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John Brown’s Body: Colorado & Utah Dates

March 16, 2012 in 12, 2, 25, 27, 3, 50, 9, a, after, age, all, am, an, and, Arc, Are, around, as, at, Ball, ban, band, bands, boston, brown, Burn, by, ca, can, cc, center, City, color, colorado, COMPLETE, Day, December, denver, en, engineer, fee, FOR, four, Free, From, gin, hampton, hi, Hope, How, in, is, IT, IX, jam, John, Lake, late, let, MA, Made, MI, mix, Music, My, nc, New, News, no, NV, ny, of, on, op, out, PA, Park, Phish, pro, Pt, rad, reggae, rock, room, row, rs, SC, show, Shows, So, SPAC, St, state, studio, Summer, tab, the, to, tour, track, tuesday, us, va, van, we, with | No comments

MARCH TOUR DATES AND
NEW STUDIO MATERIAL IN THE PIPELINE

John Brown’s Body

Progressive reggae band John Brown’s Body kicks off their Colorado tour next Tuesday, March 20 at Ullrs Tavern in Winter Park. After four CO dates, they head to Utah for a free show March 25 in Park City, followed by Salt Lake City on the 26th.

JBB plans to release new studio material later this year. A quote from drummer/founding member Tommy Benedetti “We have a bunch of new music in the works… 5 dubs and an unreleased fan favorite are being mixed in Boston in early March, by former JBB engineer Craig Welsch. We made serious progress on the new full length in December, 7 new tracks are complete, we hope to have it out by late summer. It will be mixed by Matt Saccuccimorano, the man behind our 2002 “Spirits All Around Us” record. Until then, come celebrate with us on tour!”

John Brown’s Body Tour Dates

March 20 – Winter Park, CO – Ullrs Tavern

March 21 – Avon, CO – Agave

March 22 – Breckenridge, CO – Three20South

March 23 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom

March 25 – Park City, UT – Canyons Resort

March 26 – Salt Lake City, UT – The State Room

John Brown’s Body Tour Dates
::
John Brown’s Body News

Tags: benedetti, burn, city, color, colorado, fee, Hope, mix, row, summer

The True Spokes: Wheel Keeps Turning

March 6, 2012 in 09, 10, 12, 17, 2, 2000, 2009, 2010, 25, 28, 29, 3, 30, 31, 50, 9, a, acoustic, after, age, all, am, an, and, another, Arc, Are, around, as, at, ban, band, bands, Bass, big, brother, brothers, Burn, but, by, ca, can, cat, center, classic, close, CO., comes, David, Day, Day., dead, does, down, Drums, en, end, engineer, epic, eq, Eve, fee, festival, fi, fight, First, FOR, four, Friend, From, Funk, gag, get, Ghost, gin, give, Good, great, Groove, Guitar, hall, halloween, hampton, hi, hollywood, home, Hope, How, ice, in, inspired, into, is, IT, jam, jammin, jamming, key, Keyboard, Keyboards, kids, King, know, las, Last, late, Laugh, Led, let, life, Like, LITTLE, live, log, long, lot, love, MA, Melt, MI, mod, money, Much, Music, My, name, Nat, nate, nc, New, News, NJ, no, North, NV, ny, of, on, one, op, out, PA, Park, Part, party, Phish, play, player, Pot, pro, producer, Pt, read, recording, reggae, rev, reverb, rock, roll, rs, San Francisco, sara, Saw, Say, SC, set, show, Shows, simon, So, Something, song, Soul, sound, SPAC, St, Stab, state, step, stick, stone, stones, story, studio, style, Summer, super, tab, talk, That, the, times, to, tone, Too, tour, track, Tribute, Trip, tuesday, us, va, venue, vocal, WA, war, Way, ways, we, Ween, with, years, You, Your | No comments

By: Dennis Cook

The True Spokes kick off their first West Coast tour on Tuesday, March 6th, at Cozmic Pizza in Eugene, Oregon before heading to San Francisco, Hollywood and more. Full schedule here.

