Dark Magic in Your Eyes

Check out the new teaser video Nicole just put out...Creepy disembodied hands, creepy slicing open of a pomegranate-looking fruit thing, me playing creepy bass on the track...what's not to love?

NYE with Marva Whitney, Billy Prince, and The Sweet Divines

What a night!

Marva Whitney, Billy Prince, The Sweet Divines -- NYE 2010

Let's party like it's 1969...

I'm playing with Syl Johnson

Playing with Syl Johnson tonight (Fri Dec 3) at Southpaw. Sweet Divines doing an opening set!

A good NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/arts/music/03syl.html?_r=2&ref=music

And a Time Out NY article:

http://newyork.timeout.com/music-nightlife/music/616001/syl-johnson

This really makes me want a lavender or possibly lime green suit:

I Love Bill Wyman

The SOUL of rock bass. Turn it UP!!!!

The rest of the tracks are here.

Nicole Atkins Tour Video Pt 2

Seattle and Portland Photos

Some more great tour photos...










Here are links to more photos including a lot of The Black Keys.

Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR

Paramount Theater in Seattle, WA

Nicole Atkins tour video

Awesome first part of the tour video by our tour manager Joe Jennings.

Nicole Atkins at the Hollywood Palladium

Jaguar Bass Amp

Psyched about my new Jaguar bass rig for the Nicole Atkins/Black Keys tour!

Dig Deeper Documentary Trailer

Sometimes it's really hard to describe to people exactly what the Dig Deeper series is, and it's even harder to impress upon them just how magic the whole process is...from learning the music, to meeting the artist, to rehearsal, to dress rehearsal, and then of course the show itself. I've been really lucky to play bass for almost every Dig Deeper show and it's exciting and wonderful every time.

So I'm really pleased that someone is finally putting together a documentary about it that gives a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into putting on the show.

The filmmakers are trying to raise funds in order to complete the film, but here is a sneak peak:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Dig-Deeper-?i=pite

The opening few songs are by The Sweet Divines!

Nicole Atkins @ Union County Music Fest

Us playing "The Tower". I hadn't had my coffee yet on this one and combined with the rain I wasn't too psyched about it after. But I think we ended up playing great. It just goes to show you that whatever is going through your head as you play isn't always what's actually coming out of the speakers.

Also on the bill were Nils Lofgrin, Suzanne Vega, The Zombies, Robert Randolph and Spoon.

Nicole Atkins West Coast Tour w/The Black Keys

This is what I've spent most of my summer preparing for...a west coast tour with Nicole Atkins opening for The Black Keys. Can't wait!

I hope to have some good pictures of the tour up on here as we go from town to town....

9/25/10 San Diego, CA Soma w/ The Black Keys
9/27/10 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium w/ The Black Keys
9/28/10 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium w/ The Black Keys
9/29/10 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre w/ The Black Keys
9/30/10 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre w/ The Black Keys
10/2/10 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre w/ The Black Keys
10/3/10 Vancouver, BC Orpheum w/ The Black Keys
10/4/10 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal Ballroom w/ The Black Keys
10/5/10 Portland, OR McMenamins Crystal Ballroom w/ The Black Keys
10/7/10 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
10/8/10 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
10/10/10 Tulsa, OK Cain's Ballroom w/ The Black Keys
10/12/10 Sante Fe, NM Warehouse
10/14/10 San Diego, CA Bar Pink
10/15/10 Echo Park, CA Echo
10/15/10 Echo Park, CA Echo

The Sweet Divines @ Rockwood Stage 2

Our first show in Manhattan in quite a while and only our second show of the summer. We had a lot of special guests, Binky Griptite, Inyang Bassey, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, and Maxine Brown. What a night!

Here's a video of Eli singing Precious, Precious, which we had played with Otis Clay last summer for the Brooklyn Soul Fest.

Nicole Atkins @ XPN fest

Wow, haven't updated in way too long, this was a fun one -- a nice summertime festival. We got to stick around and enjoy The Walkmen, Yo La Tengo, and Rosanne Cash among others!

Billy Prince @ Southpaw Sat Mar 27

I'm playing with Billy Prince of The Precisions tomorrow Mar 27 @ Southpaw. What a voice!

Instead of the usual Sweet Divines opening set we're having a multitude of guest singers. The rehearsal was a blast so I'm really looking forward to the show.

