Promptly following The Dreamscapes Project’s 23-song set at the Colonial Tavern, I realized I had taken more notes than on any performance I’d covered before. There was much to take note of. From the various styles of their original material to the number of covers they played, I felt as though I was writing a novel before them. It is no simple task to condense these scriptures, so the impression I walked away with shall speak for itself. In other words, goodbye notes, you contrived waste of attention. Hello impromptu show review, a la keen memory.

I could write three reviews on this band: one on their body of music, one on the comedy routine that transpired between songs, and one on the audience. Well, not really the third one, but that was Keith Center’s on-going joke with the crowd throughout the set -- that my sole purpose for being there was to review the crowd. “Pretend that you like us!” he kept reminding them. Well they did like them, for the most part. And I did, too, for the most part. 

Hands down, the strength of the band is their talent and showmanship. Instrumentally, everyone fits their role to perfection, from Ben Guy’s classical cello to Gordon Shankman’s Green Day-influenced drums.  They could be easily tied down to the folk-rock genre, but have the chops to branch out. They’re all very skillful musicians that take their craft seriously, and it shows. With the stellar a cappella harmonies that close out “Fragile,” and the Irish influenced jig-like finale of “Indefensible” (bassist Jeremy Rodgers playing recorder), professional musicianship highlighted the performance from start to finish. Eric Sanford’s congas and various percussion “toys” complemented their sound nicely, adding salt and pepper to the group; the steak, of course, was the artistic sensibility and drive of Keith Center. He does most of the writing and carries the rhythm on his 12-string acoustic.

He also summoned a lively energy from the group and transfered it to the audience with ease. Although some members of the audience were finding the music difficult to dance to, the interactive nature of the show was not altered. The Dreamscapes are known for their funny, energetic performances -- Keith has a knack for reeling the crowd in with his quick wit and debonair sense of humor. His ongoing commentary existed throughout the set, which made up for the lacking moments giving off an air of “coffeehouse” performance, rather than “night club” music.

They played a number of popular covers by artists such as Dave Matthews, The Smiths, Bob Dylan, and Phil Collins. All proved decent and fit in with the style and concept of their original work. A concept that, at times, I grew distinctly weary of. Although they had clearly showed the ability to play and interpret various genres, and did so at times, they constantly drifted back to a style reminiscent of 90’s Dave Matthews and alternative “coffeehouse” acts of the decade. Not that it’s a bad thing, but with so much talent and artistic ability beneath the surface of this group, I anticipated hearing something fresh with more originality. Perhaps it’s that they began playing together in the 90’s that keeps them bound to the era.

However, to say that they lack originality would be untrue. Each member brings with them an authentic instrumental upbringing and plays with a purpose. So, if you are in the mood to sit back and enjoy an engaging show of alternative folk-rock melodies, The Dreamscapes Project is your cup of tea… or coffee.

THE INTERVIEW:

33: It’s freezing cold out here, so I want to make this fast! First of all, how did your video shoot go today?

Keith: I think surprisingly well.

Eric: We learned a lot about each other [all laugh].

Keith: It’s such a different thing to have to do a video. I’ve also learned I’d be terrible joining any band like Milli Vanilli because the director was like, “Ok. Just lip-sync these lyrics,” and I just struggled to do it! I ended up having to just sing.

33: Genres are generally misleading, but how would you categorize your own music?

Ben: Keith, this is all you.

Keith: I think of us as a sum greater than our parts. We do a lot of different genres. We’re very open-minded about what we play. It’s really a matter of bringing the instruments that we have together and seeing what we can do with them. I think in terms of general wheelhouse, it’s folk-rock. There are definitely some darker, edgier elements to it, but there’s also some groove and melodic elements as well… [a loud train passes on the tracks] And a train. We try to put a train in everything [all laugh].

33: Well you’re in luck tonight.

Keith: Yeah, it took a lot of work to coordinate that.

33: You don’t even need a sampler. That’s what we provide here in Fredericksburg: trains.

Keith: We were going to name our band “Train” but we found out that was taken, so…

33: I read that in ’06 you revamped the percussion end of your ensemble.  What provoked that change and how has the new dynamic benefitted your sound?

