The Feed

The Feed
For the bulk of the Feed's career, the three-piece rock band made its name performing hard, driving, melodic rock & roll without rock's signature instrument Ñ the electric guitar. As if to not-so-subtly underline this omission, the band has regularly covered such guitar-heavy acts as the Clash, Sonic Youth and Jimi Hendrix (it helps that pianist Dave Grelle can made his keyboard rig sound like damn near anything). But when guitarist Jordan Heimberger filled the void left by bassist/saxophonist Ben Reece, the instrument became a natural part of the band's arsenal. Grelle still holds court with bottom-heavy electric piano and the occasional organ riff, and his jazz chops place his style somewhere between Billy Preston and Oscar Peterson, and drummer Kevin Bowers remains one of the most intuitive and restless beat-keepers in town. Fans are still holding their collective breath for a long promised new album, but the band's lead-off track on the just-released Tower Groove Records compilation finds the trio in fine, bluesy form.
--Christian Schaeffer - RFT Blogs

A jaw dropping performance by The Feed highlighted the middle of the show. Professional chops from the entire band and a mature rock/electric blues singing voice from vocalist/pianist/keyboardist Dave Grelle allowed the group to firmly nail their set of classic mid-’60s Dylan and the Blood on the Tracks classic “Simple Twist Of Fate.” Leaving most of the evening’s participants in the dust, the band’s entire set was a top highlight to the evening leading to rave reviews from the audience immediately following their set. Plan to catch the band again soon as they will play Off Broadway again on June 24. - 3 minute record

?Local piano-driven rock trio the Feed has been coming out of a long hibernation over the past few months. But if you were among the sold-out Off Broadway crowd that saw them rip up "Obviously 5 Believers" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" at the KDHX's tribute to Bob Dylan in late May, you know that the Feed hasn't lost a step in the time away from stage. In fact, band members Dave Grelle (vocals/piano), Kevin Bowers (drums) and new recruit Jordan Heimburger (guitar) stay busy in a host of other projects, but music fans should delight in the Feed's return to local stages. The band will headline at Off Broadway on Friday night alongside the Incurables and Ocean Rivals, and we caught up with Grelle over eimail to ask about the Feed's plans for 2011 and beyond. Plus, the band shared a couple of its unreleased tracks -- listen below.

Christian Schaeffer: The Feed has been relatively quiet over the past year. What have you been working on, and what brings you back to the stage?

Dave Grelle: We parted ways with our sax/bassist and great friend, Ben Reece, due to primarily the touring grind and other commitments. So Kevin and I were touring as a duo for quite a while ending with a New York trip last summer. After that trip we just chilled out for a bit and played with some different projects (Throw Pillows, Hip Grease, Incurables, Celebration Day, etc.). Kevin got into film and I started studying jazz at SIUE and taking some film scoring classes through Berklee. It wasn't a conscious break or hiatus, or whatever, but it just happened and it was a good thing.

We then decided, after missing playing together, and also realizing what we had, that we needed to get the Feed -- or some project -- back together. A lot of different ideas were talked about. Ideas of a bigger band, bigger sound, horns, etc., so we just started writing again, and the first thing we decided to add was Jordan.

We just recorded three new tracks with Jason McEntire at Sawhorse Studio, and we've still got a lot of material from the sessions we did with Ben. We'll be heading back in the studio shortly to lay down five or six more tracks for an upcoming record.

For a long time, the Feed stood as proof that a band could play hard, fast rock & roll without a guitar. What made you decide to abandon that formula and bring in guitarist Jordan Heimburger?

Well, originally the idea wasn't to have a sans-guitar group, it was just that I didn't really know any guitarists in town that could cover the material. After a couple rehearsals, I started pushing Ben towards experimenting with pedals and amplification and that, coupled with my overdriven Rhodes, really filled any guitar void.

