ABOUT 

Dr. Dana & the Jam Dept. is a rock, blues, and soul band based in Upstate New York. Their live shows feature jam-band style improvisations and their songs draw from virtually all genres. The group is headed up by husband-and-wife duo Dr. Dana Stewart (vocals and rhythm guitar) and Bob "Slide" Rynone (vocals and lead & slide guitar), and features a collective of musicians on bass, drums, and other instruments.   

The band was born during the pandemic, when the live music scene hadn't started back up yet, and Dana and Bob began inviting over musician friends to jam in their studio on a wide variety of songs. Together they created a lot of joy for themselves and each other, and were excited to share that more broadly when the world opened back up again.  

With lyrics grounded in personal empowerment, and a love of song-based improvisation (in the vein of the Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, and bands on the current jam scene), they craft songs that are a vehicle to explore and celebrate creativity, passion, and freedom. Incorporating a variety of musicians into both live shows and recordings, Dr. Dana & the Jam Dept. maintains an expansive sound that is always fresh and ever-evolving. Listeners are invited to throw off their cares and join the band on an emotional and musical journey, reveling in the joy of the moment.

The band generally performs at festivals and large-scale events, and plays most often at Binghamton University, where they both perform and regularly run music jams with many talented students, and where Dana and Bob co-teach a course on rock 'n' roll. 

Dr. Dana & the Jam Dept.'s upcoming album, Enjoy the Ride, was recorded in their studio, with Dana and Bob joined by Irem Ayan (bass) and Bob Alan Bricks (drums), as well as Curt Kendrick (keys) and Mitch Mitchell (drums) on the extended version of Enjoy the Ride.

MOUNTAINVIEW JAMS

Dana and Bob love to share their passion for live music and improvisation with the upcoming generation of musicians. As such, they run regular music jams on the Binghamton University campus, creating opportunities for younger musicians to hone their musical and performance skills. Many student bands have been formed as a result of these jams, and a number of them have written and released music themselves. Don't be surprised if some of these talented students end up as special guests onstage at a Dr. Dana & the Jam Dept. show! Dana and Bob also co-teach a course at Binghamton University called "Festivals, Fans, & Jam Bands" where, after studying festivals and bands all semester, the students put on a music festival of their own as a final project.