Artist description Beaver Traffic Jam (BTJ) is a rhythm-driven, six-man, jam band hailing from Richmond, VA. Their unique flavor is brought together by pouring fretless bass grooves over an acoustic guitar crust, cooked with some afro-latin percussion and topped off with sizzling electric guitar and tasteful vintage keyboard solos. Weaving harmonies with a powerful boom, Beaver Traffic Jam can create a "Rock n' Roll Romper Room." Fans, who are normally found standing with arms akimbo, will be found gyrating with energy and excitement. At a live venue, BTJ will open your eyes, ears, and sonic savvy. And, as their name would indicate, every time out with the Beaver is "a dam good time."

Music Style Groove-based Jams

Musical Influences Phish, Steely Dan, Allman Brothers, Little Richard

Artist History Beaver Traffic Jam has been making music since the Spring of 1999. Since then, the band has played up and down the east coast, dazzling fans with their powerful, energetic jamming. Recently, BTJ has finished recording their first full-length CD, "The Suzuki Method," at the Sound of Music Studios in Richmond, VA. The album is a collection of songs that date back as far as the bands beginning. Some songs represent the bands long, lengthy jamband style, and other songs give a light to their compact, songwriting stylings. BTJ expects to release, "The Suzuki Method," in early May. Check it out.

Group Members Matt Hulcher, bass/vocals; Ed Ingersoll, Piano/Organ/Fender Rhodes; Dave Valentine, acoustic rhythm guitar; Ben Woosley, lead guitar/vocals; John Morgan, drums/vocals; Tim Campbell, percussion

Instruments fretless bass, acoustic and electric guitars, various vintage keyboards, drums and percussion

Albums The Suzuki Method 2002

Press Reviews Reprinted from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 13th, 2001. "Band nabs following quickly" by Leigh Buckley Fountain, Senior Correspondent In early 1999, four guys got together for a lark in a house on Libbie Avenus. By April, they were playing gigs as Beaver Traffic Jam. As of now, six members strong, they play once a week at Richmond venues as diverse as The Firehouse Theater, The Canal Club and Cary Street Cafe. They recently recorded a self-titled, four-song demo CD at The Sound of Music recording studio with engineers John Morand and Dusty Wilson. To circulate it with minimum expense, the band has been known to package the CD "sandwich style"--with the CD and liner notes shoved inside two pieces of white bread and placed in a sandwich bag. "Food for Thought," they called it. Many say it's hard for a young band to get anywhere in the Richmond area. Not so, says rhythm guitarist Dave Valentine. "It wasn't exactly what you might call easy," he said, "but the venues we have played here were a lot of help. Alley Katz, Cary Street Cafe and The Bottom Line, among others, have given us a great opportunity to show what we can do." However, it's not as if the Richmond scene is perfect. "What would help bands in Richmond more than anything would be for bars and clubs to focus on live music, rather than the DJ dance scene. After all, there's no substitute for the energy that's exchanged between a live band and its crowd." The band's diverse cover material, strong original material and jam band style have created a fairly strong following in Richmond in a short period of time. In addition to the band's 18 originals, members play 40 or so covers--from Van Morrison's "Moondance" to Santana's glorious "Everything is Comin' Our Way," from Pure Prairie League's FM classic "Amie," to the Jerry Garcia Band's sublime "Ruben and Cherise." Take all of that, mix in some very respectable takes on Grateful Dead and Phish tunes, and you've got a real crowd pleaser. Unlike many young bands, this group has four members who can sing, and among them, there's a good bit of range. Not to mention musical prowess. Pianist Ed Ingersoll can skillfully switch between subtle but innovative harmonic support and all-out fiery runs. Bassist Matt Hulcher, who is lead singer much of the time and plays several different instruments, can lay down a groove with the best of them. Drummer and vocalist John Morgan is a pleasure to watch as he competently emotes the beat along with percussionist Tim Campbell, who stays a flurry of motion throughout the show. Valentine (the rhythm guitaris) stands tall and negotiates the rhythmic flood. And lead guitarist Ben Woosley is most often found soaring above it all with intricate but soulful scale-scooting. The band's originals, such as "Farmer Bill," with its infectious refrain of "Barbara!" inserted in nearly every verse, or "Hannah," a signature piece, are full of infectious motifs and choruses mixed in with difficult tempo changes. "First and foremost, we want to continue writing music that can appeal to a broad spectrum of people," Hulcher said. "Ideally, we will have a full arsenal of original music that can inspire people to accept all of the different genres of music. We want to make music that illuminates our wide array of musical influences, rather than conforming to one sound or another."

Additional Info Management - Second Passage Productions 434.391.3739

Location Richmond, VA - USA

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