St. Petersburg jam band Ajeva is bringing its new double album home this weekend, with a two-set concert planned for Saturday at Bayboro Brewing Co. The band will perform its new record, Sidequests, start to finish before closing the night with what's being billed as the band's rave set.
The digital version of Sidequests arrived on streaming services on September 4, roughly two weeks ahead of the St. Petersburg release show, according to the DrumQuig Podcast. As Creative Loafing Tampa describes it, the double LP opens with carefree indie-rock before turning into a dramatic prog-rock jam on its backside, with themes centered on escape and adventure.
Drummer Tucker Sody didn't just play on the record — he produced, mixed, and mastered the entire project himself, per the same outlet's reporting. Bassist Taylor Gilchrist also contributed substantially to the album, the report notes, rounding out a lineup that keeps the band's songwriting largely in-house even as its sound has grown more ambitious.
A Decade-Plus of Evolution
Ajeva formed in the St. Petersburg area back in 2013, taking its name from the Sanskrit word jiva, meaning one soul, according to musicfestnews. The band was started by vocalist Reed Skahill, bassist Taylor Gilchrist, and drummer Travis Young after a previous project dissolved, the outlet reports.
Sidequests follows two earlier studio albums: 2016's Evolve, which launched with a concert at St. Petersburg's Ringside Cafe, and the band's 2019 self-titled record, Ajeva. Evolve marked the band's initial expansion from a quartet to a sextet before it settled into its current roster, per musicfestnews's account of the band's history.
That current five-member lineup includes lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Reed Skahill, lead guitarist Mike Nivens, keyboardist Lyndon Thacker, bassist Taylor Gilchrist, and drummer Tucker Sody, according to information from Ajeva. In the years before Sidequests, the band kept up a steady release pace with standalone singles, dropping “Let It Go” in November 2023 and “Things Change” in May 2026 — the latter arriving just four months ahead of the full double LP, per Apple Music.
From Festival Stages to a Homecoming Show
Ajeva has built a reputation as a repeat act on Florida's festival circuit, having been listed for Suwannee Hulaween at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, including on the Hallows stage, as well as the Orange Blossom Jamboree, according to FunkCity.net. Over more than a decade together, the band has also shared bills with nationally touring jam acts including Spafford, The Main Squeeze, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Keller Williams, and The Disco Biscuits, and it opened a Florida run for Spafford in early 2025.
Most recently, Ajeva has been on a short southeastern headlining tour with opening dates for Andy Frasco & The U.N., Creative Loafing Tampa reports. Those dates included back-to-back performances at Crazy Uncle Mike's in Boca Raton on September 9 and 10 as part of Frasco's Better Bad Ideas Tour, according to a listing on Eventbrite. Those Boca Raton shows immediately preceded the band's return to St. Petersburg for Saturday's headlining event.
What to Expect at Bayboro Brewing
Saturday's album release concert lands at Bayboro Brewing Co., located at 2390 5th Avenue South in St. Petersburg's Warehouse Arts District. The brewery was opened in 2020 by military veteran James Coleman as a family-owned craft brewery, restaurant, and live venue, according to the venue.
Bayboro Brewing has hosted local live music before — Hoodline previously noted the venue's role during St. Petersburg's Performing Arts Month last September, when the city designated a monthlong celebration featuring more than 30 live entertainment events across local arts districts.
Tickets to Saturday's show remain available, starting at $24.80, according to Creative Loafing Tampa's report. Fans can expect a full performance of Sidequests followed by the band's rave set, closing out a homecoming that caps a busy stretch of touring for the St. Petersburg group.
