Long, strange

“We’re the oldest band in Reno,” says Jeff Laakso, the keyboard player of the band The Paisley Brain Cells.

He’s only half joking. Laakso and lead guitarist Chip Billharz formed the band more than 20 years ago, way back in 1991. Over the years, the group has gone through innumerable lineup changes—Laakso estimates that they’ve had 30 drummers—but the current lineup has been in place for three years. It consists of Laakso on keys and sax, Billharz on guitar, Fisher on bass, Ken Clark on guitar, and Clay Wilson on drums and percussion. Laakso, Billharz, Fisher and Clark all sing, sometimes building nice vocal harmonies.

“In the current lineup, we’re all motivated,” says Fisher. “Everyone is on the same page.”

“We’re an eclectic B-side rock band,” says Laakso.

They band plays mostly covers of classic rock vintage—Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash—but choose deeper cuts and approach them in unexpected ways. Among the hundreds of available Stones songs, for example, the band is more likely to do “Time Waits for No One,” a relatively deep cut from It’s Only Rock ’n Roll than, say, “Satisfaction” (Though they also do “Dead Flowers” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”)

The band members never use a set list, instead tailoring their sets to the reactions of the crowd.

“It depends on who’s grooving, who’s dancing, who are the familiar faces down front,” says Fisher.

Depending on the venue, the time of the day, and the mood of the crowd, the band can be either a straight, cohesive classic rock band or tour guides for a long psychedelic journey.

It might be best to see The Paisley Brain Cells outdoors, at night, after smoking a joint or two, but even when the band when jams out on a long, strange sonic trip, it’s not just repetitive, directionless noodling.

“We’re always aiming somewhere in the jams,” says Laakso.

“Though we’re not always aiming the same place,” says Fisher, with a laugh.

Many contemporary jam bands are more rooted in bluegrass than rock ’n’ roll, but Paisley Brain Cells are unquestionably a rock band—though significantly more psychedelic than most. They’ll start with the Grateful Dead’s “Scarlet Begonias,” build up head of steam, then transition straight into an upbeat take of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus.”

Billarz’s guitar leads have the swirling, curlicue quality of Jerry Garcia, and no matter how far out his playing gets, melody never suffers. The group’s next big show will be a free celebration for Billharz’s 50th birthday at the Great Escape, 1575 S. Virginia St., at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21. The show will include multiple sets from the band, including an acoustic one, and a slew of guest musicians sitting in.

Laakso uses a variety of different pre-programmed keyboard sounds—from rock organ to electric piano. The bridge of the original tune “Doesn’t Matter,” written by Billharz, features a polyrhythmic groove lead by a clavinet-like keyboard part, and answered by a taut pattern by Wilson.

The other band members credit relatively recent recruit Wilson for the band’s current wave of energy. A band like this, with a propensity to rocket off into the stratosphere, needs a solid drummer to keep it grounded, and Wilson provides that sort of solid foundation.

“You need a platform to take off from,” says Clark.

So how does a band like this keep the flame burning after all these years?

“Have fun,” says Laakso. “Don’t let the business side take over.”