Then, when Kevin and I decided to just go duo, it was a lot of fun and full of energy, but it was also incredibly exhausting. Kevin and I started talking about forming a bigger group. Ironically enough, Kevin and I met Jordan while playing in guitar extraordinaire, Jimmy Griffin's band the Incurables. We both thought he would be a perfect fit. Jordan is a perfect blend of technical skill and raw soul -- we all spoke the same language. I guess in the process of debating on who else to ask to join the band, and writing songs, we fell into our comfort zone...the trio.

When we last talked in December of 2008, you spoke of the possibility of a record coming out in mid-2009. We're still waiting for that fabled album to come out. What is the current state of recording for the Feed?

Like I mentioned, we've got some brand new tracks recorded and we're looking to get back in the studio ASAP to finish up the record.

We've still got some great material from our last sessions at Sawhorse. Some of the sound is so far removed from what we're doing now that it might just die in the tape closet, but we'd like to release most of everything we cut from 2009. It was a weird time, with a lot of change going on in the group, and it never made sense to release those songs as a representation of where we were and who we were. Now the fire is back and I'm really happy with the new tunes. What's really exciting is that we haven't even tracked our best stuff yet.

You both keep busy with other bands and projects. What else has been exciting for you to be a part of around town?

Besides those bands and projects, there's not a whole lot of time for much else. We're always looking for new exciting experiences. But our days and nights are pretty much booked.

The three of us all teach lessons and survive on teaching, studio work and gigs. I know we've been seeing more live music than in recent memory, but the focus lately has been primarily on writing and learning songs for the Feed. - Riverfront Times

Finally a band has the balls to write, perform, record, and sell an entire album about everything from how good looking your girlfriend was last night to the serious flaws in local law enforcement. There is just about every reason under the sun to buy this powerfully moving symposium of symphonic sounds, but if I didn’t tell you it was a vulgar and vile 7 song mountain sweet songs your mother probably wouldn’t want you to listen to, I’d perhaps be misleading you. The Feed’s grand music on this album as performed by its trilogy of mythological men is a really big deal. This really isn’t one of those ‘kind of a big deal’ things. It actually is a REALLY BIG DEAL. After listening to this album every day for two months, the feeling it gave me caused a thought to occur to me. It was that Rock & Roll has found Dave Grelle, & that Rock & Roll is as pleased with this finding as say, Zeus was, the night he first made it with Aphrodite. Because of this revelation I felt obliged to put into words how deeply The Feed is steeped in talent, from the phenomenal sax crazed solos & wild bass guitar jamming of Ben Reece who’s live performances should not be missed by anyone with an appreciation for the feeling of being someone who bared witness to an instance of greatness, to the insane beats and driven smashing syncopation of former Thos drummer Kevin Bowers who performs in a Police shirt live with The Feed. Kevin Bowers is Keith Moon reincarnated and with ability and talent stretched to maximum capacity. Topping off this tank is the spark that causes the whole thing to blow up: Dave Grelle. Against waves of bland meaningless music that beats repeatedly against shores of boredom that border the world of people who love good music, there is a steadfast rock in the water. That rock is Dave Grelle’s & upon it stand The Feed. Grelle’s every performance on the album demands that you get up and stomp feet. The music of his big red keyboard rock machine declares itself proudly to be what it is. The voice this man sings with calls directly upon your soul, and all rock you they will. Sergio Momarsh points his lighthouse beacon lamp upon the steadfast boulder out in the water that is The Feed, so that you can sail right into it if you feel so inclined. You will be glad you got shipwrecked on this island, for it will take you places, and give you the sustenance you need to thrive.
- By Sergio Momarsh

The Feed (s/r)
Written by Bob McMahon
The album starts off with its best song, "Glueman," a fantastic Fender Rhodes-driven number that bops along, getting progressively better as it goes. In this writer's opinion, this was one of the best singles of last year.


