Episode Transcript
Intro
Welcome back to Sharkbelly Nation. We've met Jackson Wetherbee, Nick Asta, John Alves, and Matt Link. Today we add the keys with Greg Nectow.
A Local Player
According to an interview with Top Shelf Music, Greg is from Plymouth, Massachusetts. That puts him right on the South Shore, the same stretch of coast where The Elovaters came up.
The same interview describes him as an addition that completed the lineup. So the band started in 2014 with its founders, picked up more players along the way, and Greg's keys helped round out the full group.
The Keys in a Reggae Rock Band
The Elovaters' official site lists Greg on keyboards, and the album page for Shark Belly Motel credits him on keys too.
In reggae rock, keyboards do a lot of quiet work. The organ and piano often play the short, choppy offbeat chords that give the music its bounce, and they add warm color behind the vocals and lead guitar. When it's done well, you don't always notice it, but you'd miss it if it were gone.
The band's official bio names Sublime, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, and Stick Figure as influences on the group's sound. That's the band as a whole, not Greg personally, so I'll leave his own influences as a question for another day. I didn't find a reliable source on them, or on his early life or training.
Let's listen. Pay attention to the layers behind the vocals.
Song break: "Boston" by The Elovaters
The Greg Nectow Playlist
Welcome back. Like John and Matt, Greg has a playlist on The Elovaters' official Spotify profile, titled "Greg Nectow." I can't tell you how he picked the tracks, but it opens with "Castaway." If you want to hear music connected to the band's keyboard player, start there. You can also find Greg's playlist on his page at sharkbellynation.com.
Song break: "Castaway" by The Elovaters, a 2023 single that's also on Endless Summer
When it's done, head back to the Sharkbelly Nation playlist for more.
Outro
Welcome back. For tour dates, merch, band news, the Label page, and our band member pages, head to sharkbellynation.com, and join the Sharkbelly Nation newsletter while you're there.
That's Greg Nectow, the South Shore keyboardist who helped complete The Elovaters' lineup. Next time, we wrap up the band with percussionist Derrick Cabral. Thanks for listening to Sharkbelly Nation.