Music

MUSIC If you get confused, listen to Dead For One Night play

BY LAUREN LAROCCA

llarocca@newspost.com

For one night only — or maybe more, depending on how that one night goes — a supergroup comprised of area musicians will perform a Grateful Dead tribute show at Gambrill Mt. Food Co. in downtown Frederick.

Dead For One Night includes Cyrus Jaghoory of Rays of Violet (vocals and guitar), Adrienne Smith of The Dirty Middle (vocals), Daniel Kehoe (vocals and bass) and Max Vendetti (vocals and guitar) of The Silver Books, Sven Abow of Wharf Rats and Dawg & Dell (drums) and Andrew Roulette (vocals and guitar).

The free show starts at 7 p.m. Dec. 17. It should pair well with the creative dishes and drinks at Gambrill Mt., courtesy of co-owners Ben Cohen and Jasmin Tregoning, who are no strangers to the jam band scene and continue to foster it through their downtown location. 72 Hours caught up with Jaghoory ahead of the show to talk about the formation of the supergroup and what fans can expect.

Whose idea was this? What was the thinking behind it?

This was my idea. My band, Rays Of Violet, has had a residency at Gambrill Mt. Food Co. for every third Saturday of the month, since June. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make the December gig. But Gambrill has been wonderful to us and it’s a great spot, and I didn’t want to renege on a contract by just not playing the December date. It’s important to us to be professional and follow through on our commitments. So I talked it over with Rays of Violet and also with Jasmine from Gambrill and everyone was supportive of me trying to find a supergroup to honor our December commitment. And here we are.

How did you choose who would be included?

Andrew has played mandolin with Rays of Violet on multiple occasions. Deadhead and fantastic multiinstrumentalist.

Adrienne has sang with us on multiple occasions, and I’ve played with her band, The Dirty Middle. She has an amazing voice and loves the Grateful Dead.

Daniel is in both The Silver Books with Max and also in The Wharf Rats with Sven. I’d seen both bands before and knew that Daniel can both sing and play bass — and guitar — and his bass style really rounds out the sound of whatever band he’s in.

Sven was specifically recommended to me by the drummer in Rays of Violet, Jared Coffin, who has played with Sven and The Wharf Rats before. If Jared recommends someone, it’s a ringing endorsement.

Max is in The Silver Books, and I saw them this past summer at Steinhardt Brewing and quickly realized he’s great at guitar. They play assorted music, including the Dead. So given Max’s chemistry with Daniel, and Daniel’s with Sven, it all fell into place.

Basically I wanted to surround myself with great musicians who love the Dead and are already familiar with the songs on the setlist we made. Sometimes it’s nice to not have to

Staff photo by Ric Dugan Seated are Max Vendetti and Adrienne Smith, back row, from left, Daniel Kehoe, Andrew Roulette, Sven Abow and Cyrus Jaghoory, who make up the Grateful Dead tribute band Dead For One Night.

Dead For One Night

When: 7 p.m. Dec. 17 Where: Gambrill Mt. Food Co., 6 S. Bentz St., Frederick Tickets: Free Info: 240-439-4103, gambrillmtfood.co worry about singing a third of the songs or taking all the leads. Here, I can sit back and let others do the work, and I can just enjoy listening. And, as important as it is to be able to play, everyone in this band knows how to listen, too.

So you’re all Deadheads — or were at one time?

Seems like it! Given how well everyone knew the songs, I think it’s safe to say we’re all varying degrees of Deadheads.

Are you planning on performing one show only, or can we expect others in the future?

Right now, we only considered this one show, but if it goes well and the folks in the band want to do it again in the future and there’s a venue that wants us, I’d certainly be in.

Your instrumentation is a little different from the Dead’s. Can you talk about the variations?

The Dead had two drummers for most of their life. We have one. The Dead had two guitarists. We have three. And we don’t have a keyboard player for the night. So it’ll be a little different.

Andrew, Max and I will be playing leads, as opposed to just Jerry doing leads, and weaving in and out of each other, and we’ll try to hand it off to each other to give it a little different flavor than the way the Dead did it.

Are these your own renditions, or do you pretty much stick to the Grateful Dead’s album or live versions?

More or less stick to the live versions, but, like I said, we don’t have one lead guitarist. We have three. So there’s lots of room for everyone, and we’ll likely add some jams at points in songs where the Dead didn’t. The songs have to be accurate enough relative to the Dead’s performances so that people in the crowd can get comfortable in the song. Once they’re comfortable with the fact that we’re playing a song accurately, in terms of both arrangement and energy, we can mix it up a bit.

What’s your favorite Dead song?

Right now? Favorite song is probably “Deal.” My favorite songs to play are “Deal,” “Cumberland Blues” and “Sugar Magnolia.” I like the highenergy, fast country-ish songs. I like when a song makes me want to stomp a hole through the floor.

Favorite show?

5/8/77 is the generic, cliche answer. So instead, I’ll say 5/22/77. It’s so tight and crisp and professional.

How did you decide on which songs to play when there are so many?

