On The Verge

The Werks

Given the strong support in our Relix.com poll, for your favorite On The Verge bands, today we revisit The Werks…

Dayton, Ohio
Fusing the Super Genre
www.thewerksmusic.com

“It’s all about fusing the different styles of music together to create a giant super-genre,” says The Werks’ drummer Rob Chafin. “You’d have to call us a rock-electronica-bluegrass-funk-trance jamband.” The Dayton, Ohio based quartet released their first CD, Dig It, a few months after forming in early 2007 and have continued to churn out their own blend of funky, organ and guitar-driven dance grooves. In merely four years, the group has been invited to play festivals across the country ranging from Electric Forest and The Big Up to Wakarusa and Summer Camp. They even curated their own festival in Bellefontaine, Ohio in 2010—the aptly titled Werk Out—that resulted in onstage collaborations with both the Grateful Dead’s Donna Jean Godchaux and former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Johnny Neel. The festival returned last year, boasting more than 3,000 attendees, with performances by artists such as Dark Star Orchestra, EOTO and The New Mastersounds. The Werk Out will return this fall on Sept. 20-23, moving to Thornville, Ohio’s historic Legend Valley. “I had people from all over come up to me and say it was the best festival of [last] summer—hands down—and that seems to be the theme,” enthuses Chafin. “It was a big festival with small family vibes.”