Photo: Adam Greuel - Facebook
Adam Greuel & The Space Burritos
Adam Greuel & The Space Burritos
The late Gram Parsons’ free range appetite for music led to coining the term “Cosmic American Music,” owing to his influences that ranged from Hank Williams to the Bee Gees, from soul music to the Rolling Stones.
So, it is fitting that Adam Greuel of Horseshoes and Hand Grenades would nod to Parsons with the name of his multi-faceted side project, The Space Burritos.
Adam Greuel & The Space Burritos will perform with Driveway Thriftdwellers at The Back Room @ Colectivo, Friday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
“Well, honestly, I've always just really enjoyed ‘Country-Rock n' Roll.’ Outfits like The Band, Little Feat, Marshall Tucker Band—Gram Parsons just always kind of got me going in the right kinda way. I had come across some really good players that I became pals with over time, and so it felt like the door was opening to make some different music than what I was used to,” Greuel says.
“There was a serendipity to it, for sure. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades was slowing down from our relatively insane tour schedule, largely because of a couple of the guys having youngsters, so it just seemed like there was time do some musical exploring. I'm really happy it worked that way, because it's been a great joy making music with Burritos.”
Aside from Parsons, Greuel also cites the late Col. Bruce Hampton, leader of the Hampton Grease Band and later, the Aquarium Rescue Unit, as inspiration—perhaps by way of the ultimate open-minded artist, Sun Ra.
“He had this motto, ‘Space is the place.’ The thing that I love about Col. Bruce and his legacy is that he really focused on letting individuals be themselves on stage and as musicians,” Greuel explains. “From what I understand, as I didn’t get the chance to actually play with him, he was kind of a master of guiding people to be exactly who they were, to play to their essence. I just think that's beautiful. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you have to pretend to be someone else to make someone happy.”
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Flavors of the Burritos
Greuel has been fortunate to populate the Space Burritos with some of the most talented musicians in the Midwest and like a crazy diamond, his gratitude shines. “I’m really damn lucky to get to make music with them. Everyone is pretty busy, so sometimes the lineup shifts a little, but it's always really fun, and always really explorative.”
The group includes Maxaphone Saxophone on the saxophone and EWI (electronic wind instrument); Kenny Leiser on fiddle and vocals; Andrew Koenig on guitar; Kevin Rowe on bass and Nick Lang on drum kit. “The thing I love the most … is the way we all play together. There’s ‘big ears’ on stage, meaning that everyone is really in tune with each other and hearing where the music is going. It's best when the song plays the band, so to speak.”
Greuel says a Space Burritos album is in the works this year. He bides his time, moving among HHG, Rucksack Revolution—the acoustic duo with Sara Vos of Dead Horses; The High Hawks (root rock with members of Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth and Hard Working Americans) and comedy songwriting with Charlie Berens.
His perspective is one of an old soul. “I'm so grateful to have a plethora of musical outlets. Admittedly, when it became apparent that HHG’s schedule would have to be greatly reduced, I was pretty anxious and lost,” Greuel recalls. “When you put so much time and energy and thought into a project, it’s hard not to have it become a significant part of your identity. That was definitely the case for me. However, as the universe is so great at doing, doors opened, and my perspective shifted over time.”
With the Space Burritos Greuel finds that the players “love how much we all respect a sense of musical freedom. I think we all really enjoy the exploration of it all.”
He says they joke that it's some kind of mission. “I think the mission is to have oodles of fun, spread that joy to the folks in the room, and see what kind of musical ‘space’ we can navigate. Playing with these guys has been an absolute joy, and I know in my heart that there’s a heck of a lot of missions that we haven’t even begun to dream up yet. It’s only the beginning of this particular spaceship ride, I suspect.”
