One would not be wrong in suggesting that the jam band scene’s best days were behind it. Sure, the surviving members of the Grateful Dead are generating as much cash as most pop stars and Phish is as popular as ever, but the surprisingly resilient subculture just doesn’t have the freshness that it was once able to claim.  

That’s why, as a person who’s afraid to tell people how many Phish and String Cheese Incident shows he’s been to, it’s encouraging to see the bevy of younger acts that are doing things the old fashioned way, roughing it out on the road and building their followings one show at a time. Two of those bands–rising Ohio jam titans The Werks and East Coast mainstays Twiddle–will bring their heady improvisational prowess to New Orleans this Friday, October 16, when their “Twerk Tour” takes over the The Parish at the House of Blues (don’t fret, jam fans, this “twerk” is just a portmanteau of their names).

I caught up with drummer Rob Chafin to talk about life on the Twerk Tour, playing New Orleans, the Werk Out Festival and more. 

How has the Twerk Tour been so far?

The Twerk has been absolutely crushing. Every show has been either sold out or very packed so we’ve  been very pumped. It’s started off very strong.

What made you want to team up with Twiddle for a tour?

I don’t know, we’ve been great friends for a few years now. We’ve always been talking about doing shows together and finally we just said “you know what, let’s just go ahead and do it.” So we’re doing an entire tour throughout the country. Why not? We thought it would be a lot of fun and it definitely has proven to be an amazing tour. The guys are great, we all mesh very well together. Our fan base has been very receptive of the other band and vice versa.

What’s the format for these shows? Can we expect any collaborations?

There’s definitely a lotta collaboration. You can definitely expect a lot of antics throughout the entire tour. We’re having a lotta fun right now. We pretty much just switch on who plays first and who plays second each night, back and forth. People show up early and stay late. It’s been very awesome and it only the beginning. We can’t wait to get to Nola.

How much experience do you guys have playing in New Orleans? What are you looking forward to about coming here?

We’re looking forward to getting into the House of Blues complex, definitely looking forward to that. I can’t wait to get back to Frenchmen Street. I love that area. We actually have five days off after the show, so we get to hang in town for five days and experience the culture, maybe do some sit ins around town. I want to see it all, you know? I am looking forward to really embracing the culture and the vibes of New Orleans.

Is there any chance of some New Orleans musicians sitting in with you guys?

You never know. We were in Jackson, MI and we had George Porter Jr. sit in. Last time we had Johnny Neel sit in, but he’s not from there.

Y’all put on your Werk Out music festival every year. How’s this festival been going?

This was our biggest one yet this past August. It keeps getting bigger and better every year. We were very excited to have Umphrey’s McGee, Lettuce and Papadosio. ar We’re gonna step even more in 2016 and make it even better. It’s been great as well to have the festival be so successful. After the hard work we put into it for 6 year, it’s rewarding to have something that is blossoming to a very amazing weekend every year.