It didn?t take much for The Bridge to get all jazzed up.
“I guess it was easy,” said Cris Jacobs, vocalist and guitarist for the band. “It?s not like we sat down and said, ?OK, we want to form a band, and this is what we want to play.? There were no real grand plans or anything. We just got together, hung out and played music.”
The band started about six years ago with Jacobs and his childhood friend Kenny Liner, who plays mandolin and does vocal percussion. After a couple of member changes, they added Dave Markowitz on bass and vocals, Patrick Rainey on sax and Mike Gambone on drums to create their jazz and blues sound.
Jacobs credits a lot of the band?s success to luck, friends and family. “I feel like in a lot of ways, we?ve just been lucky,” he said. “We have friends who gave us instant support, and we definitely recognize that.”
The Bridge has fostered a four-year-long relationship with The 8×10, a music venue in Federal Hill. This summer will be its eighth residency at the venue. “Every time we come home and play in The 8×10, it recharges our batteries, and it reminds us of why we did it in the first place,” Jacobs said. “It?s just a really great place.”
“Hosting one Bridge show is an event. Hosting a summer residency is a significant event. We at The 8×10 are just one part of this event,” said Abigail Janssens, of The 8×10.”The other parts include these remarkable musicians and their extraordinary fans. If all these parts come together the right way, it creates bliss.”
Jacobs stresses the importance of keeping The Bridge?s hometown of Baltimore in the front of his mind. “Without a doubt, it?s essential to stay connected [locally]. To come home and play to a packed house with people you love, and people who love you, is great,” Jacobs said. “You get all the love you might not have been getting out on the road.”
IF YOU GO
The Bridge
» Venue: The 8×10
» Address: 10 E. Cross St., Baltimore
» When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through the summer
» Tickets: $12
» Information: 410-625-2000
