Jazz act Crabswithoutlegs wins 2023 Dayton Battle of the Bands

Crabswithoutlegs won in week four of semi-final action, competing against Frank Calzada, Outlier and the Prime Time Blues Band in the Jazz, Blues, World, Electronic round. This led to a very diverse finale with Crabswithoutlegs going up against roots rockers Josh Webb & the Home Sown Band, soulful reggae group Luv Locz Experiment, rapper R3G, singer-songwriter Sam King & the Suspects and pop-rock band Wreck League.

The band’s lineup for both rounds was Elanor Dakota (vocals), Carter Griffin (bass), Drew Powell (keyboards), Pat Richard (guitar), Nate Asamoah (drums), Spencer Morelock (percussion), Ivan Murray (trumpet, flugelhorn), Phoenix Speck (saxophone) and Parker Louis (trombone).

Crabswithoutlegs, which has members in their late teens to early 20s, includes graduates from Stivers School for the Arts, Fairmont High School and Arts & College Preparatory Academy in Columbus. Griffin, the group’s leader, recently discussed the experiences with band members Powell, Morelock and Richard.

Rising to the occasion

Griffin: “The Battle of the Bands was a lot in the best possible way. Most of our shows have been 40 or 50 people max and in smaller bars. This was the first big show we’ve done as a band. It’s a very new experience, very exciting. I didn’t want to expect anything to happen, but I did feel confident. It felt good to win. It felt very good.”

Morelock: “I was talking to Pat right before we went on. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m actually nervous.’ It was the first time I was getting kind of nervous before a Crabs show. It was the scope and the stage and just how big the whole event was.”

Richard: “Honestly, I wasn’t anxious because as soon as we stood on stage to start setting up, it was not quiet. Everybody was cheering. It was loud so that was the motivation. The energy was there so you didn’t have to search for it, you just had to play.”

Griffin: “The week four show was our biggest show prior to the finals. It was intimidating. Not in a nervous way but like, ‘Whoa, this is a lot, but I’m cool with it.’ A lot of us have history playing in high school jazz band and high school orchestra. Those years of playing in front of those big school audiences prepared us. This is very different because it’s my own thing and not a school thing but it’s still similar in a way.”

Check out “Bellyache,” from the self-titled 2022 album from Crabswithoutlegs.

The big stage

Powell: “We all have professional experience playing out. We’ve all played in front of big crowds even if it hasn’t been as part of this group. Carter and I have played that stage before but not in front of quite as big an audience. We played with Canvisluv there a couple of years ago and it was the same kind of big show energy so that definitely helped us out.”

Griffin: “It felt so much better to have more space for everyone on the big stage because we’re a big band. I feel like we all played better because we had more room to move around.”

Richard: “We were all so compacted together on that small stage. For me, certain angles would be really loud and certain ones would be really quiet. On the big stage, we didn’t have to fight for the tiny little space we have. I was able to look over and have a line of sight to Spencer, Nate or Drew. I could look over and see Carter. That was nice. We could smile at each other, and you could hear everyone.”

Griffin: “Hearing everyone is important with jazz because everyone has to be able to react to what they hear.”

Polished presentation

Griffin: “We basically took the exact first set and I picked apart every tiny detail. We had the round four show all on video, so we watched that over and over and took notes. Like, ‘The horns were pitchy here,’ ‘I don’t like that drum fill here.’ We tried to fix every miniscule detail.”

Powell: “We ran the set a bunch more times too. A lot more guys played it memorized instead of reading off music so we could all look at each other and focus on each other the whole time, which was very helpful.”

Griffin: “Yeah, it makes a big difference. You’re just more in the moment when you’re not reading off paper.”

Richard: “We were able to go 20 minutes without stopping, which was important. We maximized our time the best. The energy was constant the whole show and that’s one of the reasons we broke through a little bit. It was free flowing forward. Rather than taking breaks to talk about each piece, the music spoke for itself.”

Powell: “The two rounds of the Battle of the Bands was our first time onstage together with those exact nine people, but we were already confident in the music we were playing and what we were doing. Everybody knows their role, and everybody knows how we play so it’s not surprising we executed as well as we did. I’d say it was a little surprising how many people turned out for us. It was cool to make a lot of new fans and surprise some people in a way.”

Future growth

Powell: “The big thing to emphasize for us is the diversity in the music we play, especially with the different guys in the band. If we wanted to, we could be a rock band and we’d be just as good. Or we could be a jazz cover band and just straight up play charts out of ‘The Real Book.’ But what’s interesting is the type of music Carter writes combines hip-hop, soul, jazz and rock, and we could do it all.”

Griffin: “We’re just a big melting pot of every funky genre. It’s always been very fluid. The band has had five or six different forms. We started off as just a four-piece group, a rhythm section and an alto player. This is more of the finalized group so far but who knows what will happen. Our first time with a horn section was a year ago and they’ve all changed except for our tenor player, Phoenix.”

Richard: “This experience means we only have more growth to do moving forward. It’s obvious we’re willing to put in the work to grow, even with our crazy, chaotic schedules. It shows that not only do we have a connection together, but it’s something we can take even further.”

Morelock: “That’s how much the music means to all of us. We’ve done college bar gigs that are unpaid. At one point before we met, half the people in our band, Carter, Drew, Phoenix and I, drove up to New York for an unpaid gig just because it sounded like fun. Following the opportunities the music has given us has really been the right path because it got us here. I love this music and I love playing with these people so much, so I’m excited to see where it takes us in the future.”

Artist info: crabswithoutlegs.bandcamp.com.

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.