More! Funky Suwannee Hulaween Preview 2022
Suwannee Hulaween always has one of the deepest lineups of any major jam festival. I’ve attended every year since 2015 always enjoy its main headliner The String Cheese Incident who typically perform six sets over the festival duration. Here’s the organizers description – Since its inception in 2013, the Halloween-themed music, arts and camping festival has evolved into one of the country’s most coveted cross-genre affairs. Curating dynamic lineups that range from electronic, jam, and indie to bluegrass, funk, soul and hip-hop, Suwannee Hulaween’s ability to abolish genre confines is evident year after year. For four days, across five stages, it’sContinue Reading
EMPIRE CENTRAL From Snarky Puppy
Snarky Puppy’s EMPIRE CENTRAL is one of the most anticipated, absolutely amazing album to be produced in my lifetime! I was fortunate to be at the recording sessions (see link) and that was a life-changing experience! Now, just six months later, the ensemble’s latest masterstroke is released. The two discs are total earcrack – you can’t get enough of it and listening leads to more listening. It’s a gumbo of styles with songs written by a dozen or so different people. The theme of the album was to be centered around Dallas, the area where group first formed. The titlesContinue Reading
The Deplar Effect from The New Mastersounds
The New Mastersounds have long been one of my favorite bands recorded and live. The pandemic put both of those on hold for nearly three years – the last time I saw them was exactly three years ago at Terminal West in Atlanta. NMS from Leeds, England, have been around for more than 20 years and are a leader in retro funk. Over the years, they’ve evolved from being largely an instrumental group with the four core players melding perfectly together to inclusive of more vocals, especially on The Deplar Effect and the previous album Shake It. Both feature LamarContinue Reading
Funky Suwannee Hulaween Preview 2022
Suwannee Hulaween is one of the best and largest festivals that I’ve attended every year since 2015 and it’s always ‘jam’-packed, led by its main headliner The String Cheese Incident who typically perform six sets over the festival duration. Here’s how the the organizers describe it – Since its inception in 2013, the Halloween-themed music, arts and camping festival has evolved into one of the country’s most coveted cross-genre affairs. Curating dynamic lineups that range from electronic, jam, and indie to bluegrass, funk, soul and hip-hop, Suwannee Hulaween’s ability to abolish genre confines is evident year after year. For me, theContinue Reading
Lotus’ Bloom and Recede Album Review
Lotus is one of my all time favorite bands, and consistently put out terrific albums. They’re in the group of bands that are great to listen to and also live. Last year, the departure of long-time lead guitarist, Mike Rempel, gave fans pause for concern. However, the quick pick up and assimilation of Tim Palmieri of Kung Fu has put that all to rest. I’ve seen Lotus live three times now with Tim and he is a powerful shredder and is authentic to the lifeblood of Lotus. Bloom and Recede is the first album released with Tim and it’s aContinue Reading
Sacred Rose Festival Preview
FunkCity.net is super stoked to be able to attend the inaugural Sacred Rose Festival this weekend, August 26-28th, just outside of Chicago. It’s a unique setting for a festival, on the grounds of a large soccer stadium, but outside on a field with three stages plus one stage inside for DJ sets. For a dilettante of funk, jazz, fusion and soul this lineup is stacked from start to finish each day. Here’s a rundown of the sets I’m most interested in each day, with a teaser video for each. Friday August 26th St. Paul & The Broken Bones will beContinue Reading
The Jazz Defenders Rise With King Phoenix
In the 1960s, we had the “British Invasion” of rock bands into the United States. Now we have the influx of “British Funk” often capturing the sounds of the 60s and 70s in a compelling way for today’s scene. The groups include The New Mastersounds, Haggis Horns, Filthy Six, The Bongolian, Speedometer and of course The Jazz Defenders. All these groups put out great music and are among my favorites of today. Several players cross pollinate these groups and collectively deserve a huge place in your record collection. King Phoenix is The Jazz Defenders their second album for Haggis RecordsContinue Reading
Lettuce Unify in Love, Peace and Funk!
Lettuce is a very special band. They blaze new trails in funk yet never forget their roots and pay homage to all their funk forefathers. Unify is their latest album, the third in the trilogy following Elevate and Resonate and it may be their best yet. Each song is an advance on their past, super groovy and distinctive yet frequently echoing some of their funk predecessors. In this album’s case they actually had the chance to collaborate with some of their mentors and idols including Bootsy Collins (James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band) and Nick Daniels (Dumpstaphunk). The album isContinue Reading
Lost Arts Music Festival is Back!
Spring in Atlanta is a huge festival season with 420 Fest, Candler Park Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Afropunk Festival and small neighborhood festivals on different weekends. All pre-dated the pandemic and have mostly been on hiatus until this year. The second annual Lost Art Music Festival is coming up June 17-18th at Foxhall Resort having been launched mid-pandemic last year with St. Paul and the Broken Bones as the headliner. Friday, June 17th Aaron Lee Tasjan is the headliner on Friday night and he brings a hot Nashville band with him. Tasjan plays some old-school rock with hints of groupsContinue Reading
Candler Park Music Festival is Back!
After a two-year hiatus, it’s great to have the Candler Park Music Festival (CPMF) back in its traditional early-June slot. The lineup for this year’s festival is eclectic with something for everyone ands strong from top to bottom. This festival originated as smallish, neighborhood event and has evolved into an event that attracts a decent number of out-of-towners for a great weekend. Here’s a quick rundown of the bands you’ll see top-to-bottom each day and highlighting what I’m most looking forward to. Friday June 3rd Grace Potter headlines on Friday bringing her strong rock roots and vocals back to AtlantaContinue Reading