Tea Leaf Green in concert.
Josh Clark well remembers the first time he heard the term.
The guitarist's San Francisco-based band, which would later become Tea Leaf Green, employed a female singer who happened to be from London.
She departed in a huff, however, when her band mates informed her they couldn't afford a PA.
As she stormed out of a rehearsal, Clark says she turned and yelled, "You guys are just another bloody jam band!"
Clark says he briefly toyed with naming the group Just Another Bloody Jam Band but later settled on Tea Leaf Green, which will perform Wednesday night at the Chameleon Club in downtown Lancaster.
The band, which got its start in 1997, turned its back on that name but still got tagged with the jam-band label.
Clark says he isn't comfortable with that kind of pigeonholing of the band's sound.
"I feel it kind of does us a little disservice," says Clark during an interview while the band is driving through Kansas on its way to a gig. "There's much more to us than that. I don't think there's anything wrong with jam bands, per se. I think dance music is great and funk music is great, and we do that, too. That's a small part of the story for Tea Leaf Green."
That said, Clark is quick to add that he loves the fans who flock to see jam bands.
"Fans of, quote, jam bands, unquote, are the best fans in the world," he says. "They boogie the hardest, they're the most supportive of improvisation, of taking chances, of taking risks. You're not going to get a better community of fans than jam-band fans."
The term jam band sprang up in the wake of the Grateful Dead, famous for its extended improvisational instrumental passages. The label soon embraced such disparate acts as Phish, the Allman Brothers Band, the Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, the String Cheese Incident and the Disco Biscuits.
It also took on negative connotations as many music fans seemed to believe most so-called jam bands had abandoned songcraft in favor of aimless instrumental noodling.
Clark says that's certainly not the case with Tea Leaf Green, which consists of Clark on guitar and vocals; Trevor Garrod on keyboards, guitar and vocals; Reed Mathis on bass and vocals; and Scott Rager on drums.
Tea Leaf Green can jam with the best of them but its studio albums are chock full of nifty tunes that are melodic, insightful and succinct.
"For me," Clark says, "the most interesting thing at this point is putting lyrics and thoughts to melodies -- more so than shredding or any of that stuff, which I still love. I love to do it, but my real focus is on becoming a better songwriter."
Clark, however, is not the band's chief songwriter: That duty falls to Garrod. On "Raise Up the Tent," the band's fifth and most recent studio album, Garrod wrote nine of the songs and Clark contributed two.
Clark, however, says he hopes there's a lot more writing in his future.
"It requires time and discipline," he says. "Also, being at home a little bit helps me. I don't write a lot on the road. I usually do most of my writing at home when I have time to reflect.
"Trevor's constantly writing -- all the time."
Their goals, however, are the same -- writing tightly constructed songs that rise or fall on their own merits, not on whether they can be stretched into long, improvisational jams when they're played in concert.
"You have to have a jumping-off point and a return point," Clark says. "And even the improvisation, it takes practice to be a good improviser. None of it is aimless or directionless. It's all with a purpose and intent."
Tea Leaf Green with Elmwood
Wed. 7 p.m. $14
Chameleon Club
223 N. Water St., 393-7133