The True Spokes

A confession: The first time I saw Flowmotion perform live right in the bosom of their hardcore Pacific Northwest fan base at their wonderful annual Summer Meltdown festival a few hours outside of their Seattle home I was struck by how much they didnt sound like their name, which in the absence of their music had conjured up images of white kids with dreadlocks, endless noodling, New Age self-help courses and the like. What I encountered in 2009 was a rock band of resounding solidity, a modern answer to classics like Supertramp, 70s Journey and the Doobie Brothers, where each and every element musicianship, songwriting, vocals, presentation was on the money. This was a group of pros that deserved a MUCH bigger audience outside of their established flock, which theyd earned with over a decade of steady gigging and recording.

While 2010s Ghost Pepper hinted at the band Id witnessed live, there were still Latin breaks, funk elements and African touches to the rock core. Jump to 2012 and the band that was Flowmotion is now The True Spokes, as together, refined and melodic a rock band as one could want. Everything about this evolutionary step is focused with songs offered up with lean intensity and warmly philosophical reverberations. The True Spokes self-titled debut (released February 4) was captured at San Franciscos Mission Bells Studios with the helping hand of another pro, Tim Bluhm of The Mother Hips, who co-produced the album with the band (with engineering wizardy from the great David Simon-Baker. Invitingly melodic and filled with verses that address the world as it is and still comes out the other side smiling sometimes weary but always a touch wiser – this debut is an exciting first step for some of the most talented West Coast players far too few people outside their converted inner circle know, a rock unit ready to rub shoulders with their obvious influences like Tom Petty and Wilco. With this name change and a kickass new calling card, Josh Clauson (vocals, guitar), RL Heyer (vocals, guitar), Scott Goodwin (drums, backup vocals), Erik Bryson (bass) and Bob Rees (percussion, keyboards) are letting go of the past and living for a brighter today.

The True Spokes Eponymous Debut

We discussed [the name change] before recording Ghost Pepper. We talked about keeping Flowmotion as the party band playing the funk-Latin-reggae stuff that everybody expects when they come to a Flowmotion show, and then creating a new band that was more the direction we were going, which is concise songs, says Heyer. We hadnt talked about changing our name in a long while when we went in to record [what became the True Spokes debut]. We were going around and around trying to pick an album title. But what really brought it around was at last years [Summer] Meltdown, Bob drove Marco Benevento to the airport and they got into a conversation about the name Flowmotion. Marco said he didnt expect us to sound like we did with the name. So, Bob got convinced by Marco that it was no big deal to change our name, and if we wanted to we should.

Theres been a lot of different takes on the decision, says Clauson, the founder and one constant in Flowmotions history. Some people want to empower me on the change, and others are like, How could you give up after all these years? They see it kind of skewed like that, but I know exactly where I sit with it and its perfect. It comes at a time of a lot of transitions within the band and the Meltdown. The band has formed a more equal alliance where everyone is taking on more in the writing, direction and just workload of it. Its a very relieving thing to not have it all on my shoulders. Im surrounded by guys who are ready to step up whatever comes our way.

The True Spokes

As far as the existing fan base, the ones who were dead set on Flowmotion being what it was in say 2002 arent really around anymore after Ghost Pepper. However, when we announced we were changing the name, those people spoke up and called it bullshit, says Heyer. Its not their fault they like what they like but they arent likely to be our fans whether we change our name or not. Were not playing that stuff, and even if we play certain songs, we dont play them like they did in 2000 when the band was comprised of 19-21 year olds. Were in our thirties now and were not going to play the same music. Even when we play the older material, it sounds different it sounds like us [today].

The times in which most of us live are close to the bone, where folks are figuring out how theyre going to keep real basics food, shelter, health care going and still prosper and build on their dreams. The True Spokes actively grapple with this stuff, and what hope they wring from these rough stones is legit and nourishing. While their potent music doesnt offer many solutions, it does engage with core ideas that many people are wrestling with, and in so doing helps one find new holds and stances to help them in the fight.

Josh Clauson by Sara Soko

It is a wild time in the world. Theres no escaping that everywhere you go, and at some point you have to deal with these things, says Clauson. Where we find our root in music is in just dealing with these issues. If theres hope its real because were incapable of faking it. We dont discount the true reality we have to deal with, but we take these moments and try to make something hopeful out of them. Its not solutions but it cuts right to it and offers an air of hope. Thats what music is for to cut right to it AND get one through it.

I agree with the term potent. A lot of peoples first take might even be its too much, but over time it just soaks in. It has some real depth to it, says Clauson of the life experience filled pieces on The True Spokes debut. Its been really fun to develop songs in that way really look at them and take each measure and make sure it makes sense. Instead of stretching everything out and making an adventure of it that way, were making an adventure of honing in on things.

While Flowmotion was known as a powerhouse blender of styles, The True Spokes pull off an equally impressive trick playing strong songs with controlled strength and concise execution. Theres no flab or meandering to the new material, which harnesses their group strengths in a really effective, immediately appealing way.

RL Heyer by Sara Soko

Thats part of the reason we brought in an external producer on the album, explains Heyer. Tim had heard [Flowmotion] once at Meltdown and he knew a bit but not much about the band. He offered fresh ears on our sound. It solidified what we were doing. Wed sent him a demo CD with around 25 tracks all over the map. One cut was just me with an acoustic and three vocal tracks, and then other stuff sounded like total prog-rock. He really helped shape all that into a sound by seeing what each person contributes and drawing out their strengths.

Another factor thats come into play with [The True Spokes] is The Beatles. As a band, we performed Rubber Soul last Halloween, and even though this was after the album was recorded, it got us thinking in the mindset that a song doesnt have to be super long to go a lot of places, says Heyer. You can have short sections, especially these days with the short attention spans of many people it serves us better to tighten everything up. You dont have to play something four ways instrumentally before the vocals come in or other things like that which come up when youre jamming. Those things dont need to be on a record. With a lot of art, the more you limit yourself, the cooler your stuff becomes. Even stylistically, if you dont have the option to go into a Latin groove or funk section you have to use other resources to get your point across, and that makes the music more interesting.

For whatever recognition the name Flowmotion gave these guys on the West Coast and elsewhere, the name change (and attitude that comes with it and hums in the new music) offers a clean slate for these gifted musicians. Anything is possible in such a state of newness. One is taking a new trip and yesterdays baggage is left behind.

The True Spokes

It feels like that, especially now that we can play these new tunes live and really dig into them. It just has a whole fresh perspective that makes each show exciting, says Clauson. We had to write these tunes, develop them, record them, and now learn them. Were just really learning now what these songs are capable of.

There is the matter of the Flowmotion back catalog, which the band is still figuring out how to handle in this new era.

Its something Im dealing with maybe more than anyone else, says Clauson. I think were going to have to cherry pick through what we have that resonates with the new material and just let go of the others, which is fine. Im looking forward to this time of transition, where its a little all over the map [laughs]. We cant just stick it to the fan base that has been so loyal over the years and dismiss what they want and like. I notice this transitional thing a lot both live and in my personal life. Its confusing and we dont know everything yet, but its clear something major is happening.

Its a natural evolution the way this has happened, continues Clauson. I really wasnt available due to what I was going through during Ghost Pepper, and thats what really sparked this whole change. Everyone needed to really step up and they did. Im really excited about how this is going. Were writing new material already. Scott, for example, is just writing and writing and ready to sing more on top of his epic drumming. His tunes are just stuck in my head constantly. This change has inspired the entire group and created a sense of friendly competition. I love it, and this band needed that fuel to spread the role of songwriting out. In making that dynamic cohesive, it just naturally led to a new name and a common direction.

