Soundbites: Josh Panda Joins the Grift 

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• Courtesy
• The Grift

The concept of the supergroup has always fascinated me. For every Traveling Wilburys and BoyGenius record, there are atrocious experiments such as the Damn Yankees or (shudder) Velvet Revolver. I still recall watching an Audioslave performance, feeling like I had slipped into a strange shadow dimension where two bands I liked in my youth combined to become one band I couldn't stand.

Beyond questions of quality, I still love it when musicians team up. It almost shades into fantasy sports draft territory: What if you took the bassist from the Clash and traded him to, I don't know, Gorillaz? Wait, that actually happened? Shit, OK, hold on.

What if you put Johnny Marr in Modest Mouse? Oh, right, that happened, too. Wild. (Please, God, no one email me about Metallica and Lou Reed.)

We've got some proper team building going on in the 802 right now, actually, and, to be honest, it makes so much sense. One of Vermont's longest-serving active bands, the Grift, first popped up in 1999 after Clint Bierman and Jeff Vallone met while attending Middlebury College. Though lumped in with the early 2000s local jam scene, the band continually pushed away from those shores, honing its songwriting chops as pop and indie-rock influences began to filter in.

Their sound is ready to shift again as the Grift have joined forces with singer-songwriter Josh Panda. And not in a "guest star" sort of scenario, either. Panda is officially a member of the Grift now. To be fair, he's actually been in the band for two years, but Bierman and co. never bothered to tell anyone.

"Everyone kept telling us how great it was that I was guesting with the Grift," Panda told me in an email. "So, we'd like to let everyone know that this is a permanent thing. I've always wanted to be in a band, not just [have] one. With the Grift, we're all equals."

Panda first met the Grift at a 2011 show at Higher Ground. From there, he would often guest with them, especially at weddings. A big part of the band's income comes from private parties and weddings — they even played in Jordan in May.

During the pandemic, Panda finally saw an opportunity to join the band and didn't hesitate.

"I was burnt out from being a band leader and the sole creative in a band," Panda explained. "And the idea of spending my time and sharing a stage with my best friends was too good to pass up."

Still, Panda had to make some adjustments. A career-long solo artist who recently competed on the NBC show "American Song Contest," Panda was new to the whole just-one-of-the-band experience.

"Jumping into the Grift was a bit of a learning curve for me," Panda wrote. "I've always been the front man and center of attention, as well as the one calling the shots onstage. Now I had to learn to be a [role] player and just nail my shots when passed the ball."

He had to adapt the way he plays, as well. Keyboard player Andrew Moroz recently departed the band. A guitarist by trade, Panda pulled out his trusty Roland GR-55 guitar synthesizer and started rewiring his playing style to essentially become the keyboard player when needed. He uses the guitar to become an organ, synth, piano or whatever else a song calls for.

"For a guy who played acoustic guitar most of his career, it took some getting used to," Panda admitted.

To announce and celebrate this new chapter in the band's career, the Grift have released a new single. Titled "Serious," the track finds them pushing into funk and pop behind Panda's smooth, soulful vocals. The union of Panda's singing and songwriting with Bierman and bassist Peter Day is immediately intriguing, and "Serious" is a strong statement of intent from the new-look band.

"I've never been musically prouder or happier," Panda enthused. "It truly is a new band."