1995 was an excellent time for someone like me to be alive. After discovering the Grateful Dead and Phish, a door was opened to a whole new world of music and culture. I immersed myself in the scene, and I ended up finding some of the most incredible bands that I still love to this day. Of those bands, one rose to the top and made me a complete fan, and that band was God Street Wine.
In 1995, God Street Wine released their album $1.99 Romances, which I consider one of the genre’s greatest albums and one of the best albums of the ’90s. Mixing progressive rock with good old-fashioned rock n’ roll, reggae, and even a hint of accessible pop at times, $1.99 Romances made me a fan forever.
God Street Wine called it a day in 1999, but luckily, I had ONE opportunity to see them live opening for Bruce Hornsby in Atlanta, GA, on May 6, 1996. God Street Wine reunited in 2001 for the Closing of the Wetlands Preserve, the downtown NYC Club that had become a haven for the Jam band scene and home base for bands such as Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, and God Street Wine.
2010 God Street Wine reunited again for two sold-out shows at NYC’s Gramercy Theatre, benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Since then, God Street Wine has come together every few years to perform a run of shows around the NYC area.
While the band has no plans to embark on any tour, God Street Wine will do another great run of shows in New York this fall. God Street Wine’s 2024 series will begin with a pair of shows at Woodstock, N.Y.’s historic Levon Helm Studios on Sept. 20 and 21, offering intimate stagings in the hallowed halls that hosted Helm’s Midnight Rambles. From there, God Street Wine will run south to New York City and touch down in its hometown for a set at the Cutting Room on September 27. Finally, God Street Wine’s 2024 live itinerary will conclude on September 28 with a performance at Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, N.J.
God Street Wine has shown longtime fans some love this year by finally delivering the lost album Hot Sweet & Juicy, recorded in 1998 before being shelved after the buyout of Mercury Records; this timepiece from just before the band’s original disbanding landed on digital platforms in February. The group is also honoring the 30th anniversary of $1.99 Romances with the album’s first-ever vinyl pressing, alongside the first presses of Hot Sweet & Juicy and 1992’s Bag.
These albums are available for pre-order now via diggersfactory.com and are expected to ship in June. It’s going to be so great to finally hear my two favorite GSW albums ($1.99 Romances and Bag) on vinyl, so this will be an exciting thing for myself and GSW fans all over.
God Street Wine 2024 Fall Dates
September 20 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios –
September 21 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios
September 27 – New York, NY – The Cutting Room
September 28 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Wonder Bar
About The Author
