The Bridge – Big Wheel

Happy in-between-the-holidays, everyone! I took an unintentional hiatus from 1146 Miles posts–partly due to Thanksgiving, but mostly due to laziness. It happens. But I wanted to take the time to introduce you to a band that, as of a week ago last night, no longer exists. You are welcome.

Meet The Bridge. Hailing from Baltimore, The Bridge was arguably one of the most popular bands in town, particularly in the jam scene. They had achieved pretty widespread success touring across the country, playing at popular music festivals like All Good, and filling local venues including Baltimore’s The 8×10 on a regular basis. On Thanksgiving eve, The Bridge played their last-ever show to a sold out Rams Head Live! downtown, and the evening was bittersweet.

A clip from the band’s last show, spanning almost five hours. Not the best sound quality, but great energy.

It’s disheartening to see a band that spent ten years together call it quits. Especially when they’re as talented as this group of guys was. When a local band can sell out a venue with a capacity of 1,600 but is still brought down primarily by “money issues,” you kind of question, well, everything about the music industry.

But the band members will continue on in various forms. Frontman Cris Jacobs is a hell of a guitar player, and he’ll be fronting the Cris Jacobs Band with new songs, plus a few from the Bridge catalog.

In the meantime, get to know what made this band special. Beatboxing and and twang in the same song? The Bridge dared to do it.