» Musician Info

Big Sam’s Funky Nation

su — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:50:33 +0000

In New Orleans, a city indisputably overflowing with funk, the high honor for Best Funk Group of 2008 was awarded to Big Sam’s Funky Nation at the 2009 Big Easy Music Awards. For the past few years, Big Sam’s Funky Nation has been a driving force of urban funk. The band is led by trombone powerhouse, Big Sam Williams, formerly the trombonist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who the San Francisco Chronicle calls “the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz.” Presiding over his Funky Nation is Big Sam, a big man with an impeccable urban fashion sense, who blows the funk out of his trombone and refuses to let the audience sit still. Between solos and trombone riffs, Big Sam second-lines (a uniquely New Orleans style of street-dance) and gets the crowd going both in movement and in replies to his call-and-response MC-style. An extremely talented group of musicians makes up the Funky Nation, bringing with them a rock sensibility, the improv-style associated with jazz and the horn-heavy front section that’s the hallmark of big band funk. The energy level is high voltage when this band takes the stage, as Eric Podolsky of Jambase notes, “Big Sam’s Funky Nation… pulls no punches when it comes to bringing a straight raw party.” Big Sam’s Funky Nation has undeniable personality, as well as masterful chops. Also, the band was recently featured on VH-1’s Soul Cities, on Live with Regis & Kelly and on the Travel Channel’s America the Wright Way.

Big Sam is New Orleans – born and raised. He was schooled in the fertile musical streets of the Big Easy and in the classroom at the renowned New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). He started out with the Soul Rebels Brass Band and later joined the Dirty Dozen Brass Band as a teenager. He has been working tirelessly spreading his brand of funky brass ever since. He has played with such acts as Dave Matthews, Widespread Panic, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe among others. His distinct sound and style captivated the crowd as he played lead trombone for the Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint’s international tour and was featured their Grammy nominated CD, The River in Reverse.

Big Sam’s Funky Nation currently has three albums to their credit: Take Me Back, Birth of A Nation, and Peace, Love & Understanding. Their latest CD, Peace, Love & Understanding, showcases the evolution and depth of the band. Peace, Love & Understanding dredges up the massive funk grooves that have become the trademark of BSFN. “One thing that is immediately noticeable after just one listen is this CD is all about a party. Big Sam’s live performances have become legendary funk fests with a deep NOLA groove, and BSFN delivers a studio rendition just as inspirational” – Monsters & Critics.

Since 2001, BSFN has been searing its distinctly funky mark onto the New Orleans music scene. The band has toured across the country and internationally, spreading its high energy musical manifesto – and always bringing the party along the way. From the Big Easy to the Big Apple, San Francisco to Miami, UK, Paris (and countless points in between) BSFN has ignited the crowd with music and moves that make it too hot to sit still. Big Sam’s Funky Nation has been hailed as the best at such major festivals as Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, SXSW, Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Essence Music Festival, the Voodoo Music Experience, and countless others. BSFN is also a favorite at clubs like the Maple Leaf, Tipitina’s and Blue Nile (NOLA), the Continental Club (Austin/Houston), the Boom Boom Room (San Francisco), Sullivan Hall (NYC), as well as many other venues across the country. As Jambase Online proclaims, “As long as groups like Big Sam’s Funky Nation helm communal happenings like this one, the funky fever is bound to spread.”

Original Article Source: bigsamsfunkynation.com

Greensky Bluegrass

su — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:15:14 +0000

GREENSKY BLUEGRASS is one of the most exciting bands in today’s music scene. Like a breath of fresh air, this five piece band plays traditional bluegrass instruments and uses them to create original songs and soundscapes that are unique and new, yet somehow feel comfortable and familiar. Though they have been likened to ‘70s era Americana acts like The Band, Greensky would prefer not to be compared to any other bands. “We really just try to make music as a group that sounds and feels right to us”, says mandolin player Paul Hoffman, later adding that “it is nice to know that other people really dig it, too.”

