Eric Schenkman

[NitroLiq]

Guilty pleasure, maybe but I have always been into the Spin Doctors....not just the poppy hits you hear on the radio or see on MTV but the more jam-oriented stuff. What I find cool about it is the fact that they can craft songs for general consumption with killer hooks, then create these jam pieces where the lyrics get all poetic and literature inspired and the guitar playing smokes. Here's some nice marshall tone:

http://www.archive.org/details/spin2003-06-21.shnf (listen to Lady Kerosene...playing could be more intense on this version but it's always improvised so sometimes some nights are better than others).

Even better, if you've never heard any of their live stuff, try this one:

http://www.archive.org/details/spin01-09-07

That was the reunion show when the original group got together to celebrate the closing of Wetlands, the club they got their start at. Check out the whole refrigerator car > shinbone alley > hard to exist bit...the whole show is killer and a good showing of alot of their tunes. Bags of dirt, Lady Kerosene, Sweet Widow, and House are some other good ones. I dig Eric's guitar tone. Modded Marshalls with a modded fuzzface I believe. I think there's an octave on some of the stuff as well (you can hear it on the solo in shinbone ally after the scat bit).

Get down with your hippie selves!

[Mynameisfritz]

Sleep, ooh, sleep, lay down your head and sleep... - is that 'Sweet Widow'? I can't remember, but this song on the live-album is soo beautiful.

[NitroLiq]

Yeah, it is. Awesome track and really underrated band.