Jam Band Pioneers God Street Wine Reuniting For MS Benefit Shows

The band has decided to come together after a request from their longtime stage manager, lighting director and close friend Michael Weiss, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, in 2004. Weiss has since become very active in MS-related charity work.

God Street Wine -- Lo Faber (lead vocals, guitar), Aaron Maxwell (lead vocals, guitar), Tom Osander (drums), Dan Pifer (bass) and Jon Bevo (keyboards) -- formed in New York in 1988 and rose up through the improvisational rock scene alongside bands like DMB, Phish, Blues Traveler and the Spin Doctors. They joined the H.O.R.D.E. Tour traveling festival in 1995 and 1996, recorded six albums and performed more than 1,000 shows in their 11 years together. They were pioneers in the early days of the Internet, building an email list of 15,000-plus "Winos," as their fans were affectionately known, and producing one of the first band websites.

After experiencing several lineup changes in 1998, God Street Wine split up the next year, playing a three-night farewell engagement at the Wetlands Preserve in New York. Selected performances from these final shows were compiled into the posthumous live album "Good To the Last Drop" in 2000. The original five members last reunited publicly in September 2001 for a farewell show to the Wetlands, as the celebrated venue was closing that month.