Rainbow Tribe looks to jam a lot

The band has added some new tunes to its repertoire.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

When Youngstown’s Rainbow Tribe was at its peak years ago, the reggae-based outfit played out more than a dozen times a month in Northeast Ohio.

Today, the cherished act has pared that down to a few gigs a month, but the reason why may surprise you.  

“We like to play as much as we can but when you play a nightclub, you only have two-and-a-half hours to play your music,” said singer-keyboardist Jim Dudash, a 1987 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School. “A lot of places will do that, where they put three bands in there and they each play 45 minutes, but we like to play three hours at a time.”

Sure, the members of Rainbow Tribe have aged, but the act’s current gig solution is inventive. The group now looks for special events where it can jam, jam, jam the night away. Dudash said the band’s latest idea was to create its own reggae fest, which the group will headline Saturday at Cedars. Also on the bill is special guest The Buddhahood.

“This will be the first time we actively went out and brought in another band that we’ve become friends with from another festival,” Dudash said. “This will be something we hope to do every fall and probably every spring.”

Also, the idea is simple: Rainbow Tribe uses its audience to expose The Buddhahood to Northeast Ohio, and in turn the Rochester, N.Y., act will do the same for Rainbow Tribe at a future gig in its hometown.

Confidence

Dudash is confident in the power and allure of Rainbow Tribe in action. Specifically he feels the act’s three-part harmonies are what separate it from most jam-band outfits.

“In describing our band to people, we’re a performance-based band,” Dudash said. “Our show is about music. We work on a lot of different things, but we spread things out and do a lot of improvisation with just about every song we do. So although we might play some songs by other people, chances are you’re going to hear us doing stuff with them that’s very different.”

There are also new Rainbow Tribe tunes in the repertoire, which includes the serious track “The Baptist,” the Grateful Dead-esque “Porcelain Dan” and the lighthearted “Any Day.” The songs are expected to end up on the band’s next live effort, which Dudash hints may be a DVD release rather than a conventional CD album. 

In the meantime, Dudash is looking forward to the next Rainbow Tribe gig.

“Anybody who has seen Rainbow Tribe before, people will be dancing the whole time they are there,” Dudash said. “There is so much dark stuff out there musicwise and reggae is very lighthearted. The energy is very positive, and the music is fun.”