Garcia’s “Playing in the Band” is a chance to get up close and personal with our performers like never before. Come for the conversation, stay for the education, and leave with a message. We’ll see you at the show! Floodwood plays Garcia's on Saturday, April 30.

1. Vinnie, you've played both The Capitol Theatre stage and the Garcia's stage. What do you find special and different about playing on an intimate stage like Garcia's?

They are both great venues to play, Garcia's has a different energy. Whenever you play an intimate venue you have a closer connection to the crowd. Not to say you don't connect with the crowd in the bigger venue, it's just different. The crowd in Garcia's is right on top of you, almost like they are in the band...

2. Did you know Jerry Garcia's banjo hangs on the wall in Garcia's? Did Jerry Garcia's music influence your style of bluegrass? If so, how?

I did know that Jerry's banjo was in the room, which attributes to the energy we feel playing in Garcia's. In college I played in an acoustic band that played a lot of bluegrass music and a lot of old and in the way and acoustic dead. So Jerry's music has had a huge influence on me for most of my musical life...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvZA_B7fprc

3. It seems like each member of Floodwood has been or is also involved in other projects. Do you pull influences from those other projects into Floodwood?

It is hard not to pull other influences into Floodwood. I have spent almost half of my life playing for moe. So it is hard to not bring some of that to moe. But Floodwood plays an entirely different genre of music so I play to that music...

4. You guys describe yourself as "newgrass." Can you explain a little more about what elements of music turn bluegrass into newgrass?

Well, Sam bush, Bela fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Dave Grisman and others were the originators of newgrass. It mixes bluegrass with jazz, and jazzier arrangements. It has a lot of outside influences that traditional bluegrass doesn't have... We are all big fans of those musicians and that style of music and it has a big influence on Floodwood...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6yd_QfH8V8

5. Your last album, This is Life, was released in 2013. Are you currently working on new music? What can we expect to hear at Garcia's?

Nick and Jay are always playing together and constantly writing new music. Nick probably rights 2 to 3 songs a day, crazy. So we have a whole bunch of new songs and you can expect to hear lots of them at Garcia's...

6. Jason spent over 10 years recording with Wooden Spoon, a band that is described as progressive bluegrass/soulfolk. How do influences from Wooden Spoon merge into Floodwood?

Well, Jay brought a few of his penned songs from woodenspoon and because Jay was a big part of that band and a big part of Floodwood, it's automatic that there will be quite a bit of influence from woodenspoon. We are different in that all the other players bring other things to the table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40iLNwPK0W4