Getting The Band Back Together: Jimmy River Band
The Jimmy River Band is proving that distance doesn’t have to keep a great band apart. Spread across three cities and hundreds of miles, they’re still playing to big crowds, opening for national acts, and performing at festivals and venues across the Midwest. How? They use Lutefish to practice in real time, learn new material, and go into full-rehearsal overdrive mode ahead of major shows. We caught up with the band to hear how Lutefish helped them get back on stage and stay there.
The Early Days
The Jimmy River Band started in 2002, when a group of thirty-something newspaper employees found their music tastes aligned to an uncanny degree and decided to put on a New Year's Eve show for friends. “We all worked at the Daily Republic newspaper in Mitchel, SD. I worked in the sports department, so I worked nights, and we all often got to talking," recalls drummer and vocalist, Korrie Wenzel.
That performance was supposed to be a one-time thing, but a bar owner in the audience was impressed and invited them to play. The group kept practicing, and more gig invitations followed. “We got invited to play a festival, and that was it,” says Korrie, recalling the final nudge that turned the impromptu basement-band group into a more serious working act.
Soon, the Jimmy River Band started playing all over the state. “We were playing bars all over, got to open for some big acts. We played at the fair, beer festivals, and American Legions; It was a lot of fun. We played Sturgis twice, and I tell you, THAT is work! It’s hot, and you do up to six sets a day. I wouldn’t trade it for anything but, yeah, it’s work,” says Korrie.
Hiatus and Reformation
As time went on, group members dropped off, careers veered off into different states, and families sprouted up. The group stopped playing for over a decade.
During the pandemic, the music bug bit Korrie again; he wanted to get the group back together, but there were a couple of problems: First was a lack of members. Guitarist AL Aymar was in, but Korrie knew they needed at least a trio. “The bassist lived too far and wasn’t interested in getting back together digitally,” remembers Korrie.
Right around then, Korrie’s son, Parker, started to pick music up again. Parker started to learn guitar when he was very young. “Parker was a pretty nice football player in high school, so once that started, he dropped the guitar.” But in college, Parker filled in on bass for a friend’s band, and Korrie attended the show.
“It was when I saw him play with his friends at that show that I thought ‘Okay, he can do it,’ and I thought to ask him.” Parker was in. The Jimmy River Band was back, and good thing, too, as the group already had an invite to open for a national act in Iowa.
The Challenge of Distance
The guys now had to deal with the hundreds of miles bewteen them. As an initial work-around, Korrie and Parker tried emailing audio recordings to Al in Sioux City, Iowa.
“Practicing was extremely difficult."
“Practicing was extremely difficult. We needed to fill 35 minutes, which is about a dozen songs. Parker and I learned the songs in my basement, with him on bass and me on drums. We would then record our practice sessions and send the recordings to Al, the guitar player, in Sioux City,” says Korrie.
Korrie, Parker, and Al continued to email audio files and practice recordings of one another, with Korrie and Parker in Grand Forks and Al in Sioux City. Things worked out; they put on a good show in Iowa, but it wasn’t an enjoyable way to sustain things. Korrie wanted something that worked in real time. They chose the Lutefish Stream to get around the distance between band members.
Discovering Lutefish
“My first impression was that our problem was solved,” explains Korrie. “We knew during the very first session that Lutefish would allow us to be a band, even as we now live in three cities that are at least 300 miles apart. We also knew that instead of just one "show," we would now be able to add new songs to expand our catalogue.”
The other members were quickly sold on Lutefish as well:
“The amount of time, effort, and money that has been saved by using Lutefish has this thing paying for itself many times over already!”
– Al Aymar, guitar
“There’s no more excuses if the whole band has it. Whether you’re 3 or 300 miles apart ...”
– Parker Wenzel, bass
The journey towards Lutefish was anything but a straight line. The group tried a few other products, but nothing ever stuck. One platform worked well, but the brand closed down. Others caused too many headaches. Korrie elaborates:
“We did Elk first, then Elk died. Then, we tried another; it wasn’t for us. We had trouble figuring it out. I don’t know computer stuff, I don’t know that stuff. They were great. But I don’t want technicians giving me all these instructions. We were muddling by… what they don’t grasp is I DON’T WANT TO FIX IT.”
Above all, Korrie needed something that just worked without wasting half of the band's practice time on troubleshooting. Lutefish gave the group the easy and straightforward solution they needed in a remote jamming tool.
“With Lutefish, you don’t have to know. Lutefish.., You plug it in, and it goes.”
“Lutefish is what allows this band to happen.”
– Korrie Wenzel, drums & vocals
The Band Today
These days, Al still lives in Iowa and Korrie in North Dakota, but Parker has since moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lutefish is the key to keeping the band together, despite the distance between them.
The Jimmy River Band plays shows for large crowds and with big acts on a regular basis. Since reforming, they have opened for Night Ranger, Ty Herndon, and the Nashville-based Southern Accents, performed at a Brett Michaels show, and have played festivals in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
There are also new benefits for the group. Lutefish’s ability to record session video and audio is perfect for interacting with fans.
“We take video of a session, and we show it to our fans and let them know we’re working on a new song or getting ready for a show.”
Bands these days usually need a ton of content to keep online audiences engaged, and Lutefish makes every practice another potential video to share and promote your next gig or release.
Lutefish Benefits for Musicians
The Jimmy River Band’s experience isn’t uncommon. Many musicians are finding that remote practice and jamming are powerful tools at their disposal. In the case of the Jimmy River Band, the project wasn’t possible without Lutefish, but often bands get on the platform to simply practice more often and to save a bit of money and hassle on commuting and rehearsal spaces.
If you’ve had a music project in mind that’s hindered by logistics or time constraints, we recommend you check out Lutefish; it could give you the edge to finally make those music plans a reality—that’s exactly how it panned out for Korrie and the Jimmy River Band.