The lineup on Sat is:
Saturday, March 27
DIG DEEPER @ Southpaw
125 5th Avenue, Brooklyn

Advance tickets ($10) available here:
http://tinyurl.com/billy-prince-digdeeper

10:30p - THE DIVINE SOUL REVUE
Featuring:
The Divine Soul Rhythm Band
Ashley Vitha and Jennie Wasserman of the Sweet Divines
Meah Pace (The Mellomatics)
Alba Ponce de Leon (The Suspicions)
Inyang Bassey (Moby)
Cici James (Loser's Lounge)
and Eli "Paperboy" Reed (Capitol Records)

12:00a - BILLY PRINCE of THE PRECISIONS
(Gut-wrenching Motor City soul)
Backed by the Divine Soul Rhythm Band

And some history on The Precisions:

"The Precisions were a vocal group formed by Arthur Ashford, Michael Morgan and Dennis Gilmore on the Motor City's west side, a neighborhood mecca for much of the city's R&B talent as well as the site of its densest aggregation of recording studios.

With a few obscure mid-'60s singles on the prolific Detroit soul and R&B label D-Town already to their name, the Precisions would go on to add young college student Billy Prince as a lead vocalist in 1967. This selection, the debut release of the reconfigured group, would be the first of five Precisions records on Drew Records, a label whose discography, as it turns out, only included other Precisions records."

Tami Lynn and The Sweet Divines - Tonight @ Southpaw

I'm playing tonight @ Southpaw with Tami Lynn and The Sweet Divines. Show starts at 10pm, see you there!

Michael Leonhart & The Avramina 7 at Nublu Fri

I'm psyched to be playing with the super-talent Michael Leonhart at Nublu this Fri Feb 5th at 9pm!

Check out more info here.

Darrow Fletcher Recordings and Video

What a show! Darrow is a truly unique and inspiring talent. He had so many great tricks up his sleeve for directing the band...he knew the little things like when to choke the guitar strings, how long to make the bass notes last, which voicing to play on the piano, etc, etc All those little things add up in an arrangement. He said he learned a lot from Ray Charles who was his executive producer when Darrow was only 25. He also had a story about Ray when he first signed Darrow to his label...Ray asked him what he wanted as a signing bonus and Darrow asked for a motorcycle to get around LA. Ray agreed and got him the bike, but insisted on doing a test drive first! Everyone watched in horror as Ray took the bike across the parking lot, but somehow Ray had a 6th sense and drove the bike with perfect balance avoiding every obstacle. Apparently Ray *loved* to drive, which gave his manager a heart attack every time (maybe that's why he liked it?).
But of course the highlight was grooving with Darrow and the band on stage...
Some recordings of the show can be found here.

Darrow Fletcher Dig Deeper Jan 23rd!

It's been way too long of a vacation, but Dig Deeper is back. We'll be playing with Darrow Fletcher on Jan 23 at Southpaw. I'm having a blast learning the stuff and can't wait to play it!

Recording in Hudson, NY

I'm going up to Hudson, NY to do some recording for a few days this week. Henry Hirsh will be engineering. He's built an amazing studio out of an old church and has all sorts of great vintage gear that really makes the gear nerd in me drool. Plus it will be great to get out of the city for a few days and focus on making a great recording. I'll post more details as the tunes get finished...

Two Divas, Two Venues, Tonight

Tonight is going to be busy...

First, I'm excited to be working with the sensational Nell Bryden. We're playing Joe's Pub at 7pm. She has a super strong voice that blends country and soul and has style to boot.

After that I'll be rushing out to Brooklyn to play Southpaw with Marva Whitney. Yes, the same Marva Whitney who sings on all those great JBs tracks. I remember first hearing her on James Brown's Funky People collections and listening to those tracks over and over again. It'll be her first NY show since 1969 when she played the Apollo with James Brown.

Hannibal Birthday Show

Almost left out the Mighty Hannibal's birthday show at Highline Ballroom!

Here are some pics:

What I Did On My Summer Vaction

Nothing worse than someone with a blog who never posts. But, man have I been busy. Here are some highlights from July and August.

Played the Prospect Park bandshell twice! First with The Sweet Divines:


And second with Naomi Shelton and The Gospel Queens:



Did some recording at Seaside Lounge with Cici James. Hopefully it will get released soon...but sometimes these things take a while I know. It was a blast do to -- we did all the takes live with minimal micing which really added to the excitement. JB Flatt, Al Street, and Brian Wolfe. What a band!


And then played a few fun Ambulance LTD shows:

Did a run of shows with Ali Hoffman:


and to top off the summer, played a triple bill with The Sweet Divines, Maxine Brown, and Otis Clay! It was all part of the Brooklyn Soul Fest:






Here's a vintage clip of Otis Clay doing "Trying To Live My Life Without You" on Soul Train, 1972 (which we also got to play at the Soul Fest).

