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FEATURETRIPLE DOSE… THE THREE “R”s –– ROCK, REGGAE and R&B!
by Ernie Thomas
The name says it all really –– TRIPLE DOSE –– it’s what you get at a show performed by this versatile group of Northwest Indiana musicians. “The name came about because we do it all -- funk, R&B and reggae -- because I believe a good band should entertain everyone and offer something for all tastes,” said band leader/bassist/percussionist Keith Jackson of Gary, Indiana. We strive to play something that will appeal to everyone in the room. We keep things upbeat and fun, tossing some funk with some rock ‘n’ roll. Doing some R&B and even getting the groove going with reggae. We can do a lot of Bob Marley’s music, because that’s something people always ask for at shows.” The name Jackson is synonymous with music in the Steel City, the birthplace of the Jackson 5, and Keith Jackson hopes to one day enjoy the same kind of fame as his celebrated first cousins –– Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Jackie and Michael. In fact, aside from his work with his own group here in the region, Keith slaps bass for Tito Jackson & The Brothers, an old skool blues band that tours the nation and is soon to record a CD. Out for three months this past fall and early winter, Tito’s group is currently on break, which finds Keith back home again in Indiana. The last couple of months has been spent reorganizing the line-up of Triple Dose, a group he formed just over five years ago with his guitarist and songwriting partner, J.R., a transplanted Brazilian native who resides in Hammond. Currently, the sextet features a pair of new string-benders –– Adam Graham and Corey Dennison –– adding their guitar tones alongside those of J.R. Rounding out the group is current drummer James Hachett and vocalist Greg Campbell. A few different folks have filtered through Triple Dose since they started, among them Johnny Jackson, who was the original drummer for the Jackson 5 band back in the day. That Jackson spent three years keeping the beat while his younger cousin slapped the bass and called the shots, until leaving the group six month ago. With Triple Dose on the back burner for the last year, while he bounced between Tito’s Brothers project and playing percussion for retro rockers History’s End (which he still does when time allows), Keith made it a priority to get his band back on track. “It took some doing, but I think we’ve really got a great line up now,” he said. He is so pleased with the new changes, that plans are being made to hit a recording studio and roll tape on some of the original songs he and J.R. have written together over the years. “We both write and we have a lot of songs just waiting for us to do something with them,” he said. “I’d really like to get some of them on CD this year.” Though they have a deep original songbook, Triple Dose largely remains a cover band at present, busting out covers by the Commodores, the Isley Brothers, Sly Stone, Parliament, The Police and along with the aforementioned Bob Marley catalog, they cover other reggae icons like Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff. “We have a song that J.R. wrote that we play live a lot of times called, ‘5446 USA’. We also do some original instrumental things between songs that I’ve written. Mostly what people expect to hear when they come to see Triple Dose is good time party music,” said Jackson, “so that’s what we give them.” While the songs one hears spilling from the stage may be familiar, some variations can be heard here and there. “I do my own arrangements on the stuff we cover,” added Jackson. “I take the songs and sort of flip ‘em. I switch things around and add a little here and there, so that people don’t feel like they are just sitting there listening to the records. We pump them up and energize them and give them that Triple Dose touch. ” Aside from playing out most every weekend in region clubs, Triple Dose currently performs a house gig every Sunday night at Satch’s (1700 & Grant ) in Gary, Indiana. |
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