G. Love Interview

I had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Garrett Dutton (G. Love) about the G. Love & Special Sauce album Sugar a couple of weeks ago.

The interview has received rave reviews from die-hard G. Love fans and is probably the best interview I've done yet.

We explored everything from the album making process, to touring, to Dutton's roots as a street performer.  He was very candid and an absolute pleasure to work with.

So sit back, relax, and have a listen to TheSoliLama.com G. Love interview!!

The G. Love Sugar Interview

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G. Love The Sugar Blues Tour Review

The Sugar Blues Tour came rolling through Charlotte on Saturday and absolutely smoked the Fillmore to the ground. 

The night started out on a mellow note when G. Love’s Brushfire Records label mate, Matt Costa, took on opening duties to warm the crowd up.  There was a pretty good crowd developing at the Fillmore when Costa started his set, but by the time G. Love & Special Sauce took the reigns - it was a packed house.

Particle Spring Tour 2015 Charlotte Review

On the 3rd night of the 2015 Spring Tour, Particle made a stop in Charlotte, NC with Greenhouse Lounge pulling supporting duties.

I hadn't seen Particle since the end of the Calilicious Tour in Asheville, which I believe was one of the last shows with Charlie Hitchcock.  Since then there’s been a few roster changes and now the band website (http://www.particlepeople.com) lists the current members as: Steve Molitz on keys, Ben Combe on guitar, Clay Parnell on bass, and Brandon Draper on drums (For the Spring Tour, Allen Aucoin will be on drums).

When a band has lineup changes, in my mind there’s always the question of, “Will they sound the same as when I saw them last”?  I’m here to report that yes, they sound the same but with one important distinction…

Howard Jones Engage Review

Engage is Howard Jones’ project that brings together his classic synth pop style with a number of different forms of art.  In his promotional video on PledgeMusic (Essential it’s the artists sales pitch on why you should contribute to their new project) he explained that he didn’t want to create just another studio album or live DVD, he wanted it to be an immersive experience with dramatic visuals that coordinated with the music.  This project was to combine elements from all of his influences including:

• Classical Music

• Electronic Music

• Pop Music

• Cinema

• Contemporary dance

• Ballet

• Philosophy

WOW!  This was an exciting prospect for some new music.  Although I have a hard time getting into and appreciating dance and ballet, everything else on that list was right up my alley.  I’m a huge fan of prog rock, which took elements from different forms of music and combined them into something new.  Much in the way progressive music incorporated the ideas of classical music and complex conceptual ideas, Howard appeared to have taken a step to elevate the synth pop style he’s known for…but would this be a successful marriage?  Would my pre-order be worth it? 

Let’s find out…

LH Labs Verb Review

LH Labs recently sent me a pair of the new Verb earbuds that are currently being offered through their Geek Wave campaign (On Indiegogo) for review.  LH Labs actually has two versions of their earbuds coming to market.  The first version, known as Geek IEM on the campaign (Verb), is the version I was sent –which is unbalanced.  The second version is fully balanced and is called Geek IEM-X ($69 perk price).  Those earbuds should be coming out a few weeks after the Verb starts shipping here shortly.

The Verb is more of a “mainstream” set of buds, meaning the tuning is more U shaped.  If you sniff around on the various audiophile websites and forums, you’ll see that a lot of people that consider themselves audiophiles prefer a flat tuning.  In fact, I’ve seen the U / V shape tuning referred to as “Kiddie Tuning”.  

If you’re a “mainstream” listener and don’t know what all of that means – don’t worry about it.  All you need to know is that these earbuds will perform like the ones that came with your phone…on steroids.  If on the other hand, you are an audiophile and prefer a flat tuning - these earbuds are not for you.  Not to worry though, the Geek IEM-X will be fully balanced and have that “Big Boy” flat tuning which you desire. 

Jellyfish Remasters By Omnivore Recordings - Hit...OR A Miss?

Many People remember the day The Beatles appeared on Sullivan for the first time, or when Lennon died, or…fill in the blank.  I remember the day when April gave me a tape of Bellybutton and Spilt Milk.  It was probably about 1994 or ’95 and I was working at Disc Jockey, a record store in the local mall.  Everyone there knew I was a huge Beatle nut.  For whatever reason, the topic came up and I believe Tom (The manager and fellow Beatle freak) was the one who asked if I had ever heard of Jellyfish.  “Who are they?” I said.  “OH MAN! You have to hear these guys.”  

A few days later at the end of my shift April finally handed me a tape that would change my musical life.  I still remember where we were in the store – right in front of the check out island.  I walked to my car and popped in the tape and HOLY S#@T what was this?!?!  Like everyone else that hears "The Man I Used To Be" for the first time, I was floored.  I devoured the tape so many times, I'm surprised I didn't wear the tape out.   I finally called my uncle/musical mentor and said, “Have you ever heard of Jellyfish?”  He said, “Yeah, I could have seen them in Detroit for 6 bucks with World Party and skipped the show – biggest mistake I’ve ever made!”

The point of the story is to disclose that yes, I’m an Uber Fan.  I don’t have as much Jellyfish stuff as Pablo Melons (Actually, I don’t think anyone does), but I’ve definitely bought a few things off of eBay in my day.  I'm also the type of fan that buys all of the offspring work (Sextus, Imperial Drag, Moog Cookbook, Umajets, Falkner, Grays, Manning, Etc.) as well. 

In fact I still buy CDs like Bent Van Looy just because Jason produced it or CDs where Roger just played Keyboards...just to hear him play.  I nearly bought Alanis Morissette tickets just to see Imperial Drag (Thank God I didn’t) and almost drove 4 hours to see Coward in hopes that Roger might be playing with them, I’ve driven 4 hours to see the Drag, this past summer I drove 3 hours by myself just to see Roger play with Beck (and was pleasantly surprised to see Jason as well).  And the worst bonehead move I made?  Yeah, that was probably when I met a keyboard player named Phil Bennett who plays with Starship.  They came into Disc Jockey killing time one day and then a few of us ended up hanging out with Phil after we closed.  All I could do was ask him if he knew who Roger Manning was and was he into Jellyfish...yeah you get the picture.  Not my proudest moment - I think it might be a right of passage to act like an idiot when you meet your first "rockstar"...and that was mine.  The things you do when you're 16!

Now that we have our disclosure that I'm a huge Jellyfish fan out of the way, let's get into the review.

How To Get Famous Artists To Play On Your Album: The Toxic Melons Interview

As a follow up to my review of Bus Therapy by Toxic Melons, I was able to get Paul Fairbairn of Toxic Melons to sit down with me and talk about the album.

I'm really excited about this interview.  I really wanted to explore how Paul made this album with all of the different artists that he was able to pull in to play on it.  I think other artists can really benefit from listening to this interview and it will point them in the right direction if they ever had aspirations of working with their heroes on their own albums.

Toxic Melons Interview

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