The True Spokes Tour Dates :: The True Spokes News

Tags: fee, friend, Hope, jamming, Park, producer, reggae, reverb, saw, tone

A Chat with Mitch Ryder

March 2, 2012 in 06, 10, 12, 1997, 2, 27, 3, 30, 31, 50, 9, 99, a, after, Again, Against, age, all, Also, am, American, an, and, Are, around, as, at, ATLANTIC, away, ban, band, bands, Beer, benefit, big, bite, black, blood, blue, blues, book, brown, Burn, but, by, ca, can, cat, cc, center, City, color, Colors, COMPLETE, concert, Crazy, dance, Day, Day., Deaf, detroit, dirt, Dust, Edit, en, end, engineer, Enjoy, Eve, fame, FEAT, fee, fi, fight, fire, First, FOR, Free, From, gain, game, Germany, get, gin, give, Good, great, ground, Guitar, hampton, hi, hollywood, How, ice, in, International, interview, into, intro, is, IT, IX, jam, jazz, John, Joy, kids, King, know, las, Last, Laugh, Led, let, life, light, Like, LITTLE, live, live music, log, long, lot, love, MA, Made, Main, MD, MI, monster, Mr, Much, Music, My, Myself, Nat, nate, nc, New, new york, News, NH, NJ, no, NV, ny, of, on, one, op, out, PA, Part, Phish, play, player, Pot, pro, Pt, r&b, rad, rain, raz, read, recording, rev, Road, rock, roll, rolling, row, rs, Sand, Say, SC, set, show, Shows, So, Something, song, Soul, sound, SPAC, St, Stab, stage, start, Starting, state, stone, street, studio, Suicide, tab, talk, That, the, theater, theatre, times, to, tone, Too, tour, Train, Trip, tub, Tube, Tv, two, uic, us, va, view, WA, Walk, war, Way, ways, we, Ween, with, years, york, You, Your, youtube | No comments

By: Dennis Cook

Mitch Ryder

Americans tend to have short musical memories. Our culture is so obsessed with newness and fashion that its easy for pioneers to be dusted away with the sands of time. Its a pity because understanding who broke the ground one walks on is informative and often revelatory in a really joyful way. Case in point, Mitch Ryder, whose forward thinking, electrifying merger of muscular, tightly wound rock and propulsive, sweaty R&B in the 1960s lies at the root of endlessly lauded critics darlings like The Stooges and the MC5, fellow Detroiters who picked up their early cues from Ryder and his phenomenal band The Detroit Wheels, whose influence can be felt in a crazy number of artists over the decades. Ryder and his partners in crime became a near instant international sensation with singles like Devil With A Blue Dress On, Little Latin Lupe Lu, and I Like It Like That. Its the kind of start that signifies a lifetime of recognition, but all too quickly found Ryder outside the big spotlight in the 1970s and 80s. However, Ryder never stopped making music, finding an enthusiastic audience for new music and not just his hits overseas, particularly in Germany where the man remains a major star who tours annually and regularly releases new albums.

Which brings us to today and the recent release of The Promise (released February 14), Ryders first new album Stateside in 30 years. Personal, groovy and heartfelt, The Promise was produced by Don Was and features a lean, together band of players with music in their blood, as Ryder notes in the liner notes. Strong of voice and writing his own material, Ryder escapes the oldies circuit that consumes so many artists that had hits back in the day. His dedication to new material and the kind of work he and only he wants to be doing is evident in this life-filled song cycle.

JamBase scored a few minutes with the rock legend to discuss his new album, his storied career, and his many irons in the fire.

1967 Album

JamBase: Youve come up in a lot of conversations when I talk to any musician from Detroit, especially Ted Nugent, who gives you complete credit for being the root source of the Detroit rock n roll sound.

Mitch Ryder: Hes been very consistent with that in any interview hes ever done. Ted and I go way back to when we were doing Battle of the Bands and his mom was his road manager and also the head of his fan club. She gave Ted his business acumen, which he still enjoys. He was energetic and crazy even back then, but unfortunately, he came up against someone with those same qualities back then [laughs]. So, when wed have our appearances I had a little bit more going on the theatrical side, which made it pretty interesting. Our show was a little more entertaining at that point, but hes overcome that now [laughs].

