Presenting a world class collection of musicians to set sail on a six night adventure filled with funky jams, special sets, sit-ins, super groups, and collaborations!
Unless otherwise noted with an *asterisk* all artists perform two shows.
Singer-guitarist Brendan Bayliss had just landed in Los Angeles after a flight from Chicago, expecting to start a West Coast tour with Umphrey’s McGee, when he found a text on his phone. It basically said, “You’re going home.”
Keyboard player Joel Cummins, who lives in L.A., was in San Diego, squeezing in some golf before the shows, when his phone lit up. And guitarist Jake Cinninger was at his home studio in Niles, Michigan – across the state line from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, birthplace of Umphrey’s McGee – about to leave for the airport when he got the news.
It was March, 2020 – the first shock and whiplash of pandemic lockdown. After 22 years on the road and a dozen ambitious and eclectic studio albums, including the 2004 breakthrough Anchor Drops, 2009’s prog-rock trip Mantis and 2015’s The London Session, recorded in a single day at Abbey Road, Umphrey’s McGee – Bayliss, Cummins, Cinninger, bassist Ryan Stasik, drummer Kris Myers and percussionist Andy Farag – were grounded until further notice.
“I remember almost vibrating, like an anxiety attack,” Cinninger says now. “We were always in motion, going forward. It’s weird when that stops on a dime.” Cummins sat in his house, “just beside myself,” he says, “because I didn’t know when I would play music with my friends again.”
“Everyone was guilty of taking a couple of weeks, just staring at the sky,” Bayliss says. “Then you run out of excuses to not do anything.” Emails flew back and forth “with ideas and chord progressions” as Bayliss, stuck at home, worked on lyrics for a pair of songs already underway: “Always October,” an anxious meditation with a jolting chorus, started at a Nashville session in the fall of 2019; and the helplessness in “I Don’t Know What I Want,” a combined reflection on solitary confinement and heavy, personal loss. In June, 2019, Bayliss’ friend Jeff Austin, the former mandolinist in Yonder Mountain String Band, died unexpectedly. “I’m only looking for an antidote,” Bayliss wrote in the song. “What if I’m only asking for a friend?”
“I was thinking about a friend that I couldn’t help,” he admits, adding, “There’s something to be said for speaking your mind. If it’s a true emotion, it’s something everyone can feel: ‘Why is this happening to me?'”
The family that plays together stays together. Fourteen years may have passed between albums for THE WORD, but that’s no suggestion of broken bonds. Nor of broken strings. A love of music, of extended improvisational collaboration, of closing the eyes andc hanneling the feel—these are the ties that bind THE WORD.
The genesis of THE WORD goes to a rock & roll tour in the year 2000, when the Avant-jazz and funk group Medeski, Martin & Wood took the burgeoning North Mississippi Allstars on their first tour. Riding down the road, the groups listened to the first two Arhoolie Records compilations of sacred steel guitar, a musical style then just seeping into the broader public awareness. Sacred steel is ecstatic pedal steel guitar used in sanctified churches;it’s the same instrument from country & western music, but played with a very different accent. Keyboardist John Medeski cooked up the idea of recording an instrumental gospel album with the Allstars (Luther Dickinson—guitars; Cody Dickinson—drums; Rayfield “RayRay” Holloman) in his Brooklyn studio. When they learned that a young sacred steel star named Robert Randolph lived in New Jersey, they invited him to their area gig. This was THE WORD’S big bang.
History doesn’t stand still. It impacts, influences, and inspires the ebb and flow of the future by informing the present. Galactic draw on 25 years together in order to progress with each performance and subsequent record. After 10 albums, over 2,000 gigs, and tens of millions of streams, the proud New Orleans, LA quintet—Ben Ellman [saxophone, harmonica], Robert Mercurio [bass], Stanton Moore [drums, percussion], Jeffrey Raines [guitar], and Richard Vogal [keyboards]—have kept the torch burning through five U.S. presidential regimes, the turn-of-the-century, Hurricane Katrina, a Global Pandemic, and a much-anticipated recovery. They’re the rare collective who can support Juvenile on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, contribute music to a blockbuster soundtrack such as Now You See Me, and light up the stages of Coachella, Bonnaroo, and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (a staggering 22 times).
Joined by vocal powerhouse Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, they continue to forge ahead with a 2021 headline tour and more new music.
“There is a history to the band, yet we continue to release and perform new material,” says Stanton. “I’m truly excited for our fans and audience to hear this next record we’ve been working on. I think it’s some of our best work yet.”
Tour 65 is coming! Fresh off the road with The Rolling Stones, Karl Denson AKA “Diesel” is back out on the road with his “Tiny Universe” celebrating his 65th birthday. Lenny Kravitz alum and cofounder of the seminal boogaloo revivalists The Greyboy Allstars, Karl Denson‘s Tiny Universe will be bringing their world renowned live performance to select cities this winter including the premier of “A Diesel Insane: The Music Of David Bowie”.
Here it is, right on time. Unify. The eighth studio album from Lettuce, it’s also a third consecutive record made at Denver’s Colorado Sound Studios, completing a loose trilogy starting with 2019’s Grammy-nominated Elevate, and continuing with 2020’s Resonate. “Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country,” says Lettuce drummer Adam Deitch. “We really needed to unify.”
Reunited with Colorado Sound’s esteemed engineer, Jesse O’Brien, Unify is a totally collaborative effort full of the highest of highlights, including its centerpiece track “Keep That Funk Alive,” inspired by the venerable Parliament-Funkadelic bassist, Bootsy Collins, and featuring Collins on bass and vocals. It’s, as well, a benchmark moment for the sextet- Adam Deitch (drums), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone), Adam Smirnoff (guitar), Erick Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keyboards/vocals), Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom (trumpet)- approaching thirty years since its humble Boston beginnings.