Dave Grelle has been kicking around the St. Louis scene for a long time now, honing his keyboard wizardry into a force to be reckoned with. Long his partner in badassary, Ben Reece has played the saxophone alongside Grelle in many groups, including EM Groove and Hip Grease, and has since picked up the bass. Tony Barbata played with Grelle in the final lineup of local stalwarts Core Project and quickly conspired with the two to make the lineup of the Feed that recorded their great self-titled debut EP, released late in 2006.
Though the Feed and Barbata have since parted ways (the animated Kevin Bowers is now the group's drummer), this lineup gelled well enough to produce an excellent introduction to the trio. If you have heard any of the members' previous bands, then the trio's brand of energetic, fuzzy soul-pop-rock won't come as a surprise. All of the musicians involved in this project are quite talented and while there is room for growth, the songwriting is very good as well.
The album starts off with its best song, "Glueman," a fantastic Fender Rhodes-driven number that bops along, getting progressively better as it goes. In this writer's opinion, this was one of the best singles of last year. "Leave" is nearly as good, building intensity from Reece's pounding sax hits before it lets off some boiling runs. Barbata's start-stop beat in between these parts serves as a good vehicle for Grelle's tale of having "wanted to leave the city, for so long," and also having "wanted to leave you for so long." It may read poorly, but in song it's magnificent.

This EP does exactly what a debut EP should do: make people anticipate more. This band has a lot going for it and are worth checking for live, too. Therefore, the full-length is highly anticipated by yours truly and will hopefully give you the same reaction when you hear this album. B+ | Bob McMahon - Playback Magazine

-by Annie Zaleski
"(The Feed) is a power trio that shuns guitars — but amps up keys and a saxophone — to craft '70s-inspired FM gooey-pop indebted to Steely Dan, Ben Folds and Morphine"

The members of the Feed easily have the musical chops to pull off diverse genre-skipping. The group's fondness for punk-ifying its soul, jazz and funk influences certainly makes its set one of the more intriguing ones, indeed."

- Riverfront Times

It’s not a stretch to call Dave Grelle the hardest working keyboardist in town. When he’s not conducting the live incarnation of the Earthworms or sitting in with the Incurables, he leads the piano-centric trio the Feed. By running his electric piano through a barrage of effects, Grelle has erased the need for a guitar in high-energy, soul-powered rock & roll. Grelle is an engaging front man, and his co-conspirators Ben Reece (saxophone and bass) and Kevin Bowers (drums) contribute crack musicianship, harmony vocals, and no small measure of style and verve to the band’s live performances. -- Christian Schaeffer - Riverfront Times

The list of piano-led rock groups that don’t totally suck is a short one, but the piano-bass-drums trio the Feed makes a case for the keyboard’s supremacy. Using a battery of vintage keyboards that would make Rick Wakeman proud, Dave Grelle infuses no small measure of soul into his band’s rock-centric sound, both in his playing and singing. In their quest to be completely guitar-free, the band members treat their instruments like a six-string, running organs and saxophones through stomp boxes to create elastic, crunchy tones that rub up against Ben Reece’s liquid bass lines and Kevin Bowers’ intuitive drumming. -- Christian Schaeffer

- Riverfront Times

"Let The Feed remind you that rock & roll is about
breaking borders, not being confined by them. In
their quest to be completely guitar-free, the band
members treat their instruments like a six-string,
running organs and saxophones through stomp boxes to create elastic, crunchy tones". – Riverfront Times,
St. Louis, MO
- Riverfront Times

"A room-shaking experience. Charged with adrenaline, the band's live show crackles with electricity. Watch the young, inventive trio jump boundaries and conventions".
- Playback Magazine - Playback Magazine

"The piano-sax-drums trio makes a case for the
keyboard's supremecy. By running his electric piano through a barrage of effects, Feed frontman Dave Grelle has erased the need for a guitar in high-energy, soul-powered rock & roll. Grelle is an engaging front man, and his co-conspirators Ben Reece (saxophone and bass) and Kevin Bowers (drums) contribute crack musicianship, harmony vocals, and no small measure of style and verve to the band's live performances." - Austin Chronicle

"The Feed's clever songwriting and soulful overtones can appeal to the masses, but their music extends far beyond the mainstream sound forced upon us by major labels and radio staions"
– St. Louis Sound Magazine - St. Louis Sound Magazine