JamBase: How did you come up with your sound in the early days? Even in an era where a lot of bands stood out, you made a real impression.

Mitch Ryder: We didnt try to get a formula. The energy is solely the product of being teenagers we all had an abundance of it. So, whatever song we played it was going to be ten times faster than the original. A good example is Devil With The Blue Dress On. If you ever heard the original [version] by Shorty Long and you played our [version] youd hear the difference right away. Shortys was real slinky and crawling along. We threw that out the window and just went nuts on it.

All my training had been through an urban experience working with black musicians and singers. That was my environment, experience and presentation all wrapped up into one. And then I met a group of skilled rock n roll players, and once we melded those two different categories into a hybrid the product that came out was this R&B rock sound that nobody else had at the time. Then, we added the theatre [elements], which was very prominent in my schooling, so I suggested we inserted it into the show. Nobody else was doing that at the time. They were just getting up and playing and pretty much standing still and singing. There was no theater, but Id been to enough James Brown shows to understand that you have to have theatre when youre performing. It really brings a lot to the stage in addition to the music.

Do you still find that theatrical element important to performing live?

Vintage Ryder

As much as I can! I have two titanium hips now and they dont respond to mental commands the way muscle and tissue do. I certainly dont have the physical energy I once did but my voice is killer, and thats all the result of starting to use in-ear monitors. Those saved my voice and improved it. Up until five or six years ago, I was constantly battling guitars, and it was not only making me deaf but it was making me afraid to take risks and reach for notes because I couldnt hear if I was making them or not. Once I put the in-ear monitors in my head I could tell whether I was hitting the notes I was trying for, and I created a whole other half-octave to my range. Its really blowing my mind what it did for my voice.

Your voice on the new record is out of hand. I dont know if Ive ever heard this range from you on any other album.

Theres some notes I went for that I havent gone after since the old Bob Crewe days. Its unexplainable to me, and the live shows are the same theyre very, very good in that way. Im thrilled because it gives me the opportunity to really play around with melodies and get a lil more soulful than I had been, to really use my voice and move it around like an instrument instead of just a little tape recorder. Why not if you can?

How did you hook up with Don Was to make this record?

New Album

We go back a ways. I made an appearance on a Was (Not Was) recording, Born To Laugh At Tornados (1997), and Don did a 12-inch dance single of me doing Dylans Like A Rolling Stone. We did a couple other singles together that he engineered, and Ive done a few of his segments at the Concert of Colors, which is a tradition in Detroit. Hes familiar with my voice and knows what Im capable of, and hes even been quoted as saying Im probably the best white rhythm & blues singer in America. When they asked him why, he said that Im the strongest.

So, I called him on the phone and said, Don, Im really dying here in America. Europe is fine but Im dying here and not getting as much work as I used to. Ive gotta do something to get back into the eye of the public. What would it take for us to do an album? The conversation lasted maybe five minutes and then I was out in Hollywood recording.

Is it a frustration to you that many people have this limited soundbite impression of you as simply the Devil With A Blue Dress guy? You have decades of music that follow that, but America isnt good at keeping up with artists after their soundbite is established.

Early Album

No, theyre not. No, theyre not. Thats why kids get edgy every eight minutes because thats when commercials come on with TV [laughs]. It all has to do with our culture. Europe looks at historical culture a WHOLE lot differently than we do in America. Were very much a disposable society, and thats true of almost everything we produce including our art. Just look at the development of cell phones in the last two years, where theyve gone through 30 or 40 different changes and adaptations. In our culture we dont think in long terms. We think in short terms and instantly gratifying moments. So, since Devil With The Blue Dress On was such a monster hit it was in the Top 20 for three-and-a-half months, and in that time it made three trips in and out of the Top 10. Think about that: youre in the Top 10, you go out, you come back, you go out, you come back crazy. That was the result of two forces pushing it. It was a Motown song so it benefited from all the promotion people that Barry Gordy had, and then you had the promotion staff Bob Crewe had at Bell Records. That kept it up there for a long, long time.

