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
Get Ready for Suwannee Rising April 7-9
Stoked to be heading back to the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) for the third edition of the Suwannee Rising Festival which debuted in 2019. Rising has established itself as a premier mid-sized event kicking off the season in early spring in what many have described as the most magical place in the world (adult Disneyland). Scheduled for the time of year and place where two other festivals, Wanee and Aura, were mainstays, Rising has developed its own personality as a combination of funk, jam, soul and rock, not necessarily in that order. The first version in 2019 wasContinue Reading
Sticking With It From The Dip
Forget about Seattle grunge — the new deal is Seattle funk and soul. Three of my favorite ‘new’ bands are from the Emerald City, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Polyrhythmics and The Dip! The Dip just released their third full length album Sticking With It and it’s a winner. I first got hip to them in summer of 2019 when they played live at Park Tavern in Atlanta. They have an old school soul and funk feel with very catchy lyrics, great horn licks and stellar instrumentalists all around. Top it off with Tom Eddy’s vocals which come through particularly strongContinue Reading
Inside the Recording of EMPIRE CENTRAL From Snarky Puppy!
I just had a magical experience attending six recording sessions of Empire Central, Snarky Puppy’s next album likely due out in late 2022. For those unaware, Snarky Puppy is a 4-time Grammy-winning instrumental ‘band’ playing jazz, funk, world, fusion or any genre music that was formed at the University of North Texas in the 2000s. Snarky Puppy built a following recording its albums with accompanying DVDs live in front of a small studio audience starting with their Tell Your Friends album (2010). They continued this for four subsequent albums with the most recent being Family Dinner, Vol. 2 recorded inContinue Reading
A Look Back: Snarky Puppy’s The World Is Getting Smaller
The World Is Getting Smaller is Snarky Puppy’s second album, released in 2007, and it’s the first that has some bona fide ‘hits’ that are still being played live today including Intelligent Design and Alma, which were both resurrected for the Immigrance Tour in 2019. The title track has also been played live but not in the last few years. The album really shows the early development of the signature Snarky Puppy style with unusual time signatures and changing melodic arrangements. The second studio album from Snarky Puppy, The World is Getting Smaller features two live drummers (Rob Avsharian andContinue Reading
FunkCity.net Year in Review (Part 2 – Live Music)
Like everyone, 2021 started in a dubious lockdown of live music for me. I was hoping and looking for some sore of “all clear” signal to come out of hibernation and the Covid protocols of vaccination or negative test along with mask mandates and pod concerts developed. Starting April 2, the day I got my second shot, I ventured out again and the first show I attended was SunSquabi at the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, and I ended the year seeing them three times. That show was the first of 44 days (that I can count) that I attended liveContinue Reading