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G. Love & Special Sauce with The Ries Brothers

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G. Love & Special Sauce are coming to Infinity Hall Hartford this January! With decades of international touring under their belt, they bring their unique sounds of peace, love and happiness, with a rock n roll edge. These guys can seriously play so many different genres of music in one night, but we know one thing is for sure, it will be an absolutely incredible experience. Grab your VIP tickets now and get a chance to hang out for the Pre-Show Pop Off. Check out the video on this one, you’ll be humming this tune in your sleep! 

G. Love & Special Sauce

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philadelphonic.com

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Artist Bio

“When you get the spark, you got to ride that energy,” says G. Love, and that spark certainly ignites on his 10th studio full-length Love Saves The Day. He calls the new release “the fullest realization of the hip-hop blues” that he first pioneered with Special Sauce in the early ‘90s. The album, due out October 30 on Brushfire Records, not only features G. Love’s long-term Special Sauce rhythm section – upright bassist James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott, and drummer Jeffrey “The Houseman” Clemens – but also prominent guest performers including Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo, Lucinda Williams, Citizen Cope, Ozomatli, DJ Logic, Money Mark, Zach Gill and Adam Topol. 

To create their down and dirty “trashcan blues” sound, G. Love and Special Sauce returned to Brushfire Records’ Solar Powered Plastic Plant in Los Angeles. The band was excited to reteam with Sugar engineer and producer Robert Carranza (Jack Johnson, Beastie Boys, Mars Volta). They recorded live with few edits to capture the immediacy of the music: G. Love making his guitar snarl and his harmonica moan, bassist Prescott bringing nimble funk to the bottom end and Clemens’ drum work crackling with power. “The music,” G. Love enthuses, “jumped off the tape.” 

The new album completes the trilogy for G. Love that started with 2011’s Fixin To Die. That disc stripped his music down to its roots and saw him record with The Avett Brothers, while Sugar, in G. Love’s words, “reconnected the blues with the electric side” and reunited the original trio to create the band’s signature style of blending John Lee Hooker blues with “Golden Era” hip-hop beats. On Love Saves The Day the group dives even deeper, making the grooves heavier, the music rawer and the performances more authentic.

G. Love also feels Love Saves The Day is his most rock ‘n’ roll record yet. Just listen to the title track that opens the album and you’ll hear why. This blast of furious blues, powered by David Hidalgo’s wicked guitar work, stands toe-to-toe with the classic work of Cream and the other blues-inspired bands of the ‘60s and early ‘70s. Hidalgo, a returnee from the Sugar sessions, plays on two other songs, “Dis Song” and “That Girl.” Besides being the first tracks recorded, G. Love sees these three tunes as forming the core of the album. They also lead off the release and set the record’s rugged, raucous tone.

This wonderfully unruly spirit flows through the revved-up rendition of the old Leadbelly tune “New York City,” where G. Love does a delightfully ragged duet with celebrated singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. On the mesmerizing “Muse,” which arose from an all-night writing session he had with his old pal Citizen Cope, G. Love’s sinewy slide guitar drives the tune’s southern rock/hip-hop hybrid groove. “Baby Why You Do Me Like That” kicks off with scratching from another old friend, D.J. Logic, and features the album’s heaviest hip-hop beats. Adding to the groove on “Muse” and “Baby…” is the energetic horn work supplied by L.A. band Ozomatli; however, their contributions really shine on “Let’s Have A Good Time,” a super funky jam that could have easily been a lost James Brown gem. 

Although “Let’s Have A Good Time,” along with the catchy, power-of-love ode “Peanut Butter Lips,” rank as the lighter tunes on the album, the overall lyrical mood, as G. Love easily admits, tends to favor the darker side. Even the seemingly optimistic title track turns heavy towards the end. Standout cut “Back To Boston,” which examines a troubled relationship, was written on a drive from New York City to Boston. Longtime fans will recognize the tune from the acoustic EP Bloodshot & Blue, but G. Love wanted to give it the full-band treatment, with the new version showcasing frequent collaborator Mark Boyce’s jazzy organ work. The rough-hewn performances on tracks like “That Girl,” “Pick Up The Phone” and “R U Kidding Me…!” further reflect the lyrics’ raw emotions, with the sharp-tongued “Dis Song” representing the peak of, as G. Love calls it, “pissed-off-ness.” 