The Sweet Divines @ Prospect Park

I'm playing Prospect Park this Fri July 17 with The Sweet Divines, opening for Robert Cray. (I think Robert played on every single PBS blues special ever made, jamming with BB King, Buddy Guy, etc).

It's my first time playing Prospect Park Bandshell...and hey the last show I saw on that stage was Bob Dylan!

We go on at 7:30pm sharp. See you there.

RIP MJ

What a loss...

Despite all the controversies, jokes, and comebacks that never happened, Michael Jackson was still a hero to me. Yeah, he got real weird near the end...but he made Thriller!

When I was a kid I had three favorite albums (real Vinyl LP 33 1/3 albums):

1) Thriller

2) Sgt Pepper

3) Back to the Future Soundtrack (hey it was the 80s and I was 6.)

2 of those 3 are still some of my favorite records ever. (although Huey Lewis is kinda awesome, and I still have a guilty pleasure for "Power of Love")

I would come home and put on Beat It over and over and over again and dance around the table. And it was real no-hold-barred dancing, not some ironic head bobbing. Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo blew my mind, Vincent Price's spooky voice mesmerized me, and Billy Jean gave me this cold feeling but still I had to move when I heard it. I just couldn't get enough of that album.

The music he made with Quincy still stands up 30 years later and I love it just as much as I did when I was 6. Bye, MJ.

Gospel on Christopher St

I'm playing this Friday with the amazing Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens. It's a real honor to play with them -- the gospel is so genuine and the band is great (led by the singular Cliff Driver). And of course, Naomi is real force of nature.

Come check it out... they have a new record out on Daptone, too.

Fat Cat Billiards

75 Christopher St

8:30pm

Friday, June 5th

Metal is Man's Music no More

Misstallica are Masters of Mayhem.

Last night was ladies night -- of metal. First was Queen Diamond, a King Diamond tribute band. There was face paint, upside-down cross mic stand, and the bass player looked like she was about 14 and was wearing an eye patch. Amazing.

Next up were Misstallica. About 5 minutes in you forget the whole kitsch factor and just revel in pure Evil. They played Metallica better than Metallica...the audience was going nuts, headbanging, rushing the stage, everything. I knew I grew my hair long for a reason. Did I mention they were all chicks? And about 19 years old? 

Girls Girls Girls closed the night -- an all girls Motely Crüe band. Vixen Neil, Nikita Seis, Tawny Lee, and Mistress Mars. Leather, hair spray, shredding, chugging jack daniels from the bottle, the whole nine. Vixen's voice is in much better shape than Vince's is these days...Shout At the Devil! Yeah, I don't just listen to soul music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H_4ze6gRXA

Renaldo Domino - Saturday May 23

Come out if you can this Saturday for my show with Renaldo Domino -- a Chicago based soul-badass. He did a lot of recording in Chicago on Twinight in the late 60s and early 70s quite a bit of which has been released on the fantastic Numero label. More on his story can be found here.

It's going to be quite a night playing his intricate arrangements...we're even adding strings.

DIG DEEPER presents
Renaldo Domino
backed by the Sweet Divines and Divine Soul Rhythm Band

SAT MAY 23
Five Spot Soul Food Restaurant
459 Myrtle at Washington
Midnight
$15 doors / $10 advance
Tickets at: http://www.ticketalternative.com/Events/6473.aspx

Lee Fields is one baaaaaad mutha.

I'm still high off the gig I did with him a few weeks back. He's really one of a kind. He can do the straight funky JB style like he invented it, but can also really lay into a ballad. It was just a magic night...and a real honor to play music with him.

He has record coming out on Truth and Soul, which is worth checking out (backed by The Expressions). 

I hope to get to play with him again soon.

Here's me and The Sweet Divines playing with Lee at The Five Spot:

Getting Ready for Renaldo Domino

I'm psyched to be learning the tunes for my upcoming gig with Renaldo Domino. It's put on by the good people at Dig Deeper and will be at the Five Spot in Brooklyn (459 Myrtle Ave). The band will be The Sweet Divines.

Renaldo Domino is a lesser known name, but he has some deep soul. It's going to be great learning these parts.

Here's a clip of some of his old tunes:

In the studio with Zozo Afrobeat

It's been a long time in the making, but Zozo Afrobeat is finally doing more recording. I was in the studio last night and laid down the bass track for Zozo's version of "Water No Get Enemy" by Fela Kuti. It was a blast and it's always fun to work with Kaleta (who played with Fela for many years).

Here's a taste of the OG version: