The Road to Mountain Music Fest: TAUK's Matt Jalbert Discusses TAUK Paper Scissors May 11, 2022 16:08
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Photo by Dani Barbieri
Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen
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As countless music fans prepare for this year's Mountain Music Festival at ACE River Resort in Oak Hill (WV) on June 2-4 (2022), we're sitting down with a number of this year's performers to get a better feel for what fans can expect this year. This festival was established in 2014 and has proceeded to solidify itself as one of the most anticipated jam-focused events of the year. While there are numerous reasons why we're excited about this year's festivities, the "super jam" known as TAUK Paper Scissors is certainly at the top of the list.
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Mountain Music Festival announced that the four-piece rock/fusion act known as TAUK would be calling on a star studded cast for this one-of-a-kind set just a few months ago. Special guests will include Jennifer Hartswick and James Casey (Trey Anastasio Band), Antwaun Stanley (Vulfpeck), Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident), Clyde Lawrence (Lawrence), Jordan Cohen (Lawrence), and Kanika Moore (Doom Flamingo).
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Earlier this week, we caught up with TAUK's Matt Jalbert (guitar) in an effort to learn more about the band's latest happenings, as well as some additional insight on TAUK Paper Scissors. Check out the full interview below and make sure to head over to Mountain Music Festival's official website for all of the latest details.
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Great to speak with you for a few today, Matt. I know it's been an exciting year for TAUK thus far. You've been to Iceland with Umphrey's McGee. Played shows with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong & lespecial. TAUKing McGee at 420 Fest. How's everything played out thus far?
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Matt: Yeah man. All of those bands are friends of ours. We've known the Pigeons guys for a while. We played DomeFest back in the day. Hit if off with them immediately. Playing their festival was a huge help for us to get down to that part of the country. We're always appreciative of them for that. Opened up some doors for us.It's been great to get back out and play some shows. We're doing a bunch of sit-ins. Playing a bunch of songs together, which is always super fun. So yeah, those shows were really great and high energy.
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The set with Umphrey's in Atlanta was really cool, because we just went to Iceland with them. That was postponed from early 2020, when the pandemic was really starting. Needless to say, everyone was bummed when that got cancelled, but we still made it happen. We just did those shows a little while ago. We did a TAUKing McGee set in Iceland. We did a late-night set and a TAUKing McGee set while we were there.
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It was so much fun. It felt like a huge celebration amongst everyone who was there. So when the lineup at 420 Fest was shifting around, Umphrey's hit us up last minute to see if we wanted to do it again down there. Anytime we get to play with those guys is great. We're actually doing it again at Summer Camp.
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And yeah, we're fresh off a few nights with lespecial. We played two nights in Buffalo with them. We did our first shows together in Philly earlier this year, and we've loved what they've been doing for a while. Been trying to link up with those guys to do some shows together. We finally made that happen. Buffalo was amazing. The crowd was great. lespecial killed it. Good times all around. Just getting back out and playing music with our friends. It's been a lot of fun.
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Photo by Dave Vann
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That's so great to hear. I know how tough it's been on so many different levels over the past two years. It's great to see so much musical action happening thus far in 2022. It was brutal seeing things shut back down at the end of last year. I guess that was the Omicron variant?
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Matt: Yep, that was Omicron. We had to cancel our New Year's run in Charleston.
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That's right. Well, I love hearing that things are going so well. I'm sure it's been a challenge to keep the momentum going throughout at the last two years. I know we aren't out of the woods yet, but it seems like thus far, we're moving in the right direction.
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Matt: Yeah man. We're taking it as it comes. Everyone is still in that same ballpark. There are more shows happening. You'll still see some cancellations as someone tests postivie for COVID. I think everyone is on the same page at this point. If something has to be cancelled, it's a bummer. Luckily, it seems like it's happening less and less. It's really out of our control. Everyone's just trying to do what they can.
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Absolutely. I know that festival season is fast approaching. I guess it already started for TAUK at 420 Fest. Mountain Music Festival is right around the corner. I'm sure you're fired up about the TAUK Paper Scissors yet. You've assembled an incredible lineup with Antwaun Stanley, Clyde Lawrence, Jennifer Hartswick, and James Casey, to name a few. Without spoiling any surprises, what can you share about this upcoming performance?
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Matt: Yeah, absolutely. When we played Mountain Music Fest last year, that was our first show back from COVID. We were stoked to play, and you could just feel it in the air. The energy was just insane. Needless to say, our set was wild. So much fun. After that, the festival reached out to see if we could come back this year. They asked if we wanted to try something different. We were all for it and thought it was a fun idea.
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The idea was to not just to "TAUK & Friends" or "TAUK Superstars." Come up with something a little more unique. We started working on a list of names, playing with the band name, and TAUK Paper Scissors seemed to be the one that stuck. We're still working out how this is gonna operate, in terms of the "rock, paper, scissors" concept. We have some cool ideas though.
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In terms of the band, we started working on a list of people. Some we had played with previously, and others that we've been watching and really admire. We started putting out feelers to see who would be into it. You can see now what the band looks like, and we're stoked. Like you said: Antwuan, Clyde, Kanika, the horn players, Jason Hann from String Cheese. We're so stoked. The only issue we're running into is fitting all of the songs into the setlist. We're thinking about all of these cool opportunities with a band like this. We have a list going, and we're narrowing it down. It's going to be such a cool experience.
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Watch TAUK's official music video for "Make Your Move" here:
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I'm sure it is. When you look at that list of players, you have several from bands already on the lineup. You also have some heavy hitters coming over just to be a part of this performance. This is the staple "super jam" for this festival, if you will. I know there's already a lot of excitement surrounding it all.
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So, Chaos Companion is the latest studio release, right?
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Matt: Correct.
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Before we wrap this up, is there any other exciting news happening within TAUK that your fans should know about?
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Matt: We definitely have some exciting festival appearances coming up. Summer Camp & Peach Fest are two big ones. Festival season is definitely underway. In terms of new material, we wrote a ton during the pandemic. Not to give too much away, but people should definitely keep an eye out for a new release. Maybe even something that people won't be expecting. We have a lot to be excited about.
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That's fantastic news. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time today, Matt. Thanks for chatting for a few, and I look forward to catching the TAUK Paper Scissors set in person next month.
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Matt: Thank so much, Jordan. Look forward to seeing you there as well!
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Photo by Matt Shotwell