Plug In With School Bus Yellow

School Bus Yellow is:
Gregory Finley - Drums and Vocals
Jeremy Dunham - Guitar and Vocals
Kevin Greer - Slaps his Bass
Brian Childrose - Percussion
Chuck Valentine - Lead Guitar

Hometown: East Greenbush, NY
Genre: Jam Band
Booking Info: schoolbus78@yahoo.com
Website: www.ubyellow.com

A School Bus Yellow fan wrote us recently to say:
If you are looking for a great time, go see School Bus Yellow. School Bus Yellow are a bouncy, feel good bunch of guys, always there with a big hug and kind words for everyone they meet.They are super friendly and generous. You could say their personalities are reflected in their music. School Bus Yellow is one of the most fun bands I've seen in a year, and I've seen a lot. They are extremely in touch with the audience and it is apparent they are playing for you and me. The music is a combination of Reggae with some Funk and a healthy dose of Improvisational Jams that tell a new story at every show. Together with lyrics that are fun, sometimes silly and maybe a bit weird at times, the focus is mainly on getting down, down and dancing, moving your feet and feeling good. Next time you are looking for a good time, go see School Bus Yellow. The band is currently touring like mad across the Northeast, has some shows scheduled for down south and is being added to the lineups of quite a few music festivals. Check out their website for all the news!

The School Bus frequently takes to the road, bringing their music to new audiences with an exhausting schedule of shows all over the Northeast. The guys tell us they plan to resurrect the jam band scene here in the Capital Region, and we tend to think they just might have the energy and determination needed to pull it off. Here's what they had to say when we caught them at the band house recently between road trips.

Where does SBY call home?
East Greenbush, NY

How long have you been making music?
The five of us have been making music together since the band's creation on New Year's Eve, in 2004. We have all been playing music for years.

Why are school buses yellow - do you guys have some insight? The only thing we know is that the color is actually called International Chrome. That's all the insight we have on that.

What or who inspired you to become musicians?
All the guys have been inspired by all different genres of music. Collectively bands include The Grateful Dead, Phish, and moe to name a few in our genre of music. Many other artists have played a part in inspiring us as well. The real thing that inspires the band now in the live music experience is the reaction of the fans to our music. The band strongly believes that every SBY show should be an experience for the band and our fans to join in what is the live music experience.

Can you tell us about a weird experience the band has had at a gig?

MMMM.....which one? Anytime you get these five guys and their crew together something weird is bound to happen.
We played at Higherground in Burlington, VT with Max Creek this past winter and Mike Gordon from Phish showed up at the show and watched SBY play the last couple songs of their set from the side of the stage. Later that night, Mike sat in and played with Max Creek for some of their second set. The weird thing about the story isn't Mike Gordon showing because the members of Phish are known to make random appearences at Higherground and other spots in Burlington where the band is from. The weird thing was that Higherground has a huge extravagant light show, but part of this light show is that they need smoke to enhance the lighting, and Higherground's fog machine was broken at the time. So who comes to the rescue but the the guys from SBY, who just happened to have a spare fog machine in one of their cars. So the weird thing was here was Max Creek, along with Mike Gordon on stage all using School Bus Yellow's fog machine to enhance the light show. And it be a melodic jam at the Monopole in Plattsburgh, NY that makes a fan in a packed house get on the dance floor squirming around like a snake, or a 30+ minute onslaught of non-stop music serging in and out of SBY songs into jams, into covers, then back into SBY songs. We can't tell you how this happens or what songs will flow into others because it's a spur of the moment decision while the band is on stage - so to find out you'll just have to join the party at a show.

VH-1 just called and is going to do a documentary on the band - what do you hope they won't reveal about SBY?
Our plot to take over the world.

Pre-gig ritual, do you have one?
Shots of Captain Morgan and some others depending on show.

What should a crowd expect at one of your shows?

A full out party with the band, with great music and good times to be had for all who join the party. Anything goes at our shows. Our shows are all about the fans and we're there to have fun with them - that is why we play music, for our fans. The shows are crazy with a light show that adds a visual experience. We also bring along a full-out SBY store and merchandise rep with CD's and all kinds of SBY goodies when we play at a venue. Come see what we are talking about - join the party.

School Bus Yellow will be headlining the Riverjam Concert in Troy this weekend on June 4th. The band will also perform at Troy's Riverfest on June 18th and has lined up a weekly residency at Savannah's in downtown Albany where they'll perform each Thrusday night following the Alive At Five Concerts. For a full listing of shows be sure to check jambase.com or the band's website.

Blues Benefit Concert Features The Maynard Brothers and The George Boone Blues Band

On June 10th, two area favorites - The Maynard Brothers Band and George Boone Blues Band will come together for The ColeRPalooza Blues Benefit Concert. Cole Nowak is a five year old who was recently diagnosed with RP or Retinitis Pigmentosa, which causes the retina of his eyes to degenerate. Cole's night vision has already diminished dramatically, and he will eventually go blind unless a cure can be found.

Cole's parents, Bill and Donna, are working hard to raise funds for research to benefit Cole and others with RP. All benefit proceeds will be dontated to establish a fund for research in Cole's name and will be specifically used to study and hopefully find a cure for x-linked RP. Fight for Sight is a national organization that was founded in 1946 by Mildred Weisenfeld. Faced with the same degenerative eye disease that Cole suffers from,she was shocked to learn that research into the causes and cures of vision diseases and disorders was virtually nonexistent. Not content to sit back and wait for others to decide that research was the vital link to finding treatments, Mrs. Weisenfeld founded Fight for Sight. Today, Fight for Sight is recognized as an international leader in the battlefor the preservation and restoration of sight through research.

The ColeRPalooza Blues Benefit will take place on Friday, June 10, 2005 at Central Park in Schenectady. There will be a BBQ Buffet in the Central Park Pavilion followed by an evening of top notch entertainment in the Ampitheater courtesy of the Maynard Brothers Band and The George Boone Blues Band. Tickets must be purchased in advance. For information please contact Julie toll free at 1-877-679-6060.