2009 has seen many seminal jambands and roots-rock acts return to the stage, but few have been more unexpected than From Good Homes’ surprise reunion. Formed in suburban New Jersey in the 1980s around the core trio of Todd Sheaffer (guitar), Brady Rymer (bass) and Patrick Fitzsimmons (drums), From Good Homes helped bridge the gap between early second generation jambands like Blues Traveler and organic pop groups likes Guster and Old Crow Medicine Show. After recruiting Dan Myers (saxophone) and Jamie Coan (multi-instrumentalist), the band settled in on an honest, Celtic-influenced brand of roots-influenced jam-pop and hit the road with the likes of Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, RatDog, Widespread Panic, Hootie & The Blowfish and Blues Traveler. The group was one of many jambands to be nabbed by the major labels in the mid-1990s after the success of Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler and Phish and released three albums on RCA. From Good Homes also holds the record for twelve consecutive sold-out shows at New York’s Irving Plaza.
From Good Homes parted ways in 1999 and, in the years since, Sheaffer formed Railroad Earth, Fitzsimmons released multiple albums as a singer/songwriter, Coan started performing with The Red Top Ramblers in the Charleston, SC-area, Rymer focused on Children’s music (he was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Musical Album for Children category earlier this year) and Myers formed a production company and studio that produced recordings for Adam Green and Sam Champion.
After a decade apart, the group will return to the stage for three shows this fall: a stealth club gig under the name Jefferson Township at New York’s Mercury Lounge (11/25) and two shows at Montclair, NJ’s Wellmont Theatre (12/18 and 19). Relix and Jambands.com caught up with the members of From Good Homes two days before Thanksgiving to discuss their upcoming reunion and future plans as a band.
Let’s start at the beginning. When did you first discuss the idea of a reunion?
Jamie: It’s been a couple months. Apparently Todd was the first one to get the idea rolling. I guess Rich Schaefer had approached him about doing a show with [New York/New Jersey promoters] Bowery Presents, and Todd emailed us a couple of months ago about it, and we all kind of jumped on it…well, kicked around the idea and then jumped on it.
Todd: We all talked about it over the years but the timing never seemed right or it never really felt right to each guy individually. I’m not sure why this time around when the inevitable “Do you wanna do something” came about we said yes. It just seemed like things fell into place and everybody was in a place in their own world where it felt right. It came together real quick—I think we first discussed the reunion in September and about a month later we were selling tickets and talking about rehearsing. Everything fell into place very naturally, and it happened quickly. I guess when the timing is right that’s the way things go.
Brady: Rich was a big fan. It being ten years away from the farewell show it felt time a good time to do it.
When did you start rehearsals?
Jamie: We got together about two weeks ago and then the week before Thanksgiving. It was good to see everybody again.
And I am correct in saying there have been no formal reunions since the band initially parted ways?
Jamie: That is correct. We did a couple numbers at a wedding several years ago but that was a private situation.
After being apart for ten years, playing in your own bands and spending time with your own families, what were those first rehearsals like? Was it hard to jump right back in these songs?
Todd: Well, we had a lot of talking to do first and just spent some time saying hi, but then it’s natural for us to just pick up our instruments and start playing together.
Jamie: It also took some time to work on our equipment again. We are using a lot of our old instruments for the reunion shows.
Todd: The funniest part is the band has been remarkably free of rust, but the equipment has needed more attention than the music it seems like. I plugged in my old tube amp. and it had a real vintage sound if you know what I mean [laughter].
Brady: I just bought a speaker at the repair shop right now, and so we’ve been tinkering with that but it seems to be coming together too. It was kind of funny, actually, to use the old gear and then, of course, some of our stuff has gotten sold, and you’re like, “Crap! I don’t have that anymore.”
Jamie: I changed my pickups in my instruments for different situations, and it didn’t work in the old situation so I had to change them back. That was the biggest challenge actually, getting the old sounds up.