“Greensky Bluegrass hits timeless targets with deadly accuracy while simultaneously veering off the tired and true highway.”-Jambase.com

While “green sky” is the opposite of “blue grass“, the band insists that the name came about as more of a pun than a statement about their music. “Along with the tradition of bluegrass, we all have lots of different musical influences that we bring to the table”, says guitar player Dave Bruzza, “and we somehow wanted to reflect that in our name.” Upon witnessing the band’s live shows, this statement seems to make a little more sense. On any given night, in addition to the myriad of excellent original songs, one might hear traditional bluegrass songs with an exploratory rock and roll jam or selections from the Talking Heads, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead or Bob Marley turned bluegrass. “We are as likely to play a three minute song as we are a ten minute song on any given night”, says dobro player Anders Beck, “and I think that keeps it exciting for the audience”. Perhaps this is the reason that Greensky Bluegrass is as equally embraced by the jam-band community as it is the bluegrass/Americana community and the band’s fan base is growing so rapidly.

“Of course, this is bluegrass. So manic chops mean a lot to Greensky Bluegrass. Yet they are also masterful storytellers. Mandolinist Paul Hoffman in particular pens some true rural balladry.” -Seattle Weekly

Greensky Bluegrass is touring in support of their recently released fourth album, “Five Interstates”, which was produced by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth. The album, their strongest to date, features twelve original tracks and one traditional bluegrass song (a nod to the deceased King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin) ,and showcases the band’s songwriting and playing talents in a way that is incredibly accessible to fans of many different types of music. Carbone notes on the package: “Five Interstates came together like five lives intertwined, the intersection of a lifetime frozen in precious time and preserved in a digital tableau. I’m blessed…We’re all blessed to be witness to a band ascending as true as an arrow shot to the sky.”

Since winning the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, Greensky has been touring constantly, playing over 170 shows a year, and all the hard work is certainly paying off. Recent highlights are too many to list, but include selling out venues in many parts of the country, sharing the stage with musical heroes, getting asked to play shows with the likes of Tony Rice and Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth, and being asked to play the inaugural Rothbury Festival in their home state of Michigan. “It certainly felt like an affirmation that we are doing something right”, noted bass player Mike Devol.

Greensky Bluegrass is Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).

Photography By: Bear Yovino

Jessica Lea Mayfield

su — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:18:14 +0000

Pop Matters

By: Caroline Shadood

Everything about singer-songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield is both incredibly practiced yet incredibly sincere—a binary that becomes only more compelling in consideration of her 1989 birthday. view article

Babel Music

By: Joe Puglisi

In a dreary sea of songwriters, her writing encapsulates that special certain emotive quality that is tough to find and even tougher to put into words. read interview

Athens Soundies

Produced by: Jason Miller/Ethan Payne

During a recent stop in Athens, GA, Jessica met up with the guys at Athens Soundies, who describe their site as “a series of one take, low-fi, live sound music videos.” We think they do a cool job. Check out Jessica’s intimate, acoustic performances of “Kiss Me Again” and “Grown Man.” watch videos

Austin 360.com

By: Briant T. Atkinson

Jessica Lea Mayfield’s starkly confessional With Blasphemy So Heartfelt shades blossoming romance with deep shadows. Key element: the 19-year-old’s desert sunset voice. Accordingly, Mayfield’s emotive debut, a moody folk-pop collection both ambient and ambitious, has thrived as a television soundtrack. view Q & A

The Seattle Times

Most gothic at No Depression Festival: Jessica Lea Mayfield

By: Andrew Matson

Jessica Lea Mayfield is a legitimate Queen of Darkness. view article

The New York Times

By: Ben Ratliff

Her country-rock is wary and passive and trancelike, and kind of way out. The songs document love relationships from a vantage point so abstracted that it might be a space satellite. Growing up in a family bluegrass band in Kent, Ohio, she made her first record at 15, perfecting the sound of withdrawn emotion. She’s in a special position for someone so young, and she hasn’t gotten there by giggling. view article

USA Today: Pop Candy

By: Whitney Matheson

I saw Jessica Lea Mayfield, who put on a mesmerizing, heartfelt show with her band. I melted during “Kiss Me Again” and got quite excited when she brought out the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach for the last couple songs. (He produced her stellar debut.) She’s still on tour, so see her if you can. view article

Esquire

11 Saddest Songs in Music History

Esquire magazine recently named Jessica’s cover of Buddy Holly’s “Words of Love” one of their “11 Saddest Cover Songs in Music History.” view article

NPR – Mountain Stage

With a stark, haunting voice and swirling layers of guitar, Mayfield performs six songs from With Blasphemy, with her brother David on bass, Anne Lillis on drums and Richie Kirkpatrick on guitar. view article / listen to session

Daytrotter Session

By: Johnnie Cluney

Words by: Sean Moeller

Mayfield has such skill in her songwriting craft at such a frighteningly young age that it’s all the more remarkable – the pace and the voice and the tone of her words, like a forest whispering throughout the night – that she already can make unforgettable music seem so easy. view article / listen to session

Blurt

By: The Blurt Editors

And as we lived with the album, the realization grew that we were witnessing the flowering of a major artist; so much so, that in addition to picking With Blasphemy So Heartfelt our top album of 2008, Mayfield must surely be our Best New Artist, too. That’s our own imprimatur, certainly, but when you consider some of the musicians she edged out – among them, Lykke Li, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and She & Him – it’s nothing less than an article of faith, too. view article

Pitchfork

Review of With Blasphemy So Heartfelt

Jessica Lea Mayfield sings with a drawl that goes slightly flat when she sustains notes and gives certain words the semblance of regional color. It could be a personal characteristic of her downcast voice, or perhaps a nod to her Rust Belt upbringing, but the 19-year-old singer/songwriter, who recorded her 2007 debut under the name Chittlin’, sounds immediately distinctive and poised on “Kiss Me Again”, the opening track on her second album, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, calling to mind but ultimately surpassing comparisons to Hope Sandoval or Syd Straw. “You can kiss me again if you want, I don’t mind,” she sings, yet she sounds actively invested in her romantic passivity– a fascinating and endlessly listenable contradiction. continue reading

Steppin’ In It

su — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:17:28 +0000

Rare indeed when a collection of songs creates an entire world. Yet that’s exactly what transpires with Steppin’ In It’s “Simple Tunes for Troubled Times.” Sonically painting with a pleasant array of old time country swing and blues, this Lansing, Michigan, quartet brilliantly updates a re-surging American musical genre. Populating this 11-track collection is an aging riverboat, the ghost of Richard Manuel, innocent love, dreams that are dashed, and the struggle of the common man. It’s a world Woody Guthrie knew about, and sang about. Steppin’ In It conveys the wonder of the American spirit, but also its heartache. Led by composer/guitarist Joshua Davis, traditional roots music is celebrated here by plaintive vocals and sweet harmonies, plus musicianship that is positively staggering. The number of instruments manned by Davis, upright bassist Dominic John Suchyta, steel guitarist Joe Wilson and the harmonica-playing Andy Wilson includes trombone, trumpet, Cajun accordion, dobro, slide guitar, Cajun fiddle, clawhammer banjo. Even rarer, though their competence on these instruments is clearly superior, there is little, if any, soloing taking place. All four musicians play to support the essence of the song. A true ensemble, their wonderful arrangements take us on a rich journey through the jaunty “Give My Regards to Miss Moline,” the Texas swing of “Hittin’ on All Six,” the laid-back “Wren’s Lul-la-by,” the true-blue “The Long Haul,” and my fave, “Washtenaw County.” Though mostly originals, there’s also a rollicking version of Randy Newman’s “Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man).” These artists earn my vote for band of the year.

The Macpodz

su — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 05:06:43 +0000

“Ann Arbor’s jazz rock outfit, The Macpodz, throw some of the coolest parties around. With a little bit of everything in its musical grab bag, The Macpodz easily please music lovers, from fans of far out jazz to those rootsy jam band-style grooves. The inventor and namesake of its own brand of funky dance music, coined ‘disco-bebop,’ The Macpodz pay homage to kinky musical concoctions like the groovy, unstructured big band instrumental works of the late, great Frank Zappa with psychadelic tinges of sunglasses-and-afro era Miles Davis. With two solid albums under its belt and a slew of foot-shuffling fans across the region, The Macpodz impress as only an open-minded band can, taking the core of genuine American music and tossing in tasteful touches of world music grooves and lots and lots of swinging horn licks that rouse and comfort all at once.” -RAB, Toledo City Paper

The Macpodz released their debut album, Genius Food for Super Heroes, on January 2, 2007 and Orcastrate, on March 1, 2008. Their latest album “Live At The Ark” was released in June of 2009.

