UPDATE: Due to leaks in the theater from rapidly-melting snow, The Center has had to cancel this show.
JACKSON, Wyo. — For an original-minded, funky resort town band to be touring and recording for eight years straight is an accomplishment alone. Though for Sneaky Pete & the Secret Weapons (SPSW), the opportunity to transpose its usual late night party show into “an evening with” inside the confines of Jackson’s largest performing arts space, there’s a clean slate of sorts. The quintet will expand and contract as an acoustic band before climaxing into a ten-piece electric groove ensemble on Tuesday at the Center Theater.
When I sat down last week in Teton Village with keyboardist Galen Karnatz and bassist Sam Lowenthal, it had been a little over six years since I chatted with the full band in advance of their debut Album Release Show for Breakfast, circa 2014. The band was in their mid-twenties and had been together for about two years at that point. The vibe of youthful, musical excitement was in the air.
“We’re all living together now and have been practicing like five days a week,” original drummer, Zach Zimmerman, had said during that interview.
Fast-forward to 2020, and the band’s third drummer, Andrew Keehn, is in his final stretch of shows with the band after replacing Philip Walker in late 2018 (his final show will be Under the Tram on Gaper Day). Much like the band’s roots, Keehn is one of three band members that still live together and maintain the band’s practice space in Wilson where collaborative composition and sweat equity are still relatively accessible for two of the band’s primary writers—Karnatz and guitarist/vocalist Jack Tolan.
“Andrew is going to be missed for sure,” Karnatz said.
“Yep, he’s a phenomenal drummer,” Lowenthal added.
“It’s changed a lot of our stuff, stylistically, and we’ve re-worked a lot of songs based on his ear, his sensibilities,” Karnatz explained. “[In general] the lineup changes—whether we like it or not— keep a fresh spin on it. It’s fun to hear Andrew say, ‘Hey, I think this part would sound better like this.’ It’s could be something that we may have not thought of, and going through things with a fine comb again is just good for the music.”
“We noticed with Phil, that teaching the body of work inevitably creates some creativity in the body of work,” said Lowenthal. “We didn’t want Andrew to play just like Phil and didn’t want Phil to play just like Zack because all of those guys have their strong points.”
The original Weapons—Karnatz, Lowenthal, Tolan, and trumpeter/vocalist/percussionist Bobby Griffith—have stayed the course together into their early thirties, carving out a niche in Jackson’s music scene as one of the few units in the last decade that can play frequent free shows while also filling ticketed shows at clubs. And while the upcoming show at the Center for the Arts might be a skosh above what fans are used to paying, it’s a culmination of many elements, and an opportunity to stretch out, yet again, in front of a hometown audience.
The band is not new, though, to hard work or taking on lofty goals. Similar to Phish, they’ve taken-on musical costumes like Talking Heads and Paul Simon albums for special shows that are planned months in advance. The foundation of being able to pull off such challenges stems from a baseline chemistry.
“We’re definitely more than the sum of our parts,” Lowenthal said. “Our group improvisation has come a long way since 2014. I don’t think we could really do that back then. Now, we can go somewhere completely different and bring it back, which is something we aspired to do in 2014 coming from a jamband mindspace, but being able to do that in a way that people enjoy, and we enjoy, has been pretty fun.”
“It’s been huge just learning the nuances of each other’s playing style over the years and lately, we’ve really working hard on listening to each other and being able to pick up on subtle changes when improvising,” said Karnatz. “As you grow musically and play with someone for a long time you can catch on to their tendencies or themes that are brought up in jams, and that comes from years of jamming together. We don’t have a phenom with regards to having a standout individual player. We’re much more of a group dynamic.”
The upcoming show will feature the quintet as an acoustic unit, rearranging songs to fit the context of an unplugged vibe. That means Karnatz on grand piano, Lowenthal on upright bass, Keehn on more percussion, Tolan on acoustic guitar, and Griffith blowing horn. The second set will build by adding a horn section featuring Mike Patton on trombone, Stephen Perry on sax, along with back-up singers Bri Moore and Sheena Dinesh, and original percussionist and frequent collaborator, Gregory Meyers.
“It’s been really fun working this acoustic set and totally rearrange some songs in an acoustic style,” Karnatz said. “We made one of our songs a bluegrass song and attacked it that way, and it’s a similar challenge to adding a new member.”
“We didn’t think [playing the Center] was attainable and we’ve been throwing the idea around of an acoustic set in that room for years,” Lowenthal reflected. “Just having the ability to approach this takes a certain type of venue, and playing a room that sounds that good will be really rewarding.”
“And a little nerve racking,” laughed Karnatz.
Sneaky Pete & the Secret Weapons, 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Center Theater. $32. JHCenterForTheArts.org.
