The ‘60s passed, and soon all things psychedelic were confined to the parking lots of Grateful Dead concerts.  Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s the genre experienced a widespread backlash in the experiemental/art-rock scene that now adopted Punk in all its gritty glory.  The Dead scene -along with British Prog and roots rock like The Allman Brothers- kept the psychedelic spirit alive throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, and by the ‘90s psychedelic rock emerged on college campuses as Jam Band music.  

In part due to the newfound Rave scene, a new drug culture developed that idealized and mimicked the psychedelic ‘60s. As a result, college campuses in the ‘90s were swarming with free spirited neo-hippies looking for a headier, more spiritual sound (as opposed to the then popular Grunge and Alt. Rock).        Psychdelic/Goa Trance emerged in the early ’90s…check out ’1200 Mics-Salvia’ below

Jam Bands mimic the improvisational ‘jams’ made popular by the Grateful Dead, and incorporate such jams into American Roots Rock.  Many Jam Bands’ sounds are referred to as ‘blends’ of two or more genres ranging from Electronica to Bluegrass.  In the early ‘90s, the most iconic of these bands was Phish.  Phish, like the Grateful Dead, toured extensively and slowly grew their fan base via live shows.  Phish composed lengthy, epic tunes and developed new methods of jamming like the Big Ball Jam; when a large ball is tossed in the crowd and the bands ‘Jams’ on the balls movements. 

Similar sounding bands like Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, the String Cheese Incident, and moe., likewise gained popularity.  The Jam Band scene grew, and soon electronica-based acts like Sound Tribe Sector 9 were grouped together with jazz-fusion acts like Medeski Martain and Wood all under the umbrella term “Jam Band”. 

“Sound Tribe Sector 9 – Water Song”

“The Disco Biscuits – Live Jam (2/14/98)”

Experimentation and/or originality are certainly necessary for artists to be incorporated into the Rock Canon.   It’s for this reason why so many recent Jam Bands are mostly ignored by Rock critics, magazines, and literature.  In their live performances, the integration of various genres seemingly creates an all-encompassing psychedelic feel. In the recording process, however, this “genre blending” resulted in largely unfocused, unoriginal albums void of both experimentation and originality.  

In the 2000s, Phish stopped touring and Jam Bands became out of fashion on college campuses.  Currently, young artists devote their ‘psychedelic energy’ towards electronic and indie Rock.  Bands like Animal Collective, MGMT, and Yeasayer are all admitted Jam Band fans that have moved on from the now stale Jam Band scene.  A new ‘Psychedelic’ has emerged based on British Shoegaze, ‘90s Indie Rock, and electronica.

“Animal Collective – Slippi (live)”