God Street Wine

God Street Wine
God Street Wine
Background information
Origin	New York, NY, U.S.
Genres	Jam band, progressive rock
Years active	1988–1999, 2001, 2010-present
Labels	Ripe and Ready, Mercury/PolyGram, Geffen/MCA
Members	Aaron Maxwell (Lieberman) Dan Pifer Jon Bevo (Liebowitz) Tom Osander (Tomo) Lo Faber Jason Crosby
Past members	Peter Levin Aubrey Dayle

God Street Wine (also known as GSW) was a jam rock group from New York City. The band broke up in 1999. The band toured the U.S. with H.O.R.D.E. four times and opened for the Black Crowes and Allman Brothers. The band played a large part in developing the jam rock scene of the early 90's initially playing Nightingale's and The Wetlands Preserve in New York City with the likes of The Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, Jono Manson and the Dreyer Brothers. Numerous bands and musicians had opened for them over the years ranging from Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow and Hootie and the Blowfish to the Ominous Seapods and G. Love & Special Sauce.

The band was originally composed of Lo Faber (lead vocals, guitar), Aaron Maxwell (lead vocals, guitar), Tom Osander (drums and percussion), Dan Pifer (bass), and Jon Bevo (keyboards). Faber and Osander were high school friends and had played in bands together previously.^[1]

In 1998, after two failed record deals, frustration with management and the general feeling that things were going nowhere, Osander and Bevo decided they'd had enough and left the band. They were later replaced by Peter Levin (keyboards), Jason Crosby (keyboards/fiddle) and Aubrey Dayle (percussion). They continued touring with this new lineup until the band collectively reached the decision to finally dissolve itself in 1999.

A three night group of farewell shows featuring all members of God Street Wine (both new and old) was performed at New York City's The Wetlands Preserve in December 1999.^[2] Special guests joined the band onstage, including John Popper of Blues Traveler during the second night's show. The band would go on to release a live album commemorating these shows entitled, "Good To the Last Drop."

September 3, 2001, the band would return to The Wetlands with its original lineup intact (Faber, Maxwell, Osander, Pifer, Bevo) to play a reunion show; a farewell show to The Wetlands which was closing later that month. The show appropriately began with "Home Again" from Bag, their initial release from nearly a decade earlier.

From 2000-2007 Tom Osander played drums for Irish singer songwriter Damien Rice. Currently he works with the singer Lisa Hannigan. He also played with Herbie Hancock on the album Possibilities.

Lo Faber has since developed solo projects which include the rock musicals Henry's House (2001) and Friday Night Freakshow (2003).

Aaron Maxwell AKA Aaron Lieberman is now a member of Metropolitan Hot Club, a band playing in the style of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.

On March 8, 2010, God Street Wine announced on its website, God Street Wine World, that it would be reuniting its original lineup for two shows at New York's Gramercy Theatre. The concerts will take place on July 9 and 10, and all proceeds will benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. These will be the first "public" GSW shows in nearly 9 years and the first shows of any kind since they regrouped for two memorial performances in Ridgewood and Wyckoff, New Jersey on May 30, 2009.

Around 10 AM EST on March 12, 2012, The original band members announced on their website that they will be playing 3 shows in August at the Gramercy Theatre In New York City.

On August 9, 2012, God Street Wine performed their album $1.99 Romances in its entirety in a live webcast from TRI Studios, a project of Grateful Dead Guitarist Bob Weir. After a brief set break, they played several more songs with Weir and vocalist Shana Morrison.

In December 2013, God Street Wine issued its first proper release in 13 years, the 7-disc 25th Anniversary Boxed Set. The set included a feature-length documentary on the band's history, entitled All The Way To Here. The documentary was directed by Lynn Kestenbaum, a longtime fan. Also included in the set are remixes of the albums Bag and Who's Driving?, the live version of $1.99 Romances recorded at TRI Studios in 2012, and a two-disc collection of unreleased rarities and concert-staples, called Gots To Rewind.

On December 20 & 21, 2013, God Street Wine performed at the Gramercy Theatre In New York City.

2016 Played with Strangefolk and Assembly of Dust (mash up) 01-15-16 and 01-16-16 See below links: God Street Wine collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Discography

References

External links

• God Street Wine World
• Lo Faber's Website
• Tom Osander's website
• God Street Wine collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• The History of God Street Wine
• Bring Back God Street Wine Facebook Page
• Brung Back - God Street Wine Reunion Video by Lynn Kestenbaum