In the beginning there was The Seed Band. The Seed Band has no beginning and no end...........But if we must go into detail, The Seed Band began as a high school band. It was 1993. First it was Ernie Hendrickson, Jason ‘Pudge’ Phillips, Mark Persaud (vocals, harmonica) and Jeff Janicki (bass). Soon we added Ernie’s brother Neil, on vocals and eventually guitar as well. We played at The Ing (roller skating place) and The Getaway on Rockford’s southwest side. We covered Doors and Zeppelin tunes, and played original songs, even half-songs…anything that even remotely constituted a musical idea, actually. Something that may have set us apart was that we always played originals, even from the start, always more than covers. And we always improvised at length, long before any of us ever listened tothe Dead or Phish. Those two bands would inevitably become an immeasurable influence on all of us after a while, as that energy was just in the air allthrough the 90’s it seemed - the unbounded joy of musical exploration combined with a strong sense of community. We eventually parted ways with Mark, although his existential nature continued to be an influence on the Seed band songs, which were written mainly by Ernie, with lyrics often penned by cohort Charlie Finch. So the band continued as a quartet for a while and eventually after Ernie and Pudge went to school and roomed together at ISU, they met Dan Park. We added Dan (clarinet, tenor sax, weirdness) to the group around '97 after we had recorded our first CD "Early Morning Moon". Actually Dan appears on the E.M.M., but only at the very beginning and again at the very end, mixed in with the sounds of the Atlantic Ocean (which was recorded by Dan and Ernie, in an insane journey to the east coast and back in like 24 hours or something) This was a very active period for the band, that group of five. We became a staple on the ISU Campus, threw our own little festival gigs, played house parties, and traveled a bit throughout Illinois. The next record, “Stardust”, was recorded in ‘98 and ‘99 and shortly after that, Neil ended up leaving the group, having a hard time juggling full time work at Chrysler, etc… Neil’s presence was always warm, enigmatic and energetic on stage, and provided a necessary foil for the musical insanity that often would take place. So when Neil left, we did a few things as a quartet, but eventually ended up taking some time off to figure out a next step. That next step was to add fellow ISU Redbirds Jaik Willis (percussion/guitar/vocals)and Jon Hill (guitar and banjo), which left Ernie, Pudge, Jeff, Dan, Jaik, and Jon. Neil’s presence was sorely missed by long time Seed fans, and this proved to be a difficult transition. Musical possibilities did open up with the newly formed sextet however, and this incarnation of the band seemed to have limitless potential, if ultimately untapped. It was during this time that the band played its most high profile shows-opening up for Victor Wooten and his brothers and Leftover Salmon. Ernie graduated ISU in '99, moved back to Rockford and was in a near fatal motorcycle accident, which put the band on hold for awhile. There were a few more gigs under this line-up, but living hours apart, and with the uncertainty of where the band was heading, soon Jaik and Dan would part ways with the band, leaving Ernie, Pudge, Jeff and Jon. This quartet, being easier to manage, sustained for a while into the year 2000 and produced a different sound, stripped down and a bit edgier, and moved into different terrains musically, with Jon bringing bluegrass into the fold. Then towards the end of the year entered Jake Vohs ..boards, who was rooming with Pudge at the time. Jon Hill, finishing his masters, decided for many reasons, but mostly out of necessity, to move back home to West Virginia,l eaving Ernie, Pudge, Jake V., and Jeff. With all of the changes taking place, it should have come as no surprise that Jeff, who was now married and had his first child, decided to call it quits. Doggedly persistent, the Seed Band was in a real fix with the loss of another original member, but had one replacement that we thought would fit, Jon Dann, also from ISU. He joined the group at that point and we did a few things in late spring '00. But he planned to move out to Pittsburgh to be with his fiance. There was sometalk of relocating out east, but it was not to be. Inevitably, we were forced to take another hiatus, of indeterminate length. But after a period of not playing, that summer, all the way up to the fall of ’00, we contacted Joel Packer, another bass player friend from ISU, who was living in the suburbs of Chicago and we decided to do some jamming. We invited Jake Vohs, who was finishing up at ISU, to come up to Rockford and do some playing. This was not even considered a “Seed Band ‘gathering. We just wanted to see what developed. And things did develop, and eventually we even added Jake's girlfriend, (now wife) Jannette, and Ernie’s sister Kelly on backing vocals and Michael 'Iggy' Dickson on