![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/dr_bacon.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJesse Talbott is a songwriter and the lead singer in Dr. Bacon, a band originally from Boone that relocated to Asheville in 2016. It’s difficult to pin down the musical style of Dr. Bacon; that challenge arises from the fact that the group’s musical journey has been punctuated by a number of genre shifts and personnel changes. The band \u2013 which describes its current style as funk rock \u2013 played Asheville’s Isis Music Hall on February 18.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bacon took some time to develop its sound. Talbott says that the original group knew what it liked when starting out. \u201cIt was kind of alt-rock,\u201d he says. \u201cBut when we started busking on the streets in Boone, we quickly learned that if you play bluegrass, you get paid to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the early lineup of Dr. Bacon developed what Talbott describes as a \u201cpunk bluegrass style,\u201d with an emphasis on danceability. That acoustic trio lineup featured two guitars and a mandolin, with one of the guitarists occasionally switching to djembe.<\/p>\n
The group would add members and continue in that musical direction for about a year, though even then Dr. Bacon mixed in other styles. \u201cWe also played rap covers in a bluegrass setting,\u201d Talbot says. We did Lil Jon & the East Size Boyz’ ‘Get Low’ and ‘Colt 45’ by Afroman. People just ate it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But shortly thereafter, the group’s original mandolin and banjo players left the group. \u201cSo we kind of steered away from bluegrass,\u201d Talbott says. \u201cWe headed to a more rock ‘n’ roll, bluesier sound.\u201d And with the group’s recent move to Asheville, they changed course yet again. \u201cWe just started heading in the funk direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once settled in Asheville, the band entered a recording studio in early 2016 to cut an album. But not long after it was completed, the band faced yet another challenge. They had already been chosen to take part in the 2016 \u201cLast Band Standing\u201d competition when \u201cour bass player, the drummer and the banjo player all quit,\u201d Talbott says. Three weeks before the high-profile event, the remaining members found themselves in a make-or-break moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found a bass player and a drummer the next day,\u201d Talbott says. The new lineup practiced 30-40 hours a week. \u201cIt was insane,\u201d Talbott recalls. \u201cit was grueling. One of the guys lost a job over it.\u201d But the experience galvanized Dr. Bacon, and the group won the competition. \u201cI think that energy that the new guys brought into it was what really won it for us,\u201d Talbott says. \u201cBecause we wanted it; we were hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those studio sessions remain unreleased. \u201cWe now have this product that we no longer even sound like,\u201d Talbott admits. \u201cWe spent all the money and time for something we couldn’t even use.\u201d Listeners who want to hear what the ever-changing band sounds like now can hear them at the Isis show in February. The band also has many live sets available online at archive.org and on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Dr. Bacon has completed a more recent EP that almost<\/i> features the current lineup. \u201cOur drummer got nabbed by Caleb Johnson, the 2013 American Idol<\/i> winner, so we just got a new drummer last week,\u201d Talbott explains. Meanwhile, the initial CD run of the new EP sold out quickly, so the band has pressed up more for sale at shows.<\/p>\n
The current Dr. Bacon lineup features seven musicians; singer-guitarist Talbott and Myles Dunder (vocals, guitar, saxophone) remain from the group’s early acoustic trio days in Boone. And the banjo is still part of Dr. Bacon’s sound, providing a thread of continuity \u2013 albeit a thin one \u2013 with the group’s earliest days. \u201cWe’re doing more of what we want to do,\u201d says Talbott, \u201cinstead of just what was getting us paid.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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