New England has a long history of producing iconic jam bands, with legendary acts like Phish and Dispatch at the top of the list. Connecticut’s Goose hopes to continue adding to that rockin’ legacy as the group celebrates its first decade together.
It’s hard to say why New England has been such a hotbed for jam band music, with even outsiders like Virginia’s Dave Matthews Band taking hold in the region, specifically in Goose’s native Connecticut, where droves of fans come out whenever DMB stops in town. Goose guitarist and vocalist Rick Mitarotonda fondly remembers his first-ever concert at age 12, seeing Dave Matthews Band & Friends, including Phish’s Trey Anastasio, live at the old Hartford Civic Center (now XL Center).
“That set the stage in a way,” Mitarotonda told the Globe in a recent Zoom interview. “It was pretty impactful.”
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Mitarotonda didn’t like DMB at first, bemoaning the crowd noises in live recordings played by his older sister. He eventually fell in love with the band at around age 5 or 6 after stealing her copy of 1996′s “Crash” album, where “finally the songs clicked.” Unfortunately, it’d be a few years until he was allowed to see DMB onstage, as his parents wouldn’t let him go to concerts, warning that “people have sex on the lawns there, smoking weed.”
“New England in the ‘90s was sick,” joked Mitarotonda, a Berklee alum, who formed Goose in 2014 with Ben Atkind and Trevor Weekz. The band later added Peter Anspach and Jeff Arevalo as members, with drummer Cotter Ellis joining earlier this year following Atkind’s departure in 2023.
Goose has jammed out on some pretty big stages with some pretty big names after first going viral online for a performance at the 2019 Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Pa. The band recently rocked out at Boston Calling in 2022, and also took over New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall that year, accompanied by Phish frontman Trey Anastasio. Last year, Goose performed with Bob Weir as part of Dead & Company’s Playing in the Sand festival in Mexico.
Coming to town in time for Labor Day, Goose returns to Boston Sept. 2-4 for a trio of shows at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, which Anspach is looking forward to since the Hub is “always a good time.” The shows will also be the group’s first time playing the city with Ellis, who hails from the Boston area.
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“It’s going to be fun,” said Anspach.
According to Mitarotonda, Goose is influenced as much by modern indie folk as it is jam band music, resulting in the group’s melodic yet powerful sound, as evident in tracks like 2022′s “Hungersite,” which scored some airtime on the 2023 Super Bowl broadcast.
“I’ve seen this big separation between the jam world and the indie-folk world,” said Mitarotonda. “At a certain point, the notion of those lines getting blurred and more improvisation, being incorporated into that approach to songwriting and song-crafting, was a really compelling idea to me.”
Phish, of course, has been a major influence on not just Goose but so many bands that have come out of New England, with Mitarotonda remarking that the Vermont group’s “impact on the northeast jam band thing can’t go unnoticed.”
“When we were coming up, all the kids in high school went to jam band shows,” Mitarotonda said. “I remember all the cute girls listened to Phish. I thought that was normal.”
The members of Goose got to know Phish’s Anastasio during their Radio City Music Hall performance and subsequent co-headlining tour together. Mitarotonda revealed some of the advice he received from the jam band legend, including “his emphasis on creativity” and continually seeking out originality. Overall, the Goose guitarist and vocalist noted how Anastasio “just wants the scene to continue to thrive.”
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“That whole tour happened because he wanted to encourage people continuing to make new music and write their own songs,” Mitarotonda said. “That’s something he wants to support and continue to foster in the scene.”
As one of the younger bands to take up the jam band mantle in New England, Goose knows there’s some pressure that comes with following in the footsteps of many iconic groups.
“The pressure is a good drive,” Anspach said. “It’s motivation to keep going.”
AN EVENING WITH GOOSE
At MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Sept. 2-4. 8 p.m. ticketmaster.com
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Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.
