The Squirrel Nut Zippers began their musical journey in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in the mid 1990’s, as a musician’s escape from the cookie cutter world of modern rock radio at the time. Jimbo Mathus along with drummer/percussionist Chris Phillips formed the band as a casual musical foray among friends and family in the area. It wasn’t long before the band’s quirky mix of Jazz chords, Folk music, and Punk Rock leanings spread out of the region and attracted a national audience.

The group has spent the better part of the last two years shaping its chemistry and honing its sound on the road, working its way towards this inevitable conclusion of songs. A kind of uncontrolled experiment in music on the road allowed the band to feed off audiences energy and surrender to the dancing muse, rather than trying to subscribe to a preconceived notion. An audience…a band onstage…both complicit in the desire to defy the world as we know, if only for a brief spell. “Let the music lead,” was always Jimbo’s motto, and continues to be.