Here in the world of jam band music, any outside attention paid to a jam band is usually looked upon with a hint of queasiness. The attention is gratifying and acknowledged, but comes with the question is the attention really necessary. Sure bands like moe., Phish and String Cheese Incident would relish the opportunity to have their songs played over modern rock radio stations, but they realize the impact it would have over their touring life. A hit song or two could propel a band from obscurity to the next Dave Mathews Band. In a few months a band could go from playing a small club tour to selling out Giants Stadium. But this is exactly why the music industry is so much fun, the quick rise and fall of artists.

This quick rise and fall is precisely the problem with success. Success is favored over stability. The Spice Girls don't care that their train has left, they made off with plenty of money. But for bands like moe. and String Cheese, who make their living on constant touring fleeting success isn't worth the trouble. This isn't to say that these bands (or others) don't want radio play, it is just they treat airplay with a guarded tongue.

Examples of the destruction radio air play can cause are obvious, but examples of jam bands thriving with radio air play are less common. Galactic, with their new album Late For The Future, is showing the jam band community, that radio air play is not all bad.

With a funky groove, and a smooth jazz beat, Galactic has made possibly the finest jam band studio album since Percy Hill's 1999 release Color In Bloom. Late For The Future is a mixture of instrumental jazz tunes and relaxing colorful songs. Their New Orleans style jazz is pleasant and peaceful. Guitars, drums, keyboards, and horns all weave in and out of the music so quickly and easily that it's easy to forget that there is more than one instrument being played. Each track sounds like a complete song, the perfect blend of gifted musicians playing at the peak of their ability.

The problem arises, when now, Galactic's sound is starting to peak interest from outside the jam band world. But the way they've accomplished it, with respectable chart placements break the mold that even the smaller of the jam bands can make it in the college radio world. Debuts at number 9 on the jazz charts and number 30 on the AAA charts show that specific show music directors aren't scared by the jam band term anymore. Late For The Future is also doing well on the Top 200 chart staying near number 50 for the third straight week.

Late For The Future might be an inaccurate name for Galactic's album, since they are really pushing themselves to the forefront of the breakthrough of smaller jam bands to the mainstream. With an upcoming summer tour supporting pop music giants Counting Crows and Live, Galactic might just be early for the future.