Spider Bags

Fronted by New Jersey native Dan McGee on guitar and vocals, the Spider Bags craft energetic yet disorganized stories about tough lifestyles and dubious actions. Their sound blends the loose intensity of punk with the heartfelt vulnerability found in roots-oriented music. McGee, born in the Garden State, launched the group during the early 2000s alongside his longtime associate Gregg Levy on bass and guitar; what began as a long-distance endeavor turned into a stable unit once McGee relocated from Jersey to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band’s initial releases on Birdman Records, most notably the 2009 set Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World, displayed a revolving cast and unruly atmosphere, whereas the move to Merge Records yielded 2014’s Frozen Letter and a more focused approach once McGee locked in a permanent rhythm section of drummer Rock Forbes and bassist Steve Oliva.

The two musicians first crossed paths in the mid-’90s when Levy, still a teenager playing in a band in need of a singer, saw McGee recruited as second guitarist. Bonding over Jimi Hendrix, acoustic blues, and marijuana, they watched Levy’s original group dissolve quickly yet remained close friends. Both circulated through a hard-partying scene where alcoholism and heavy drug use took hold; after several acquaintances lost their lives to addiction, Levy stepped back into college, followed by marriage, parenthood, and steady employment, treating music as a casual pursuit with fellow players. McGee, by contrast, shifted to Brooklyn and, after an extended break from performing, resumed songwriting with the DC Snipers; Levy occasionally joined those shows. When McGee started fresh material for another project, he christened it the Spider Bags—a nod to a slang term for heroin—and arranged sessions with musicians from New Jersey and North Carolina’s Chapel Hill circuit. Levy participated in the two-day Chapel Hill recordings that produced the 2007 debut A Celebration of Hunger, after which McGee established himself in the Triangle region and Levy soon joined him.

McGee penned the songs for the 2009 follow-up Goodbye Cruel World, Hello Crueler World, with him and Levy holding the center while assorted guests completed the lineup. Forbes joined as the regular drummer amid touring for that record, and the McGee-Levy-Forbes trio formed the core of the 2012 album Shake My Head, which also featured Jack Oblivian, John Wesley Coleman, and multi-instrumentalist Steve Oliva. Shortly after Shake My Head appeared, McGee stated that Levy had returned to New Jersey; the touring configuration supporting the album therefore consisted of McGee on guitar and vocals, Oliva on bass, and Forbes on drums. The same trio cut the fourth album, Frozen Letter, in 2014 with producer Wesley Wolfe. Levy rejoined for the 2018 release Someday Everything Will Be Fine, which included guest spots from Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus and Matthew Hoopengardner of the Golden Boys.