dogs doing the Dead. It’s just everything you could ever want and more.

Dogs made their way out west and to Colorado a bunch in 2023 and were received with open arms and sold out shows at numerous stops along the way.

5/21/23 Eldborg Concert Hall, Reykjavik Iceland

First international show. Landmark out of country experience. Thanks to the Disco Biscuits for making it possible. This is one I’ll forever regret missing but you can’t do em all. I know now that my place is with the dog pound.

7/7/23 Stone Pony, Asbury Park NJ

I love and hate the passing of the torch bit. I hate when people take it too seriously or assume there’s a solitary one torch being passed. I love the memes though. And I love the idea of a more experience artist honoring that they see the light and inspiration in another younger one. This is a special show for that reason. Tom Marshall (phish lyricist) and Dogs hosted an event and show before the Trey Band show at Stone Pony, which I happened to do the poster for, a really miraculous universal moment for me in all honesty…

And I wasn’t even there for it. I was saying goodbye to the Grateful Dead and the friends I had made on Lot and that sun setting. I do not regret this decision, being out west for dead and Co was where I needed to be. Every exit is an entrance.

Anyway, Tom sat in to play the song Evolve during this set, a song originally written for Trey anastasio. If you know Trey and and you know the song evolve and the whole context for the jam scene as a whole, you know how special a moment that truly is. I’ll forever be sad I missed it but grateful that it happened.

10.

8/7/23 Great Divide Campground, Newton NJ

This is the 2nd year for the Dogs festival at the great divide campground in the Jersey Pines. It’s a beautiful place to go and listen to music so the friends. It’s low key family vibes and I can’t recommend it enough. I’ll see you there next year. The Craig and Pat is great here and so is the Charlie>Battenkill Breakdown>Charlie.

11.

12/16/23 Stone Pony, Asbury Park NJ

Another Stone Pony treasure. Not too much to say about this one right now as the recency bias is strong but the jams aside there were some really sweet and fun moments with tooker (tour manager and amazing person) coming out in full costume for a “You’re a mean on Mr Grinch.”

Then any true Jersey music fan’s dream encore of Jimmy Law honoring Springsteen with his beautiful gritty voice on a born to run. And the whole room dying of laughter and joy as Sam Lucid channeled his inner Jersey Boy, Franki Valli, for a beautiful rendition of December, 1963 (Oh, What a night).

Honorable Mention of Jimmy Law messing up the words to Born to Run when they played it at Sea Hear Now. Another landmark show for the band in Sept of 2022 unfortunately not on Nugs Streaming at the moment. Truly channeling and connecting their love and inspiration of the history of Asbury Park and New Jersey music scene with a classic Bob Weir forget the lyrics but it’s okay because we love you know and we know the song anyway, and we know you know the song too.