Grease Factor

Shane Theriot's Grease Factor Includes Jeff Sipe, Johnny Neel and Count M’Butu

Next Tuesday marks the public debut of Grease Factor, a band assembled by Shane Theriot (Neville Brothers) for his forthcoming release of the same name. The group is essentially a Southern Jam Super Group, consisting of drummer Jeff Sipe (ARU, Susan Tedeschi, Apt. Project), keyboardist Johnny Neel (Allman Brothers Band, Blue Floyd), bassist Derek Jones (Nickel Creek, David Grisman Quintet) and the ageless wizard of percussion Count M’Butu (Parliament/Funkadelic, ARU…not to mention his own orchestra). The first show will take place at Stella Blue in Asheville, NC on the 27th with the five show run culminating with two Georgia dates next weekend, Friday the 30th at The Brandyhouse in Atlanta, and Saturday the 31st at The Georgia Theater in Athens. Theriot comments, "People who come to the shows should expect not only everything from Delta swamp blues to New Orleans funk, but also some percussive stuff driven by Jeff and The Count - which could lead us to all kinds of musical perspectives." Neel adds, "We've learned and practiced at least seven songs, but we'll probably make up fifteen more along the way." Additional information on the disc and tour can be found at Theriot's web site.<br> - Rob Turner

The greater Allman Brothers family has always spawned spin-offs and side projects. Some have grown as big as Gov’t Mule, while others have been a one-tour experiment, like Matt Abts and Johnny Neel’s X2 (experimental duo), which passed through Charleston last year.

Neel, who has played keys for the Allmans in the past, is particularly restless. He’s participated in a variety of these spin-offs/side projects, including Blue Floyd, the aforementioned X2, Gregg Allman Band, Dickie Betts Band, and his own band Johnny Neel and The Last Word. Now he’s at it again with The Grease Factor — a new musical collaboration with Shane Theriot of the Neville Brothers, Derek Jones who tours with Nickel Creek, Jeff Sipe of Leftover Salmon and Aquarium Rescue Unit, and Count M’Butu of Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit.

So how did this musical concoction come together? “Well, it started out with one thing and then it went in another direction,” says Neel in his gravelly blues voice. “But I think musically it’s going to be very impressive.” The name of the band came from the title of a solo album that Theriot recently recorded. During that recording session someone wanted to make a track a little funkier and suggested they turn up the “grease factor.” The album title was born and soon a whole band was too.

Theriot and Neel played together on each other’s various solo efforts in the past and decided to put something together and invite some other musical friends. But when describing the band’s sound, even Neel can only speculate what will happen when they hit the stage. That’s because they haven’t really rehearsed and don’t really plan on rehearsing until they debut this Wednesday night at the Handlebar in Greenville.

“What this will be, will be the roots of the band. This will be our first outing but this will entail developing our sound and we’ll go from there,” explains Neel. Then on Thursday, Jan. 28, they play Cumberland’s for their second-ever performance. “We really will make up a song right there on the spot,” he admits. “It’s really spontaneous. We might learn only two or three songs.” Of course when you have the combined individual musicianship like that of Grease Factor, spontaneity and improvisation are part of the excitement of the music, which Neel envisions ranging from funk to spacey jams to African rhythms. “We’ll begin with three chords and see what flows, that’s really what jam is,” he explains. “The percussion element will be very nice so we won’t have to play all the time and just let the rhythm carry the people to a place.”

As of right now, Grease Factor only have four dates scheduled. After South Carolina, they’ll play two shows in Georgia. But according to Neel, they plan to make live recordings at each show and have them available the following nights. So even though every night is a new experiment, it’s also the making of a live album, which will last a long time, even if Grease Factor don’t.

Whether or not Grease Factor will book more dates or eventually have the legs to grow into a Mule-like entity remains to be seen. But Neel, who also plans to play more with his own band in future months, says he’d like to see Grease Factor evolve into a fairly regular thing, where other members who aren’t touring with their respective full-time bands, can get together and jam. But spin-off bands are often like spin-off television shows, and for every Frasier there are a dozen Joanie Loves Chachi. So make sure to catch this experimental group of able musicians this go-round, because you never know if they’ll have enough grease to keep it running smooth.
- Charleston City Paper - Lorne Chambers

For the five working musicians of the Grease Factor to even unite to form a band requires an act of divine intervention or meticulous planning or maybe both.

The Grease Factor is a brand-spanking new super-group consisting of five of the Southeast's most unique musicians.

While each member has several "day" jobs going on at the moment, the Grease Factor is hoping to become much more than a one-off, all-star band.

The band's creation and resulting moniker came from session work for the solo effort by guitarist Shane Theriot titled "The Grease Factor."

"It's sort of a studio jargon thing," Theriot said in a recent interview. "I heard a producer one time tell a studio musician to 'change the groove around and bring up the grease factor a little bit' to make the music funkier. I thought it would be a cool name for a band and everybody liked it, so we're the Grease Factor."

Along with a deserving name for the band, the Grease Factor is loaded to the brim with talent and broad musical vision. New Orleans-inspired funk, blues, jazz and blistering rock are just a few of the genres the band's respective members have played.

