Taco and Elise at Werk Out 10. Photo by Roger Gupta.
It’s no secret that The Werk Out is one of our favorite festivals. It is a homecoming for Elise and I and often the only time we get to reconnect with so much of our Ohio family. It’s also a great opportunity for us to catch up with various artists we have worked with in the past. This year it will once again take place at Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio, on the weekend of August 1-3, 2019.
Our hearts lit up when we got word of The Trancident, essentially The String Cheese Incidentminus Bill Nershi and Keith Moseley. Having witnessed EOTO at The Werk Out in past years, we were elated at knowing Michael Travis and Jason Hann would be in our presence again. Those two always bring a great dance party with an attitude of gratitude to the vibe at Legend Valley and we suspect this year would be no different.
I had a few minutes to ring up Michael about this years experience with The Trancident and what exactly this entailed. “It was the brainchild of Andrew McConathy of the festival called Yarmony Grass. It’s basically EOTO plus Kyle and Kang.” Michael went into greater detail adding, “We’re jamtronica. It’s a ton of improv and what EOTO does and that’s kind of our modality. I think of improv as the most exciting music force in our crowd. Jam audiences with these lineages of Grateful Dead, Phish, and so on that have created that love for improvised rock music or improvise funk. But then you add the electronic elements, so it’s kind of electro-tinged, and pop funk basically is what we are doing most here. We will do some String Cheese songs here and there, but it’s really it’s own animal.”
Michael Travis. Photo by Doug Fondriest.
I have always thought of Michael as a drummer, I honestly never really knew his story. “My first instrument I ever had was a keyboards. When I grew up, I played piano a little bit. I tinkered around with it because my mom and dad played it somewhat. I didn’t discover drumming until college.” I couldn’t help but be taken aback that he started drumming in college and has made it seem so effortless through the years. I also never realized he played bass.
“You know I was in music my whole life. And didn’t really get into bass until a couple years before EOTO started I was kind of working on tapping a seven-string bass as my main pursuit. Tapping was my big entry point. Now with EOTO I am playing mostly keyboards.”
Schedule for this year’s Werk Out
The surprises just keep rolling in, and that isn’t much of a surprise when you consider the history of The Werk Out and the surprises that have always happened along the way. I think that is the attraction of both musicians and music fans alike. It’s hard to not be excited about some of your best friends throwing such a great party every year.
“I’m stoked. I love watching the Werks grow up over the years and I think they are a super great band. Rob is such a sweet sweet guy and I love watching how they have carved out this whole thing themselves. You know the way String Cheese did it, and they are really sweet to have us back all the time, so it’s a great relationship.”
To add to the excitement of The Werk Out, this is likely the only time you’ll be seeing The Trancident this year. “There is no other gig planned right now. It is that exclusive. We may do one sometime but right now, this is the only one we agreed to.”
Buy your tickets for The Werk Out now and be there to celebrate 10 years of magic.
