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The jams just keep flowing on Goose's 'Chain Yer Dragon'

WXPN/World Cafe

Why do jam bands fuel such passion among their audiences? Their fans follow them around, document their set lists and debate which live version of this song or that song is superior?

Cotter Ellis of the rising jam band Goose has a theory.

"The crowd knows that they're gonna be in it with the band, finding out what happens and riding that energy wave with the band," he says.

In today's session, you'll ride that wave with a live performance from Goose. Plus, the whole band joins us to talk about their surprise album, Chain Yer Dragon, their fans, and how they themselves grew up loving jam bands.

"When Umphrey's McGee would play at Nokia Theater in Manhattan, [our] whole high school would go," says Goose guitarist and vocalist Rick Mitarotonda.

Special thanks to our phenomenal World Cafe interns, Addison Rider and Danielle Gaynor, for their work interviewing fans as they lined up for Goose's sold-out "Free At Noon" show, hosted by WXPN in Philly. You can find the entire show on Goose's Bandcamp page. All proceeds will go to WXPN and World Cafe.

Set List

  • "Royal"
  • "Hungersite"
  • "Give It Time"
  • "Madalena"

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She is also involved with Canada's highest music honors: Since 2017, she has hosted the Polaris Music Prize Gala, for which she is also a jury member, and she has also been a jury member for the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.
Miguel Perez is an assistant producer at KERA. He produces local content for Morning Edition and KERA News. He also produces The Friday Conversation, a weekly interview series with North Texas newsmakers.