We had the opportunity to ask Americana rock band Blitzen Trapper from Portland, Oregon some questions that will stir your soul. We cover topics such as influence, experimentation, and brand new material. Make sure to grab your tickets to come see them present their unique style of music at Garcia's on June 19!

1. Your band started off as Garmonbozia in 2000, how has your band evolved over the years especially with the creation of the name Blitzen Trapper?

The name change was sort of a nebulous move, the real changes started when we began touring in '07. Life on the road and playing shows every night has made us the band we are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzCi6qr5qKw

2. Garcia’s at The Cap has strong ties to the Grateful Dead and the Garcia family. Has the Grateful Dead influenced your music at all?

I don't think directly it has though I'm sure indirectly having grown up on the west coast and all. Their aesthetic is distinctly west coast in certain ways. I got into American Beauty when I was eighteen. Listened to it a lot driving out the east coast when I moved to Georgia for a while.

3. Your band has been known to experiment with different genres such as soul, psychedelic, country, folk, and more. What genre do you most enjoy playing? Do you see your style going anywhere else from here?

We really just play rock music, or guitar music I guess. That's the center and everything as far as experimenting radiates out from that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JjWoIC_45Y

4. Your band originated in Portland, Oregon but since then, you’ve traveled and toured all over the world. How has traveling around the word influenced your sound? Which places in particular gave you inspiration?

My inspiration generally comes not from travels so much as when I return home and understanding where I've come from, where I grew up and who that's made me. Traveling and touring makes us a better live band and allows us to expand on our stage show.

5. Your last release is your eighth studio album entitled All Across This Land. Has any new material been in the works since then? Will we hear any unreleased music at Garcia’s?

I've been working on some new songs, I guess I'm always writing. Nothing that we're performing yet though. We're playing "Summer Rain," a song we just released through an amazon music comp so that's new. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdYsPI0zGN4

6. There are a lot of different tastes in music involved with the members of your band. Does anyone have a taste in music that really differs from the music you guys perform? Does this bring any influence to the multiple styles of music that you write?

Everyone's taste informs how we perform and the elements I use in arranging the music in the first place. Mostly we're all into solid song writing and craft, our treatment of the material can change on a surface level depending on what we're listening to.

7. You have played shows big and small. What would you say the biggest difference is between playing a show at Mountain Jam Festival in comparison to a more intimate show at Garcia’s?

An indoor headline show we're able to stretch out and expand the set, jam out some of the tunes more and do a wider variety of songs. The festival show is great for its energy, usually more of a greatest hits sort of deal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50UNxM8nFU