Eric Krasno‘s instantly recognizable tone and soulful guitar mastery have made him one of the most beloved players in the jam community. His willingness to take on any musical challenge, from shaping the melodies in Soulive to being a part of the massive funk machine that is Lettuce, has gained him worldwide renown. And, of course, we can’t forget his recent release and tour with his own Eric Krasno Band, with which he added lead vocals to his many musical responsibilities on stage. With his impressive display of multi-faceted musical mastery as of late, we thought now would be a good time to catch up with Kras and get an update about the state of his sonic kingdom. Check out his chat with our own Rex Thomson below as they discuss the origins of his signature sound, finding his voice, building the perfect super band, his upcoming performance with Rooster Conspiracy at the upcoming Brooklyn Comes Alive, and more!

Live For Live Music: So, exactly how many bands are you currently in? Is it all of them?

Eric Krasno: I get around. I like to stay as busy as I can.

L4LM: How do you manage to keep all that music straight in your mind?

EK: It depends. If it’s one of my bands—one of my original bands—it’s not so hard since I either wrote or had a hand in writing the material. It’s when I am playing other people’s material that it gets more complicated. That’s when I have to bust out my charts and my iPad. I try and go by ear most of the time.

L4LM: You have a singular, piercing guitar tone that rings true no matter how many effects get added on. When did you first notice your sound becoming so distinctive?

EK: I guess when I was pretty young. I started playing, and I kinda started to notice that around that same time, I decided this was what I really wanted to do for a job. I didn’t know how that would happen, but I knew it was what I wanted. I guess it really started when I found the electric guitar. I had played acoustic and I had played bass and I loved that. But once I picked up a stratocaster—my brother had a stratocaster—and I learned my first blues lick, that was that. I started going off. My uncle heard me playing some B.B. King riff, and he said, “Wait a minute! You got something there!”

I think from there I just fell in love with how that felt. The vibrato. Your fingers relay that sound you hear in your head out to the world. It’s an amazing sensation. I think that is the moment when I found what makes me me. I still don’t really know where it comes from. But people say, “I knew that was you as soon as I heard you,” and that’s my favorite comment. That is what I look for when I listen to a person. I think, “Okay, what’s their voice? How are they different from everybody else?”

L4LM: You play in a variety of configurations pretty regularly. How does your approach change from working in a trio like Soulive to a collective ensemble like Lettuce?

EK: Both those situations are different, but I personally love both for different reasons. There is something about the power of a huge band with a horn section and all of that. You become part of this Voltron, like where all these forces come together to create something bigger than itself. Lettuce is like a machine. Sometimes playing with them, it’s almost like I am at the concert instead of being in the concert. I love hearing it all and experiencing it all. Soulive is more of each of us pushing each other, and there is a lot more improvisation. There’s more melody work and dynamism on my end.

L4LM: You’re stretching out more as a leader with the Eric Krasno Band, and you’re even singing as well. How do you like playing the pure frontman?

EK: Yet another totally different sensation. I’ve been really growing more focused as a songwriter over the last ten years. I’ve been doing a lot of songwriting for other artists, and, as I have evolved, I’ve started wanting to sing my own songs. I was able to put a record out and put a band together around those songs. That’s what the Eric Krasno Band is. It has been a great experience, a learning experience. It’s a new challenge to get out there and play and sing. I’ve never really done that before. I also have a really great band with EKB. There’s another singer—the great Mary Corso—and she takes the lead on some of the tunes. It is a lot of fun to have a new project focused on things like harmonies and songs and lyrics. It’s a whole other side of my brain getting active, which feels great.

L4LM: When I first saw the EKB live, I really enjoyed the energy and humor your keyboard player brought to the mix. He was so talented and just hilarious.

EK: Yeah, “DVibes” (DeShawn Alexander) is awesome. I found him when I was teaching a master class at Berklee College Of Music. He was one of the students, and one of the teachers recommended he come up and jam with me. I loved him. I was so into him that I brought him out to my gig that night, and he ended up jamming with us the whole time.

Watch the Eric Krasno Band perform “Jezebel” at The Major Rager.

L4LM: You’re making a big splash at this year’s Brooklyn Comes Alive. Tell us about your previous experience at Brooklyn Comes Alive in 2015.

Eric Krasno: The first year was great. I was bummed I wasn’t able to make it last year. Initially, I was in on the ground level with Kunj (Shah, BCA founder) putting it together. Last year, I was in the middle of my solo tour, and I wasn’t able to be there. The first year was so amazing watching it all come together. I got to do a really cool set with some of my favorite musicians. I even got to see a lot of great music, which is rare but really nice. That’s why I like Jazz Fest and things like that. Those kinds of gatherings are really enjoyable for musicians like me. We get to see our friends play, watch new collaborations happen, and play in different collaborations. That camaraderie is the heart of the whole thing.

So yeah, I get to be a part of a pretty amazing band this year. We have Louis Cato from the Colbert Show, We’ve got Nigel Hall and Chris Loftlin. That quartet was my band for awhile. We’re also gonna be joined by John Scofield, Cyril Neville, and I think George Porter, as well. We’re gonna really mix it up. We’ll take it to New Orleans, take it to Scofield-Land. It should be pretty wild.

Check out some of the Erik Krasno Superjam from the 2015 Brooklyn Comes Alive Event below.

[Video: Andrew Rubin]

L4LM: That’s a ridiculous amount of talent to get together on one stage. How did you even get those people together in the first place?

