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The band went on an hour late due to the unexpected arrival of an ambulance (a woman had passed out during the previous band’s set). Finally, at practically the stroke of midnight, Three Legged Fox took the stage, stopping the buzzkill in its tracks. This made-for-Coachella quartet from Philadelphia imaginatively bridge the gap between upbeat rock and roots reggae, delivering a fun set that completely energized the packed Friday night crowd.
Is what they do rock? Is it reggae? Whatever it is, it’s good. Their rhythm section is pretty straight up, without the one-drop on the drums or the busy basslines of, say, Bob Marley. Although they did a pleasantly catchy update on the No Woman, No Cry theme simply called Away. Frontman Kyle Wareham’s casual, low-key delivery made a nice contrast with his frequently stinging guitar work. Lead guitarist Mike Brody concentrated on adding tasty accents or doubling the rhythm, delivering smartly terse, bluesy solos in the few instances when he got the chance. They opened with Slow Down, a friendly, hook-driven command to loosen up. The title track from their just-released second cd Not As Far built to a big, beautiful, dramatic crescendo. Soul Thief was straight-up Badfinger powerpop; another slow, Marleyesque song called I Am brought the music down for a brief stab at a sort of dub interlude. The obligatory herb-smoking anthem came toward the end of the set, in this case a high-spirited cover of Ganja Weed by Springfield, Missouri band Jah Roots. Finally, about seven songs into the set, we got a minor key. Since roots reggae has always been socially conscious music, it would be interesting to see what these guys could do if they decided to get serious and tackle a deeper topic than, say, legalizing herb.
But no matter - Three Legged Fox have an extraordinarily high ceiling. It’s hard to imagine them going anywhere but up. There’ll always be a market for party music, especially stuff this good and this tasteful: no fonkeh wotbo Dave Matthews blackface fakeness, no interminably wanky soloing, just good vibes and one catchy song after another. Give them a couple more years on the road, and see them now, before it costs you an arm and a leg at Reggae on the River or some other jampacked outdoor festival. - Lucid Culture
Hailing from the Philly area is Three Legged Fox; with the follow up to their solo debut "Ideas" entitled "No as Far". TLF teamed up with producer Chris DiBeneditto at Philadelphonic Studios who also produces G. Love & Special Sauce and Slightly Stoopid. Guest appearances on the album include OG from Slightly Stoopid, Mark Boyce from G. Love & Special Sauce, Jacob Hemphill from SOJA, and the horn unit from John Brown's Body. Think O.A.R. meets Dispatch with a little bit of Bob Marley thrown in, and you've got the soothing sounds of Three Legged Fox on this album. And with summer right around the corner, this album bleeds feel good reggae notes and blues riffs all sewn together with the vocals of frontman Kyle Wareham.
Personal favorites include the amazing Soul Thief which contains a sick chorus along with great guitar work by lead guitarist Mike Brody. The title track Not As Far lives up to the "a title track has to be hot" idea which I and many music lovers believe should always be true . Another must listen is the bluesy Back Again with emotionally compelling lyrics and from-the-heart singing. They even throw in a touch of Southern Rock/Country with Easy Way sounding like a new age Lynyrd Skynyrd track. The great thing about this album is how they use the instruments as a voice instead of just background noise behind a good vocalist. Even with a talented guitarist in the group they find a balance between both the instruments of Brody and the voice of Wareham.
As a whole, the album is very complete. Feel good tracks, a few deeper emotional songs and plenty of talent show this up and coming band is more than a group of guys with some good connections;they've got skills, and potential. As the title of the album may suggest, though relatively unknown to the mainstream fan, TLF is not as far as it may seem from breaking through into the industry, so don't be suprised if you see them opening up for some of your favorite acts by the end of 2009. - Greg Perry
For a band that is still relatively new to the scene it absolutely amazes me how mature Three Legged Fox’s song-writing is. Maybe it’s even too mature for the whole reggae rock tag, there is certainly a lot more going on with this band’s sound with soul and blues rock also predominant in the mix.
To date the band has been a well-kept East Coast secret, but with such a strong second album to now promote, it will only be a matter of time before TLF is going to be very well-known from coast to coast.
Going with producer Chris DiBeneditto (Philadelphonic Studios) on this its sophomore album was a solid move; his production style, which he strongly developed over the years with his work with G Love, certainly compliments the band’s blues rock sound. DiBeneditto's magic touch produces the best results in the rocking opener Soul Thief and the passionate Back Again.