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Rootstand

su — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:30:05 +0000

Greetings from the Rootstand Family. The trials, tribulations, and grassroot determination of our team has exposed us as one of the most upcoming and notorious roots bands on the scene. Few other bands dig as deep in to the God-given mojo and animusical magnetism afforded to Michigan’s favorite acoustic ghetto rebel sons. Rootstand successfully marries the sounds of traditional forms of Roots musics, like Irish reels, and old world polkas, Caribbean ska to American blues and bluegrass to the cutting edge sounds of experimental blues and groove, urban hip-hop, dancehall reggae, and electronica. Our music is very diverse, yet completely logical: Ska and Polka, bluegrass and reggae, hip-hop and country blues, dancehall and Irish reels. What we do is not a token conglomeration of popular forms, it is altogether something new, a new sound, built upon the foundations of traditional music but never intending to replicate it.

Who has Rootstand played with?
Rootstand had the opportunity to jam with a host of great musicians in the past few years, including John Sinclair, Donna the Buffalo, Lotus, The Brothers Past, Sam Bush, George Clinton and the 420 Funk Mob, Victor Wooten, The Zen Tricksters, Melvin Seals and Rob Wasserman, Tony Furtado, Vince Welnick Band, Mr. Blotto, Derek Trucks Band, Benevento and Russo Duo, Railroad Earth, Jorma Kaukonen and Hot Tuna, Ekoostik Hookah, Tim O’Brian, Mamadou Diabate, Jazz is Dead, Melvin Seals and JGB, Tony Rice and Peter Rowan, Cornmeal, Chris Smither, Grada, Tom Constanten,Terrapin Flyer, Henry Butler, Particle, Yonder Mountain String Band, David Grisman, Dark Star Orchestra, David Gans, and seriously many more. We are honored to have shared the stage with these, and all our brother and sister musicians.

Photography by: Bear Yovino

Jen Sygit

su — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:08:27 +0000

Jen Sygit has been writing songs since she was knee high to a grasshopper. Her parents report that as a child she gravitated toward the musical instruments in the room and within minutes was able to play melodies on them. As early as Elementary school Jen could be found writing love songs on her parents beat-up organ in their basement and by middle school she was also composing songs on her acoustic guitar (a gift bought on a whim by her parents- upon which she has never had a lesson). It was this affinity for music that led her parents to encourage Jen to audition for the Interlochen Fine Arts Camp which she attended for several years during her adolescence studying voice, trombone, piano and visual art.

Born in Port Huron, MI, Jen spent her childhood years in the nearby town of Marysville, where she lived until 1999 when she moved to Lansing to attend Michigan State University. Jen quickly infiltrated the capital city’s music scene via the area open mics and blues jams. It was at one of these jams that she picked up her first gig as front woman for a blues-rock band called Murdawg and the Lowdown, Dirty Strays. During her stint with Murdawg she learned about an opening at world-renowned music store Elderly Instruments. Jen was hired and worked at the music shop for three years-attributing her ecclectic mix of tunes to her time there. At Elderly Jen honed her acoustic guitar skills while also learning how to frail banjos, strum ukuleles and pick dobros.

Jen now has three albums under her belt with her latest So Long Pollyanna to be released on Earthwork Music in May ‘09. Her last release Leaving Marshall St. was nominated for a Detroit Music Award for BEST ACOUSTIC/FOLK ALBUM in 2007 and made it to 9 on the independent roots music charts that year. The album also landed on a number of ‘Best of’ lists as well. Now, besides regionally touring and playing shows, Jen can also be found hosting the popular weekly open mic at Dagwood Tavern in Lansing. She has been host of the thriving scene for almost five years.

Jen is also one fourth of a band called Stella! with Jo Serrapere, Tahmineh Gueramy and Katie Grace. Conceived by Serrapere (former member of Uncle Earl and award-winning songwriter), Stella! began working on a new album this spring in Brooklyn, NY under the supervision/patronage of Dave Marsh (Michigan native, co-founder of Creem Magazine and celebrated rock critic). The album is being produced by Adam Druckman with assistance from Larry Eagle (percussionist and background vocalist on Springsteen’s Seeger Sessions album) and primarily features the songwriting of Jen and Jo with a song by bassist Katie Grace also included. The band appeared live on Dave Marsh’s Sirius/XM show ‘Kick Out the Jams’ in April ’09. So Long Pollyanna was also spun during the show.