Theriot's been serving as a lead guitarist for one of New Orleans favorite bands, the Neville Brothers, for more than five years. Drummer Jeff Sipe's machine-like chops have set the beat behind Project Z, Leftover Salmon, Aquarium Rescue Unit and Susan Tedeschi. Bassist Derek Jones' supple grooves have supported Nickel Creek and David Grisman. Explosive percussionist Count M'Butu rounds out the rhythm section. His talents have been displayed with the ARU, Parliament Funkadelic and in sit-ins with Widespread Panic and Phish. Keyboardist Johnny Neel rounds out the quintet, and his blues-infected playing has been featured in the Allman Brothers Band, Blue Floyd, and Willie Nelson's band.

While members of the Grease Factor have collaborated with one another in different settings, this marks the first time they have performed together as a quintet.

The new band also allows each member to cast aside the role of "sideman" and play their own material.

"We're hoping it flies," Theriot said. "We've all worked with each other in different formats from time to time, but never as a unit. We thought it would be fun and thought the chemistry would be there to take it on the road and play some music."

"It's also very exciting to do this because, as sidemen, we don't get to express ourselves -- we're always sort of in the back. So this will be fun and everyone can let loose. It won't be a chops band though, there will be some of those elements, but we just want to play good music that everybody can get off on."

The Grease Factor has been rehearsing recently to build something resembling a repertoire for the bands "maiden-voyage" five-date tour that passes through Cumberland's tonight. What the Grease Factor lacks in conventional, pre-written songs, it surely makes up for in creativity and improvisational skill.

"Everybody brings spontaneity into the mix," Theriot said. "We'll have a mix of form and sketches of tunes, and then we'll do some free form stuff, and then we'll just jam. We have tunes and things, but we want to ride the fence of completely improvised and semi-rehearsed. It's all over the place right now and we hope to leave it that way."

Theriot went so far as to speculate the future of the Grease Factor. While each member of the band has future commitments with other groups down the road, Theriot said he and his fellow musicians are planning to ride it out and see how far the Grease Factor can go.

"This is the maiden voyage," Theriot said, "but we're just trying to build a machine. We have plans for more dates and everybody's kind of putting things on hold just to do this project to see what happens.

Unless we kill each other after the first couple of gigs, we all want to make it a band project as opposed to a super group. We want to create material together and build something."

The Grease Factor will take the stage at Cumberland's tonight around 10 p.m.
- Charleston Post & Courier - Mark Pantsari

The greater Allman Brothers family has always spawned spin-offs and side projects. Some have grown as big as Gov’t Mule, while others have been a one-tour experiment, like Matt Abts and Johnny Neel’s X2 (experimental duo), which passed through Charleston last year.

Neel, who has played keys for the Allmans in the past, is particularly restless. He’s participated in a variety of these spin-offs/side projects, including Blue Floyd, the aforementioned X2, Gregg Allman Band, Dickie Betts Band, and his own band Johnny Neel and The Last Word. Now he’s at it again with The Grease Factor — a new musical collaboration with Shane Theriot of the Neville Brothers, Derek Jones who tours with Nickel Creek, Jeff Sipe of Leftover Salmon and Aquarium Rescue Unit, and Count M’Butu of Col. Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit.

So how did this musical concoction come together? “Well, it started out with one thing and then it went in another direction,” says Neel in his gravelly blues voice. “But I think musically it’s going to be very impressive.” The name of the band came from the title of a solo album that Theriot recently recorded. During that recording session someone wanted to make a track a little funkier and suggested they turn up the “grease factor.” The album title was born and soon a whole band was too.

Theriot and Neel played together on each other’s various solo efforts in the past and decided to put something together and invite some other musical friends. But when describing the band’s sound, even Neel can only speculate what will happen when they hit the stage. That’s because they haven’t really rehearsed and don’t really plan on rehearsing until they debut this Wednesday night at the Handlebar in Greenville.

“What this will be, will be the roots of the band. This will be our first outing but this will entail developing our sound and we’ll go from there,” explains Neel. Then on Thursday, Jan. 28, they play Cumberland’s for their second-ever performance. “We really will make up a song right there on the spot,” he admits. “It’s really spontaneous. We might learn only two or three songs.” Of course when you have the combined individual musicianship like that of Grease Factor, spontaneity and improvisation are part of the excitement of the music, which Neel envisions ranging from funk to spacey jams to African rhythms. “We’ll begin with three chords and see what flows, that’s really what jam is,” he explains. “The percussion element will be very nice so we won’t have to play all the time and just let the rhythm carry the people to a place.”

As of right now, Grease Factor only have four dates scheduled. After South Carolina, they’ll play two shows in Georgia. But according to Neel, they plan to make live recordings at each show and have them available the following nights. So even though every night is a new experiment, it’s also the making of a live album, which will last a long time, even if Grease Factor don’t.

Whether or not Grease Factor will book more dates or eventually have the legs to grow into a Mule-like entity remains to be seen. But Neel, who also plans to play more with his own band in future months, says he’d like to see Grease Factor evolve into a fairly regular thing, where other members who aren’t touring with their respective full-time bands, can get together and jam. But spin-off bands are often like spin-off television shows, and for every Frasier there are a dozen Joanie Loves Chachi. So make sure to catch this experimental group of able musicians this go-round, because you never know if they’ll have enough grease to keep it running smooth.
- Charleston City Paper - Lorne Chambers