T he world-influenced, Reno-based band Sol’Jibe is climbing to the next level of musicianship. With the help of an accomplished professional manager, the local group is preparing to tour internationally.
Sol’Jibe, performs a diverse range of muic from jazz to pop, indie to Latin and even contains a twinge of alternative. Lead vocalist, guitarist and violinist Tim Snider, 26, says studying the musical craft and learning is important to the band’s consistent evolution.
Photo Courtesy Sol'Jibe
Sol’Jibe’s most recent tour took them for a two-month ride across eight western states including Oregon, California, Colorado, Washington, Arizona and Utah. Before that, the group traveled to the South, to parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.
Manager Jon Block says that a long tour in February will carry them to the Northeast coast and possibly to Costa Rica. Although no dates or venues have been set for international touring, it is very likely. Sol’Jibe’s next tour will start early in November with shows in Boise and the Bay Area ending Thanksgiving weekend, with Reno shows at Great Basin Brewery on Friday and Saturday.
Block, who has worked with artists such as Suzanne Vega, G. Love & Special Sauce and Fred Wesley, said he believes the group is going places.
“We really want to cement a fan base in the U.S.,” Block said. “I think this group will have a great career worldwide.”
While Sol’Jibe originally played many local shows, they are now touring elsewhere, making local shows less frequent. Usually, their tours last two or three weeks, covering parts of the West and Midwest, then coming back to Reno before trekking out again, band members said. In the past, more than one show a month in Reno was common. Now that Sol’Jibe is touring consistently, however, a Reno show should only be expected once every two or three months.
For now, the band is taking a time-out from the hard work of summer touring. However Snider says they are preparing for the November tour, so rehearsing and writing new material will dominate their next couple of weeks.
Once named Reno’s “odd duck” by Mark Earnest of Reno Magazine, this group’s cultural mix-and-match style gives fans the ability to sink into a musical style uncommonly found in a classic rock-cultured town and pop-centered world.
“We study our instruments a lot and we are very serious about it,” Snider said. “One of our common goals is that we keep progressing.”
Former member Jonathan Phillips, 28, says Sol’Jibe is unique because it has studied musicians with different training than their own, which enriches the input for the band’s creative musical style.
“We tried something different musically, then put a world influence into the songs,” Phillips said, “then changed it to fit what we liked and hoped other people liked it.”
Snider, who is classically trained, studied flamenco guitar in Spain and is influenced by his travels to Cuba, said he believes that musicians are cultural ambassadors and music is a passport to learning. By hearing music from other cultures, Snider said it is a new way to implement sounds into the band’s own style.
“You can break down barriers and connect with people who have had way more diverse experiences than you,” Snider said. “We are influenced by life experiences and travel and we incorporate that into what we know, what we grew up with.”
Last June, the band released its new album, “Ra�ces Nuevas,” which means “New Roots” in Spanish. Snider said this CD was in the works for years and changed as the band progressed. Sol’Jibe has had several different lineups since its inception in 2003. It was not until 2007 that the cast became concrete. The band consists of: Snider; Justin Kruger, 27, on drums; Fernando Flores, 30, bass; Joel “J” Cowell, 24, on piano; and James Hoover, swinging saxophone.
Inspiring younger generations to pick up an instrument is meaningful to Sol’Jibe. In past years, the group has teamed with the Pioneer Center of Performing Arts in its yearly presentation of the arts to schools in Northern Nevada.
“That’s one thing we dig on,” Snider said. “Trying to inspire the next generation of kids to get up and play. We all started playing because we saw inspirational people so to try and be the other end of that is great.”
Other state art councils such as in Montana and California have also asked them to perform in schools. Flores says it’s easy to stop by when they are on tour.
“What’s really fun is if you have a show that night and before it you can do a couple schools,” Flores said. “It works out really well.”
Another one of Sol’ Jibe’s main goals is to bridge the gap between a person just watching a band and having a unique experience. The band says a moment of disconnect from reality is key to having a fun performance.
“I like it when people dance,” Cowell, a University of Nevada, Reno jazz studies major, said. “It’s like a healing factor. People forget about their troubles and we are a kind of source for that.”
Fans agree. Brooke Hansston, a 22-year-old elementary education major, has been a follower and friend of the group for five years.
“The style of the music has its own flavor.” Hannston said. “It’s really that you can get into the music, the enjoyment of the music.”
Block, with 28 years of experience in the music business, says Sol’ Jibe is a good band.
“It’s the type of people that makes a good group,” Block said. “These guys are pros, super nice guys, and hardworking on their music.”
For this growing group, competing outside the little pond of Reno has been tough. Hoover says while turning out a large crowd in Reno, the band usually doesn’t get big numbers in other areas.
“Sometime we’ll play for 20 people, sometimes 150,” Hoover said. “But every single time and even in new markets people will be on the dance floor. You can really tell they are having a good time.”
Block believes Sol’ Jibe’s ability to market themselves to different media outlets is important to it’s growth.
“In this day and age, bands themselves need to learn the tools to get an established fan base,” Block said. “Having a technical guy like James Hoover is really a godsend, but Sol’ Jibe breaks up the responsibilities. Running it in the right way is really a team effort.”
In an effort to promote the group, the idea of having a street team has been implemented. The band says it is essential. Through this program, fans across the world are able to work with the band and help spread the word.
“We recruit and work with everyone who is on the street team,” Hoover said. “It’s a building process. We are trying to get the foundations.”
The band is enthusastic about potential worldwide voyaging.
“It’s like a rollercoaster ride,” Hoover said. “Tick, tick, tick, and we haven’t even reached the top yet.”
Jennie Lindquist can be reached at arts-entertainment@nevadasagebrush.com.
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