The Grateful Dead drew on all kinds of American music for their inspiration, but they too — over their massive career — turned into a headwater of so much that flowed out in the past 50 years.
The electronic-jam duo BoomBox has a connection in that one of the two, Zion Godchaux, is the son of two members of the Dead. (In Dead fashion, the duo is known for incorporating improvisation into their sets.) Add to that the fact that the duo comes from Muscle Shoals, Ala., and there’s a serious musical legacy for this band to process and cope with. They handle it pretty gracefully, with a light and hazy touch.
Listen to its recent single “Laid Back and Loaded,” with its dreamy trapped-in-amber guitar part, perky beats and wispy vocals. This is dance music, but it’s also got a pleasant whiff of cannabis to it. It’s more interested in increasing pleasure than raising your heart rate.
As the story goes, the guitarist, singer and songwriter Godchaux cemented the idea for the band on a trip to Burning Man with his friend Russ Randolph, a producer and DJ who knew his way around beats and sequencers. They may be the first dance band that’s ever made a song chorus with a reference to Carlos Castaneda. BoomBox are for those clubgoers who are more into a vision quest than a round of Jell-O shots.
BoomBox plays Fairfield Theater Company’s Warehouse, 70 Sanford St., Fairfield, Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 9 p.m. Tickets are $23. 203-259-1036 or fairfieldtheatre.org.
