Across three-plus decades and thousands of miles, the reggae-infused band 880 South has weathered twists, turns, successes, breakups and reformations. But even though the band members are far-flung across the map, 880 South is more focused than ever. In support of their new album, Origins, the group comes home to the Bay Area for a May 8 show at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz.
880 South grew out of Floppy Rods, a Bay Area funk band featuring Luigi Casarettoand Greg Medeiros. That band lasted from 1998 to 2002, but guitarist Casaretto had been feeling restless. “It wasn’t really ‘scratching the itch,’” he explains.
After leaving the band, he began working on songs alone in his home studio. “It was really bad,” he says with a laugh. But there was something of value within that reggae- and soul-flavored material. So when he bumped into some of his former band mates at a party, he told them about his new songs. The musicians soon reconvened as 880 South, asserting their Campbell and San Jose roots.
The group released its debut album, Beware, in 2006 and toured in support of the release as openers for Fishbone, Matisyahu, Slightly Stoopid and Sublime. In 2010, 880 South played the very first California Roots Festival in Monterey.
The band continued to gig and tour but eventually drifted apart. Lead guitarist Steve Shyshka relocated to San Francisco, and bassist Medeiros moved to Rocklin, near Sacramento. In 2015 Casaretto left the Bay Area altogether, settling in Denver. “Life gets in the way,” Casaretto explains. “Some of us are dads; we’ve all got a lot going on.”
By the early 2020s, was recording and releasing music under his stage name, Weege. A run of singles led to his 2023 solo album All Fixed Up. One of its tracks, “Just a Moment,” featured his old band. And in 2024 the semi-inactive group began releasing a few new tracks. “Those songs didn’t have super-high quality production,” Weege admits. “They were experimental, demo-type recordings.” He says that the collective attitude of all involved was, “Let’s just get these off our shelves.”
Listeners reacted positively. “I started to see trends on Spotify and Pandora,” Casaretto says. Tunes from 880 South’s back catalog began to pick up steam as well. “Some of our older stuff was starting to connect with a younger audience, which really blew our minds,” he says. “We hadn’t done any marketing, and we hadn’t toured in almost a decade.”
With that momentum, the members of 880 South re-dedicated themselves to the group. “We were motivated to get back together and push even harder,” Casaretto says. Modern technology meant that while they were spread out across the western half of the U.S., 880 South could still record music.
The band got busy on new material, recording remotely and sharing files. The core of Casaretto, Medeiros and Shyshka enlisted additional new members. “Our drummer, Roy Camello lives in Aurora, about 20 miles from me,” Casaretto says. Pueblo-based saxophonist/flautist/trombonist Shyshka joined 880 South as well. That group wrote and recorded an album of all new material, Origins, released April 25.
Casaretto’s skilled networking and guerrilla marketing efforts helped bring a tour together, but practicing when members live far apart posed a challenge. Yet Casaretto had a clever solution: he created custom mixes of all of the Origins tracks. For Camello, the mix featured everything but drums; for Medeiros, the bass tracks were left off. Each member could rehearse by playing along to a tailor-made mix.
Technology isn’t a total substitute for playing together, so the entire band convened for three days of intensive practice in Denver a few days ahead of the album release show. They played the following night in Colorado Springs.
Casaretto was confident it would all go smoothly. “We’re all in our 40s,” he says. “The experience of playing together—we did over 100 shows early on—means that we can just look at each other while we’re playing and know what’s coming.”
And what’s also coming is even more music from a reinvigorated 880 South. “These days,” Casaretto says, “we’re doing it for the art, for the love of the music.” The group’s newest addition is Montana-based vocalist and percussionist Cole Thorne. “She’s joining us for the tour,” he says, “and we’ll be working on the next album with her.” Because wherever the band members might be, all roads lead to 880 South.
880 South and opening act Pacific Grown plays May 8 at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. Doors open at 7pm; the show starts at 8pm. Tickets: $15/adv, $20/door. 21+. moesalley.com
