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Best side project bands

Not sure if this topic has ever been raised before but arising from some of the other discussions I am curious as to which side project bands equal or exceed the quality of the original outfits. The one that comes readily to mind to me is Golden Smog. While I'm not claiming that the output of this outfit exceeded that of the Jayhawks or Wilco they have put out quality material in their own right.Any comments gratefully accepted.

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Permalink Reply by will foster on August 30, 2011 at 10:41am

I really enjoyed ,Golden Smog, and Strength In Numbers(first CD I ever bought). I would put the Garcia / Grisman collaborations on the list as well. The Murder City Devils are also one that comes to mind as well. The Latin Playboys are a very interesting group. I don't know if it fits into the guidelines of a side project but Cold As The Clay by Greg Graffin is an amazing album. Alot of people have tried there hand at the "acoustic" thing since the unplugged phenom hit in the 90's , but he really nailed it. I could probably sit around and think about this for a day or two and come up with a thousand examples ,but these are the ones that came off the top of my head. Great topic , Dude!

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Permalink Reply by Ron Catt on August 30, 2011 at 11:28am

The Notorious Cherry Bombs w/ Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Hank DeVito, John Hobbs et al.

And of course, Derek and the Dominoes! Recorded 40 yrs ago and still stands up

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Permalink Reply by L A Johnson on August 30, 2011 at 2:18pm

Mountain Jack with Brad Jones (Josh Rouse, David Mead) & Hans Rotenberry (Shazam).

Pop collides with country to great effect - must buy record of 2011.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis McGough on August 31, 2011 at 4:16am

I am listening to this right now on your recommendation and am really digging it. Thanks for the heads up, I'm pretty sure I would never have heard of Mountain Jack otherwise.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Wester on August 31, 2011 at 10:59am

Brokedown In Bakersfield is a side band of ALO and Tim Bluhm from the Mother Hips and Nicki Bluhm of the Gramblers. They are basically recreating classic California honky tonk country and country rock from the 60's/70's.

These are talented players with a true love for this kind of music, and at least where I live, its pretty hard to find this kind of music being played at all, let alone this well. They've only done two shows so far with more West Coast dates to come.

Brokedown In Bakersfield