Songs featured here like Away and Maybe I’m Sorry are destined for mainstream success, with their instant like-ability. Yet then there are tracks with more depth than the Grand Canyon, such as Slow Down and I Believe featuring Jacob Hemphill (SOJA) and the John Brown’s Body horns.
Not as Far is a well constructed and thought-out release. It finds a band that is incredibly confident in its sound and one that has the patience to make sure all the right ingredients were being thrown into the mix. Trust me, this don’t sound like nobody else - it's a refreshing take on the reggae rock sound. - Philip Lucas-Smith @ ThePier.org
Discography
Always Anyway (2011)
1. Get Out Alive
2. Half Filled Boxes
3. Let You Down
4. Sweet Hurricane
5. Wait For You
6. Right Side
7. Grace (Here With You)
8. Hello Vertigo
9. Run For Your Life
10. High Time For Arrival
11. Comin' Back Soon
12. Finally
Not as Far (2009)
1. Soul Thief
2. Away
3. Not as Far
4. Maybe I'm Sorry
5. Back Again
6. Gone
7. I Believe (feat. Jacob Hemphill)
8. Slow Down
9. Help
10. Found Out
11. Love Move a Mountain
12. Easier Way
13. Higher Love
Ideas (2006)
1. On My Way Home
2. Don't Just Be
3. Lies Only Lies
4. One World, One Heart
5. My Train
6. Move On
7. Get To You
8. I Am
9. Fresh Boy
10. Jah Light
11. Everyone
Photos
Bio
It’s 2011.
It’s been five years and two albums since Three Legged Fox came together as a four piece band in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia PA.. Kyle Wareham, Kory Kochersperger, Mike Brody, and Mark Carson have played more than 350 shows, and have supported almost every major national reggae band that America has to offer. Looking back on their history to date, Wareham (lead vocalist and rhythm guitars) explains, “we’ve come to understand that those first five years were the groundwork, the foundation for this year, this new album,and ultimately this moment.” In August, Three Legged Fox will release their third studio album called Always Anyway; a collection of songs to be their coming out, their ‘hello’ to the world.
“We’ve made the raw album, we’ve made the traditional reggae album with horns and organs and such. But shortly after Not as Far (the bands second album produced by Chris D’Beneditto) we started to realize who we were and the kind of music we’re pretty good at playing. We’re an alternative rock band.....an alternative reggae/rock band. In knowing that, and wanting to keep moving down that road, we began writing songs from a micro sense. We tightened up, started building songs in a rock structure. The demo process alone was 10 or 11 months,” says Kochersperger. Wareham adds, “In terms of how it sounds, we wanted to make it big. There’s a lot of guitar, a lot of vocals, some synth, all kinds of stuff. A lot of people identify that to be the standard pop format, but for us it’s brand new because our previous albums were all so simple.”
Since 2006, Three Legged Fox has quietly been assembling the parts and the space to build and eventually have their own studio. In essence, they were preparing for this exact recording experience. “I knew two years ago there was no one I trusted more than Kyle to engineer and make these songs come alive. We wrote the Not as Far songs together, and we arranged all of the new songs as well. So I lobbied to everybody that for the third album, we should make the whole thing start to finish by ourselves. Trust ourselves, and believe in our vision.”(Kochersperger)
Now more than two years has passed since the band last released an original song, and much by way of the world has happen in that time. Kochersperger explains, “Somewhere along the line, I sort of woke up to the news, and the importance of knowing what’s going on. So there are references to recent events all over the new material, like the Wall Street bailout, and the earthquake in Haiti. Of course we’ve got some love songs, and one or two about the opposite of love, whatever that is. It just wouldn’t be a 3LF record without some of those.”
It’s 2011 and Three Legged Fox is ready. They’ve dedicated over a year and a half to writing and recording Always Anyway, and they did it exactly the way they wanted to. “I’m nervous and I’m excited for this album. I’ve believed in our previous efforts too, but I’ll go down with this one. If someone who’d never heard of us could only hear one of our albums, I’d no doubt give them Always Anyway,” says Wareham.
Notable venues 3LF has played:
Crocodile Rock (Allentown, PA)
Electric Factory (Philadelphia, PA)
Grape Street (Philadelphia, PA)
The Trocadero (Philadelphia, PA)
North Star Bar (Philadelphia, PA)
Rusty Rudder (Dewey Beach, DE)
The Starboard (Dewey Beach, DE)
Recher Theatre (Baltimore, MD)
The 8X10 (Baltimore, MD)
Sullivan Hall (New York, NY)
Kenny's Castaways (New York, NY)
Fat Tuesdays (Fairfax, VA)
Jammin Java (Vienna, VA)
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