The Spirtles Oral History

Interview Highlight

In this Interview Highlight, members of The Spirtles explain how founding member James Booth came up with the band’s unusual name before recalling their collaboration with legendary pedal steel guitarist Buddy Cage. They discuss traveling to the 25th Annual International Steel Guitar Convention in St. Louis, where Cage was backed by Greg Ziesemer, Keith Yount, and members of EarthTones for an all-Grateful Dead set that surprised the traditional country audience. The excerpt concludes with the story behind “Lavender,” Rickey Freeman’s heartfelt tribute to Jerry Garcia, performed by Laboratory Experiment 3 (Lab 3) featuring Buddy Cage, and ends with footage from The Spirtles’ November 12, 1999 performance with Cage at Zanies Too in Indianapolis.

Complete Interview

In this Complete Interview, drummers Joe O’Connell and Keith Yount, bassist Greg Ziesemer, and longtime lighting and visual effects engineer Jeff Lint trace nearly five decades of The Spirtles’ history.

The group recalls the band’s beginnings in the late 1970s, when founding members James Booth and Rickey Freeman established the creative foundation that shaped The Spirtles for decades. Remembered by Greg Ziesemer as “the nucleus of the band,” Booth and Freeman developed a sound rooted in the Grateful Dead, San Francisco psychedelia, improvisation, and their original songwriting. They discuss the many musicians who passed through the group, the band’s distinctive two-drummer rhythm section, and performances at Indianapolis venues including The Vogue, The Hummingbird, Bogart’s, Zanies Too, and The Monkey’s Tail.

The conversation explores the recording of the album One Step at a Time, Jeff Lint’s elaborate psychedelic stage presentations, and the creation of the Indianapolis public-access television program Trouble Is In. The musicians also remember performing with Timothy Leary during a Summer of Love anniversary celebration at The Vogue and reflect on their collaborations with legendary pedal steel guitarist Buddy Cage, including the story behind Rickey Freeman’s tribute to Jerry Garcia, “Lavender.”

The interview follows The Spirtles through changing lineups, related projects including The Looney Tunes, EarthTones and Laboratory Experiment 3 (Lab 3), reunions, and the loss of friends and bandmates, while celebrating the music, creativity, and lasting friendships that defined one of Indiana’s most enduring psychedelic jam bands.

Biography

The Spirtles are widely recognized as one of Indiana’s pioneering psychedelic jam bands. Founded in the late 1970s by James Booth and Rickey Freeman, the group spent decades combining original music, improvisation, psychedelic rock, and the communal spirit associated with the Grateful Dead and the San Francisco music scene. Reflecting on the band’s origins, bassist Greg Ziesemer described Booth and Freeman as “the nucleus of the band,” crediting the pair with establishing the musical and creative foundation that would define The Spirtles for nearly five decades.

James Booth helped shape the group’s identity from the very beginning, creating its distinctive name while serving as one of its principal creative forces alongside Rickey Freeman. Together, Booth and Freeman developed the band’s adventurous musical direction, blending original compositions with Grateful Dead material, other carefully chosen covers, and open-ended improvisation that encouraged every performance to evolve in its own unique way. From the band’s earliest days, drummer Keith Yount provided a steady musical presence, remaining with the group through every major chapter of its history and helping preserve the spirit and continuity that defined The Spirtles across decades of changing lineups.

Over the years, The Spirtles continued to evolve while maintaining the creative spirit established by James Booth, Rickey Freeman, and Keith Yount. Bassist Greg Ziesemer became an important part of the group’s musical identity, and later additions further expanded the band’s sound. Following James Booth’s departure in late 1982, the band briefly adopted the name The Looney Tunes while continuing to perform with guitarist John Bigelow. After Bigelow relocated to Oregon, guitarist Becky Brindle joined the group, helping define this chapter of the band’s history. Brindle later relocated to Woodstock, New York, where she became friends with members of The Band, toured throughout Europe, and was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame. During the Looney Tunes era, Rickey Freeman’s first wife, Barb, joined the group on percussion, adding another layer to the band’s evolving rhythmic sound. When James Booth returned in 1985, the band reunited under its original name, The Spirtles. At the same time, drummer Joe O’Connell returned to the band after first performing with The Spirtles in 1979 before work commitments had forced him to step away.

With Joe O’Connell’s return in 1985, he and Keith Yount established the dual-drummer lineup that would become one of The Spirtles’ defining musical characteristics. Inspired by the Grateful Dead’s celebrated two-drummer approach, O’Connell and Yount developed a distinctive rhythm section that became one of The Spirtles’ defining characteristics. Rather than simply duplicating one another’s parts, the two drummers created complementary rhythms, textures, and accents that gave each performance its own energy and direction. Their interplay supported the band’s improvisational style, creating the layered rhythmic foundation that became an essential part of its live sound. Songs frequently expanded, changed direction, and evolved differently from one performance to the next, ensuring that no two concerts were ever quite the same.

While deeply influenced by the Grateful Dead and other psychedelic and improvisational artists, The Spirtles established a musical identity all their own. Original songs by Booth and Freeman formed the heart of the band’s repertoire while blending naturally with Grateful Dead classics, other carefully chosen cover material, and extended improvisational passages. The band’s evolving repertoire also occasionally showcased original compositions by other members, including bassist Greg Ziesemer’s “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Safe Passage,” which he later recorded on his solo album Baptism of Fire.