So, thats why people think of it as the defining Mitch Ryder song. Well, that and the near total absence of Mitch Ryder from the [American] public landscape. I didnt wait around for someone to rediscover me. I started a career for myself over in Europe, and thats working out really well because it allows me to do contemporary material and I dont have to be assigned to the role of an oldies act.

When I talk to others who came to fame in the same era as you, they tell similar stories. But if you go outside the United States you have other options.

Mitch Ryder

It is frustrating but you cant be bitter about it. Its just the way we communicate. Its no fault of my fans and no fault of mine. Its the people who dish it out that have the game plan wrong. Germany is to rock n roll what France was to jazz. Ex-patriots will find more than their share in a place like Berlin, for example, which is where my label and office is. Thats a very dynamic city filled with talent, and not just German talent New Yorkers, people from L.A., and studios and authors and playwrights and artists of all stripes and mediums. They find these cheap lofts in the East, which are becoming more expensive now because the real estate developers figured it out. Probably everyone who escaped over the Wall came back to the East [laughs]. My wife and I looked at a place that still had bullet holes in the walls from street fighting between the Russians and the Germans. It was incredible, and this only a couple years ago when you could still pick them up for dirt cheap.

How is it different to make music with a primarily European audience in mind?

1995 European Album

If recognition is what you want, its a very good opportunity, and you can use that as a base and not feel inhibited about creating. What I do and how I view Berlin is the freedom [it gives me]. Germany, in particular, has been good to me. Because of my experiences with Bob Crewe and working under those constraints, when we booked the first studio session in Germany, I said, What do you guys want me to do? And they looked at me with these blank stares and said, Dont you mean what do YOU want US to do? This is your session. Then it hit me: Youre an artist now, pal, do your thing. So, I started and I havent stopped since. Im free to do whatever I want, free to create. Thats something I had when I first got interested in making music, and it was something taken away by making music with Bob Crewe. He had his own little Tin Pan Alley set up in the same building as Atlantic Records. Every day he would go to his writers for songs to give to different artists he was managing and recording, and I was one of those. We were literally dissuaded from creating our own material, and in my own case, he was bent on making me into a singular star and dumping my group, which he succeeded at during a time everybody else was going completely the other way.

What are your plans for the United States now that you have this new calling card in The Promise?

Ryders Autobiography

My American fans just havent had the full Mitch Ryder experience [for a long time], and this record is the introductory card to try and get some interest in order to bring the whole [European] catalog over here so people can get caught up, even sell it at a discount so people can become familiar with it. Then, once theyre schooled in it, come out with a new studio album made in America. And in the meantime, Ive put out my book [Devils & Blue Dresses: My Wild Ride As A Rock & Roll Legend - available here]. Im also deeply involved in creating a musical, and I want it to be good theatre the crowning jewel of my achievements. The working title is Hide Your Love Away, which I borrowed from The Beatles. I have a great affection for John Lennon, who talked me out of committing suicide [as detailed in Ryders new autobiography].

At a time when a lot of artists are getting ready to put their feet up, youre busier than ever.

What are they going to kick their feet up for and how are they going to kick their feet up? And what are they going to kick their feet up on? An empty beer can? From what I understand, most of my peers from my age group need to keep working, or they have other jobs and have had them for years now. A lot of my peers, if theyre still touring, have a really good show but its about nostalgia. And being honest, a lot of them have day jobs. Ive been blessed because we dont live a lavish life but we live and Im free to do what I want. So, I thank Bob Crewe for that. I dont like him for what he did to my group and our music, but I thank him for the fame because its allowed me to do what I love for my entire life.

Mitch Ryder Tour Dates :: Mitch Ryder News

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