Feel The Force

Earl Greyhound just got back to town after playing their first two outdoor festivals, bringing home good memories. “Ohhh, the nature in the Northwest, it’s so amazing,” says bassist Kamara Thomas, showing me pictures of an owl she saw on a hike. But after dealing with some extreme elements—gale-force winds at the Sasquatch Festival and soaking rains at the Mountain Jam in Hunter, NY—EG will be glad to return to the great indoors for their show at the Bowery Ballroom Thursday night.

The Bowery gig is the first time the power trio has headlined a local show since the release of their full-length debut, Soft Targets, last fall. The disc, 50-minutes of rock that sounds like it could have been recorded in 1975, brought EG to the center of local and national media attention. Critics were unanimous in their praise of Soft Targets and EG’s live show, unleashing superlatives and inevitably drawing comparisons to Led Zeppelin.

While some bands might not want to be labeled “classic rock” or be compared to Zeppelin, EG has no problem with it. Frames of reference, after all, are necessary.

“It’s good to have those jumping points, to understand where we’re coming from,” says Thomas as the four of us sat outside at a cafe in Chelsea last week. “Besides, to be compared to the mightiest band, that’s great. It certainly doesn’t worry us—we’ll differentiate ourselves and make our footprint felt.”

Drummer Ric Sheridan, wearing 10 pounds of antique lapis around his neck and looking very serious behind his dark shades, agrees. “You see, we’re all very sincere about what we do. And if we get those comparisons, we feel we have to live up to it. But you can’t just listen to the record, you’ve got to see the live show to see what we’re all about. It’s the nucleus of who we are.”

“Yeah, we’re a force to be reckoned with,” Thomas says. “The energy all comes together live. We have a very intimate relationship on stage with each other. We get deep on each other.”

“I like the sound of that—getting deep on each other,” says Matt Whyte, the long and lean guitarist who handles the lion’s share of the vocals.

The beautiful Thomas, who’s still amped from her owl encounter, is on a roll now. “We get to that place where we’re in the groove, and it’s just…it’s totally fearless. It’s joyful. It’s transcendental.”

Sounds pretty heavy. Which is exactly how it should be. But pouring your soul into every concert has to be exhausting, right? So I ask them how they felt after they play a show.

“I feel sad,” Sheridan says. “It’s like you’ve given everything, and now, it’s like, what’s next?” Everyone gets quiet, and for a second I feel sad, too. Then Sheridan continues. “But I feel happy, too. Because I feel like we connected with the crowd, and they connected with us. ” Sheridan pauses again, and now we’re all back to being happy. “It’s like each gig is another step, and we just keep moving higher.”

If you want to go deep and get higher, board the Greyhound now. And prepareto transcend.

June 14, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.), 212-533-2111; 8, $13/$15.