“We’re just getting tighter and tighter,” says Coomes. “Really, these are the first records made with the six of us as a team, and it’s the best the band has ever been: live and in the studio; the funkiest and the most fun.”
16 songs. Pure Lettuce. Unify will teleport you to a funky galaxy far, far away, where all life coexists as one in peace, love, harmony, and music!
They’re the greatest band you’ve never heard of. Unsung heroes whose music was political, spiritual, and generations ahead of its time. Their story has never been told. Until now… Cymande, a group black British musicians who all came to the UK from the Caribbean as children, released three brilliant albums in quick succession in the early 70s and were embraced in the USA. But in the UK they faced a music business beset by prejudice against home grown black talent and were largely ignored. They split in 1975. But their music lived on, as successive generations of artists and fans found and embraced their songs. Hip Hop, House, Drum and Bass, R&B, Rare Groove and crate digging communities all saw something in the songs of Cymande that inspired them. And now the band are back. Touring the world and being embraced by yet another breed of fan – the internet generation who weren’t even born when the band split up 40 years ago.
2022 looks to be a new beginning, a rediscovery and rebirth for the legendary UK band.
Ivan Neville – keyboards/vocals • Tony Hall – bass/guitar/vocals • Ian Neville – guitar • Nick Daniels III – bass/vocals • Deven Trusclair – drums • Alex Wasily – trombone • Ryan Nyther – trumpet
Dumpstaphunk stands out amongst New Orleans’ best, cementing themselves as one of the funkiest bands to ever arise from the Crescent City. Born on the Jazz & Heritage Festival stage, and descended from Neville and Meters family bloodlines, these soldiers of funk ignite a deep, gritty groove that dares listeners not to move. Their performances combine ingenious musicianship through complex funk, rock, and jazz arrangements accompanied by soulful melodies and Big Easy traditions.
For better or worse, Andy Frasco has been married to the music industry since before he could grow facial hair. At just sixteen, Frasco worked for labels like Drive-Thru Records and Capitol, booking nationwide tours for his pop-punk heroes and wheeling and dealing on calls he’d take on the sly during lunch. He’s been on road since he was 19 with his band Andy Frasco & the U.N., played over 250 shows per year for more than decade, lived on bad bar food, and slept in vans, and now, after more than a decade on the musical grind, he’s finally finding himself.
The culmination of those efforts is Wash, Rinse, Repeat, which drops April 8th via his own label, Fun Machine Records. “This was my chance to learn my craft and fall in love with songwriting again,” he says. “This is me. This is how I feel. I’m not trying to write songs for other people anymore. I’m just trying to write songs that help me. And hopefully through that, help others, too.”
Written across the country with members of Dashboard Confessional, 3oh!3, Doom Flamingo, AWOLnation, and more, the record is a portrait of Frasco as a musician — and a man. Dealing with everything from addiction (“Spill the Beans”) to breaking old romantic habits (“Grow Old”) to fighting through the bad days to find the good (“Puff Break (Believe That)”), Wash, Rinse, Repeat stands as Frasco’s most complete, mature effort yet. With Bonnaroo and touring on the horizon, Frasco is ready for people to stop thinking of him as a party-boy frontman with a yen for stage-diving and to listen to his words.
“I just wanted to be honest about everything, from my musical influences to my story,” muses Neal Francis. After years of dishonest living—consumed by drugs, alcohol, and addiction—such sincerity is jarring from the Chicago-based musician. Liberated from a self-destructive past and born anew in sobriety, Francis has captured an inspired collection of songs steeped in New Orleans rhythms and early 70s rock n’ roll. His music evokes a bygone era of R&B’s heyday while simultaneously forging a new path on the musical landscape. Ohio-based Karma Chief Records (a subsidiary of rising soul label Colemine Records) released his debut LP Changes in September 2019.
There is a deep connection between Francis’s childhood—his obsession with boogie woogie piano, his father’s gift of a dusty Dr. John LP—and the songs he’s created. The result is an astonishing collection of material without parallel in the contemporary funk and soul scene. The influences are unmistakable: the vocal stylings of Allen Toussaint and Leon Russell; the second line rhythms of The Meters and Dr. John; the barroom rock ‘n’ roll of The Rolling Stones; the gospel soul of Billy Preston; the roots music of The Band. Francis pays tribute to the masters but has his own story to tell: “It’s the life I’ve lived so far.”
The music of the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND will be celebrated with the Friday, March 25 debut of the new band TROUBLE NO MORE at NYC’s Beacon Theatre, a venue the esteemed ABB played nearly 250 times. They will be honoring the 50th anniversary of the Eat A Peach record which was released February 12, 1972, and has been distinguished as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Trouble No More includes Brandon “Taz” Niederaurer (Guitar,Vocals), Daniel Donato (Guitar, Vocals), Dylan Niederauer (Bass Guitar), Jack Ryan (Drums), Lamar Williams Jr. (Vocals), Nikki Glaspie (Drums), Peter Levin (Keys) and Roosevelt Collier (Pedal Steel Guitar).
Across ten albums Melbourne nine piece The Bamboos have been recognised worldwide as masters of reinventing Soul & Funk, placing modern songwriting within classic arrangements & production. The band have connected to both genre purists as much as casual music fans by focusing on what’s important: songwriting, groove and powerful vocals
Lead by guitarist / producer / songwriter Lance Ferguson and featuring the powerhouse Kylie Auldist on vocals the band has also collaborated worked with guests such as Aloe Blacc, Durand Jones, Joey Dosik, Daniel Merriweather and Alice Russell. They’ve also been invited to be the local backing band for soul legends like Syl Johnson, Betty Wright, Joe Bataan and Eddie Bo when they toured Australia.
Initially inspired by the manifesto “How To Record A Heavy Funk 45” written by Gabriel Roth (co-founder of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Daptone Records) when they formed in 2000, they were the first Australian Soul / Funk act to be signed to an overseas label (Ubiquity Records in the US) and then the first to tour the UK and Europe. Along the way have been nominated for five ARIA Awards (the Australian Grammys), three APRA Songwriting Awards and their 10th studio album Hard Up, released in 2021, has been their best received record to date.
