"Psychedelic Fusion, Hard Work on the Road, and a Dedicated Fan Base: The Rise of Dogs in a Pile"
(Artist Report)
Written by: Johnny Fisher
There is an astonishing new rise in the jam band world, a band by the name “Dogs in a Pile”. The band busted out into the light in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The five-piece—Jimmy Law, Brian Murray, Jeremy Kaplan, Sam Lucid, and Joey Babick—draws from psychedelic, jazz, blues, rock, and the improvisational traditions of the Grateful Dead and Phish, while developing a sound distinctly their own. Jimmy Law and Joe Babick were jamming together in the adolescent wild days, while the rest of the members all met at Berklee School of Music where they began to interweave their skills and create this electric sound.
The name originated from a lyric to one of the Grateful Dead songs “He’s Gone.” The band’s sound is focused on psychedelia, jazz fusion, improv jams, along with good old rock and roll. Dogs in a Pile, young and hungry, quickly gained not just a small backyard following but a nationwide following, coming up with their own unique calling, “The Dog Pound.” One interesting aspect of Dogs in a Pile is the band’s ability to tell stories on stage and connect with the audience, making every show a new adventure with a new story to tell. The band’s ability to transition and improvise with extended jams is unmatched. Just when you think the madness has stopped, they bust into something new.
Their growing catalog includes three albums, Not Your Average Beagle (2021), Bloom (2023), and Distroid (2025); they also have the Doggie Bag compilations. Distroid in particular captures the evolution of songs that had become fan favorites on the road, giving longtime listeners studio versions of material that had already developed a life of its own onstage.
One could give credit where it is due, the band’s quick entry into the scene has been supercharged by extensive touring and a high-performance drive to keep the shows changing. From 2022, Dogs in a Pile have blessed the public with somewhere around 130 shows a year, these guys are road warriors! This amount of time spent on stage has built a strong band, live shows melting faces with satisfactory riffs. Building upon this success, the band is breaking through at festivals such as Bonnaroo, Sweet Dreams, Jam Cruise, Mountain Jam, to name a few.
Fans and other bands are calling Dogs in a Pile the next potential breakthrough project for the psychedelic rock scene. Their growing reputation even earned them second runner-up for “Best Artist on the Rise” in the 2025 Festy Awards, recognition that reflects their increasing growth within the live-music community.
Dogs in a Pile continue making this a journey as a family, not just as band members and friends, but with fans and “The Dog Pound.” Even as they start playing huge events and venues, the group still keeps their grassroots connections with their fans, which has been the ambition from the start.
This is one band to keep an eye on. They are not slowing down, that is for sure, with consistent new show dates being announced. See tour info on the band’s website and check out their new album “Distroid” on all the streaming platforms.
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Written By: Johnny Fisher
(Report)
(Sources)
Website/EPK/Contact,
Spotify,
Youtube,
Meta,
Equipboard,
JamBase,
Relix,
Bandcamp,
NYS Music,
Dogs In A Pile Tour,
Slide and Banjo,
Festy GoNuts,
Pabst Theater Group,
Bandsintown,
MOKB Presents,
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