percussion. We were tossing around band names, the prominent one being 'Transformation', a name we performed under on New Years '01. This group recorded an album in January '01, still without having a name that we really liked, and since we were doing some old Seed songs in this group, (and since all of our name ideas really sucked!) we once again resurrected The Seed Band name and released our album "Insight". This group played through that winter, spring, and through mid summer '01. We did some fun shows during this time, including Rockford’s Davis Park on the 4th of July, the Block Five gig, opened for the Jerry Garcia Band and playedthe Summer Camp fest in Chillicothe. We were trying to centrally locate, and Jake and Jannette did for a short while move to Rockford,but it was a difficult thing we were shooting for. It’s hard enough to organize and maintain a trio, much less a seven piece band. So we decided to strip down once again, Which left Ernie, Pudge, Joel, and Jake- a quartet, and we stayed that way allthrough the summer, fall, winter and into '02-winter, spring and summer. We had a pretty good run as this quartet, about a year, and we were doing quite a bit of traveling and things were going pretty good. But Jake was still living in Peoria and had Jannette there,and always the financial concerns. In the fall of '02, they made the decision to relocate to Nantucket, Massachusetts which left me, Pudge and Joel. Still, The Seed Band! We did some things that fall and winter as a trio, with Ryan Swanson joining on saxophone for somethings. Mostly we played at Otto's in Dekalb and The Cafe in Macomb, IL. The gigs went on through the spring '03, but unadmittedly to ourselves, at least partially to help pay off some debt which we had accumulated from poor t-shirtand CD sales, a van, insurance and some other stuff. We were just getting to apoint where we knew we had to let the thing go. We were eventually joined by Jake for a couple of reunion gigs in Macomb as The Seed Band in late spring which were a lot of fun, but alas, after our last gig in Macomb in April '03, the great twelve-horned Seed Band monster was laid to rest.............This time for good...............
But there is more to this story….tragically, and hardly imaginable, Jason Phillips passed away at the young age of 29, unexpectedly in April ’07, due to health complications. His passing has reunited all those who once loved the Seed Band, and was the impetus for this MySpace page. His death stings, yet his great love and passion for music, and his indomitable spirit survive him, and he will long be remembered and carried in the hearts of many. Let us not forget! Ever! WE LOVE YOU PUDGE! “Love is life, there is no other” – JasonPhillips
We are very excited about playing at such an awesome jazz club. We have some great sets lined up for you, so don't miss it. Friday and Saturday November 20th and 21st, 5:00-8:30p at Andy's Jazz Club in Chicago
Aaron Koppel -Guitar, Matt Nelson; (Lupe Fiasco, Matthew Santos) -Keyboard, Graham Czach; (Chicago Afrobeat Project) -bass, Robert Tucker (Matthew Santos) -drums
THIS SATURDAY LIVE AT MARY'S PLACE (9:30 PM): Unity the Band
Unity the Band is a raging 7-piece reggae super-group, and their kicking off their May tour live at Mary's Place!
Unity's live shows are so incredible and unforgettable people are still talking about the last time they came to Mary's. Unity drives the audience to a crazed dancing euphoric party state, and there's nothing quite like it. People can't believe what they're seeing and hearing when this band is performing on the Mary's stage. The band pulls out all the stops, bringing in a phenomenal sound system and light show to enhance your reggae party experience!
Some of the most dynamic and high-powered live reggae performers in music today make up Unity the Band!
Pita Katobalavu is the band leader of Unity. Pita began his musicianship in his native home, the Fiji Islands, and is easily one of the most charismatic figures to ever appear on the Mary's live scene. You have to meet this guy. It's time to get out and join the huge, raging, underground reggae party live at the oldest bar in Rockford!
Celebrated reggae music live is simply a can't miss event!
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Hey guys.. Can't wait to see more of ya at the catfish john fest again this year, last year was suh-weet! Also, wanted to give a heads to anyone wanting to learn to sew, some of the How-to videos I made down in Florida are on expertvillage. com . You should come check 'em out. Look under "our experts" under M for Misty Swift. Can't wait to see ya! Happy trails.. Misty
last year's Catfish John Fest was amazing. the vibe was so pure!
the performance delivered by The SEED Band (aka: SEED reunion or SEED Celebration) has absolutely become legendary already! yes, many people are talking.
thanks for coming back together for the festy. it was truly a testament of the LOVE you have for the people ...the Family!
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