Fruition’s newest album, Broken at the Break of Day, may be hard to categorize, yet it feels complete because of their dedication to honesty as well as harmony. Influenced equally by acoustic music and rock ‘n’ roll, the Portland, Oregon – based band is composed of Jay Cobb Anderson (electric guitar, vocals), Kellen Asebroek (piano, acoustic guitar vocals), Jeff Leonard (bass), Mimi Naja (mandolin, electric guitar, vocals) and Tyler Thompson (drums). Their unmistakable vocal blend first revealed itself in 2008 when Anderson tagged along with Asebroek and Naja for an afternoon of busking in Portland. Since that time, they have opened shows for the Wood Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, and Jack Johnson, and at
appeared at festivals like Telluride Bluegrass, Bonnaroo, and DelFest. Broken at the Break of Day follows the band’s exceptional 2019 album, Wild as the Night.
Andy Dunnigan – Dobro, Vocals • Matthew Rieger – Guitar, Vocals • Jake Simpson – Fiddle, Vocals • Jean-Luc Davis – Upright Bass • Caleb Dostal – Banjo
Blending virtuosic instrumental acrobatics with riveting lyrical craftsmanship, The Lil Smokies have earned a reputation as one of the most electrifying acts in modern American roots music thanks to their exhilarating live show and critically acclaimed studio output. Since forming on the streets of Missoula, Montana, where the group got its start busking back in 2009, the band has performed everywhere from Red Rocks to The Rialto and captivated festival audiences at Telluride, High Sierra, LOCKN’, Freshgrass, FloydFest, and countless more. Their latest album, 2020’s Tornillo, showcases the hard touring five-piece at its most adventurous, teaming up with producer Bill Reynolds (The Avett Brothers, Band Of Horses) for a genre-bending joyride from the hills of Laurel Canyon to the wide-open deserts of West Texas.
phoffman is a singer, songwriter and mandolin player in Greensky Bluegrass. Their unique flavor of rock and roll americana music has been featured at Bonnaroo, High Sierra, The Telluride Bluegrass Festvial, and more than ten Red Rocks headline concerts. 2023 will be his 8th time on Jam Cruise.
The New Deal first began in Toronto in 1999, quickly gaining support from Toronto’s underground club scene as pioneers in electronica, recreating the DJ experience with live, improvised music. Soon the band brought their interpretation of Electro House, Trance, Breakbeat and Drum & Bass to the US where they were embraced by the crowds at NYC’s Wetlands Preserve and cultivated a loyal following in the American jam scene.
In contrast to their dynamic improvised live show and recent albums, their latest release, Isolation Suite, is an EP of fully composed new music that was written, recorded, and mixed in isolation during Covid-19 quarantine. Culling influences as diverse as Les McCann, The Who, & Herbie Hancock, the Isolation Suite’s four movements culminate with a guest appearance from Umphrey’s McGee guitarist Brendan Bayliss.
There’s a place, deep in the cosmos, where jam bands and electronic dance music intersect with rhythm-driven funk. You’ll feel like you’re floating here but not lost completely to the atmospheric elements. Instead, you’re tethered to an avant-garde spaceship with Colorado-based SunSquabi on the frequency. This cosmic wonderland is a melting pot of a variety of musical genres and it represents the future of music.
A three-piece suit – SunSquabi has been catching the eyes and ears of music fans around the world with their ever-evolving sound in the studio and on the live stage. Combining the talents of Kevin Donohue (guitars/keys/production) Josh Fairman (bassist/synth) and Chris Anderson (drums). This project is a disciplined and structured group.
Doom Flamingo is a six-headed synthwave beast with a Jekyll and Hyde element to the songwriting. Top Gun guitar riffs and Miami Beach poolside lounge-vibes, are all at once contrasted with eerie darksynth soundscapes reminiscent of old John Carpenter films.
Doom Flamingo came together organically through friendships and past collaborations in their hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. The sextet features dynamic vocalist, Kanika Moore, alongside a powerhouse of musicians including bassist Ryan Stasik, of the prolific rock band Umphrey’s McGee.
Ben Bloom: Guitars • Grant Schroff: Drums • Nathan Spicer: Keyboards • Jason Gray: Bass • Scott Morning: Trumpet • Elijah Clark: Trombone • Art Brown: Sax and Flut • Karl Olson: Percussion
Now on their sixth full-length album and twelfth year performing, Seattle’s Polyrhythmics take the sonic exploration of past albums, combined with mad scientist experiments testing the tunes on the road, and rolled them into 2020 releases Man from the Future and the companion EP Fondue Party.
Rich with bold brass and hypnotic percussion, Polyrhythmics’ latest studio work continues to showcase the instrumental eight-piece’s impossibly tight grooves and virtuosic musicianship as they tear through a singular blend of funk, soul, psychedelic rock, R&B, progressive jazz, and Afrobeat.
Now, the band emerges from the pandemic to return to the road with a new arsenal of original songs in their diverse catalog to conjure up the next chapter of fiery and infectious live performances as they embark on a 2nd decade as a touring collective.
Great music begins with great songs, and great songs are what the Honey Island Swamp Band is all about. The band was born when it’s founding members got together in San Francisco at the world-famous John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room while marooned in the city after Hurricane Katrina.
Fifteen years of worldwide touring and five critically acclaimed albums later, Honey Island Swamp Band is nearing completion on their 6th studio record, refining the band’s signature “Bayou Americana” sound and continuing to carve out their own place in the legacy of New Orleans music.
Honey Island Swamp Band is:
Aaron Wilkinson – vocals, guitar, mandolin, harmonica
Lee Yankie – guitar, vocals
Chris Spies – keyboards
Sam Price – bass, vocals
Garland Paul – drums, vocals
The Honey Island Swamp Band catalog includes five award winning albums – Honey Island Swamp Band (2007), Wishing Well (2009), Good to You (2012), Cane Sugar (2014) and Demolition Day (2016) – each of which was named Roots Rock Album of the Year by New Orleans’ prestigious Offbeat Magazine.
In 2016, Karina joined Marco Benevento’s band on bass, replacing Dave Dreiwitz (Ween /Joe Russo’s Almost Dead). In the many U.S. tours, trips to Japan and the UK since then, Karina has developed a permanent and powerful presence in the band, playing headlining shows, festival sets, and opening for bands such as Vulfpeck, Dispatch, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, Guster, and many more.
Aside from her gigs with Benevento, Karina’s musical résumé has almost grown too large to keep track of, but includes highlights we’d be remiss to exclude: a performance on the Today Show with Julia Michaels, a now-famous soundcheck at Madison Square Garden with Phish, playing in the backing band (in front of Howard Stern and co. at Radio City Music Hall) on America’s Got Talent with a flame-spewing helmet on her head, gigs with the Everyone Orchestra alongside members of moe., The Disco Biscuits, Soulive, Robert Randolph, + many more) and finally, the formation of her own band.
Karina put out two singles in 2019: Plants and Elevator, as well as two more in 2020 (City Kids & Dirty South) – the songs have garnered six-figure streaming numbers + air time on Satellite radio. A few live highlights include opening for Khruangbin at The Capitol Theatre, playing moe.down and Hulaween, and a plethora of headlining shows for ravenous fans. The group has welcomed special guests including Nels Cline, Robert Walter, Skerik, + more. And this is just the beginning for the young NYC-based bassist.
lespecial carve their own sonic path in modern music, creating their signature blend of “heavy future groove.” The power trio’s fresh synthesis of varied and divergent influences doesn’t underestimate the listener, reflecting a post-modern cultural climate in which fans have space on their aural palette for J Dilla, Radiohead, King Crimson and Tool.
Veering from hip-hop to metal, prog to house, pensive indie-rock to apocalyptic dub, leaving room for head banging and hip swaying alike, while still presenting a unified sound and vision.
What is “feel good music”? It’s a booty-shake blend of 1960s soul-jazz; slinky New Orleans funk; vintage instrumental soul; and a splash of acid-rock guitar. Therein lies the mojo of the Seattle-based three-piece, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or, as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3. Live, the band’s fiery and intuitive chemistry is unstoppable, brimming with improvisation, instant composition, imaginative takes on classic tunes, and an exhilarating back catalog of soulful gems. The Billboard-charting and millions-of-views-accruing powerhouse is managed, owned, and operated by Delvon’s staunchly supportive wife, Amy Novo. Amy has been lovingly nicknamed “Shortcake Mafia” as a tribute to her sweet but shrewd business acumen.
With a diverse catalog of hundreds of songs, the musical juggernaut Neighbor has become one of the most exciting and unpredictable live bands on the music scene today. Grown in large part by the passion and devotion of the fans called Neighbors, their symbiotic relationship inspires and touches every performance. The creation of childhood neighbors Richard James (vocals, keys) and Lyle Brewer (guitar), Neighbor combines ambitious composition, soulful balladry, and a fearless approach to their lengthy improvisations. The quartet is rounded out by Dan Kelly (bass) and Dean Johnston (drums) who fuel the groove and lay a solid foundation for Neighbor’s “down home” sound. Come see what’s good in the neighborhood.
Pulsing from the nerve center of Jellowstone Studios in Richmond VA, Butcher Brown takes careful note of the history and legacy of jazz and throws caution to the wind. Their musical vibe blends jazz with hip hop, funk, rap, rock and soul. The group honors each musical genre and, at the same time, challenges traditional musical boundaries. The result is their most exciting collection of tracks to date. Butcher Brown features Tennishu, Morgan Burrs, Corey Fonville, Andrew Randazzo, and DJ Harrison.
Born and raised in Philly, crash landed in Charleston, Kevin and John Shields are breaking into previously uncharted waters with their quirky indie hip-hop group, Little Stranger. Between John’s melodic singer-songwriter magnetism, Kevin’s in-your-face delivery, and an overall undeniable groove, this duo is sure to get any audience up and moving. Stylistically reminiscent of Gorillaz and Odelay-era Beck, Little Stranger delivers a fresh take on melodic hip-hop. Every track brings the uniqueness and strangeness that their name implies.
For the past few years, the duo has perfected their live performance by playing over 100 shows per year prior to the coronavirus shutdown. The group also puts a big focus on creating arresting visual experiences through their music videos, their own eccentric television program (LSTV), and in-house graphics. Between their out-of-the-box creative endeavors and an ever-increasing arsenal of new tunes, Little Stranger is poised to make 2021 another slam dunk.
Mike Dillon, Nikki Glaspie, and Brian Haas formed a trio and started playing as Punkadelick in New Orleans. First playing outdoor venues during Mardi Gras 2021, The onstage chemistry led to touring The Quarantine Trilogy Mike Dillon released in March of 2021. The trio will release a new album of instrumentals November of 2022 on Royal Potato Family Records.
The sandy shores of Asbury Park, New Jersey are hallowed ground in the northeast; the rolling waves have ushered generations of venerated musicians to worldwide acclaim. Dogs in a Pile, an eclectic quintet, has emerged as the heir apparent to the town’s rich musical legacy. Merging funk, jazz, and rock and roll with psychedelia, the quintet presents a completely original vibe built on kaleidoscopic soundscapes eerily reminiscent of the days of yesteryear.
The Dogs employ a unified approach to performance and songwriting, crafting aural mosaics through adept instrumentation and humble precocity. As avid storytellers, they draw inspiration from personal experiences, balancing life’s foibles with ever-present youthful sanguinity.
