The Grift Won't Swindle You Out Of A Good Show

^{_{By Scott Osika}}

   If you haven’t heard about “The Grift,” then you have a lot to learn about this band. The Grift is a trio based in Burlington VT., that plays the Plattsburgh area from time to time, most recently performing an Allman Brothers tribute at the Monopole.  The band includes Clint Bierman on the guitar and vocals; Peter Day on bass, trumpet, and vocals; and Jeff Vallone on drums and vocals.  However, over the years the band has had 14 members contributing a wide range of talents ranging from keyboards, violent, and saxophone.
    The Grift formed in 1999 in Boulder, Colo., after Bierman got together with a group of friends he went to school with at Middlebury college.  First, they played an East Coast Tour.  When the tour ended they decided to move out west to Colorado.  Their time in Colorado was short lived, however, lasting only a few years.
    “It's really hard to make a living as a musician in Colorado because there are so many bands and so few venues.  Everything is so spread out there,”  Bierman said. “Salt Lake is eight hours away.  Cheyenne is many hours away.  The only real market is Boulder/Denver and the mountain towns - not sustainable.” 
    So, Bierman decided to pack up and move east.
    “Out here you can be in five different major markets in 4 hours or less.  It just makes more sense,” he said. “But what you gain in business opportunity, you lose in weather.  Strikes and gutters. Jeff came back east, we picked up a new drummer, and hit the prep school circuit.”
    The Grift didn’t always have their name.  They actually began as “Sunday Slide,” when they group had moved to Boulder, Colorado.  They released one album and the name of the band changed soon after.  “The Grift” was created after an episode of the Simpsons.
    “Our drummer, Jeff, came up with The Grift after watching the Simpson's episode where Bart and Homer become Grifters,” explained Bierman.  Grampa's license plate said "I GRIFT."  And it was born from there.”
    The Grift has grown in so many ways over the years, said Bierman, and there’s always someone new out there that brings inspiration the band.
    While the band was in Colorado, they were listening to a lot of sixties and seventies music, so they would play artists like the Cornelius Brothers, Kool and many others.
    “Lately, we have been on a live electronica kick,” said Bierman.  “So, we have started to incorporate that into the mix.”
    Bierman said the band considers their music "funk-rocktronica."
    “The songwriting hasn't really changed too much over the years,” he said.  “It's more the instrumental jam sections of our music that has changed as well as the covers.”
    The Grift has played many venues throughout the U.S. and even overseas.  Some notable venues that Bierman mentioned were the Lilac festival in Rochester, which brings together many music lovers.  He also The Grift has also played as a house band in Margaritaville in Jamaica and even played in a castle over at the PowersCourt Estate in Ireland.”
    What has been the biggest challenge The Grift has faced as a band?
    “The biggest challenge as a band that I see is our versatility,” said Bierman. 
    Because the band is able to do so many things musically, like playing over 600 songs live, doing tribute sets, constantly bringing in new originals, and even playing weddings, the band has never we  “defined” The Grift sound, he said.
    “We play bluegrass, rock, funk, jazz, world, et cetera.  We can sound like anybody, Bierman said.
    However, to be a successful business in any field, you have to be able to define yourself, said Biernman. 
    “Well, we have defined ourselves as being able to do many things rather than do one thing,” he said. 
    The Grift has a diverse selection of original songs. - love songs, nonsense songs, story songs - many of which brewed from the bands life experiences.
    “As we grow up, the topics definitely change.  We are all going though different things now,” said Bierman.   “I think I am going to end up doing a kids album at some point soon.  As soon as my family band gets going with my kids and wife playing as my backing band, I think I want to hit the Bluegrass circuit in an RV and play festivals all over the country.”
    What does Bierman want listeners to get out of the music?
    “Basically, I want our listeners to "dig" what we are doing,” he said.  “I want people to feel and understand the lyrics, and dance to the music.  It's very important to us that people dance and really be taken somewhere by the music.”
    The Grift is always writing new songs and Beirman says he hopes that the band will record again soon. Their latest release “doppelganger,” which can be heard on Plattsburgh Pipeline Radio, has had some mixed reviews by their fans.
    “Some people got it and some people didn't. It's a deeper album than we have ever done before,” he said.  “It's one of those things, you don't get on a first listen.  It requires a commitment by the listener.  You have to dig in and really listen…  It's something that keeps giving the more you listen to it.  I couldn't be more proud of it and I think many of our fans get it.”
    “ The Grift will never die.  As long as we can get people moving, we'll keep making music.”


--- The Grift performed at Backwoods Pondfest in Peru and really got the crowd moving. If you’d like to learn more about them, visit their website, http://www.thegrift.com.  The Grift’s albums, “Life Beyond Aluminum,” “Live at Nectar’s,” and “doppelganger” can all be heard on Plattsburgh Pipeline Radio, www.plattsburghpipeline.com/radio.