Fireside Collective

About

Fireside Collective is an Asheville, North Carolina band that started out in newgrass and has grown into an eclectic jam band. The original members, Joe Cicero on guitar, Jesse Iaquinto on mandolin, Tommy Maher on resonator guitar and Carson White on bass, first played together in 2014, when Iaquinto assembled fellow bluegrass fans to back his original songs. After touring resumed following covid, the band took cues from jam acts such as The Grateful Dead, leaning into improvisation, setlists that change every night and longer musical passages. When Michael Tillis joined on drums in late 2023, the sound grew to take in funk, classic rock and even touches of techno and world music. By late 2024 the group had become a true hybrid: rooted in bluegrass and folk, with plenty of rock n’ roll and funk in an original sound. Iaquinto says the band puts groove first so audiences can dance, let loose and step outside the pressures of modern life.