Gnarled Roots wrote the book on jams that start as one song and then become another. Some would these medleys, but there’s so much space between the separate melodies that the tunes are related only by the music not happening to stop between them.
“It’s true,” admits bassist Bay Grimm. “we spend more time on the transitions than we do on the songs. I love it. It’s a real job for a rhythm section.”
Grimm and drummer “Sven” Pence have to reroute the tempos, sweeten the counterpoints and even change keys. The more jarring two songs would seem right next to each other, the more the band strategizes to smooth them out. “Yep.” (Bay again.) “We’ve been known to add a third song we don’t care so much about, so we can make it from one we like to another one more, what would you say—eloquently?
“It’s all about how you get there. We take the train one way, and fly back.”