Photography By: Bear Yovino

Joshua Davis & Fool Rooster

su — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:54:47 +0000

Raised between the steely clamor of Detroit and the stillness of Michigan’s pristine Upper Peninsula, Joshua Davis is a rare combination of both city and country. These distinct yet complimentary faces of Davis’s home state of Michigan are lovingly melded in his songwriting.

Joshua writes songs, plays acoustic and electric guitar, National steel, mandolin and clawhammer banjo, tries to juggle, has a not-so-secret penchant for prestidigitation and a BA in theatre from Michigan State University.

Alongside touring nationally with Steppin’ In It, he plays intimate solo shows, stripped down duo shows, and concerts backed by his roots-rock band featuring bassist Dominic John (steppin’ in it), Mike Lynch (larry mccray band) on Hammond organ, and percussionist Mike Shimmin (millish).

After six years and three albums as the primary songwriter of Steppin’ In It, Davis released his debut solo record, Fool Rooster in 2005. The album secured the album of the year slot on WDBM’s cult-favorite show, “Progressive Torch and Twang”. The album features all original songs (many co-written with long time collaborator Aaron Allen)and a who’s who of Michigan musicians.

Photography By: Bear Yovino

The Rachel Davis Band

su — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:37:04 +0000

Rachael Davis has been singing on-stage since she was two years old. Being born to parents who never intended to keep her very far from music for very long seems to have made all the difference in the world. Before she could walk Rachael would be set in a car seat and placed in the middle of a song circle, and with silver bells on her ankles she would shake her feet to the rhythm. At one-and-a-half Rachael was singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to anyone who asked, and at two she started performing with her parents on stage. In September of 2001, Rachael moved to Boston and within the span of seven months was awarded a Boston Music Award for Best New Singer-Songwriter. Her influences range from the jazz stylings of Ella Fitzgerald to the soulful pop vocals of Patty Griffin — with many more in between. She is a contemporary songwriter but is equally at home singing anything from traditional ballads to Cole Porter to Joe Henry.

Photography By: Bear Yovino

Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys

su — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:03:54 +0000

With all the popularity and interest there is today in what is referred to as “New Country”, what would posess four seasoned musicians to go entirely the other direction?

Call it integrity, going against the grain, being niche-y, whatever. Delilah Dewylde and the Lost Boys march to the country shuffle of a bygone era; before country was on FM radio, before country artists had personal trainers, and most certainly, before country sounded like rock and roll with fiddle.

Mixing self penned songs with old country hits (and unknown gems) by such artists as Hank Williams, Webb Pierce, Ernest Tubb, and Buck Owens to name a few, Delilah and the Lost Boys come out on stage looking and sounding like a 45 year step back in time. Dressed to the nines in the tradition of pre-color television country singers and musicians, donning matching western suits and playing the finest vintage musical instruments in the finest old school way.

The leader of the band of course is Delilah, playing upright bass and singing lead. A veteran of the West Michigan music scene for over 15 years and an alumnus of rockabilly institution DangerVille, is also a holder of the secret of standing on the bass while she plays it. Don’t ask her how it’s done, as it’s a secret.

Lee Harvey is featured on lead guitar. His serious demeanor onstage is not lament for miss Delilah as much as it is reverence for the precision of his own technique. Whole lotta pickin’, not a lot of grinnin’.

On the drums we have D.J. McCoy, not of Hatfield and McCoy fame, but country nonetheless. D.J. is a veteran drummer with countless bands over the past 20 plus years from all across Michigan. Any drummers who see our lad D.J. in action more than once will note that he has a different vintage drum set virtually each time he plays. May be compensation for loneliness…

World-class musician Drew Howard (Capt Midnite) is behind the steel and some of the vocals. The Capt is famous for his one-liners as well as his diverse musical tricks. Feast your eyes on that vintage steel guitar! See more cool stuff at www.drewhoward.com

The band began in the spring (one sunny day) in 2005 and had rather immediate and surprising success. Surprising because they weren’t entirely convinced that Michigan was interested, or ready, to embrace four western clad thirty-somethings playing music that has no presence on modern radio or television. But that was precisely the reason the crowds came. You can’t get music like this on radio or television anymore. They found out that neighboring states felt the same way as well.

As things have progressed, they have gotten sharper, tighter, and their repertoire has expanded, but they have been diligent in keeping their sound the same, as they believe their original concept is a good one and one not to stray from. And besides, there are plenty of New Country acts out there.

Photography By: Paul’s Photo Stash & Lee Davis