The Breakfast

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Breakfast


Img_capt =
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Background = group_or_band
Origin = East Haven, Connecticut, USA
Genre = Jam band
Rock
Progressive rock
Funk rock
Years_active = 1998 – present
Label = Horizon Music
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.thebreakfast.org, http://www.thebreakfast.info
Current_members = Tim Palmieri (guitar, vocals)
Adrian Tramontano (drums, vocals)
Chris DeAngelis (bass, vocals)
Matt Oestreicher (keyboards, vocals)
Past_members = Jordan Giangreco (keyboards, vocals)
Ron Spears (bass, vocals)
Notable_instruments =

The Breakfast (formerly Psychedelic Breakfast) is an American jam band known for its style of progressive and funk rock.cite web|url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?P=amg&sql=11:8su67uq020j0|title=Psychedelic Breakfast at Allmusic|author=Jesse Jarnow|accessdate=2006-12-19]

History

The band was formed in East Haven, Connecticut in 1998 with the original lineup consisting of guitarist Tim Palmieri, bassist Ron Spears, drummer Adrian Tramontano, and keyboardist Jordan Giangreco. They decided on their first name, Psychedelic Breakfast, based on the suggestion of Tramontano's cousin. It is a reference to the Pink Floyd song "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", from their album "Atom Heart Mother". [cite web|url=http://www.jambands.com/jan01/features/backstage.html|title=Backstage Pass - What's In A Name?|author=Lee Seelig|accessdate=2006-12-23] cite web|url=http://www.jambands.com/Features/content_2004_02_28.05.phtml|title=The Breakfast of Champions (Or What's In a Name?)|author=AJ Keirans|date=February 28, 2004|accessdate=2006-12-22] The band then began playing shows in Northeast and released their first album, "Psychedelic Breakfast", in the summer of 1999. Four songs from that album were featured on the MTV series "Undressed".cite web|url=http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?input=band&searchstr=Psychedelic+Breakfast&display=bio|title= The Breakfast bio|accessdate=2006-12-19]

The band released their second studio album, "Deuce", in the summer of 2001, followed by their only live album, "Bona Fide", in the winter of 2003, a time during which they began supplementing their Northeast shows with the occasional national tour.

The band then won a Jammy Award for being "New Groove of the Year" in 2004 and shortly thereafter decided to change its name to The Breakfast. Also around this time, Relix Magazine printed an article about the band.

In the summer of 2005, The Breakfast released their third studio album, "Real Radio", and embarked on a national tour that saw them open for popular bands such as The Wailers, moe., North Mississippi Allstars, and Gomez.

The Breakfast then released their fourth studio album, "Moxie Epoxy", in the fall of 2006.

On July 7, 2006, shortly after The Breakfast had played its 1,000th show, Giangreco played his final show with the band at Beardslee Castle in Little Falls, N.Y. Palmieri, Spears, and Tramontano then continued on as a trio for the next 13 months with Palmieri handling keyboard duties in addition to guitar.

On August 12, 2007, Matt Oestreicher played his first show as The Breakfast's new keyboardist at Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, CT.

On Dec. 31, 2007, Spears played his final show as The Breakfast's bassist at Electric Company in Utica, N.Y. At Spears's second-to-last show two nights prior at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT, Giangreco joined The Breakfast for four songs to close the performance, including a stellar version of one of the band's most highly regarded songs, Mooboo's Voodoo (Episode 2), and then a cover of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Karn Evil 9", with Spears on lead vocals. A 'Thank You' video montage featuring Spears, the other members of the band, and their friends was also shown.

On Jan. 11, 2008, Chris DeAngelis played his first show as The Breakfast's new bassist at Sully's in Hartford, CT. DeAngelis, a Connecticut native, has played with Vermont's Turkey Bouillon Mafia and shared the stage with members of P-Funk, Eric Kalb (Deep Banana Blackout), Dave Grippo (Trey Anastasio Band), Fred Hersch, Chris Parker, and others.

On Sept. 25, The Breakfast announced that due to creative differences Oestreicher would leave the band at the end of October. The band then embarked on a national tour, playing dates as a trio through Oct. 13 with Palmieri handling guitar and keyboard duties, after which Oestreicher would rejoin the band with his final performance at Docksider Tavern in Erie, PA on Oct. 25.

Lineup

The Breakfast is known for a high level of musicianship as all four members of the band are proficient at playing each instrument, something they occasionally do by "switching up" during a live performance. Palmieri is the primary songwriter, lyricist, and vocalist with Tramontano, Oestreicher, and DeAngelis all providing backup vocals and some lead in addition to their own compositions.

Discography

*1999: "Psychedelic Breakfast"
*2001: "Deuce" — Sonance
*2003: "Bona Fide" — Sonance
*2005: "Real Radio" — Horizon Music Group
*2006: "Moxie Epoxy" — Horizon Music Group

Notes

The Breakfast has 84 original songs—most of which are still played regularly—and plays a wide variety of covers, including live performances of the albums Morrison Hotel (The Doors), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles), and Lawn Boy (Phish) in their entirety. The performance of Lawn Boy took place as part of the band's yearly Halloween show, The 9th Annual Fonghoulish Freakout, on Oct. 27, 2007 at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in Burlington, Vermont. Phish bassist Mike Gordon was in attendance and then joined the band for the encore and their cover of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", which featured Gordon on bass, Spears on guitar, and Palmieri on vocals and dressed and singing as Tony Clifton. Other Freakout themes have included The Big Lebowski and the Star Wars series, where the band has played sets that interspersed their own music with songs from the movies.

ide Projects

In addition to performing with The Breakfast, Palmieri also regularly plays solo acoustic shows in the New Haven area—known to the band's fans as 'Timmy Tour'—which feature a mix of covers and Breakfast originals.

Palmieri, Tramontano, Spears, and Breakfast archivist, Dave Pecoraro, also perform in a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band called The Good Time Boys, which features Pecoraro on lead vocals and the other three on their respective instruments.

Palmieri also conceived and engineered a project entitled 'The Beatles A-Z', which consisted of himself, Spears, and Sean Miller performing every original song and cover from The Beatles' proper discography, as well as selected material from The Beatles Anthology, played acoustically in alphabetical order through the course of five Sundays in August 2008 at Daniel Street in Milford, CT. All totaled, the project consisted of 224 songs and featured sit-ins from a handful of other musicians, including Tramontano and Giangreco.

References

External links

* [http://www.thebreakfast.org/ thebreakfast.org - Official site]
* [http://www.thebreakfast.info/ thebreakfast.info - Fan Site, Message boards, etc.]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thebreakfast/ The Breakfast on MySpace]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/TheBreakfast The Breakfast] at the Internet Archive
* [http://www.jambase.com/search.asp?input=band&searchstr=Psychedelic+Breakfast&display=home Band at Jambase.com]
*amg|id=11:8su67uq020j0|title=Psychedelic Breakfast (When they were the Psychedelic Breakfast)
*amg|id=11:v21ibkd9sakn|title=The Breakfast