Brady: Jamie’s worked on his sound a lot but I found this old bass amp I used in ‘86 and all through the ‘90’s. Like Todd said, I’m looking for that vintage sound [laughter]. The music has been really good, it’s been really fun. Like they say, its like riding a bike. The first time you play some of these songs you start to remember a few things, and then you run through them again, and you start to remember the arrangements and the dynamics and it starts to come back.
You all had such a history together, I am sure the music is in your muscles.
Brady: You just shut your eyes, and the less thinking you do the better. You just listen and play and magically it does come back.
Looking ahead to the your shows, you have three gigs coming up: a stealth show at Mercury Lounge as Jefferson Township and two gigs at the Wellmont. Do you plan to work out three different setlists or one really tight show?
Brady: That’s actually still in discussion, the actual shape and overall picture of each show we are going to present. One of the nice things, though, is we’ve been going by the philosophy of “Let’s not rule out any song right now, let’s play as much as we can and see what happens.” There were a lot of songs that we didn’t play in the later stage of our career that we played earlier on that we may bring back. And we know we have some diehard fans that want to go to all three of those shows, and so we really want to play as much as we can, and give them as much as we have.
Todd: It’s been fun. A couple of the tunes have surprised me. Like we played “Wake” yesterday, and for some reason it was never really one of my favorites to play back in the good old days, and yesterday I think I enjoyed playing it more than I ever had. Like Brady said, “until you try it with these ten years gone you don’t know how it’s going to sit.”
Jamie: And there’s songs like “I Only Want.” I don’t think there’s a show where we didn’t play that song, and I remember thinking at points, “Why do we play this song all the time.” Getting some distance from that song again, it’s a great song.
Though it has been years since From Good Homes last played, some of the band’s material has surfaced in your individual repertories. Are there any songs in particular you’ve played with consistency?
Brady: I play music for kids, and one song I’ve wanted to do, which I haven’t quite done yet, but I have been trying to learn is “Grandma’s Apple Dumplings.” I always thought that was a good From Good Homes song that could be a kid’s song. But, sometimes if Todd’s in the house and I’m playing a show, I’ll bring him up for a “Second Red Barn” or something like that. I think people appreciate that.
Todd: A handful of them have made it into the Railroad Earth repertoire. In my solo shows I play a lot of my other stuff because that gives me a good chance to play those songs—and I tend to draw people who want to hear those more at my solo shows.
Jamie: I was involved with a project in Wilmington, and we never really got around to it because I ended up moving down to Charleston but I was thinking about doing “Coming on Home.” I’ve covered “True Love” one point too when I was in New Jersey after From Good Homes broke up.
Looking back at your first round of rehearsals, having spent the last year playing everything from children’s music to bluegrass-inspired rock, are there certain differences you have noticed in each other’s playing?
Brady: Well, I don’t know. I don’t think we do anything so consciously, we really play very intuitively. I’m not going to push any Barney or Raffi on anybody [laughter]. I think you don’t want to color that moment or manipulate that moment so much because you want it to be real and special and you don’t know what’s going to happen, and that’s kind of the excitement of it.
Jamie: We’re not rearranging our material for these shows. We spent a good long time getting it to the right arrangement when we worked on it a decade ago.
Todd: And if it comes back to us great, and if it hasn’t, well…
Brady: Some things have taken to a little bit of a different feeling but we’re not consciously trying to do that. I think it’s funny because that direction or that spirit is built into the song so it’s kind of like what Todd was saying about “Wake” when he went back and started playing with that yesterday. If you don’t mess with it, it’s there and you either respond to it or not. The song kind of tells you where to go.
Jamie: One of the strengths about From Good Homes has always been the fact that everyone has their parts. They know their space, and work within that space and it all meshes together nicely.
How much time did you each spend listening back to the band’s old shows and albums?
Jamie: I had to do some listening at home because it’s been a long time.
It’s like homework.
Jamie: Yea, it’s like, “wait a minute, what did I do there?”
Todd: One of the things we’ve been doing just for kicks is going back to the very old demo tapes or some old live shows and just having a laugh and revisiting them. We’re not really listening to see how the song goes, but just to get the spirit again.
Mike: The night before Thanksgiving From Good Homes is playing its first show together in a decade under the name Jefferson Township. That was a name From Good Homes used on occasion to play some smaller rooms. How did you chose that name?
