Norwalk, CT · jam · indie rock

Goose

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The jam scene's current standard-bearers — song-first, patient, and capable of going anywhere after the second chorus, with a fanbase growing by the tour.

Goose formed in Wilton, Connecticut, growing out of Berklee College of Music, where guitarist and singer Rick Mitarotonda met drummer Ben Atkind. The two had played together in a short-lived precursor band called Vasudo alongside bassist Trevor Weeks. Mitarotonda spent time in Colorado before returning to Berklee and formally launching Goose in 2014 with Atkind and Weeks. The band's name comes from an inside joke tied to a taco shop job.

The band spent its early years playing basements and bars around Connecticut. Their debut album, Moon Cabin, was recorded in 2016 in a barn in northern New Hampshire, an early sign of the do-it-yourself approach that has stuck with them since. Keyboardist and guitarist Peter Anspach joined in 2017, rounding out the band's current core alongside Mitarotonda and Weeks.

Goose's songs start from concise, melodic writing with a folk and indie-rock feel, then open into extended jams pulling in funk, electronic textures and slow-building group improvisation. The band records studio albums but built its reputation through live recordings and a touring circuit that moved from clubs to arenas and amphitheatres, with sets that shift shape from night to night.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Goose to cancel a planned 2020 tour, the band livestreamed eight shows without an audience from a Connecticut barn, a run called the Bingo Tour that grossed more than $100,000. The following year, at the request of Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Goose released a twenty-minute jam version of that band's song "2021."

By 2022 Goose was selling out Radio City Music Hall, where Phish's Trey Anastasio joined them for a full set, and the two acts later ran a co-headlining tour together. Live recordings are distributed through nugs.net, the streaming platform the band has used since its first live-streamed, sold-out show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 2018.

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