Artist Information
G.
Love & Special Sauce w/John Butler Trio and special guest
Tristan Prettyman
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Door 5pm/ Show 6pm | 16+ w/ID |
$29.50 Advance / $35 Day of Show
Tickets to be available at all Ticketmaster locations including House
of Guitars, and Tickets Express (875 Main St. Rochester, NY),
The Bop Shop (*No Service Fees*) and Terrapin Station (Buffalo
(716) 874-6677 )
G. Love and Special Sauce’s Superhero Brother is their third album for Jack Johnson’s Brushfire label, and 10th overall (counting their 2002 best-of and last year’s live CD/DVD) in a career that now spans 15 years.
It’s been a long, successful run for the Philadelphia native and self-described “hip-hop blues artist,” whose self-titled 1994 Okeh/Epic Records debut was certified Gold on the strength of the MTV hit, “Cold Beverage,” and a non-stop performing ethic that still has them playing more than 150 shows a year. In fact, the group just recently returned from a headline tour in Australia that was highlighted by some shows with Jack Johnson, and will accompany him to Europe this spring. Upon their return to the U.S., the band will be headlining their own outdoor amphitheatre tour with John Butler Trio later this summer.
“We’re a hard-working band,” says G. Love of the group’s turnaround over the last two albums, 2006’s Lemonade and 2004’s The Hustle. “Every time we hit the stage or the studio, we make sure we give 150%. Playing in front of people is just such an integral part of the experience for us. We love to ride that energy and get that instant reaction.”
Superhero Brother, recorded in Philadelphia at The Studio and the band’s own Philadelphonic Studios, as well as Longview Farms Barn in Sturbridge, MA, combines both political and party songs. The album is a reflection of the band’s eclectic recipe for its Special Sauce, from tasty, post-hip-hop Beatles-influenced blues-rock (“Communication”), spicy tropical island rhythms over an Archie Bell and the Drells “Tighten Up” groove (“City Livin’”) and well-seasoned Chambers Brothers-style funk-rock crossed with Cream’s “I Feel Free” (“What We Need”) to sweet, blue-eyed Philly soul (“Crumble”), a red-hot Stones-y “Sympathy for the Devil” vibe (“Peace Love and Happiness”) and homemade, rappin’ blues layered on top of a John Lee Hooker Delta stomp (“Superhero Brother”).
“I think of us as a rock and roll group,” explains G. Love. “We definitely incorporate a lot of different flavors, which is why we tried to focus on what we’re known for this time… Making sure the backbeats are funky. Each song tells a unique story, both in subject and musical style.”
John
Butler is many things to many people. To John’s family he is a
much loved husband, father, brother, and son. To his ever
growing fan base it is purely about the musical journey, the
groove of the Trio, the soul of the guitar and the honesty and
integrity of John’s lyrics. To emerging independent artists John
is an inspiration and patron to young acts struggling to
establish themselves in an increasingly difficult and diluted
marketplace. For guitar players John has reignited interest in
open tunings, slide-playing and down-home tone, and like his
heroes singer/songwriter and slide great Jeff Lang and
multi-instrumentalist virtuoso Bob Brozman, John has provided
the motivation for many players to pick up the guitar, practice
and get deep. To people everywhere who believe in social equity,
justice and the human spirit John’s words and actions have
provided an audible, considered, independent voice and energy to
many legitimate and universal concerns. For John however, the
importance and focus has always been at the source, his family,
his commitment, a voice, a guitar, a song, and the path they
walk together.
It is the bold ideal that has been made into reality that makes
John Butler’s work significant. The concepts of independence,
artistic integrity and ethical business practice have been
proven not only achievable but highly successful. John’s ability
to thrive independently with music has provided a catalyst for
new directions within the industry and an inspiration for many
artists and the way they approach their career. Independent
options are real and tangible.
"If
someone were to say to me, 'Tell me about yourself,' I
would just hand them a copy of Hello and say, "Here,
this is everything you need to know,'" says
singer/songwriter and guitarist Tristan Prettyman.
Indeed, Hello, Prettyman's second album, is an appealing
portrait of this freewheeling San Diego, CA, native as
she narrates stories about her life, loves, and
heartbreaks in her seductive, smoky alto. "I really
wanted the album to be a reflection of me," Prettyman
says.With laid-back melodies springing from finger-picked acoustic guitar, plaintive pedal-steel guitar, Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, and strings, Hello explores Prettyman's love of country-blues and folk from the '60s and '70s, artists like The Band, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. "There's something really pure and uncontrived about what they do," she says. "I really connect with that simplicity, and I think it made me write more bluesy songs." Recorded over six weeks in London with British producers and songwriters Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, Ron Sexsmith) and Sacha Skarbek (James Blunt, KT Tunstall), Hello delivers on the promise Prettyman raised with her Virgin Records debut twentythree - a critically well-received collection of "bright, breezy ditties about romantic bliss" as People magazine put it in its review. Following twentythree's August 2005 release, Prettyman toured for two and a half years, with such artists as Ray LaMontagne, G. Love and Special Sauce, Chris Issac and Jason Mraz. The inspiration for Hello came from a recently failed relationship where Prettyman was inspired to use her songwriting skills to get past it. "After the split, I wrote a lot of angry songs, which felt normal, but the last thing I wanted was to make a depressing, break-up record. I think I had to get past those emotions to get to where I needed to go with everything else. So there are a few, like "Echo" and "Blindfold," but I didn't want to waste time being negative. I just wanted to rock out and get groovy and be happy!" And so the songs mine emotions about love that range from optimistic (first single "Madly" "Handshake," and "You Got Me") to more conflicted ("California Girl," "War Outta Peace," and "Just A Little Bit"), with a detour into world-weary on "In Bloom." With its simple piano and string arrangement and Prettyman's jazzy vocal cadences, the latter is perhaps the most sophisticated song she's ever recorded. Her muse now in full swing, Prettyman has come a long way since she discovered her dad's guitar and taught herself to play at age 15. "Before I knew it, I was writing songs," she says. "I've always been really passionate about writing, that was my strong subject throughout school." But music competed for attention with other her hobbies, including surfing. "If someone was having a get-together, we'd all go surfing, barbecue, and just hang out, and I'd just sort of play for my friends," Prettyman says.
A friend of a friend, who worked with filmmakers Taylor Steele and Chris Malloy, caught one of those impromptu performances and asked Prettyman to contribute a song to the soundtrack for the 2001 surf film Shelter. Soon Prettyman was performing at clubs and bars around San Diego, selling an EP (The Love EP) at shows and on her website. From there, the major labels came calling and Prettyman signed with Virgin Records, who released twentythree. Critics praised its low-key acoustic folk-pop with Rolling Stone leading the pack, calling Prettyman "one of the more promising young pop folkies." Now with Hello, Prettyman says she's "stepped it up a notch," chalking up the artistic leap between twentythree and Hello to the confidence that comes from incessant touring ("we were able to record pretty much everything live because I had toured for so long") and just the passage of time. "I have grown so much in the last two years," she says. "I've gone through so many changes and I think the album definitely reflects that. It's more grown-up, and it just feels legit. I've never been more excited about anything in my life as I am with this record. It is so me." Hello will be released by Virgin Records on March 11, 2008.Hello will be released by Virgin Records on March 11, 2008.
You can also visit Tristan at MySpace: www.myspace.com/tristanprettyman.