The Spirtles performed throughout the Indianapolis area at venues including The Vogue, The Hummingbird, Bogart’s, Zanies Too, and The Monkey’s Tail. Their concerts attracted a devoted following drawn to the band’s unpredictable performances, seamless transitions between originals and covers, and the sense of community that developed around every show.

The Spirtles’ concerts were equally distinguished by the work of longtime lighting and visual effects engineer Jeff “Scamp” Lint. Lint transformed each performance through elaborate psychedelic visual presentations using 16mm film projectors, slide projectors, cartoons, vintage educational films, video feedback, police lights, and countless other visual elements. Rather than serving as a simple backdrop, the visuals became an integral part of the performance. Images shifted, overlapped, and synchronized with the music, creating immersive audiovisual experiences that became a defining signature of The Spirtles’ live performances.

From approximately 1983 through 1985, Lint also produced the Indianapolis public-access television series The Trouble Is in Your Set. The program featured local musical acts, comedy sketches, short films, and experimental video. During the Looney Tunes era, the band served as the show’s house band, appearing on numerous episodes while helping showcase Indianapolis’s thriving underground music scene. Over the course of its run, the production grew to 83 episodes, preserving an important chapter in Indianapolis’s independent music and television history.

Greg Ziesemer later formed EarthTones after leaving The Spirtles in 1987. In the years that followed, members of EarthTones and The Spirtles joined together in Laboratory Experiment 3 (Lab 3), allowing many of the friendships and musical collaborations established in The Spirtles to continue in new forms. Gene Deer was among the Indiana musicians associated with this extended musical family, illustrating the close relationships and creative exchange that characterized the region’s jam-band and psychedelic rock scene.

One of the band’s most memorable performances took place in 1987 at The Vogue, when The Spirtles shared the bill with counterculture author and speaker Timothy Leary during his one-man philosophy tour. After delivering his presentation, Leary remained to watch the band’s performance before joining The Spirtles onstage during the closing moments of their set while wearing one of the band’s tie-dye shirts—a highlight fondly remembered by the musicians.

The following year, in 1993, The Spirtles independently released One Step at a Time, documenting the band’s original music in a collection that reflected its distinctive blend of thoughtful songwriting, improvisation, and psychedelic rock. The album featured Rick Freeman, Gregg Hill, Keith Yount, Joe O’Connell, and John Vendely, preserving a snapshot of one chapter in the band’s long musical journey.

The Spirtles also developed a long-running musical friendship with legendary pedal steel guitarist Buddy Cage, best known for his work with New Riders of the Purple Sage. One of the most memorable collaborations took place at the 25th Annual International Steel Guitar Convention in St. Louis in 1996, where Cage was backed by Greg Ziesemer, Keith Yount, and members of EarthTones. Their high-energy set stood in sharp contrast to the traditional country steel guitar performances that dominated the convention. According to Greg Ziesemer, Buddy “rocked so hard he kicked his stool clear off the stage,” and although some audience members left expecting a more traditional performance, “the cool people stayed and the curious people stayed,” making it one of the weekend’s most talked-about sets.

The musical friendships formed during that era extended well beyond the convention stage. Over the years, musicians from The Spirtles, EarthTones, Laboratory Experiment 3 (Lab 3), and Buddy Cage’s band, Stir Fry, performed together in various combinations. One notable performance took place at Zanies Too in Indianapolis in 1999, where Buddy Cage joined Rickey Freeman and members of The Spirtles on stage, performing pedal steel on songs including “Lavender,” Freeman’s musical tribute to Jerry Garcia. A video of that performance survives today, preserving one of the memorable collaborations between Cage and the Indianapolis musicians.

Behind the scenes, The Spirtles’ ambitious live productions depended on a dedicated crew whose contributions became an important part of the band’s identity. Longtime sound and recording engineer Jeff Lieber, production manager Jim Meyers, monitor engineer Brian Hart, drum technician Roger Baker Garriott, Jeff “Scamp” Lint, and many others helped bring the band’s music and elaborate visual productions to life. James Booth, himself a professional stagehand, made it a point to recognize the crew by name at every performance—a tradition remembered by the band as a reflection of the respect, gratitude, and sense of community that defined The Spirtles both onstage and behind the scenes.

Although periods of inactivity separated different chapters of the band’s history, members of The Spirtles continued to reunite and perform. These reunions allowed the musicians and their audience to revisit the songs, friendships, and shared experiences that had developed over decades.

Rickey Freeman’s passing in 2015 marked the loss of one of The Spirtles’ founding members, but the band’s music and friendships continue through the musicians who played alongside him and the fans who have supported The Spirtles for decades. More than just a local band, The Spirtles became an important part of Indiana’s improvisational rock scene, earning a loyal following while helping to establish a scene in Indiana for psychedelic and jam-oriented music.

Nearly five decades after The Spirtles first came together, their story remains an important part of Indiana music history. Through original music, fearless improvisation, immersive live performances, and decades of friendship, The Spirtles left a lasting mark on Indiana’s psychedelic and improvisational rock scene. During their Indiana Music History Project interview, the band reflected on a recent reunion performance and joked that there might still be another show someday, even if no one was making any promises. Nearly five decades after the band began, The Spirtles remain an enduring part of Indiana’s musical legacy.

Image Gallery

Explore photographs from The Spirtles’ history, including performances, backstage moments, band lineups and images documenting the musicians, venues and visual creativity that helped define one of Indianapolis’s original psychedelic jam bands.