History 1992 - 2022

Bacchus was formed in 1992 by Jason Bassi and Andy Troderman at UMass in Amherst, MA. 

Joined by the love of rock and roll music, Jason's love of Led Zeppelin and Andy's love of Kiss combined with the mutual love and respect for early Aerosmith formed the sound and basis of Bacchus.  Jason, Andy, and future drummer, Phil,  met Freshman year at UMass Amherst in 1989 on the 13th floor of the Coolidge dorm tower, where their mutual appreciation for rock and roll was quickly discovered. Andy and Jason formed Bacchus to play straight ahead rock and roll like their heroes before.  Early songs were written in Amity Place and later at the Brick, an off campus apartment in Amherst, MA.  With songs written, Bacchus was ready to recruit a band. The classic lineup consisted of Jason Bassi on lead vocals, Andy Troderman on rhythm guitar and backup vocals,  Amy Gilbert on Bass, John Cusack on lead guitar, and Phil Lioio on drums. Although short lived, the shows were memorable and the original songs still rock hard to this day. The band continued senior year with some lineup changes, but disbanded after graduation in 1993. 

For the next 25 years, the dream of once again reforming was always discussed.  Distance was always an issue as Jason lives in NH and Andy in MA.  A mini reunion of Jason and Andy took place in December of 2014 at Andy's son Max's Bar Mitzvah where a few cover songs were played. Max had been playing guitar since he was 7 and his playing was really progressing.  In the spring of 2018, Max, Andy, and Jason discussed the possibility of bringing Bacchus back and began to have a few sessions.   

Bacchus continues to play the originals we all remember and love, plus we were able to complete work on a few songs that never were finished. Throw in some classic hard rock songs of the past and Bacchus was ready to hit the road. Bacchus reunited in 2018; older, wiser, louder, and better than ever!  Bacchus moves forward with the most talented lineup yet.  Andy, Jason, and Max have teamed up with the new rhythm section of drummer Jay Givan and bassist Jim Been.  Jim and Jay are childhood friends and have been bandmates in other bands over the years.