With his gutsy progressive blues vocabulary, guitarist Mike Nivens calls to mind players who dig in and strike the strings with serious heat. An admirer of former D\u2019Angelo axman Isaiah Sharkey, Nivens calls to mind players like Commander Cody\u2019s Bill Kirchen, blues master Eric Gales, and the New Bohemian\u2019s Kenny Withrow. Singer\/guitarist Reed Skahill, a funky axslinger who duels with Nivins aplenty on lead work, shifts vocally from tuneful to terrifying at will, with a rich, grainy tenor that seems to cover any hybrid style the band dishes out. With Lyndon Thacker on keys, Taylor Gilchrist on bass, and drummer Tucker Sody, the band has talent to spare, and improv is as integral to its ethos as their compelling songcraft.<\/p>\n
We caught up with the band just after its album release show, with a raft of gigs across the South in front of it, including a Halloween show at FL\u2019s Blueberry Patch, and a Fall tour with North Carolina\u2019s like-minded jam\/psych assassins, Big Something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What are a couple recent shows that come to mind where you feel Ajeva hit some new levels?<\/p>\n
Nivins: The album release show we just did was sold out, and the vibe was amazing. Y\u2019know, when you walk in to play a show and you feel the anticipation of the crowd, everyone is buzzing, they\u2019re ready for you to get up there and go, and everyone knows the songs. That was definitely a good one for us. And then the Whippersnapp Music & Arts Festival [see video]\u2014we always play that on Saturday night right before whoever\u2019s headlining. We\u2019ve delivered some good performances the last few years, so I feel like there\u2019s a little bit of buzz usually for us at that fest, too.<\/p>\n
Do you tend to have set structures for your improvisations within a tune\u2014an acknowledged stretch of, say, 64 bars, the way jazz players might\u2014or are you willing to just throw down and see where it lands?<\/p>\n
Nivins: I feel like we really do a no-parameters situation most of the time. It\u2019s just being open in that moment to whatever\u2019s happening, and we try not to rush things along just for the sake of getting back to the \u201chead,\u201d y\u2019know? The idea is to really hear out whatever is going on in that moment and try to develop those ideas and evolve them right there onstage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a great phrase: not just listening in the moment, but mindfully \u201chearing out\u201d what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
Nivins: Yeah, like hearing out whatever is going on in that particular moment, letting it live, instead of just trying to think of the next idea immediately. To jam well, it helps to be really comfortable just hanging in a space for a second and exploring that, you know? In the words of J. Dilla, \u201cYou gotta ride the track like a Cadillac\u201d!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/AjevaJacksonville-4-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n