This Way to the Egress This Way to the EGRESS cascades onto the stage in a breathtaking explosion of sound and color that’s equal parts unruly vaudeville, ebullient world beat band and three ring circus. The six-person troupe plays a swooning, crooning, swinging amalgamation of styles that catapults the audience through time and space with unexpected shifts of styles, costumes and time signatures. Confetti snowstorms, tuba farts, Balinese chanting, fire wielding evangelists, and puppets sweep across the stage creating a jubilant, anything goes atmosphere, anchored by the band’s superlative songwriting skills and sterling musicianship. Accordion, violin and tuba aren’t instruments you usually find fronting a rock band, but This Way to the EGRESS uses them to give the music unexpected textures, while retaining a propulsive beat and generating enough energy to light up a small city. “We always have a hard time figuring out what genre we fit into,” says Taylor Galassi, the accordion wielding bon vivant who founded EGRESS, with the help of his partner, piano plunker, fiddler and leading lady Sarah Shown. “We’re surfing on a hard-hitting wave of many colors. Gypsy, punk, ska, ragtime, Klezmer, blues and Balkan beats all wrapped up into one crazy foot stomping good time. We let the music take us where it will, regardless of genres and geography.”