Dogs began when Philadelphia University of the Arts guitar gun-slinger Jimmy Law began playing with young Joe Babick (drums), a student at the Count Basie Theater program in Red Bank, NJ. Lightning struck when they were introduced to Berklee School of Music student and bass player Sam Lucid, who immediately suggested fellow Berklee student and keyboard player Jeremy Kaplan. The addition of fellow Berklee student Brian Murray (guitar) in 2019 made for the quintessential final piece in the Dogs’ puzzle.
Hailed as “the hottest band in the Wasatch” by the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association, Pixie and The Partygrass Boys is composed of lifelong professional musicians drawn together by a common love of bluegrass and skiing in the Wasatch. Featuring soulful, often harmonic vocals and solid strings and rhythm, this tight-knit crew was born out of the belly of a warm cabin after a long day on the slopes- drinking whiskey and singing into the night. With a high energy sound and a love for silly outfits, they travel the land spreading the gospel of whiskey, chickens, and fun for everyone.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music, drummer/composer/bandleader Dave Watts started Colorado funk group The Motet in 1998. The band has been consistently touring and releasing albums for over 20 years, including headlining Red Rocks every summer since 2017. Dave has shared the stage and recorded with such names as George Porter, Stanley Jordan, Bill Evans, Charlie Hunter, Steve Kimock, Oteil Burbage, Bernie Worrell, Jeff Coffin, Kyle Hollingsworth, Keller Williams, Jeff Pevar and Robert Walter.
Everyone Orchestra is a masterfully conducted, fully spontaneous explosion of live music created by a rotating cast of world renowned musicians and led by conductor Matt Butler. Each show is 100% unique, as a carefully curated lineup of performers is guided through high energy, creative, danceable grooves and beautiful songs that you won’t believe are created on the fly under the creative leadership of Matt’s cues and improvised whiteboard directives.
20 Years in, with over different 1,000 musicians joining in, EO continues to create in completely unique ways. Unlike other one-off “super jams”, Everyone Orchestra does not borrow from other artists’ song lists, but rather draws on the funky, jazzy, soulful, electronic, and Americana roots of the musicians who come together in a consistently stunning display of raw talent and imaginative improvisation. Having conducted members of bands ranging from the Grateful Dead to The Meters, Ween, King Crimson, Phish, Jane’s Addiction, String Cheese Incident and hundreds more, Matt Butler has mastered the art of drawing the best and most multi-dimensional talents of performers from all genres and backgrounds, pulling the sounds together in an extraordinary cohesive music experience that you don’t want to miss.
The Sweet Lillies’ music is, first and foremost, heartfelt and collaborative. Those defining traits are given life by the trio of musicians who make up the Lillies, Julie Gussaroff, Becca Bisque, and Dustin Rohleder, who have combined their individual strengths together to deliver powerful narratives of life in song. With their acoustic string-band lineup of guitar, viola, and upright bass given flight by ethereal, vocal harmonies that float like a dream, the Sweet Lillies’ music has an old-time soul with a forward-looking eye. The Sweet Lillies have incorporated all of their cumulative life-experiences into their music, their song-writing, and their artistry, crafting an uncommonly-beautiful style they have christened String-Americana – a nod to the band’s all encompassing musical tastes and willingness to experiment with genres. As Gussaroff explains, “Some musicians learn from teachers, some learn from family members, and some are self taught. Some musicians are classically trained, some come up through folk, some draw from multiple springs, from hip hop through pop to bebop. In the Lillies’ all of these skill sets are valuable, relevant, and appreciated.”
The Sweet Lillies are built upon their collaborative ideals and are always ready to share a stage or develop a project with any musicians who share the same no-holds barred creative approach. This has made each one of their inventive, energetic live-shows a wholly unique event as setlists are changed on the fly, songs are given new life and shape, and guests are always welcome to join in the creative explosion. Those on-stage partnerships create a space for incorporating instruments, arrangements, and styles that aren’t necessarily typical of the genre, but that help create a rich, compelling sound that defies easy categorization.
Marc Brownstein of Disco Biscuits, the Philadelphia based trance-fusion band, displays his eclectic taste in music as DJ Brownie.
DJ AirWolf wants you to move. That’s his job. Disco, Funk, Soul, Rock, HipHop, House…these are the tools of his trade and he has mastered them all. With a cinematic vision of the dance floor, he’ll transport your mind and body on a trip through time and space. Once the mothership leaves the spaceport, no tempo, style, or genre is beyond reach.
As an Atlanta native, AirWolf grew up experiencing the sights and sounds of the musical revolutions that took place in the late 20th century. Absorbing the culture from a young age, he sought out the 4/4 rhythms of disco, house and techno before even knowing what those terms meant, “Body music. That’s what I’m looking for. Sounds that just make you want to move. It’s not always about dancing. But it is always about movement.”
While he has been working on his craft in some form or another since childhood, he has rocked countless dance floors at home and abroad for a wide ranging variety of clients and parties over the past two decades. Performing for corporations such as Microsoft, Audi, Mercedes, Coca Cola, and Facebook, he knows that not every party needs a psychedelic journey across the cosmos. “Room Appropriate Jams” are always at the ready.
The brightest moments of his career have occurred alongside the artists he admires most. His festival billings include Counterpoint, Tomorrowworld, Sweetwater 420 Festival, Suwannee Hulaween, and Shaky Beats. In October of 2021 he was invited to Las Vegas for his first residency at Area15 which houses the Meow Wolf art exhibit. In both 2019 and 2020, he provided the after party vibes for the Phish Riviera Maya events in Mexico (and lets face it…. this was the coolest thing that ever happened to him).
So climb on board. You’re going for a ride.
