Soul Synapse

Times Herald

No one has stepped up to carry the Deadhead banner since Phish lost its groove in 2004. Soul Synapse has a long way to go before it has fans following it from city to city, but the local band is up for the job. Its members have the ambition to make it happen.

Formed just four months ago, the jam band already has its own tiny following.

"We get a lot of repeat customers," guitar player and singer Rick Doviak of St. Clair said.

"Obviously, we're influenced by Phish," he said. "We've learned a lot from those guys about how to keep live shows interesting.

"The jam band thing has seeped into all corners of the market except Port Huron. People have never heard what we do, and it's not because we're that original."

Many of the danceable, trance-driven songs Doviak has written have sections devoted to free-form, dueling guitars.

"We're into improvisation and having a group conversation," he said.

It started as a three-way conversation as Doviak's previous project, Dry Bones, was withering. He asked bassist Darby Davis of Marysville and drummer Aaron Siple of Port Huron to form a new band. His friend Chris McDonald of Frasier followed in February.

McDonald had been in the Detroit group Mobius Band, but "we got reduced to being a cover band trying to please everybody," he said.

Doviak asked McDonald to join Soul Synapse, promising they'd stick to mostly originals and a few classic-rock rarities.

"We've always had a similar vision," Doviak said. Since then, "it's taken on another whole shape and persona. Chris is a really powerful player. He really pushes the improvisational envelope."

The band is negotiating with a California production company that specializes in jam bands. Doviak is talking about going regional or even national by the end of the year. In the meantime, the band is focused on shaping its sound without sounding too Phishy.

The essentials

Soul Synapse

MEMBERS: Rick Doviak, guitar, vocals; Chris McDonald, guitar, vocals; Darby Davis, bass, vocals; Aaron Siple, drums, percussion.

STYLE: Jam band, classic rock, neo-psychedelia.

INFLUENCES: Phish, moe, Disco Biscuits, Jimi Hendrix, Cream.

RECORDINGS: A five-track demo (2006).

FUTURE HIT SONG: Yours and Mine.

LYRICS: "It's just another day, it could be ours; there's no other way I'd rather pass the hours; there's just no giving in and wasting time; it's just another day, and it could be yours and mine."

UPCOMING GIGS: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 13 and 27, June 24, and July 8 and 29, Pepper Joe's, 119 Clinton Ave., St. Clair. No cover. (810) 326-1710.

CONTACT: Send an e-mail to soulsynapse@yahoo.com.



Times Herald
911 Military St. Port Huron, MI 48060
(810) 989-6261

- By Bill Chapin