Jamie: Jefferson Township was one of several names we used, actually.
Brady: What were some of the other ones? I can’t remember…
Jamie: Mother Auntie was the first one, right? The way it originated was we started playing Irving Plaza and, contractually, we couldn’t play under the name of From Good Homes within a 25 or 50 mile radius. So when we wanted to do warm up gigs we booked ourselves and a smaller rooms like the Stanhope House in New Jersey and would use a completely different name. We’d just make a few phone calls and let that spread word of mouth.
Todd: And the name Jefferson Township is obviously a, hopefully, comical take on Jefferson Starship. The next town over from where we grew up is Jefferson Township. I don’t think we ever played the Mercury Lounge before, but at one point I think me and Brady counted the different places we played in New York City and came up with 68 different venues.
Brady: It sort of came on the scene right at the end, and we didn’t end up playing there.
Jamie: I remember hearing about the place but I’ve never been there.
Brady: We played everywhere except the Mercury Lounge, that’s why we’re playing there this time. We decided to cover every venue [laughter].
The jamband scene has changed a good deal since From Good Homes stopped touring. What would you say is the biggest change in the scene since 1999?
Jamie: We were on the road with Bob Weir when Jerry Garcia died, and, of course, The Dead were kings of that jamband scene. After that, without The Dead in the picture, groups like Phish were starting to dominate that scene, and taking over the Deadheads. Beyond that I don’t know. We played with Bob in New Hampshire that night Jerry Garcia died.
Brady: I don’t think anyone there would ever forget. That was a pretty daunting task we had in front of us because we were opening the show. We really didn’t think we should play, and we talked to Bob Weir and he said Jerry would want you to go on and play your hearts out. And that’s what we did, and it was just an incredible night.
Jamie: It was a very somber audience, and there was an incredible vigil outside.
Todd: Yeah, that was a special show I’ll tell you.
Brady: It seems like to me, when we were in our heyday, the biggest festival type thing happening was the H.O.R.D.E. tour. The H.O.R.D.E. tour was a coming together of all these bands that you would put under the jamband umbrella. They were certainly all of our peers, that was our scene, and at the Wetlands.
Jamie: Col. Bruce Hampton and Widespread Panic were there too.
Todd: Other than the H.O.R.D.E. tour I don’t remember a big festival community happening, and since then there seems like a whole bunch of festivals where this community comes together and kind of unifies itself. Its kept that scene alive and made it grow.
Jamie: I remember when Gathering of the Vibes was brand new on the scene back then. I think we were supposed to be on the very first one or one of the early ones.
If you had continued as a band, where do you think From Good Homes would be today?
Brady: Wow, dead maybe?
Todd: One thing is there was a last group of songs we worked on and messed around with in the recording studio on our own. It was more open ended, longer jams, longer songs—I think we were evolving over the years as a more improvisational band that was still structured around the songs. So who knows, you know? It’s an interesting question, but those were the last projects we did. I think we would have kept on growing in individual ways, bringing new things to the band.
Brady: I think that inevitably would have happened. For a stretch there we had an awful lot of pressure on us from the major label world. I think that pressure would have lifted and would have opened up some things for us. It’s an interesting question but there was a reason we had a break.
Speaking of changes, have any of your fans found success in other areas of the entertainment industry?
Jamie: Our old manager is Dave Matthews Band’s stage manager.
Todd: Jon Stewart’s doing pretty well!
Jamie: Who’s that other guy? Stephen Colbert.
Brady: And that breakout star Jennifer Aniston. We had a song in her movie!
Finally, can we expect any more reunion gigs?
Brady: You’re going to have to keep your eyes peeled for Jefferson Township or the Cheesecake Factory or something like that.
Jamie: I don’t know we’ll have to see. Who knows?
Todd: One thing that’s remarkable is I don’t think we had any idea about what would happen when we announced we were playing a couple concerts. Almost immediately we were pretty overwhelmed—not only how many people love their From Good Homes, but also how quickly how they found out about it and responded it to us.