Yesmann is the DJ moniker of former Turkuaz guitarist/keyboardist Craig Brodhead. After being steeped in funk and groove music of all kinds after many years on the road, he set out to cultivate a sound that harkened back to the early, gritty days of House and Techno in the Midwest cities of Chicago and Detroit. Equally at home spinning celebratory disco deep cuts, squelchy acid excursions and enveloping soundscapes, each set is a journey to rediscover the many modes and deep joy that is dance music. His debut album Design Language is set to drop in fall of 2022.
Perhaps the only thing tighter than the three-part harmonies and masterful arrangements from Chris Brouwers (trumpet), Greg Sanderson (tenor saxophone), and Josh Schwartz (baritone saxophone), is the chemistry between The Horn Section.
Together for more than a decade, this trio brings a palpable energy to the live music scene. Whether performing at renowned festivals such as Bonnaroo and Peach Fest, or legendary venues along the likes of Red Rocks Amphitheater and The Fillmore, The Horn Section commands the stage and adds that ‘je ne sais quoi’ to each and every artist they join.
Known for his musicality, versatility, and heartfelt delivery, Lebo is inherently committed to an improvisational approach. The main vehicle for his fluid, buttery sound is a flat top acoustic guitar that he has personally customized and converted to electric with a vintage style humbucker pickup. His prowess on the strings is matched by his unforgettable songwriting.
When not touring the world with ALO (his band of 31 years), he leads Lebo & Friends – unique all star ensembles that have included Melvin Seals, George Porter Jr., Wally Ingram, Jennifer Hartswick, Lesley Grant, and more. Lebo is an in demand featured guest with Jack Johnson, Phil Lesh, Steve Kimock, and festivals around the country. When not on tour, he can be found digging deep into recording and producing music in his studio, Leboland.
Mike Dillon is a Texas Bred and Spread percussionist who spends most of his time in New Orleans hitting on percussion instruments with savory characters like Johnny Vidacovich, James Singleton, Stanton Moore, Brad Walker and Brian Haas. He spends way too much time on tour in his Chevy van and the Kansas City based artist Peregrine Honig calls him Suitcase Man. Coincidentally, they are married and make lots of art together. Lately, Mike has been playing with Rickie Lee Jones, Les Claypool’s Bastard jazz, Punkadelick, and Nolatet.
Forever defying categories & notions of the standard human work ethic, Skerik has been brewing worldwide jazz/rock/funk/electronic/avant-saxophonic mayhem since his emergence from Seattle in the late 1980s, carving out an enormous & stupefyingly diverse body of work that remains in restless development (day by day, hour by hour, second by second). A saxophonist by trade & border-destroyer by nature, absorbing anything that carries the whiff of inspiration & sincerity, ensuring that all aspects of his output reflect that same good faith. It is the Skerik way, and it has served him (and us) well.
A founding member of Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois, Tuatara, Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, Crack Sabbath, The Dead Kenny Gs & countless other legendary ensembles, his extraordinary career has also seen live & recorded appearances with Roger Waters, Mad Season, Pearl Jam, Primus, REM, Fred Wesley, The Headhunters, The Meters, Ani DiFranco & many many more.
All totaled, Skerik has contributed to more than 200 records as a saxophonist and/or keyboardist. His music has seen worldwide placement in feature films, independent films, TV shows, theater & dance pieces. He continues to make Seattle his primary home (now owning & operating his own studio in the city), and he continues to regularly tour around the world with his ever-expanding cast of collaborators & new things to do.
Gutsy and nuanced as a vocalist, and an accomplished songwriter, arranger, and pianist as well, Judith Hill is likely the only musician who can cite Elton John, Spike Lee, Prince, and Michael Jackson among those who have sought out her talent. One of the highest-profile background singers of her generation, she got her start in the early 2000s, and in the next decade established a solo career with the soundtrack to Lee’s Red Hook Summer (2012). Since making these strides, she has built a discography of increasingly refined and creative albums that includes the Prince-produced Back in Time (2015), followed by Golden Child (2018) and Baby, I’m Hollywood! (2021), all while continuing her work in support of other artists. Hill starred in the Academy Award- and Grammy-winning 20 Feet from Stardom, the documentary film showcasing the under-acknowledged work of backup singers.
The daughter of musicians Michiko Hill and Pee Wee Hill, Judith Hill earned a degree in music composition from Biola University, near her native Los Angeles. During the 2000s, she stockpiled background vocalist credits on releases by the likes of Anastacia, Robbie Williams, Evelyn “Champagne” King, and Rod Stewart. In 2009, she was selected to duet with Michael Jackson on “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” during the This Is It concerts, and performed at the King of Pop’s memorial service, where she took the spotlight for “Heal the World.” During the next few years, Hill continued to work in a background capacity for Elton John, Gregg Allman, and Barry Manilow, to name only a fraction of her connections. Hill saw her profile rise significantly in 2012 and 2013. Earlier in the year, she recorded stirring material for Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer. The following year, she competed on The Voice, appeared on Josh Groban’s All That Echoes, and even more notably was featured in 20 Feet from Stardom, which went on to win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and a Grammy for Best Music Film.
Brooklyn, NY native, Sammi Garett, is often recognized as the pink-donned prominent member of the Power-Funk band Turkuaz (2012-2021). A 2009 graduate of Berklee College of Music, Sammi majored in vocal performance, graduating Cum Laude. She returned to her hometown of New York City, where she studied improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade in NYC. In 2012 she joined the band Turkuaz, and from 2012 to 2021 they headlined all over the US, Japan and Australia, playing festivals like Bonnaroo, Bottlerock, Lockn’, Jam Cruise, Jazz Aspen Snowmass and stages such as Red Rocks, Terminal 5, The Fillmore and The Capitol Theatre. Sammi also has the honor of sharing the stage with Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads and Adrian Belew (King Crimson, David Bowie) to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Talking Heads’ release, Remain in Light. Simultaneously, she began performing and recording with her current group, Freekbass & The Bump Assembly.