For the most part, the setlist is based on songs that we already knew. That way, we could spend less time learning the songs and more time learning each other’s playing and how to play with each other so we can develop some chemistry.

What’s been your favorite part of this collaboration?

Stepping out of my comfort zone and playing with a few new musicians. It was seamless during our first of two rehearsals. Everyone was prepared and everyone brought it. Adrienne and Sven recorded the rehearsal, and when I heard it back, I was so impressed, encouraged and excited.

How about the most challenging aspect?

Probably figuring out how to play with each other without musically stepping on anyone’s toes. Everyone needs to be able to shine.

’90s pop stars will get holly-jolly in ‘A Boy Band Christmas’ live onstage

Drew Lachey

Christopher DeVargas

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE

Special to The News-Post

Drew Lachey was a 20-year-old working in New York City as an EMT when he got the call from his older brother, Nick, that his band needed a fourth vocalist.

With a “yes” and a cross-country move to Los Angeles, the younger Lackey went from restarting hearts to breaking them as a member of the new boy band 98 Degrees.

When they signed with Motown Records, they emphasized that they wrote most of their own music, which set them apart from other ’90s-era boy bands. And unlike groups like NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees wasn’t assembled by music producers or labels; they formed independently.

Last year, the group celebrated 25 years of touring the world and topping the charts with hits such as “Because of You,” “The Hardest Thing,” “Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)” and “Thank God I Found You,” their No. 1 collaboration with Mariah Carey, which also featured R&B vocalist Joe.

This holiday season, Lachey will reunite with fellow bandmates Jeff Timmons and Justin Jeffre as part of “A Boy Band Christmas,” a live performance that brings together popular ’90s groups on one stage. Also in the show are Erik-Michael Estrada from O-Town, Jamie Jones from All-4One and Ryan Cabrera. “A Boy Band Christmas” will come to Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in Charles Town, West Virginia, on Dec. 16.

Lachey, 46, is excited to spend time with his bandmates as well as old friends the band has played with over the years.

“Touring has been a big part of our lives for the last 25 years,” he said during a telephone interview from his Cincinnati home. “It’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t on the road.”

From 2002 to 2012, 98 Degrees took a hiatus but returned in 2012 to start touring again. During that time, Lachey took time to expand his wings. In 2005, he appeared on Broadway as Mark in the production of “RENT.” In 2006, he competed in “Dancing with the Stars,” then toured with the show from 20062007. In 2008, he returned to Broadway to play Patsy in the Monty Python musical “Spamalot.”

Since 98 Degrees officially reunited in 2012, Lachey said they’ve been on the road a few weekends a month and have performed holiday tours, such as this one, as well as package tours with New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men.

“For us, this is like old hat. It’s just like riding a bike,” he said. “And honestly, it’s where I feel the most comfortable as a performer … onstage with the other three guys.”

Missing from this tour, though, is Nick, Lachey’s brother and the band’s frontman. But Lachey said fans shouldn’t worry; Nick has just been too busy for their schedules to line up. Currently, he said, Nick lives in Hawaii with his wife, Vanessa, and their family. He and Vanessa are busy co-hosting “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” and “Love Is Blind.” Nick also won “The Masked Singer” in 2021.

The guys Lachey will perform with are practically like brothers anyway.

“For the best part of the last 20 years,

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we’ve all been operating in the same circles — whether you’re performing at radio shows together or you’re touring together,” he said of his fellow bandmates. “We really are all in the same boat. We enjoy hanging out with each other, so why not do a show together? And that’s really how this whole thing started.” 98 Degrees is no stranger to Christmas albums (they’ve released two) and tours. Last year, Lachey, Timmons and Jeffre, along with some members of New Kids on the Block, NSYNC, O-Town and Boyz II Men, also shot the TV special “A Very Boy Band Holiday.”

“We decided let’s continue this same idea, this same concept,” Lachey said. “It just felt like it’s a good time. And everybody wants to go out and see shows during the holidays.”

“A Boy Band Christmas” will feature individual hits and holiday tunes from 98 Degrees, O’Town, All-4-One and Cabrera, as well as some songs written specifically for the show.

“It’s going to be a big festive party with songs that people are familiar with and a couple of new ones as well,”

‘A Boy Band Christmas’

When: 8 p.m. Dec. 16 Where: Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, 750 Hollywood Drive, Charles Town, W.Va. Tickets: $50 and up. Tickets include access to a meet-and-greet following the show. This is a 21+ event. Info: 800-795-7001, hollywoodcasinocharlestown.com/ entertainment/event-center

Lachey said.

And for 98 Degree fans, the group has a special holiday gift: A new album is set to be released next year.

“We’re recording songs right now and hope to have it out by the spring of ’23,” Lachey said. “Last year was our 25th anniversary, so we’re gonna make some new music, and we have some good stuff in the canon already. So we’re excited about what the future holds.”

Crystal Schelle is a journalist whose work has been published locally, regionally and nationally. She enjoys trivia, cats and streaming movies. Justin Jeffre

Christopher DeVargas