Whether angrily railing about a girl with a “shotgun tongue” in “Dis Song,” joyfully leading a party celebration in “Let’s Have A Good Time,” or solemnly addressing love woes on the solo acoustic tune “Lil’ Run Around,” G. Love’s vocals vividly express his torn-from-the-heart emotions. He has been putting more emphasis on his singing in the past few years, and feels his vocals on the new album are his strongest ever. G. Love admits that singing with Citizen Cope and Lucinda Williams on this album, and the great session singer Merry Clayton on Sugar, made him raise his game. 

He certainly has come a long way in the 20 years since drummer Clemens discovered him performing in a Boston pub. The two started playing together and, after Clemens brought in upright bassist Prescott, G. Love & Special Sauce was born. Their self-titled debut, featuring the hit “Cold Beverage,” wound up going gold. The band became known for their live shows and performed around the world. G. Love has played with and without Special Sauce over the years, but now the trio is back together and it feels right. G. Love believes the current manifestation of the band is stronger than ever and is riding a creative high, adding “and we didn’t want to kill each other.”

Love Saves The Day marks G. Love’s sixth with Brushfire Records and he’s thrilled with their relationship. He lauds label chief Emmett Malloy as someone driven by creativity first and whose aesthetic tastes he trusts. G. Love views today’s music world as the Wild West, with “all the lines washed away;” however, his genre-blurring music now is more relevant than when he started. “It’s a good time to be doing what we are doing,” he asserts, noting Gary Clark Jr., Jack White, Robert Randolph and Galactic as some fellow keepers of the blues flame who “maintain the roots but push music forward.”

G. Love proudly describes himself as a road dog who “will be touring until I fall off the earth” and plans to keep on pushing with Special Sauce from stage to stage. Whether Love Saves The Day makes one dollar or a million isn’t a big concern to him. It stands as a huge success because he made the gritty, honest album that he intended by “keeping it raw, keeping it immediate, keeping it real.” It’s an approach that he has honed over the years: “be original and be true to what you do.”

The Ries Brothers

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www.riesbrothers.com

The Ries Brothers (pronounced ”Rees”), a duo from Tampa Bay, FL, blend rock, blues, funk, and reggae into a soulful-sophisticated sound. Older brother Charlie (22) sings lead vocals while simultaneously playing drums and keyboard bass giving the band it’s unique and full sound. Younger brother Kevin Jordan (18) completes the band’s “sonic creativity” on guitar, provides background vocals and co-writes many of their songs. They have twice toured nationally as the opening act for the iconic band CHICAGO. Their first 10 city tour with CHICAGO included a performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Last year they did a 15 city tour opening for the late Butch Trucks (Allman Brothers) & The Freight Train Band.

The brothers recently headlined their second show at “The House that Les Paul Built,” the legendary Iridium in NYC, with special guests Byron Isaacs of The Lumineers and Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, founding member of the E Street Band and member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Ries Brothers have also opened for David Cook, Daughtry, Toby Keith, Los Lonely Boys, REO Speedwagon, Little River Band, The Edgar Winter Band & The Family Stone among others. Last year they sold out three headlining shows at Ruth Eckerd Hall’s Murray Theatre in Clearwater, Florida. They have also appeared at the House of Blues & Viper Room in Los Angeles.
In the summer of 2013, the boys participated in the exclusive Los Angeles Grammy Museum’s Music Revolution Project at Ruth Eckerd Hall. In the summer of 2014 the boys were part of the Van’s Warped Tour in Florida. The Ries Brothers were named by The Tampa Bay Times as one of their favorite artists of 2015 and by Creative Loafing as a 2016 Breakout Artist. They have released 3 EP’s and a Live Concert DVD. Their first full album “The View From The Outside”, produced by Ted Bowne of Passafire, was released on November 10.

“Credit goes not only to their humble and hardworking nature, but a talent and sound that’s far beyond their years, blending elements of pop, jazz, blues, classic and alternative rock into a sonic stew that’s palatable for all ages,” says Jay Cridlin, Pop Music Critic, Tampa Bay Times.

“I have to tell you that you never cease to blow my mind! I still can not believe how much music and great playing/singing, compositions, and soloing comes out of the two of you!” says Tris Imboden, Drummer – CHICAGO.

“To say The Ries Brothers have that “special something” is an understatement. Two dudes pushing the limits of funk, pop, and rock. Their sonic creativity pours out through a variety of styles. Moving from one instrument to another, all the while singing, and usually doing several at a time, all the while sitting in the pocket and having such soul. Music is in their bones. Sharing the stage with them was an inspirational blast,” says Patrick Wilson, Tony Award Nominee and Golden Globe Award Nominee, actor and musician.

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