Eric Krasno: I have known those guys in different capacities, and they all just happened to be available. Every one of them was free when I reached out. I’m just lucky like that I guess.

L4LM: You’re performing as part of the Rooster Conspiracy with Reed Mathis, Todd Stoops, and Jay Lane. Can you tell us a little bit about how this funky Grateful Dead-inspired project came to life?

EK: Yeah, that was really inspired by Billy Kreutzmann. We were all together in Hawaii this year on New Years when the band—but with Billy on drums—came together. It was Reed Mathis, Todd Stoops, Billy, and myself. We pretty much improvised the entire time. We flowed in and out of Grateful Dead songs here and there. In Hawaii, there are roosters just roaming everywhere, and we were thinking of ourselves as a new band, so we figured we needed to have “Rooster” in the name. It wasn’t until later that we found out that this was the “Year Of The Rooster.” So we went with the “Rooster Conspiracy” name.

Billy, unfortunately, couldn’t make it all the way over here, so we went with Jay Lane for this show, who is a pretty awesome replacement. Honestly, I don’t really know what folks are going to get from that show, but I do know that it will be cool. There will be some improvisation, there will be some hints of the Grateful Dead, and we’ll be taking folks to some far out places for sure.

L4LM: You mentioned Jazz Fest earlier. It seems like Brooklyn Comes Alive captures some of the feel and flavor of that gathering. Do you feel the same kind of energy coming from this newer festival?

EK: Yeah, I think it does. That was the idea going into it, and I think that has definitely been achieved. The great thing about it is there are all these different venues with all these awesome things are happening. It’s kind of like Frenchman Street in New Orleans. I think it’s right on and actually pretty amazing.

L4LM: Speaking of Jazz Fest, you helped organize a show earlier this year that turned into one of the most amazing and emotional shows I’ve ever seen. It started as a tribute to the late Butch Trucks but after the sudden, tragic death of Col. Bruce Hampton, it got expanded to honor him as well. What were your impressions of the lead up to that and the show itself?

EK: All of the people that were already a part of it were close with Col. Bruce and also with Butch Trucks. After what happened with the Colonel, the plans for what we were gonna do really all just changed on the spot. I reached out to everyone, and we were all sharing condolences with each other. So many people were on their way to New Orleans and more decided to come in at the last minute. I think we added Jeff Sipe like the day before. Then Warren (Haynes) came in.

The emotions were so high. We were all crying and hugging. It was one of those things where we were like, “Let’s do this for Butch and Bruce.” We wrote out a setlist and just did it, man. It was one of those moments where everybody just came through out of love. Oteil (Burbridge) was already supposed to be there, and Duane (Trucks) was already gonna be there, and so many others just came in to support the show. Like, Warren played a whole set.

Honestly, I don’t remember how it all came together like it did, but it just shows how strong this community is. Everyone is gonna rally for each other and we’re all really tight, y’know? I was so appreciative of that love and support. And I was definitely appreciative of the chance I had to get to know Col. Bruce and the opportunity to honor his legacy in some kind of way. I really appreciated all the people who came out to see the show, I appreciate all my friends who came out and played with me. It was important for us to do that.

Watch a smokin’ “Scarlet Begonias” > “Fire On The Mountain” jam from the Daze Between Band tribute show at One Eyed Jacks.

L4LM: With all these projects, do you have an overall message you are trying to send the world?

Eric Krasno: It seems basic, but like I said at LOCKN’ in a moment of random inspiration, I just want to spread love to people. There are, of course, a lot more details to everyday life. We have to organize ourselves and get all of our lives together, but in the end, we want—I want—all the people to come together to hear the music and to love each other. That’s what spreading this music is really about. Giving love and gratitude.

L4LM: I can’t think of a more appropriate note to end this on. As always, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us. Look forward to hearing you make the music only you can.

EK: Thanks to you as well. See everybody out there!

Inspired by the vibrant musical communities of Brooklyn and New Orleans, Brooklyn Comes Alive is set to take place across three venues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (Brooklyn Bowl, Schimanski, Music Hall of Williamsburg) on September 23rd and 24th. The unique homegrown event puts the focus on the musicians, curating dream team collaborations, tributes, and artist passion projects for two full days of incredible music both new and old.

The 2017 lineup is set to include hand-selected band lineups featuring all-star musicians like John Scofield, George Porter Jr. (The Meters), Vinnie Amico and Al Schnier (moe.), Bernard Purdie, Kofi Burbridge (Tedeschi Trucks Band), Joel Cummins, Ryan Stasik, and Kris Myers (Umphrey’s McGee), Aron Magner and Marc Brownstein (The Disco Biscuits), Mike Greenfield and Jesse Miller (Lotus), Jason Hann (String Cheese Incident), Alan Evans (Soulive), Cyril Neville (Neville Brothers), Henry Butler, Jon Cleary, Reed Mathis (Electric Beethoven), Michael League, Nate Werth, Chris Bullock, Robert “Sput” Searight, and Bob Lanzetti (Snarky Puppy), Jennifer Hartswick and Natalie Cressman (Trey Anastasio Band), and scores of others!

***Tickets Are On Sale Now!***

Brooklyn Comes Alive is now offering single day tickets, as well as a ticket payment plan for as low as $30/month. When checking out, just select “Monthly payments with Affirm” as your payment method. To find out more about ticketing, VIP options, and lodging, head to the festival website.