Sammi had long been writing tunes that would one day be the spark for a solo project, and it was just a matter of finding the right time and scenario to share it with the world. That time just happened to be the end of 2021, and she recorded the tracks that would define her personal sound. Sammi’s first single “With You” dropped Valentine’s Day, 2022, and is out now, streaming on all music platforms. Her forthcoming EP, Sweet Tooth, will be released summer 2022 on all streaming platforms.
Known for her mesmerizing stage presence and powerhouse vocals, Shira Elias is one of the most captivating performers in music today. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Shira began singing and performing at an early age. Her passion took her to New York City, where she cut her teeth in the world of live music. Shira finds her sound in the space where R&B, pop, funk and soul collide, in tandem with deeply personal songs and an electric live show.
In 2014 Shira joined Brooklyn’s 9-piece funk band, Turkuaz, and spent the last 6 years with them touring nationally & internationally. In the Spring of 2020, Shira finally released her debut solo album, GOODS the EP, under her own name and her adventure as a solo artist took flight. In 2021, Shira’s desire to further discover her own sound as an artist saw her part ways with Turkuaz and dive head first into her self titled project and collaborations with other artists.
At the forefront of a Shira Elias show, whether belting out a high energy funk tune or serenading an r&b ballad, is her remarkable ability, through her powerful voice and performance, to make people connect with themselves and music.
Tyree Woods is a Soldier turned sing/songwriter, and band leader out of Steamboat Springs, Co. His band Buffalo Commons is an up and coming “soul-grass” outfit making a name for themselves on the Colorado and surrounding area festival circuit. Tyree has had the honor of sitting in and playing his own music with some of musics best, Ronnie McCoury, Jason Carter, Andy Thorne, John Stickley, and Tyler Grant.
Guitar virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, educator and activist are just a few titles used to describe the musical powerhouse known as Isaiah Sharkey. Hailing from a musical family in Chicago, he picked up his first guitar when he was just 3 years old. Creating music came naturally to him and it wasn’t long before his family realized he had an irrefutable gift. By the age of 14, Sharkey was performing in clubs in Chicago and a few short years later he had piqued the interest of music industry giants like The Isley Brothers, D’Angelo, for whom he won his first Grammy Award, John Mayer, Patti LaBelle and many others. Blending his background in rock, gospel, jazz, R&B, blues, and funk, Sharkey has created his own original sound with an unmistakable dose of soul. His highly anticipated debut album Love.Life.Live. was released in September of 2017 and earned him the iHeart Radio Artist of the Month Award in November for his single “It’s a Shame” featuring DJ Jazzy Jeff. His sophomore album Love is the Key: The Cancerian Theme was released in June of 2019. During the Covid 19 pandemic, Sharkey wrote and recorded with a few of his colleagues including Cory Henry and Common. Sharkey is also recording new music for his latest release and gearing up for his U.S. and European tour this summer.
Sorceress. Alchemist. Beat Conductor. Funk Philosopher. Seneshal of Style. Purveyor of Pocket. Child of God. Agent of Love.
Nikki Glaspie is among the premier drummers in music today. As a founding member of The Nth Power she’s blazing a path of light, and rolling waves of love in her wake. A student of J Dilla, James Brown, Led Zepplin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gospel traditions and all points between, Nikki Glaspie has toured the world as the drummer of Beyonce’s backing band SUGA MAMA, trotting the globe behind the likes of Maceo Parker, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Martin Luther, and more. Glaspie studied at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, and credits Professor Angelamia Bachemin as her single greatest teacher/influence. For the better part of two decades, Nikki has been in-demand, with a who’s who of the jazz/funk scene. Nikki Glaspie is already a living legend, well before her fortieth birthday. Remarkably, it feels as though she has merely just begun!
After cutting his teeth in Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Tea Leaf Green, bassist extraordinaire Reed Mathis established himself in the Grateful Dead world with membership in Billy & The Kids, The Rhythm Devils, Mickey Hart Band, Steve Kimock Band and the Golden Gate Wingmen. But Mathis’ first love was always Ludwig van Beethoven. With his new Electric Beethoven project, Mathis did the unthinkable and fused all of his worlds together, bringing old world masterpieces by Beethoven to today’s premiere musical improvisers — an elite class of live performers who have individually made names for themselves in every genre except classical: jazz, funk, folk, blues, and jam rock.
Keybaordist Peter Levin has long been in demand for his musicianship, good ears, tasty soulful playing in any setting and good vibes that make any band better. Levin has toured and/or recorded with Gregg Allman, Amanda Shires, Aaron Neville, Ringo Starr, the Highwomen, Marcus King, the Allman Betts Band, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the O’Jays, Dolly Parton and other blues and Americana luminaries for the past decade. Before all that, he already had a diverse background working in the studio with everyone from Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Korn and Train to crushing it onstage with Manhattan jam kings the Zen Tricksters, God Street Wine and Robert Randolph’s Family Band.
Vaylor grew up knowing his picture is on the cover of one of the best selling southern rock albums of all time. Rather than let that fact set his musical course, Vaylor has spent decades establishing his own voice, studying and performing jazz, progressive, experimental, and avant-garde music with greats such as Pat Martino, Dweezil Zappa, Mike Keneally, Bernard Purdie, Johnny Vidacovich, and Col. Bruce Hampton, as well as establishing The Yeti Trio, an experimental fusion powerhouse for more than 20 years. But the music his family made with The Allman Brothers Band stayed with him. Now, with Brother & Sister, Vaylor is embracing his roots.