All: We got rid of our sucky drummer… And replaced him with two sucky drummers… [laughs] We figured quantity over quality might work… We were wrong…

Keith: I think it was a matter of heart. When we started the auditions, we had several different people audition, but we had known Eric from opening for us with a previous band. Gordon actually played with us for a few months one summer, but had to go back to school at Tech. Ever since, he always was trying to figure out how to get back into the band. But what impressed me, was that out of everyone we auditioned, these two guys… It wasn’t that they wanted to play in a band. It wasn’t that they wanted to play music. Both of them had moved into being fans of this band and both of them just wanted to play for this band. If they hadn’t gotten this job, I don’t know how much they’d be playing right now. That kind of commitment and heart is just impossible for me to turn down.

33: You guys have been touring up and down the east coast lately and you’ve played here over the past few years. What’s been your experience like playing in Fredericksburg?

Keith: We’ve definitely had hit or miss moments. It’s been really exciting this last year because, for some reason, we’ve hit on this trend where things are starting to grow, and that’s great. The people that needed to hear it have heard it now and so we’ve seen more people coming out to shows. There was definitely a time when we weren’t sure how to build in Fredericksburg. So it’s one of those places I think that is a matter of timing and a matter of the right people. If you get that, things go really well. The Fredericksburg music scene I equate to fishing: there’s a lot of waiting, but once it gets going, it’s really incredible.

33: The Dreamscapes Project has a very devout fan base in DC and Northern Va. Aside from your body of music, how do you connect to your fan base?

Jeremy: I think a lot of it is the live show. People that dig on the music love the live show. And sometimes, even people that don’t dig on the music still come out to the live show because we have as much fun, even just amongst ourselves, and we can wrap the audience into that.

Eric: We have a saying: whether people are watching or not -- same show. If no one’s watching, we’ll just make each other laugh.

Keith: I think that’s the key. We take the music very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves very seriously. I think that’s refreshing for people. If we go up there and have fun, hopefully people will come with us. We try to have a personal connection. We’re doing a project called The 12 Days Project where we release one new song every month for the next year. In addition to that, for each release, we’re bringing in fans and other artists from the area to do related paintings, writings, videos, and remixes of the song. So each month we’re going to have this body of work that gets released, and for 12 days each month, it’s going to be completely free. It’s just going to be out there for everybody to get. And then we’ll move it over to a donation so that it will help support the cause that we’re doing. Every month it will change. It will be one of our songs, but it will be a new artist, filmmaker, DJ, and writer. So our fans can see these other angles of our music. It’s been incredible. We just got the artwork and film in for January and we see these interpretations that we would never dream of.  We could never put this together on our own.

Jeremy: Plus it’s really nice to have a chance to support other people who have chosen the really horrible career choice of being an artist [all laugh]. It’s very hit or miss. We all know the starving artist cliché, but to connect with people that are on the same road, the same journey as we are, is really cool.

33: I’m going to squeeze the last to questions together because I’m freezing. Where can we get a copy of your album? And where can we see you next?

Keith: The answer to the first one is: inside right now [laughs]. If we go inside right now I will give you an album. We just have to stop this craziness.

Gordon: itunes, Amazon, cdbaby

Keith: Spotify. Just found out we’re on Spotify. It’s not available in the US but it’s over in Europe. Apparently it’s supposed to move over here at some point.

Gordon: They’ve been saying that for a year.

Keith: Pandora. We have our own station on Pandora. And to answer your second question, we’ll be at the Capital Ale House in March down in Richmond. Some of our Richmond fans come up to Fredericksburg to see us so we’re going to see if our Fredericksburg fans will come down for that. We hope to be back around [Fredericksburg] in the summer probably.

Jeremy: Yeah, we like Colonial Tavern.

Keep up with The Dreamscapes at www.thedreamscapesproject.com.

By Author and Vice President: Ben Cokeley

Ben was born in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1983 (the year Roxy Music disbanded). He has since inhabited Chicago, New York, and several Virginian cities including Richmond, where he prefers to spend the majority of his time. His interest in music sparked at age three when he began taking piano lessons. A passion for theatre and film would soon follow; he was known for acting in high school and college productions while focusing on the independent film scene in Richmond. Nowadays, you’re likely to catch him at a bar in the Fan or commuting to Fredericksburg where he works as a high school teacher/behavior specialist. Ben enjoys a variety of music, some long-time favorite musicians/bands include: Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, The Doors, The Isley Brothers, Buddy Guy, Tom Petty, David Bowie, and George Clinton.