Famed keyboardist JOHN MEDESKI is not easily contained to a single project or genre; he is credited on over 300 works to date, most notably as one third of the groundbreaking trio, Medeski Martin & Wood. Equally comfortable behind a Steinway grand piano, Hammond organ or any number of vintage keyboards, Medeski is a highly sought after improviser and band leader whose projects range from work with MacArthur Fellow John Zorn, The Word (Robert Randolph, North Mississippi Allstars), Phil Lesh, Don Was, John Scofield, Coheed & Cambria, Susana Baca, Sean Lennon, Marc Ribot, Irma Thomas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and many more. Classically trained, Medeski grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL where as a teenager he played with Jaco Pastorius before heading north to attend the New England Conservatory. He released his first solo piano record, A Different Time, on Sony’s Okeh Records in 2013, and current projects include a new album with his band Mad Skillet (Terrence Higgins, Kirk Joseph, Will Bernard), and HUDSON (a collaboration with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield and Larry Grenadier), plus a documentary on Medeski Martin & Wood.
George Porter, Jr. is best known as the bassist of The Meters. The group was formed in the mid 60’s and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk then called R&B.
During the course of a career spanning more than four decades, Porter has not only made a deep impression with his work in the Meters, but he’s notched session work with artists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Patti LaBelle, Robbie Robertson, Tori Amos, Taj Mahal, Ryan Montbleau and live performances with Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, Steve Kimock, Eric Krasno (and including recent studio releases with Warren Haynes and Bill Kreutzmann) just to name a few.
Early in his career, Porter worked with seminal New Orleans artists like Allen Toussaint, Earl King, Lee Dorsey, and Johnny Adams, Irma Thomas, The Lastie Brothers — again to only name a few.
Porter has proven to be capable of the ultimate fusion of rock, funk and R&B, and has gained recognition as one of the industry’s elite bass players.
Adam Deitch began his musical odyssey at birth, being born to two Berklee college of music drummers who also played an array of instruments and sang. Surrounded by his parents eclectic musical friends and band members, Adam, through osmosis, began to absorb all the knowledge that was being passed on to him from his environment. He began playing a full drumset by age 3 and began performing with his parents at local elementary schools by age 5.
After studying piano, alto sax, music production, bass, guitar and of course the drums, Adam started a number of musical projects\bands in his hometown of Nyack NY, as well as immersing himself in the local Baptist Gospel scene as a drummer during his junior high and high school years. These experiences prepared him for his short tenure at Berklee College of music in Boston Mass.where he met countless brilliant professors and students who molded him into a more seasoned, and all around musician.
Leaving Berklee after a year, Adams’ Hip Hop band Fat Bag found great success in the northeast and he learned much about the music industry as they were signed to Interscope records for a development deal. When the deal stalled, Adam left the band to join the world renowned soul funk group Average White Band (AWB) and toured the world with them for 3 years as well recording a live DVD in LA. Getting to meet and learn from watching artists like AWB, Chaka Khan, Tower of Power and Earth Wind and Fire first hand at age 24 was extremely inspiring for him.
Adams next venture was with Jazz rock legend John Scofield whom he toured the globe with and co wrote 3 albums with (Uberjam, Up All Night, and Uberjam Deux) one of them (Uberjam) being nominated for a Grammy. Scofield helped Adam become acquainted with the jazz community, playing almost every Jazz Festival on earth for 3 years.
Adam continued his wide musical landscape by joining Fugees frontman Wyclef Jean and platinum producer Jerry Wonder shortly after. This brought Adam to work closely with HipHop legends like Lauren Hill, DJ Quik, Akon, Estelle and pop star Shakira.
After touring extensively with these groundbreaking artists, Adam decided to concentrate on his original projects, Funk supergroup Lettuce and EDM powerhouse Break Science. While taking some time in between the extensive touring and recording of these bands, Adam managed to find time to do occasional international drum clinic tours for Tama drums and Zildjian Cymbals, perform at the Modern Drummer Festival as a featured clinician as well as tour with hugely successful artists such as EDM giant Pretty Lights and DRK WAV featuring keyboard icon John Medeski.
Adam has also participated in many “superjams” with artists such as guitar god Derek Trucks, Eric Krasno of Soulive, Soul icon William Bell, Funk legends George Porter Jr and Leo Nocentelli of the Meters, Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley of James Brown fame and recently very high profile sets with R&B Legend, Chaka Khan as well as Hip Hop luminary Ghost Face Killah of the WU Tang clan.
Adam also has produced tracks for a number of Hip Hop legends in his extremely scarce free time such as Talib Kweli, 50 Cent, and Pharoahe Monch and has launched his new label “Golden Wolf records” this year to showcase his evolved music production skills.
Robert Randolph took a step outside when it was time to record his new album, Brighter Days, choosing to work with producer Dave Cobb. Cobb is best known for his work with new country stars like Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Brandi Carlile, and Jason Isbell. Looking beyond anyone’s expectations or his own preconceptions helped Randolph circle back to where it all began for him: church music.
The first three songs of Brighter Days are a full dive back to Randolph’s gospel roots, starting with lead track “Baptize Me”, a joyous romp of a song that makes a direct connection between religious and musical ecstasy and salvation.
Randolph grew up playing sacred steel music – basically gospel played on pedal steel guitar – in the House of God church in Orange, New Jersey, and began taking his joyous, gospel-infused music out to clubs, backed by family members who shared not only backgrounds, but blood.
Pedal and lap steel guitar ace Roosevelt Collier, so proficient he’s affectionately known as “The Dr,” released his solo debut, Exit 16, on GroundUP Music. It’s a potent mix of blues, gospel, rock and, in his words, “dirty funk swampy grime,” as overseen by producer and Bokanté bandmate Michael League (from the Grammy-winning Snarky Puppy). Brought up in the House of God Church in Perrine, Florida, Roosevelt built his “sacred steel” guitar prowess alongside his uncles and cousins in The Lee Boys, known for their spirited, soul-shaking live performances. On his own, Collier’s become a sought-after talent both on record and on stage; at festivals, he is a regular “Artist at Large,” performing alongside musical luminaries in the fields of rock, blues and pop, including the Allman Brothers, The String Cheese Incident, Buddy Guy, Umphrey’s McGee, Los Lobos, Robert Randolph, the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, and the Del McCoury Band.
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